Posts Tagged ‘glass’

Home Window Tinting: 3 Simple Advantages That May Not Have Occurred to You

Thursday, June 2nd, 2011

is a popular method to maintain privacy while driving around town. Bet you didn’t know you can tint the windows on your home via the same method, though, did you? Quite a few advantages actually exist to home window tinting.

First, while it certainly does protect your privacy from nosy neighbors and passersby, it’s also a healthy option. Excessive exposure to the sun’s rays is not good for you. It’s why health professionals advise you to apply sunscreen before going outside. Along the same line of reasoning, those harmful rays can reach you and your family within your home. All you need to do is sit and watch television near a window on a particularly sunny day to be affected. By tinting your home’s windows, you can block harmful ultraviolet rays and add to the comfort of your family during times of relaxation.

Second, home window tinting can also protect the interior of your actual house. Sunlight is notorious for fading all manner of colored things. It can fade wallpaper, carpet, drapes, furniture and other things. It can also cause wooden furniture to warp and adversely affect electronic items. This happens partially from sunlight but also from the heat it generates. Home window tinting both reduces the harmful effects of the sun’s rays on your cherished household items and reduces the heat at the same time.

Home window tinting is also environmentally friendly, as a third advantage. You’ll have less need to up your air condition on hotter days due to tinted windows. The costs for reducing heating and cooling expenses will greatly reduce as a result. You might even end up breaking even between the cost of tinting your windows in the first place and what you end up saving on your cooling bill.

Home window tinting is thus a superb option to choose for a number of different reasons. You can decrease your family’s discomfort. You can also protect your home’s interior. Plus, it will save you money in an environmentally friendly way. It is also important to note that home window tinting may void any window warranty you had with the original installer. Read through your contract and make sure you understand the consequences as well as the benefits before making your ultimate decision.

Looking for Vail CO Realtors or some other real estate in this particular vicinity of Colorado? You should have a look at our website as we provide a few high quality real estate searching options in Vail. In addition, we have another website that allows you to locate Paker Colorado Real Estate.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

How To Clean Glass

Saturday, October 23rd, 2010

There is something very satisfying about having cleaned dirty glass. Glass is most often used as a window onto the world. The glass is a lens and as such ought to be clean.

Everyone who wears glasses will understand this principal. Dirty spectacles are maddening and have to be cleaned instantly. This is also the case for a car’s windshield.

However, glass has some other uses besides being a lens. Glass is used to allow natural light to enter; stained glass is used to paint a picture; toughened glass is used for table tops and glass is used to make ornaments and drinking vessels.

The thing is though that because glass always has some type of interaction with light, we like to see it clean and it angers us when we see dirty glass. Dirty glass is a sign of neglect, a sad sign that no-one cares about it.

So, a relevant question is: how do you clean glass? We probably all think that we know the answer to this question and we almost certainly all can and do clean glass, but which are the best ways to clean glass?

There are dozens of spays and chemical solutions on the market and you probably have your specific favourite under the sink right now, but there are also traditional mixes that can be made from ingredients located in most well-stocked kitchens.

However, before moving on to the liquid to use, we will talk about the equipment for applying the cleaner. We will talk about windows as they are by far the biggest glass objects that most people have to clean.

Mix your solution in a bucket and then transfer it to a spray bottle, if you like. One note on safety here: never take a bucket up a ladder, it can tip you over. Some people prefer to spray the liquid cleaner on and then scrape it off with a squeegee – a rubber blade like a car’s windshield wipers, others have a preference for more traditional techniques.

Before the squeegee, all professional window cleaners, myself included, used a piece of scrim, which is like sacking. I used a square of scrim which was approximately 18 inches square, but the size you use ought to make a comfortable ball in your hand. I used this to rub on the solution, and I used a substantial cotton rag to wipe it off. This is an excellent combination which produces fantastic results.

Other people swear by newspaper, but I have never seen a professional doing his rounds with a bundle of newspapers. Having said that, my wife and our neighbours all use newspapers to clean the windows and the results are just as good.

There are certain weather conditions that you should avoid when planning cleaning windows and they are rain and hot, direct sunlight. You can still clean windows in the rain, after all you will still be removing the grime, but people do not like it. They seem to think that you have ‘got away with something’, somehow done less of a job and to be honest, it is harder to tell, if you have done a good job and drying off is just about impossible.

In hot direct sunlight, the liquid will dry off too quickly, so in effect you are just moving the dirt around and hoping that most of it will stick to the scrim. Therefore, the morning and the evening are the best periods to clean glass.

We used to use a squirt of plain washing up liquid and a cup of methylated spirits in a bucket of water to clean windows and it worked a treat for all the windows or two or three houses before it required changing, but other people have different tips, some of which I have listed below.

Vinegar and water mixed at a ratio of 4:1 and rubbed on with newspaper. Dry off with newspaper too.

Ammonia, washing-up liquid and water applied with newspaper (wear rubber gloves).

Equal parts of methylated spirits, paraffin oil and water applied and dried off with cloths.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on a variety of subjects, but is now involved with round glass dining tables. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Solid Oak Dining Tables.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Crystal Corporate Gifts

Friday, October 1st, 2010

It can be very difficult to find beautiful and memorable corporate gifts. Many corporate gifts are just junk, especially the less expensive ones. However, there is a class of gift that is always appreciated and can be thought of as useful too.

Have you always given a calendar or a letter opener? Or a key ring, just like every other business does? Or a bottle of wine that is forgotten the day after it was opened? Well, there is hope yet. What about glass crystal? Everybody loves lead crystal, do they not?

Lead crystal items really are the bees’ knees of gifts, corporate gifts or not. People always need ashtrays, paper weights, and pen holders and made in lead crystal they look expensive and stylish adding to the image of your company.

Lead crystal goods come in many kinds. They make fruit bowls, vases, glasses, paper weights, pen trays, ashtrays, picture frames and carriage clocks along with a dozen other items. When selecting a lead crystal corporate gift, you might like to bear the following points in mind:

If you are presenting these corporate gifts to your staff, you may like to distinguish between your employees or give everyone the same gift. You can on grounds of sex, length of service, marital status or input to the company’s profits. There again, you may know the longest serving personnel very well and want to get them something that will suit them personally. You can do this in terms of price or style or both.

For instance, office staff might appreciate a lead crystal paperweight, pen-holder or picture frame. Blue collar workers may prefer a lead crystal vase or bowl. Single people might play golf or sail and like an item engraved with a golfing or sailing motif. Married people might love a picture frame or a vase. Long-serving personnel or high-earners might want a carriage clock.

Cost is obviously an important issue, but usually corporate gifts are tax-deducible and glass crystal items vary greatly in price depending on the manufacturer. For example, you can get a nice lead crystal goblet set for $15, but if you want to give Waterford lead crystal, you can expect to pay three times as much.

Are you presenting these corporate gifts to clients or / and prospective clients? In this case, you will have to have them inscribed with your business’s contact information. You will also require the corporate gift to stay in the client’s office, so it should be office orientated, not home orientated. Something like a heavy paperweight fashioned like a rock or a desk tidy fashioned like a boat.

This is the best mode of advertising after word-of-mouth and sign-written vehicles and should be taken seriously by any business that needs clients. Giving a well-thought of gift like lead crystal is a way of enhancing your reputation and that of the beneficiary.

The only other thing to bear in mind is that corporate gifts in lead crystal are precious and need to be handled with care, so if you are having them inscribed, which you must do, then you will need to know how long it will take to get your consignment done and delivered.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

A History Of Stained Glass

Friday, February 19th, 2010

No one actually knows when stained glass was first invented because it happened before people started recording history. However, some historians reckon that it was first used as a luxury in the homes of affluent Romans in the first century AD. Stained glass was eventually acclaimed as an art form in the fourth century as Christians started to worship candidly and to construct elaborate churches in which to celebrate their religion.

On the other hand, some historians show that there are remnants in pre-Christian ruins that suggest that pagans employed stained glass in their rites. Although we will most likely never really learn the origins of stained glass, it is fairly certain that the spread of Christianity is immediately related to the increased of use of stained glass.

The Gothic Era commenced in the 12th Century and stained glass windows became an essential element in the design of cathedrals. It really all started with the pioneering style of the St. Denis, France, where stained glass windows were used to convey light into the church itself and into the minds of its worshipers. Sadly, most of the stained glass in the St. Denis Cathedral was destroyed in the course of the French Revolution, but there are a few pieces left and even some complete windows on exhibit in Europe.

Gothic style stained glass was composed of strong lines, but these increasingly went out of fashion as the Renaissance commenced. During the Renaissance, artisans depicted greater detail and more delicate colouring in order to add to the realism. Stained glass windows became more like paintings on glass than architectural elements and some of the prominent elements such as lead lines disappeared. Because of the difficulties in expressing the great detail required by the Renaissance era, the old style, which was true stained glass almost died out.

Since stained glass was used by and large by the Catholic Church, much of the work was smashed during the reign of King Henry VIII after his split with the Pope. However, not only old stained glass windows were damaged, but many of the glass making works were sabotaged too. However, religious strife was not the only cause of the decline of stained glass.

The fashion of the Baroque era was for more detailed murals, which meant the use of clear glass. Therefore, many of the remaining stained glass windows were allowed to fall into disrepair, and furthermore not many new stained glass windows were produced. In the late 17th century, the public mood returned to the Gothic style of architecture, which produced a renewed fascination in stained glass windows.

Artisans continued to paint directly onto the glass at first, but later tried to imitate the old leaden frames of medieval times. However, since the original techniques had not been used for such a long time, they had become forgotten and the artisans of the period were unable to recreate the exact styles prevailing in Gothic stained glass.

In the 19th century, La Farge and Tiffany created new kinds of stained glass. La Farge was interested in window designs, while Tiffany went into new fields like the Tiffany lamp shade.

These days, stained glass artists are not constricted by religious styles, although much of the work they do involves refurbishment. Modern stained glass is also used as the centre pane in front doors, especially uPVC doors, by rich and poor equally in the West.

Owen Jones, the writer of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

categories: waterford,glass,crystal,gifts,vases,traditions,ireland,britain,celtic,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Designer Glass Paperweights

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

My friend has a store that sells glass artwork. My personal favourite glass artwork is paperweights and I have a lot of fun attending art auctions and buying art glass with her. We pay a lot of attention to what our friends and her clients like and dislike.

I usually give people art glass paperweights that I find at art auctions for milestone birthdays and anniversaries. My mother turned eighty last August and I found a magnificent glass paperweight for her.

The art glass paperweight that I found for my mother was made by Baccarat and I was extremely lucky that this was one of the last items auctioned. A lot of people had already left the auction when this item went on the block. My mother really liked the rose motif because the rose is her favourite flower.

I have a Dutch friend from Den Bosch who loves effigies of frogs. She has managed to decorate her abode very stylishly with her favourite frogs. I have been on the lookout for an art glass paperweight for her for years. I eventually found one at an art auction last year. The glass paperweight featured a frog sitting on a lily pad surrounded by blue water. It was really pretty and my friend started using it on her desk immediately.

I also have an aunt who collects art glass paperweights. She has asked me very often to find glass paperweights for her when I am attending art auctions. Of all of the pieces I have bought for her over the years, one sticks out in my memory more than any other.

The prettiest art glass paperweight I have ever won at an art auction has to be one that featured a blue and gold Macaw. Rick Ayotte was the artist that made it and it was even featured in a book of his work. He has created many lovely art glass paperweights.

There is no trouble at all selling art glass paperweights made by Rick Ayotte. His work seems to draw a great deal of interest. My friend tries to win any auction she finds for art glass paperweights made by him. She won one not so long ago that looked like pink roses. They looked so fragile and sweet. I know that this art glass paperweight will sell quickly.

There have been some inquiries at the shop for art glass paperweights by Richard Marquis, although we have not found any in any of the art auctions we have attended recently.

I will keep looking out for art glass paperweights at the auctions I attend, but I will not be going way out of my way to track them down. I now buy every art glass paperweight I can find that was made by Rick Satava. My favorite has to be the coral orange jellyfish that I found at an art auction an hour from my home. It was really beautiful.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with Waterford crystal vases. If you have an interest in Irish crystal or wedding rings, please go to our website now at White Gold Claddagh Ring

categories: auctions,waterford,glass,crystal,gifts,vases,traditions,ireland,britain,spirituality,religion,happiness,politics,other

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »