Firstly, you need to acquire the necessary materials to make your Christmas cards.  Of course, the same is true for any type of card you intend to make, although the Christmas theme opens up more decorative possibilities.  This might include ribbon, glitter, sequins, or any other things you might like to add.  On top of that, you'll need a nice pen to write you message, and of course good quality card.  You can pick up all these types of materials at your local craft shop, or alternatively online if you're looking for a wider selection of items.  It might also be a consideration to buy nice envelopes for your cards.  Buy high quality and decorative envelopes to add to the overall effect.

Next, sketch the design of your card on a piece of paper, and think about exactly what you intend to do with the materials.  It is important not to launch straight in to avoid wasting materials, and time.  Only after you've sketched and planned your look can you begin to piece together your card, and finally bring your idea to life.

Place all your materials on your card, and move them around until you're satisfied with the design.  Only after you have ensured you are happy with the way you have positioned all of your materials can you begin to affix to the card.  Use a glue-stick, or other light adhesive for best effect.

Finally, take care to write your cards neatly, and in a script where possible.  If you're not a calligraphy fan, you can always simple print neatly, although for that added effect, a nice writing style is desirable. After that, it's simply a case of posting your card to the correct address, and with plenty of time to spare before the big day!

Creating hand made greetings cards is a rewarding pastime, but it is also very practical.  By making your own cards, you are saving on retail prices as well as providing something which will really stand out from the crowd on anybodies wall.  Be a bit different this holiday, and provide your own customized greetings cards.

Mozart is also unique in the sense that it is rare among composers to have their lives celebrated outside the boundaries of their art. But Mozart’s own life was the subject of many myths and controversies, some of them so colorful that they have become the subject matter of countless biographies and even stage plays and films.

Some say Mozart’s life was so colorful because none of his biographers knew him personally and, as such, had to resort to supposition and fabrication in the absence of real fact. Historians have pointed out the fact that many of the myths surrounding Mozart actually started after his death. There is the belief that Mozart composed his Requiem for himself, but that has neither been confirmed nor denied by the many Mozart scholars who continue to study his life to this day.

One famous story revolves around the supposedly heated rivalry between Mozart and Antonio Salieri. There has been some speculation that Mozart died from poison that was supplied by Salieri. This is precisely the subject of Aleksandr Pushkin's play Mozart and Salieri as well as Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov's opera Mozart and Salieri. Lastly, this subject was also touched upon by Peter Shaffer in his play Amadeus, which was later made into a feature-length film of the same name. In 1984, the film won eight Academy Awards and was one of the year’s most popular films. But beyond that, the movie created a new generation of Mozart fans.

Then, there is the portrayal of Mozart as a kind of superhuman prodigy who showed musical genius from childhood to his death. There may be some truth in that. Many of Mozart’s early compositions became hugely popular, include the motet Exultate, which Mozart composed when he was seventeen years old.

    A sleeper hit, Grandma's Boy did not find its fan base on the big screen. Appearing in theatres for a limited amount of time, it truly found the bulk of its fans through its DVD release and the word of mouth. Grandma's Boy is a film that was produced by Adam Sandler's production company, but it does not feature him in the film. And for those who think that his presence would be necessary to make the film a keeper, many are delighted to find that what the film is, in fact, is one of the funniest films that Hollywood has produced in a long time.
    
Grandma's Boy follows the life of a man who just never found his calling in life. Content to work as a video game tester at a software development company, the main character named Alex is content to live the easily life, with no immediate goals or plans for his future. He finds himself in trouble, however, when he finds that his roommate hadn't been paying their rent. With nowhere to go, Alex ends up finding shelter at his Grandmother's house, who is played by Doris Roberts of “Everybody Loves Raymond” fame. Being cooped up with grandma and her kooky roommates proves to be a sufficient struggle in Alex's life, who tries to sneak in bong hits and video gaming while trying to obey his grandma's every beck and call. One of the most hilarious characters in the film has to be Dante - Alex's pot dealer who has an appetite for the more ‘alternative' things in life, such as pet monkeys trained in karate. One unique factor that Grandma's Boy has is the fact that the comedy doesn't stop to make up for some sort of resolution towards the end of the film; if anything, the films comedic points snowball, picking up more and more as the film goes on. I found that to be a pretty unique and refreshing turn from the standard comedies that try to make some sort of dramatic ending from a film of hilarity. Grandma's Boy keeps you watching while definitely keeping you laughing. I would highly recommend it to anyone who could use a laugh.

Interestingly enough, my online search revealed that most of the designers I liked were in fact involved in one or more art professions. From architects to interior decorators, these people applied their design and aesthetics to objects of function and everyday use, generating what is today known as applied arts. The distinction between applied and fine arts is that the latter serve as intellectual simulation to the viewer, while the former incorporate design and creative ideas to objects of utility, such as a vase, a plate, a chair, or a garden table. According to experts, the fields of industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design, decorative art and functional art are considered applied arts. In the creative context, architecture and photography also fall in the category of applied arts.

Upon examining how broad the spectrum of applied arts is, I realized that each and everyone can become, or has been, an applied arts representative. If you have ever used your creativity to rejuvenate that old grandma's tapestry, for example, or are currently in the process of redesigning your living room space, you are probably an applied arts agent without even knowing it! Perhaps it is not time yet to be featured in a magazine or catalogue, but regardless of your personal taste and crafting capabilities you should feel proud to put your energy and creative passion into good use.

On the other hand, if you have not yet indulged yourself with the pleasure of designing and producing something from scratch or improving something that already exists, take a good look around and I guarantee you that something needs fixing. Why not put your skills and aesthetics into use at the same time? Instead of just changing the fabric on the dining room chairs, explore new ways of putting your imagination into use. Whatever you may once have considered of doing, take the initiative, visit your local hardware and arts stores and get into action. The only thing more rewarding than trying is the look of admiration from your friends and family. Then, who knows? You might even consider following a new career path in the realm of applied arts!

Whether or not you consider yourself to be an artist or have an artistic nature as people often claim, it is interesting to discover that your skills and abilities can help you develop products or processes that could be characterized as a type of art form. Have you ever taken a picture, created a film, painted an image, performed in front of an audience -your mirror does not count- or even found a new way to use that old pair of jeans you have kept inside your closet? If the answer to these or similar questions is yes, then you are “officially” informed that you can consider yourself as a creator or better even, an artist! Even if this statement is not one hundred percent true, you got the idea.

Due to the technological innovations used today, new art forms have been developed and thus new ways for artistic expression. The birthday card you decided to create from scratch for your friend, the picture frame you decided to “transform” so as to make it a bit more contemporary, the song you recorded while playing at your garage with the band, are all different types of art forms and should make you proud of yourself and your abilities. Moving from the “classic” forms of art, like painting, drawing, sculpture, music, literature, printmaking, and architecture, to the more “modern” types of art forms, like film, photography, digital art, installation art, performance art, land art, fashion, computer art, comics, and video games, the human ingenuity and creativity found new ways of expression. People are today thrilled to discover the gratification of being able to complete the art project of their choice while using a variety of available tools.

Since within each art form a wide range of genres exist, like for example painting includes still life, portrait, or landscape, a work of art can be anything, from a representational painting to the abstract wallpaper of your PC screen. Whether the art form you like belongs to the category of fine arts or applied arts, the big issue here is that you are a creator, a designer, a painter, a sculptor, a craftsman, an artisan in general. If your art will make you rich one day is a matter of talent and luck, but during your project's creation and upon its completion, you will experience a life changing realization; you will feel capable of accomplishing almost anything. After all that amazing thing is your own creation! 

Charles Jencks, among many architectural theorists, attempted to explain how postmodernism has shaped 21st Century's architectural creations. The words, syntax, metaphor, and semantics of architecture are part of what make architecture postmodern. Regionalism, historicism, new urbanism, these are flavors of the postmodern. Whereas Moore, Hedjuk, Yamashita, Tigerman, and Graves (to mention a few) are categorized as postmodern, in which group do contemporary architects like Santiago Calatrava belong?

Satiago Calatrava, Valencia's favorite son, a man who has merged architecture and engineering into designs and has occasionally transcended the limitations of both, uses an advanced postmodern vocabulary. But, are his manifestations considered postmodern, or something else? Graceful bridges, train stations, museums are mainly characterized by a white structure and the use of glass. Structures that often appear in motion and, as of late, often actually move.

The term “postmodernism” was first used in reference to architecture as early as 1947 spurring a fruitful debate among architects that has not yet disappeared. Postmodernism in its regional/vernacular forms reflects neighborhood culture. In this way, it can function as a tool in class struggle. Jameson argued that postmodernism is a reaction to the forces of "creative destruction." But it can be a tool for those powers as well. "Creative destruction," the wiping out of physical memory of a place is what probably causes the phenomenon Jameson refers to as the "accelerated rate of change". The end of the assembly line, created by the instant flexibility of computer technology, means that in this post-Fordist world we can all have a unique, neighborhood specific thing, as well as having the same thing.

All of these arguments are original and all of them can be successfully applied for the analysis of different contemporary cultural phenomena; some of these theories are better for the explanations of particular architectural phenomena, some for others. However, it would be wise for one to examine them all together in all their different perspectives as they can become a helpful tool for understanding the social and cultural phenomena that emerged from the second half of the Twentieth century on and still affect contemporary architects and their designs.

It is very difficult for a researcher to find and pinpoint the one individual that could be named the “father” of cinematography, accepting that the word symbolizes a technique used for motion pictures' creation. But, it is apparent that man has experimented, very early in human history, with different methods that would allow him to record the movement of images. Very closely related to still photography, which has been a catalyst to the development of cinematography since the mid 19^th Century, the technique that would allow images to be recorded while in motion has been extensively studied. One of the first attempts to analyze the element of movement with the help of photographic machinery was made by the British photographer Edward Muybridge in 1878. After successfully developing a new method of producing consecutive photographic images, he recorded the movement of a running horse. Through the motion pictures he produced, he managed to prove that there are instances when a horse is running that none of its feet touch the ground. Around the same period, the French physicist Etienne Mare managed to capture, also by using photographic machinery that could record 12 images per second, the movements of a flying bird.

Based on the developments of the early 1880s in exposing images on light sensitive elements, attributed to pioneers like Thomas Edison and the Lumiere brothers among others, the new art form of motion pictures introduced a new type of aesthetics that captured the attention of people wanting to explore its applications and create art. One of the first cinematographers that decided to examine this dimension of moving images was the French Maries-George-Jean Méliès who became one of the first cinema directors. With his film, Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) in 1901, he created a fantastic story of a trip to the moon using motion pictures. He was also the one that introduced the coloring technique in films by painting each one of the frames by hand.

During the infancy stage of motion pictures, the cinematographer had multiple roles, acting as the director and the person holding and moving the camera. As the years pasted, this new art form was further developed by the new technological tools introduced. New art-related professions emerged and due to cinema's ability to capture the attention of vast audiences worldwide, by appealing to more than one the five senses, cinematography emerged to what is known today as a multi-billion dollar industry and one of the favorite art forms in the world.

Although the definition of Epic Fantasy is still a subject of debate between fans, critics, and scholars, it is rather challenging for a researcher to come up with a single definition that includes all the necessary meanings the words epic and fantasy convey. One of the most descriptive definitions found, stated that “Epic Fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy and very similar to high-fantasy where a seemingly average person undergoes many trials and ordeals which develop he or she into a hero capable of feats needed to thwart challenges of an epic scale. The story takes place in an imaginative world and often the setting is medieval in nature, complete with swords, castles, strange creatures and a magical system.” What one can understand from the above definition is that the epic story's hero is not born as such, but life's events and misfortunes mold him or her to one, as the obstacles are surpassed and he or she contributes to the solution of at least one major problem.

To better understand epic fantasy literature, one should attempt to examine the etymological meaning of the two Greek words used in order to categorize it. “Epic” and “fantasy” convey different meanings and if examined as two components of a story that are linked to create an “unbreakable” sequel, the reader can realize that they were selected exactly because they serve more than one purpose. Specifically, “epic” has two components; heroic and vast. In an epic story one can find a hero or one that performs heroic feats, while the setting of the story is vast in scope. Often an epic describes a whole world in which the hero interacts with others and manages to accomplish the impossible deed vested upon him or her. On the other hand, fantasy is defined as creative imagination and is characterized by highly fanciful or supernatural events. If the two words are combined, one realizes that the epic fantasy story is a sequence of events based on the writers creative imagination that portray a hero's feats that take place on an epic scale and have tremendous consequences to others.

According to Joseph Cambell, in his work “The Hero's Journey,” one of the most important aspects of epic fantasy stories is the development of the main character from an “average person” to a “hero.” The steps that he identifies are simple and easily found in any epic fantasy story. First, the main character has to be called to undertake a journey during which he or she is aided by a guide or a mentor that has supernatural powers and as the story develops the “average person” is transformed through a series of tasks and ordeals to a hero. Sounds familiar? Perhaps now you can picture yourself as that “hero” and your everyday life seems not that “real” anymore!

By examining Christianity and traveling through history, Brown's book invites the reader to reconsider what is firmly believed for centuries now in relation to Jesus Christ's deeds and life choices. Offering a conspiracy theory, which is headed by the organization of Opus Dei belonging to the Catholic Church to cover up the “true” story of Jesus, the plot of the novel has helped generate popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and the role of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity. But regardless of the glowing reviews it received from the New York Times, People Magazine and the Washington Post, the book has been heavily critiqued by many as poorly written, inaccurate and a source of confusion between speculation and fact. The criticism generated focuses on the speculations made to base the story's plot and the misrepresentations of core aspects of Christianity, the Roman Catholic Church history and the numerous descriptions of European art forms, historical facts and architectural designs. Brown was accused apart from actually copying the facts of the 1982 published book “Holy Blood, Holy Grail” written by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln, to distort and fabricate history so as to serve the story's purpose.

But isn't that exactly what a novel does? Although I have not been a student of any professional writing classes up until now, I believe, and that is because I have read a variety of fiction novels, that the writer creates art by writing a story and art can take any form. The art form of literature has many focal points, one of them being fiction. High-fantasy stories that do not portray real-world historical facts, although very often the writer is based on them, do not have to suffer that kind of negative criticism. Although Brown's book is not one of my favorites, I was astonished to discover how many people have been attacking the author for writing a “fake” story, what is known as fiction. It is generally agreed that it is much more interesting when one relies on facts, to portray them as they really were recorded by historians and experts, but this decision belongs to the writer and has to be taken while writing the story. Regardless if one disagrees with Brown's theories or finds his book amusing, the criticism should not be directed, at least in my opinion, on whether or non professor Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu took the right road towards the French country side, but whether or not one likes the story and finds the language used and the arguments made by the author accurate and constructive. Of course, it is always nice to know exactly which road one should take in order to escape from the Louvre Museum in case of an emergency, but I will agree with a famous quote that is accredited to Buddha that “There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth… not going all the way and not starting.