original photo
sparkle effect
reflection effect
Sometimes we’d like to add some sizzle to a fairly ordinary photo. For school advancement and communications offices without a Photoshop expert or an on-staff designer, there aren’t too many options that don’t involve learning new software. Here’s a quick and easy one online that creates some special effects with your own photos. It’s free and it’s easy. Just upload, click, wait, and then download. The stardust option is fun for drama productions, working best with dark backgrounds, and the reflections can be eye catching as well. Check out the postage stamp option, the pencil sketch and others at this site. Because of the smallish file sizes required (max. 2 mb), it’s generally good for website and email applications — but not print. A perfect application would be an e-vite or e-flyer. Promise me, now, that you won’t go overboard with this stuff! A little goes a long way.
Kids want to do good works in the community, and sometimes just a little seed money can get a great project off the ground. Mini-grants up to $500 are available to schools, churches and community-based groups of youth for service activities of all types through the Pay It Forward Foundation. A Pay It Forward project is defined as one or more service activities that benefit a school, neighborhood, or the greater community and include learning goals for its youth participants. The Pay It Forward Foundation administers a mini-grant program for these activities designed by and involving youth in service to their school, neighborhood or the greater community.
Most of us don’t know more about Anne Sullivan, Helen Keller’s teacher, than the sketchily remembered plot of The Miracle Worker. I would probably be part of that group too, except that when she was 11, my daughter was cast as Helen Keller in a small-town community theater production of that very play. At the time I did some reading to improve my contribution to amateur costume design, and became intrigued.
What child isn’t attracted to the brilliant colors of tropical fish, birds and butterflies? Nature draws us in with a dazzling palette. Ever since high school biology class (yep, girls’ school, superb teacher) these many years ago, when I learned about structural coloration — that’s what makes dragonflies appear to change colors in sunlight: blue/green/violet — I’ve had a particular fascination with biological opalescence, iridescence, and luminescence. My raves and faves: abalone shells, pearl oysters, blue morpho butterflies, peacock feathers, scarab beetles, bioluminescent jellyfish, the list goes on, but you get the picture.
At girls’ schools there’s an emphasis on finding one’s voice, on poise and speaking confidently in public. The girls, along with all of the rest of us, can at least aspire to being as good as the best TED presenters. So here it is: the TED Commandments. All TED speakers get it, and the great ones really get it. I assume the original is carved in ancient Aramaic on stone tablets. So here, for your edification, in English…
And not only kids! I found this elegant and entertaining 