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To offer you a quick look at the greeting card designs that were delivered just yesterday (woohoo!), I’m posting a few pages from my catalog, so you can see the kind of stuff I’ve been up to! I’m currently working on a new design for this site, complete with an online store, so soon you will be able to see all the designs in living color! Click the images below to see them larger. Note: the colors won’t be quite as neon in print. Enjoy!

Color visuals line - 1

Cartoons - 1

Sprout line - 1

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“Don’t go outside without a coat. Its Freezing! You’ll Catch A Cold!”

This is untrue. The Common Cold is a virus that is passed from human to human. It can be spread in hot and cold weather. What is true is that being cold lowers your resistance against viruses, but this doesn’t by any means suggest you will automatically catch a cold from being outside without a cold when it gets a bit nippy.

“Don’t crack your knuckles like that! You’ll get arthritis!”

This is also completely untrue. Believe it or not, there has been studies carried out on this. In a study carried out on 300 “knuckle crackers”, results found no evidence that this leads to arthritis. The strain put on your joints when you crack them are nothing compared to the normal strain put on them during everyday activities. In essence, it doesn’t do any damage at all, its just generally a very annoying habit.

“Eat up your carrots, you’ll be able to see in the dark!”

Unfortunately, eating carrots does not give you superhero powers. Just as - i suppose - eating runner beans does not make you an Olympic sprinter (see what i did there…?) Although carrots are rich in vitamin A, which are beneficial to eye sight, once again, there is no evidence at all that it helps see in the dark. This myth was started during WWII. Instead of telling the public that the British Intelligence were using radar, they said that they were eating carrots to help see in the dark. However, eating too many carrots does make you turn orange…. apparently.

“Dont swallow Chewing Gum! It doesn’t get digested. It will stay in your body forever!

Sorry, wrong again! There are so many myths about chewing gum - this is just one of them. As chewing gum contains a laxative, chewing gum may be passed through the body even faster once swallowed than other foods. Although it is not harmful, I still find myself not recommending it. It is only dangerous in abnormal doses, and obviously, if choked on. Other rumours include the idea that chewing gum makes a hole in your stomach. This is - apparently - caused by the acid in your stomach. This is also untrue. Two other rumours are that if you swallow gum, and you fart, you blow your bubble out your backside, and that it makes your guts all stick together. I’ll leave you to make your own informed decisions on those two.

“An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away”

Well this one is a bit vague. Most people will argue that it depends on what you do with the apple. If you throw the apple at any approaching doctors, it should do the trick. However, if you eat it, most scientists would say, not much will happen. However recent studies have shown that eating apples can prevent the risk of breast and colon cancer.

“Eat up your crusts, they are good for you!”

Finally a proven, true fact. Although on the surface, this appears to be another tale told by your gran, crusts contain eight times as many antioxidents as any part of the bread. Interesting eh? So if you are that bothered, eat up your crusts!

“If you keep pulling faces, one day the wind will change and you’ll get stuck that way.

“

This one doesn’t even justify me wasting my time explaining why it is so proposterous. So I won’t.

“You only use 10% of your brain”

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong! The only people who only use 10% of their brain are the people who made up this myth. In many cases, it is hard to believe that some people are even using 10% of their brain. However, scientifically speaking, this is not true. Hi-tech studies have proven this. What may be true is that only 10% - or a figure around this - would be used at any one time, but all of the brain is used for different things at different times.

“Eating Low Fat foods help you lose weight”

No it doesn’t! Although it sounds about right, eating fat has nothing to do with your weight. There are good fats and bad fats. Good fats - monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats lower cholestrol, and actually have been proven to help lose body weight. Bad fats - saturated fats - increase cholestrol levels which can block arteries, higher blood pressure, and even lead to impotence. But it does not increase weight. This is all determined to the amount of energy - in terms of calories (Kcal). Unburned calories are turned into fat (body fat) which then in turn increases weight. Another myth is that high cholestrol is inevitable as you grow older. This is also untrue.

“I dare you to sneeze with your eyes open. I bet your eyes fly out our head!”

Firstly, and somewhat dully, we have nothing to worry about when it comes to losing your eyes in a sneezing fit. The truth is our eye balls are fixed tightly to our head, and  so aren’t likely to go anywhere, regardless. Another reassuring fact for those who are genuinely worried is that a reflex motion in our eyes makes it impossible to sneeze with our eyes open anyway. So thats all cleared up then….

So there you go. 10 myths about life, either proven, or dispelled. Stay tuned for part two of this guide. If there are any myths you would like me to dispel or prove, please leave a comment and I will add it to my next article - “10 common myths about life (Part Two)

Meanwhile check out my other articles -
* * *

Who was the best test batsman of all time? - http://sportales.com/cricket/best-test-batsmen-of-all-time/

Which is the best lottery game to play? Is there any skill involved at all? -

Premier League Statistics. The guide to win every sports pub quiz! - http://sportales.com/soccer/premier-league-statistics-you-never-needed-to-know-and-never-cared-that-existed/
________________________________________________________________________________________

“Don’t go outside without a coat. Its Freezing! You’ll Catch A Cold!”

This is untrue. The Common Cold is a virus that is passed from human to human. It can be spread in hot and cold weather. What is true is that being cold lowers your resistance against viruses, but this doesn’t by any means suggest you will automatically catch a cold from being outside without a cold when it gets a bit nippy.

“Don’t crack your knuckles like that! You’ll get arthritis!”

This is also completely untrue. Believe it or not, there has been studies carried out on this. In a study carried out on 300 “knuckle crackers”, results found no evidence that this leads to arthritis. The strain put on your joints when you crack them are nothing compared to the normal strain put on them during everyday activities. In essence, it doesn’t do any damage at all, its just generally a very annoying habit.

“Eat up your carrots, you’ll be able to see in the dark!”

Unfortunately, eating carrots does not give you superhero powers. Just as - i suppose - eating runner beans does not make you an Olympic sprinter (see what i did there…?) Although carrots are rich in vitamin A, which are beneficial to eye sight, once again, there is no evidence at all that it helps see in the dark. This myth was started during WWII. Instead of telling the public that the British Intelligence were using radar, they said that they were eating carrots to help see in the dark. However, eating too many carrots does make you turn orange…. apparently.

“Dont swallow Chewing Gum! It doesn’t get digested. It will stay in your body forever!

Sorry, wrong again! There are so many myths about chewing gum - this is just one of them. As chewing gum contains a laxative, chewing gum may be passed through the body even faster once swallowed than other foods. Although it is not harmful, I still find myself not recommending it. It is only dangerous in abnormal doses, and obviously, if choked on. Other rumours include the idea that chewing gum makes a hole in your stomach. This is - apparently - caused by the acid in your stomach. This is also untrue. Two other rumours are that if you swallow gum, and you fart, you blow your bubble out your backside, and that it makes your guts all stick together. I’ll leave you to make your own informed decisions on those two.

“An Apple A Day Keeps The Doctor Away”

Well this one is a bit vague. Most people will argue that it depends on what you do with the apple. If you throw the apple at any approaching doctors, it should do the trick. However, if you eat it, most scientists would say, not much will happen. However recent studies have shown that eating apples can prevent the risk of breast and colon cancer.

“Eat up your crusts, they are good for you!”

Finally a proven, true fact. Although on the surface, this appears to be another tale told by your gran, crusts contain eight times as many antioxidents as any part of the bread. Interesting eh? So if you are that bothered, eat up your crusts!

“If you keep pulling faces, one day the wind will change and you’ll get stuck that way.

“

This one doesn’t even justify me wasting my time explaining why it is so proposterous. So I won’t.

“You only use 10% of your brain”

Wrong, Wrong, Wrong! The only people who only use 10% of their brain are the people who made up this myth. In many cases, it is hard to believe that some people are even using 10% of their brain. However, scientifically speaking, this is not true. Hi-tech studies have proven this. What may be true is that only 10% - or a figure around this - would be used at any one time, but all of the brain is used for different things at different times.

“Eating Low Fat foods help you lose weight”

No it doesn’t! Although it sounds about right, eating fat has nothing to do with your weight. There are good fats and bad fats. Good fats - monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats lower cholestrol, and actually have been proven to help lose body weight. Bad fats - saturated fats - increase cholestrol levels which can block arteries, higher blood pressure, and even lead to impotence. But it does not increase weight. This is all determined to the amount of energy - in terms of calories (Kcal). Unburned calories are turned into fat (body fat) which then in turn increases weight. Another myth is that high cholestrol is inevitable as you grow older. This is also untrue.

“I dare you to sneeze with your eyes open. I bet your eyes fly out our head!”

Firstly, and somewhat dully, we have nothing to worry about when it comes to losing your eyes in a sneezing fit. The truth is our eye balls are fixed tightly to our head, and  so aren’t likely to go anywhere, regardless. Another reassuring fact for those who are genuinely worried is that a reflex motion in our eyes makes it impossible to sneeze with our eyes open anyway. So thats all cleared up then….

So there you go. 10 myths about life, either proven, or dispelled. Stay tuned for part two of this guide. If there are any myths you would like me to dispel or prove, please leave a comment and I will add it to my next article - “10 common myths about life (Part Two)

Meanwhile check out my other articles -
* * *

Who was the best test batsman of all time? - http://sportales.com/cricket/best-test-batsmen-of-all-time/

Which is the best lottery game to play? Is there any skill involved at all? -

Premier League Statistics. The guide to win every sports pub quiz! - http://sportales.com/soccer/premier-league-statistics-you-never-needed-to-know-and-never-cared-that-existed/
________________________________________________________________________________________

Today I am excited to introduce Michelle Rafferty who has been a Publicity Assistant at Oxford University Press since September 2008. Prior to Oxford she interned at Norton Publishing for a summer and taught 9th & 10th grade Literature. She will be chronicling her adventures in publishing on this site so be sure to check on Friday’s to hear more about what she is learning.

It began when I was sifting through what I like to think of as the “want ads” for journalism. Everyday reporters across America are looking for experts to quote in their stories. These queries pile up in my inbox daily, and I sort through them like a scavenger in hopes that an Oxford author can provide their insight and subsequently garner some free publicity. Earlier this week one reporter inquired: Is romance back? And I began to think, when was it gone? And for how long? And if it’s back, can it stimulate the economy? The more I wondered, the more perplexed I became, and I soon realized that it is because it is virtually impossible to logically sort through the deluge of findings and instructions I receive daily on matters of love. I fear that unless I abstain from books, film and the internet, I am forever doomed to remain utterly confused on the present state of romance. Let me explain.

According to an article I recently read in the New York Times, science has brought us ostensibly close to developing an actual love potion. Dr. Larry Young believes that a “cocktail of ancient neuropeptides” could actually increase our urge to fall in love or booster a dwindling romance. But, what if these drugs have disastrous side effects? According to In the Name of Love: Romantic Ideology and Its Victims, a book I came across this week at work, some of the most sinister acts in history have been done in the name of love. Even more disturbing is that 30% of all female murder victims have died at the hands of a former or present spouse or boyfriend. Couple these statistics with a love potion, and we could have murders of mass proportions on our hands.

The film He’s Just Not Into You [Spoiler alert!]begins to touch on these love hinged neurosis, but then opts for the happy ending route—I assume that producers felt Scarlett Johansson’s character was better off absconding to India, rather than hacking her new lover to bits after he makes love to his wife as she sits in the closet nearby. Test audiences might disagree, but I think this could have worked. The majority of the film spends its time offering both men and women those much needed cold doses of reality (If he doesn’t call you, it’s because he doesn’t want to call), so I think a murder would suit the film’s depressing appeal. But instead, in the last 15 minutes viewers are told to discard all the previous advice given and believe that there are in fact exceptions to the rules of dating and that women can change men.

Are all the complications and twists and turns necessary to get a happy ending? In film yes, because catharsis doesn’t only apply to Greek tragedy. But perhaps in real life we can get a happy ending without all the drama. According to a recent article in Newsweek, the key to happiness can be narrowed down to one thing: an irrevocable decision. Psychologists once believed that people are happier when they can change their minds, but in 2002 Daniel Gilbert found that people are happier when they are locked into a decision because it leaves no room for doubt. For example, if you are stuck in a marriage, you might as well focus on the positive. That is why according to Gilbert, “I love my wife more than I loved my girlfriend.”

But in terms of love, why does marriage have to define the “irrevocable decision”? Why not a six figure contract for a hit reality show? When Jay Lyon signed onto MTV’s new reality show The City as protagonist Whitney Port’s love interest, he surely considered the consequences of high ratings—he and Whitney could be together as long as the show remains popular. Thus viewers are perfectly poised to perpetually compare their own fated toils with his, which are equally fated but in a more artistically appealing, seamlessly stop-motion sense. The longer contracts keep these reality stars together, the longer we feel bad about our own comparatively humdrum relationships.

So is romance back? At a time when we are on the verge of reducing love to a “magic” pill, it seems the answer would be no. But when Ben Affleck’s character in He’s Just Not That Into You makes the requisite romantic gesture (hiding the engagement ring in the pockets of the pants Jennifer Aniston’s character once told him to throw out), and 300 giddy movie goers “ooo” and “aww,” I lean towards yes. This is the problem.

What are we to do when we are told to simultaneously denounce and clamor for romance daily? What if you, despite all logic, have welcomed romance back into your life and are using all restraint possible to avoid a moment very much like the one that marked the beginning of the end of Tom Cruise? Perhaps I can provide one ounce of solace. As Milan Kundera writes in The Unbearable Lightness of Being, “No matter how we scorn it, kitsch is an integral part of the human condition.” What this means is that the author of perhaps the most pragmatic fictional expose on love that has ever been, has granted you permission to indulge. If this isn’t enough justification, perhaps a certain upcoming Hallmark Holiday is.

*****On a trip to Wales to study photography and earn her graduate degree, KayLynn Deveney stumbled across Albert Hastings, and old man who lived alone in an apartment near where she was staying. In getting to know him, she realized that Albert was a

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This week is the start of the a new era as winner(s) from the previous week get to choose the new winner for Monday Artday.

Without too much ado, this week's winner is Pascal Kirchmair, with a simple and clever illustration, that seems familiar to us all.

We'd be remiss if we didn't also say that honorable mention go out to: Co. for Transition due to Global Warming, Emily for Cocoon Transition, Pixzlee, Lava, Señorita Pil, and Mary Stebbins Taitt for October Wind

Congratulations Pascal! Pascal will get to choose the winner next Sunday, and also pick a new topic. My thanks go out to Josh for helping with his input on judging, and Mike for taking on the reigns of Monday Artday. I'll be back Monday with the new Challenge.

Last weeks winners are:


Co. - won for "New Years resolutions"

OR

Emily - won for "A Plan"


Check your emails you two!

The weekly winners for last week are:

tekentijger - for "Hygiene"

Zari - for "Alphabet"

CONGRATS!!!

The weekly winners are:

RRRamone - won for "BOO!"

Jeff Brame - won for "Halloween Costume"


You will recieve your awards as soon as im done being mrs. busy bee... CONGRATS!!!