Found Not Lost

Here’s how to make it safer.

I have a family of artists. My daughters were painting before they could write their names. Today, they squeal as loudly for an ipod as for a sketchpad or a paint set. My husband, as much as he likes to encourage their artistic side, always cautions them against using some of the chemicals he works with though. He knows how dangerous some of those chemicals can be if you are not careful with them. Unless they are painting outdoors, for instance, the girls are not allowed to use oil paint.

In the studio or hobby room, dangerous chemicals and metals include:

* Lead in ceramic glazes, stained-glass materials, and many pigments.
* Cadmium in silver solders, pigments, ceramic glazes, and fluxes.
* Chromium in paint pigment and ceramic colors.
* Manganese dioxide in ceramic colors and some brown oil and acrylic paint pigments.
* Cobalt in some blue oil and acrylic paint pigments.
* Formaldehyde as a preservative in many acrylic paints and photographic products.
* Aromatic hydrocarbons in paint and varnish removers, aerosol sprays, permanent markers, etc.
* Chlorinated hydrocarbons (as solvents) in ink, varnish and paint removers, rubber cement, aerosol sprays.
* Petroleum distillates (as solvents) in paint and rubber cement thinners, spray adhesives, silk-screen inks.
* Glycol ethers and acetates in photography products, lacquer thinners, paints, and aerosol sprays.

Read the rest of the tips on Arts & Crafts Safety.

Who doesn’t want to get rich? Of course we all do. We look at successful people and we wonder how they did it. We want some of that pie too. Now aspiring entrepreneurs have a place to go and learn how to become rich, Nouveau Riche University.

Many people have the misconception that being rich involves getting lucky, like winning the lotto and becoming a millionaire overnight. What most people don’t realize is that wealth is created by people who have vision, work hard and understand money. This is what all those seminars and books are trying to teach.

If real estate investing interests you, Nouveau Riche University offers classes in subjects such as Short Sales, Foreclosures, Lease Options, Tax Strategies, Buying and Holding and Wholesaling. These courses, some approved for Continuing Education Credit, are all available online with fully customizable curriculum and tuition package.

The university was recently featured in the January 2008 issue of Business at Home Magazine which also features articles from authors such as Suze Orman, my favorite investment guru.

Visit the Nouveau Riche University to sign up for courses.

Would you like to learn more about blogging and how to do it? I started a new blog, which does not claim to be an expert at blogging, but if you just want to get some tips on basic things about blogging explained by a newbie like you, then visit my Test Star.

I’ll try to share some tips and insights I’ve learned since I started blogging. I started blogging on a free platform called Blogger before I eventually moved to having my own domain with a WordPress platform. I haven’t become an expert suddenly, but along the way I have picked up on a few things here and there. Maybe they will help you or maybe they will confuse you even more. Either way, maybe you will learn from what I’ve learned.

Not too long ago I found out that I have a number of relatives and friends in or about Toronto, Canada. Living in the eastern U.S., I was telling my friend that I can practically drive up to visit her and be there within a day, if I drive all day and if gas didn’t cost so darn much! It is almost as cheap to just book flights to Toronto and it won’t take so long or be as tiring!

My friend tells me that they are knee deep in snow right now so unless I’m into skiing or other winter sports, it is probably better to wait until they thaw out a bit. She said she would love to show me around Toronto. That would be great to have my own personal guide to see some of the local sights. We may even drive to see Niagara Falls. I have always wanted to see the falls from the Canadian side.

I have a new blog I’ve titled Living in Peace & Style (LIPS) Like it?

It’s where I’m putting my personal improvement goals and inspirations. Stuff that don’t really belong in my other blogs. It seems like I’ve gotten on a roll creating new blogs! LOL! I know, that mighty dollar is addicting and worth losing some sleep over. Anyway, if I’m not playing with the kids or cooking, I’m probably in the backyard or here finding stuff, I will be trying to do some introspection at LIPS.

Oh, and I’m not done with the list yet. Don’t forget my children blog too and my husband has a website for his art. I was looking at the number of sites hosted on my hosting provider and I just can’t believe we have that many sites between the five of us! Of course, I win hands down on having the most sites. And I named this post Living in Peace. Sheesh!