One of the best styles for young tykes to prepare a coupon book is to bind do-it-yourself coupons together and present them to mom. Cut seven bits of paper into a 2 X four-in-sized coupons. Publish a different favour on five of the sheets such as “I will choice flowers for my mom today.” Make a front and back page of the book from the remaining two pieces of paper. Make pictures on your vouchers to make them more colored. Set Up the coupons into a pile or a book and bind the pages together along the left margin. Integrate your Mother’s Day ideas and place the book on a Mother’s Day breakfast tray as a bonus prize for mom!

If there is one thing that systematically gets left off a busy moms to do list, it’s time for herself. In order to decently reload and connect with your inner self, it is needed to feel like a woman. This requires a little bit of pampering and a lot of beauty products. If feasible, schedule at least 1 of the following for the day of the ladies evening:

* A hair appointment for cut or color, or a blowout at the very least
* A manicure and pedicure
* A massage
* A shopping trip

Insure to arrange for pop or the sitter to start their services an hour early, so you have enough of time to leisurely pick out a good outfit, shower and put on your makeup. The genuine mantra of when you look good, you feel good is the honest truth.

If you are an aspiring writer, or you simply want to augment your professional qualifications by publishing material related to your field of expertise, listen up. Here are a few tips that will help ingratiate you in the hearts and minds of editors. Once you’ve established a positive rapport with an editor, you may find the publication to be an excellent outlet for your work – and if you’re good enough – you may be invited to submit more work.

1. Editors prefer e-mail correspondence above all else – especially when submitting query letters and final articles. If you e-mail a story, make sure to paste it into the body of the e-mail, just in case the conversion of an attached file does not go smoothly. E-mailing correspondence and articles means the editor can cut and paste it into the publication, without having to retype. Digital delivery saves the editor lots of time.

2. If you promise an editor something – an article, a short bio, or a high resolution photo – make sure you deliver it. Always follow through with your promises, and that editor will remember you as reliable.

3. Before submitting a story, remember to fact check accuracy of dates and the spelling of places, names, and geographic locations. Most editors will revise your work even further, because that’s their job – to make the work even better. But few editors will continue to work with a writer who submits sloppy material that needs to be fact checked or heavily rewritten each time. Worse yet, you don’t want to submit something with factual errors in it.

4. Have a short, three to five sentence bio on yourself ready to submit to editors. Not all publications provide information on authors with published articles, but when they do, you want to take advantage of the free publicity. Don’t EVER submit a one page or one paragraph bio to an editor, unless they specifically request this much material. They’re being gracious by providing some space and most editors will not want to take the time to carve a bio down.

5. Have a publicity photo of yourself ready for publication and in digital format. For print media publications the dots per inch (dpi) should be a minimum of 300. For newspapers 150-200 dpi will suffice, though you should ask the editor or graphics department which they prefer. DO NOT send print media editors 72 dpi, or low resolution photos. This resolution is usually the standard setting for a digital camera, and is acceptable for publication on the world wide web, but is not appropriate for print media. Once a photo is shot, chances are very good that not much can be done to improve the dots per inch, except shrink it to 3 times its former size.

6. If you choose to telephone an editor to pitch them a story, remember – their time is valuable. First, ask them if it’s a good time to speak for 10 minutes. If it’s not, then ask them for a convenient time to call back. If they can speak, limit your pitch to 5-7 minutes. No editor wants to be on the telephone with someone for an unendurable length of time. Do not start telling them about all of your publication credits or credentials unless they ask. Stick to the pitch for your story idea, and focus your conversation accordingly. If they like it, you may continue the conversation for longer than 10 minutes. If they’re not interested, politely end the call.

7. Deadlines are important to editors, because they need written material before they can make decisions about visual materials, ad space, and layout and design. If you have promised an editor something, do your absolute best to submit it by the agreed upon deadline. If something has come up – in your personal or professional life or in the process of writing and interviewing for the story, communicate the need to slightly extend the deadline to the editor in advance. Most editors will work with you on deadlines, provided they are not under the gun themselves. Newspaper editors usually do fly by the seat of their pants, so keep this in mind when asking for extensions.

8. Engage the editor in a short e-mail about your story prior to writing it and he/she may come up with a few guiding sentences to help you. This is a chance to try to get a feel for how the editor would like this written prior to writing it. An editor may help you frame a story, give suggestions for potential interviews or subjects, or cause you to look at the story in a totally different way. Don’t despair if you receive no response. The editor may be busy and not have enough time to reply.

9. Do not write stories or articles that are just barely disguised promotional pieces for your business associates, friends and family, or your own business. It’s OK to mine these contacts for story ideas, but make certain the content you present is not OVERTLY promoting anyone. Any seasoned editor can smell a promo piece a mile away and will not publish it.

10. Try to write in subject areas you feel passionate about. For example, if you are passionate about hiking, write for some outdoor magazines. Editors are drawn to freelance writers who have a knowledge base for the material they’re submitting. This is an excellent ‘in’ with any editor – a well-developed knowledge base is a good foundation for any story. If you have a passion, pitch the right editor your idea. GO For it.

Elizabeth Kirwin has published work in national magazines and newspapers. She is co-owner of Sidhe Communications http://www.sidhecommunications.com in Asheville NC. She develops web sites, newsletters, brochures, and other marketing materials for companies and health care ogranizations nationally. For more information, e-mail ekirwin@bellsouth.net.
]]> http://flammario.org/10-tips-on-how-to-cultivate-relationships-with-editors/feed/ 0 http://flammario.org/everything-pertaining-to-chocolate/ http://flammario.org/everything-pertaining-to-chocolate/#comments Tue, 23 Mar 2010 11:28:08 +0000 admin http://flammario.org/everything-pertaining-to-chocolate/ Even though Fannie May is a household name in recent years, the company had humble beginnings. This famous chocolate shop first opened its doors in 1920 in the Windy City, and over almost a century of trading it has become one of the nation’s favorite sweet shops. Fannie May’s gift of mixing cocoa, sugar and other ingredients in just the right manner made them such a favorite with the public they grew to about 48 shops in just 15 years. As a point of fact the company was so devoted to the standard of their chocolates they decided to shut shops rather than change their chocolate during wartime rationing. Fortunately, many of those secret recipes are in production and as popular as ever nowadays. Naturally all the chocolates arrive attractively packaged. Remember to request a decorative gift box or tin when the chocolates are for a present, it will add a special touch. Have a box or tin as a gift for anniversaries or as a thank you, or even choose an enormous tower of treats for a friend, loved one, or even a co-worker. If you prefer to pick out special varieties that isn’t an issue, however a outstanding selection of carefully put together gifts are on offer besides. What is even more convenient, Fannie May has a strong network of providers all over America and around the globe. This makes it feasible for you to send these tasty treats throughout America and worldwide without ever having to leave your computer. There are a few delicate chocolates that are not suitable for shipping during the summer, even so Fannie May is happy to have gifts delivered throughout the year and guarantees the standard of the candies when they are delivered.

Even if you are on a low sugar diet or are unfortunate enough to have allergies, there’s chocolate that is suitable for you. Delicious cakes and other sweet treats are on offer as well as luxury chocolate with no sugar added. If you require a large amount of personalized gift boxes or wedding favors, Fannie May have a variety to choose from. Give them a ring or send them an e-mail for a quotation. Fannie May has grown into such a flourishing chocolate maker because of its commitment to manufacture quality products, its customer support and such a vast variety. Actually, the time consuming task is selecting from the huge range of alternatives on offer. With every sweet treat conceivable from mints to toffees readily available, you are sure to find precisely the ideal present!

For occasion party favors, you can get as fanciful as you want. If you have some cash left over in your celebration budget, put a couple of of the tokens together in a fine gold gift bag to mime the fabulous swag that famous people have at the Oscars. Did your Oscar party ideas leave your pockets empty? No need to whip out your credit card – merely choose one of our budget-friendly favor thoughts. In reality, guests won’t require fanciful favours and will be thankful of whatever you can provide.

Publish your invitations on rich gold Mylar cardstock, give them a double fold and stamp them with a large golden sticker and pen on the outside of the invite “And the Oscar Goes To…”

Call your localized picture show theater and ask for “short ends” of celluloid (short pieces they split off when they load the reel onto the projector) and write the fete items on the film with a metallic pen.

The original shop opened its doors in Columbus, Ohio in the early eighties. Less than a decade after starting the business they had dramatically expanded their product range. Soon the company had launched a seasonal catalogue, and then introduced a department devoted to medium to large corporate customers. When they launched their website, this too was extremely successful and eventually joined 1800Flowers and these days are one of the largest cookie suppliers on the net. Keeping the superiority of their legendary recipes is the company’s main priority. Every batch of cookies is shipped quickly to make sure it arrives at the peak of freshness.

Every item made by Cheryl and Co is free from unnatural additives. You can pick from traditional goodies like macadamia nut and pecan, and a few unique flavor combos as well. Your most difficult task is not to order their entire stock all at once. Alternatively, why don’t you choose some brownies or the finest chocolates? If speed is an issue, an enormous range of ready made gift baskets are offered on the webpages. Or, simply decide on how you would prefer your delivery to be presented and then decide on the treats you think your loved ones will prefer. The fabulous brownies are available in buttercream frosted, fruit and even specially decorated seasonal varieties, and also in small sample sizes. Send cookies, or other delightful treats in traditional boxes or tins to show your appreciation to a loyal client or supplier. A fun or novelty basket is a great idea to let friends and family know you are thinking of them. Of course there are also cookies and brownies decorated specifically to celebrate Xmas, the fourth of July, and other holidays to make sure you can always get the perfect present.

We recommend you review this vast web site for cookies information.

Cheryl & Company have cookies and brownies for every occasion, from Xmas gift tins, to thank you gifts and tasty treats for new moms. Thus, next time you want to get a present, call them or order on the internet.

The very first shop opened its doors in Ohio in the early 1980s. Just seven years later they had immensely extended their range of baked goods. Before long the cookie provider was promoting its goods in carefully chosen stores, and then opened a section especially for medium to large corporate customers. Their internet launch proved a terrific success and now they have joined the 1800Flowers.com group, who provide all kinds of floral and gourmet gifts worldwide.

Quality is the top priority of this cookie provider. Each batch of cookies is shipped promptly to ensure it is received in perfect condition. Everything baked by Cheryl and Company is free from artificial colorings and flavors. Triple chocolate, snickerdoodles, oatmeal, and cookies with buttercream icing in a rainbow of gorgeous colors are available as well as a range of more exotic recipes, like key lime white chocolate chip. The hardest task will be not going for their entire stock in one fell swoop.

Remember the choice isn’t only limited to cookies either, brownies and top class chocolate are available as well. When you’re short on time, a tremendous variety of ready made gift hampers are featured on the internet. Or, when you have a little time to spare simply decide on how you would like your gift wrapped and then choose the recipient’s preferred treats. The delightful brownies are available in buttercream iced, fruit and even specially decorated seasonal varieties, and even in small sampler selections.

Opt for a classically boxed cookie selection to say thank you a client or work colleague. Or you can tell a loved one you are missing them and are thinking about them by picking out tasty goodies in a novelty hamper. As you would expect for Xmas and other holidays, they provide especially made goodies with an appropriate theme.

Irrespective of whether you wish to send a Christmas present to an old friend, a thank you or you need to cheer up a loved one, Cheryl & Co have just the thing to brighten up their day.

All makers of chocolates see to it that their chocolates are properly tempered so that it will get that glossiness, richness, and creaminess as well as prolong shelf life. When chocolates aren’t tempered, it’ll be vulnerable to blooming, where chocolate acquires whitish blotches and becomes crumbly.

Tempering is very important in making chocolate candy since the fat crystals in the cocoa butter are stabilized during this process. These fat crystals melt and set at different specific temperatures, tempering can make this crystals solidify in a single desirable structure.

When manually done, chocolate tempering is a real repetitive process, especially if the person is just new to it. S/he’ll have several bad tries first before s/he can actually learn and master the whole process.

You should understand that tempering is all about chemistry. If tempering is done properly, you’ll be able to produce as much type V crystals as possible, are these are the ones responsible for the best features of the chocolates.

You also have to learn how to apply the right temperatures to the different types of chocolates that you are working with. Chocolates are very responsive to temperature and any change can distemper it and you’ll have to re-temper again.

Once you know the chemistry, you now need to know the techniques. In the first one, you cool down chocolate a marble slab to draw out the heat to bring chocolate to its proper temperature. There’s also the seeding method, where pre-tempered chocolates are added to the chocolate to attract loose crystals to it and bind them easily.

If you regularly work on large volumes of chocolates, you’ll have to purchase a chocolate tempering machine because although you’ve learned the basics and even the advanced techniques of tempering chocolates, outside factors like moisture in the equipment may still affect your tempering work.

If you have chocolate tempering machine, you can easily do the tempering without anything to worry at all. It takes care of the necessary heating, cooling and reheating procedures as well as it’s designed to calibrate the temperature to the right levels. You can produce chocolates in large volumes in a very easy and convenient manner, thus, increasing your potential profit.

Finally, this amazing gadget will also allow you to get to your artistic side jumping since you can fully concentrate on chocolate making while the tempering machines takes care of business.

Skits are marvelous Christmas party games. Kids, particularly, will enjoy to do and grownups in the home are constantly easy to watch. Here are our top skits that insure to entertain all the guests at the Christmas celebration.

Some Christmas skits for kids tell about the birth of Jesus and the significance of Christmas. If you are looking for small-scale activities that let children act it out, look for skits with plain roles and props. The birth of Jesus and A Marionette Christmas are 2 easy picks. Since Christmas skits for youngsters usually have a couple of roles, each tyke will feel like a star.

If your youngster is just starting to read and is incapable to execute such a character, try a Christmas acrostic game alternatively. This play on words about Christmas is educational and fascinating. It is also flexible, because you can select a word to fit any size group, ages and setting.

Caroling is thought to have commenced in England around the middle ages. As was the tradition on numerous holidays, those hoping for a contribution of treats or money sang songs as they traveled from household to house. Today, we carol with our neighbours and at holiday parties, as it always fills one with the Christmas feeling.