Feb 21

Will you get a Kiss or a Pinch this Saint Patrick’s Day?

We’re approaching one of the stranger holidays of the year. It’s a holiday that gives us the excuse to pinch our friends, consume an abnormal amount of food coloring, and tell people to kiss us because of our heritage. We raid our wardrobes or shop for whatever green we can get our hands on, decorate ourselves and our belongings with four-leaf clovers and gift our friends and family with an array of products featuring Irish symbols of Luck, celebration and well being. Yes, it’s St. Patrick’s Day.
Stories about the man behind the celebration have become a little clouded by exaggeration over the years, so who was St. Patrick, really? Well forget what you’ve heard about raising the dead and banishing snakes, because here’s the real story.

It turns out St. Patrick was originally from Britain. When he was sixteen, Irish raiders captured and kept him captive for six years, working alone as a shepherd. During this time, he became a devoted Christian and finally escaped to Britain after a dream in which God told him it was time to leave Ireland. He studied to become a priest for fifteen years before returning to Ireland to convert the Irish and minister to the Christians already living there. His approach to conversion was incorporating the symbols the Irish already used, for instance a sun, with regular Christian symbols, such as a cross, creating today’s Celtic Cross.

OK, that’s Interesting you say, but why green? And why do we pinch our friends? Whose idea was it to kiss the Irish? This may not come as a surprise, but only one of those things originated in Ireland. The rest are all American. To “wear green” initially meant to wear a shamrock, the Irish symbol St. Patrick used to describe the Holy Trinity, on your clothes.  In keeping with the trine…  The Shamrock represents the Celtic tradition meaning- “trust in your soul,” “belief in your heart” and “faith in your mind.

Pinching came about around the emergence of St. Patrick’s Day in America, when it was thought that wearing green would make you invisible to the Leprechauns. If they saw you, they would pinch you.  But why would a Leprechaun pinch you, aren’t they those cute little Lucky Charm Guys? Leprechauns – were actually spirited and tricky little fellows who were employed by Irish Fairies to make their shoes.  The Fairies paid the Leprechauns with Gold Coins which they saved in a metal pot. (Thus the pot of Gold at the end of the rainbow). So in order to warn our friends to watch out for the Leprechauns, we pinch them ourselves if they’re not wearing green.

“kiss me, I’m Irish” has no real beginning, (other than a slogan on bowling caps) But is said to reference the Blarney Stone. Kissing the Blarney stone brings you good luck so if you can’t kiss the stone the next best chance of getting good luck is “kissing an Irish person.”  So…. Kissing an Irish might bring you some luck, but if not, it’s a good excuse for a little extra affection! So this March, wear your green with pride whether it’s in celebration of your own roots or just joining in the celebration! And….May your blessings out number the shamrocks that grow and may trouble avoid you wherever you go! Happy St. Patty’s Day!  

 This St Patrick’s Day be sure to decorate in Green for Luck and the avoidance of that pinch!

Irish Flag Heritage License Plates
Adorn your bike, atv or car with your name on an Irish Flag or Shamrock License Plate Luggage Tags and Bag Tags adorned in Green & Shamrocks to keep you safe from the Leprechauns while traveling. Irish Kitchen Towels
Pot of Gold Neck Tie The guys are lucky to have caught the leprechaun and gained his pot of gold! Shamrock or other Irish Symbol Aprons are great to keep you clean while cooking that scrumptious Corned beef & Cabbage Dinner. Celtic Design Cutting Boards, Coasters and other Household items are a great gift on st Patty’s day and all year round.
See Other Featured Irish Gifts Here
Motorcycle Tag Frames Front Car tag Frames Greet your guests with Irish Fortune with our St Patty’s Day Doormats  

Local Jacksonville St Patrick’s Day Celebrations 2010
Jax Irish Fest 2009 (Jacksonville) Saturday, March 14 at Metro Park. Featuring food, drinks, and live entertainment. Tickets are $10 for adults and $2 for children under 10
Grab your favorite leprechaun, and bring them to Jacksonville’s best St. Patty’s celebration courtesy of O’Brothers Irish Pub and Mossfire Grill in Riverside. You can count on live music, drink specials and food specials. Details of the “street party” are still being worked-out with the City, but I’ll pass along that info as soon as I am in-the-know.
Keep checking back for updated events in Jacksonville.  We’ll post them as we get them.

 Feel free to chat with us if we’re online or leave us a message

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Oct 21


Taking Photos to be used for Personalized Photo Gifts
Photo Tips – Tip 2 – Resolution

What resolution should I shoot or scan my photos for personalized products?

Well the most desirable resolution is 600dpi, however, that makes a huge file
which is often too big for some e-mail providers, so we request that you scan
your images at 300dpi, but at least 6" in width or height. A regular photo
size of 6 x 4 is usually perfect for blowing up, cropping or most anything we
would need to do to show it nicely on your desired personalized product.
When scanning, turn off your sharpening filter as your photo will appear
grainy. 

Saving in .tif or .psd if you have photoshop is normally better than .jpg.
Also, if you are going to do any enhancements to the photo, remember to always
save the original first, then enhance a copy of it and save it as a different
name. Try not to save a .jpg to many times because each time you save it, it
looses quality.

Lets see what happens when you shoot or scan at a low resolution.
 

Keep in mind that computer monitors only show images at 72dpi. Even the smallest of images and the low resolution ones may look good on your computer.
The image of the 2 children above looks pretty decent doesn’t it?  Well … lets see what it really looks like at print resolution and when we blow it up to use on a product.  ~>
Can you see the pixilation?  All the blotches.   Showing it even closer (to the right) you’ll see that it looks pretty nasty.  Certainly you wouldn’t want your children or any photo that you take to be displayed like that. We try to enhance your photo as best we can but when it starts out this way, there’s not much we can do to make it crisp and clear. 

So, the higher quality you shoot or scan at will produce a much better result.

Also note that cellular phones with a camera usually do not produce a high enough quality image to use on product. Some phones with high megapixels might.


Recap
Turn your digital camera on to its highest setting.
Do not save as .jpg over and over as it will reduce quality.

Scan at least 300dpi. -Turn off all automatic filters in your scanner.

Check options on save as and set compression to zero or 1 for highest quality file.


Save original file and then do any edits to a copy.

And remember…..You can e-mail or upload your photo to us for a wide variety of photo gifts at http://www.tagdesigns.com
 

Have questions about your photo?  Feel free to chat with us if we’re
online or leave us a message

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Oct 09


Taking Photos to be used for Personalized Photo Gifts
Photo Tips – Tip 1 – Getting enough background (vs closeup)

We all love to take pictures of our family, friends and especially our adorable children!
Who can pass up that perfect photo OP!! And with the holiday season coming up I’m sure there will be lots of cameras clicking very shortly to get that most recent shot on a photo ornament for your tree, mug for dad, pot holder for grams, or any of our vast line of photo gifts for anyone on your shopping list.

And as tempted as we are to get that perfect close up, we need to take care to make sure that we leave enough background in the photo so it can be sized for different products, cropped to fit and still show the subject centered nicely.

Having a photo where the top of the subjects head is right at the edge of the photo doesn’t leave much room for re-sizing or fitting on to some products. Try to make sure to get some background in so that it can go over the edges of the product you desire.

Let’s say you want a round ornament for the tree (figure 1)

And you took a great shot of the kids on the beach this summer or during your vacation last week. (figure 2)

It doesn’t really give us much room to work with to position that photo on the ornament nicely (figure 3)

 
figure 1 figure 2 figure 3

But now, lets just say you tamed that urge to get as close as possible and got a little bit more of the scenery in the background (figure 4)

We now have plenty of room to place your photo on to the ornament [or most other photo gifts)]
(figure 5)

And you have a great ornament for your tree or a gift for friends and family!
(figure 6)

 
figure 4 figure 5 figure 6

This mindset goes with most any types of photo gifts or photo projects. We can always crop out but its very hard to add to a photo.

So, While your snapping shots of your kids, family members, friends, even your dog this season, and especially those you’re going to send to us to put on photo
gifts, remember to step back a bit and get more of the background.

Even if your scenery is not as beautiful as our great Florida beaches, don’t worry, at most times, we’re going to bring your photo in closer and get rid of
some of it anyway.


Photo Tips taking photos to be placed on personalized gifts

Remember to visit www.TAGDesigns.com for
personalized gifts for the upcoming holidays (or any day)


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