Free resources and links to learn glass painting!

Glass painting is a popular, pleasurable art and craft. And internet provides lot of basic information and guidelines for this hobby as well. I have searched at the web to make this post useful for you. I have checked these all links and then enlisted them, but I would be updating my post, as I get more useful and free resouces.

This hobby is an amazing creative art. If you could learn basics of this art, then you can create "master pieces!".
Yes, if you love drawing and know how to create/ make innovative projects then you are going to create real professional touch pieces of art.

I could find many free resources where you can not only learn basics of "glass painting" but get ideas from free patterns. At some sites, you can download the black& white pattern and print it.

It is also called "stained glass painting", or "Reverse glass painting". Stained glass is often used in the making of windows and lampshades, but is also useful for boxes, clocks, cabinet doors, picture frames and other 3-dimensional projects.

1- Hobby craft Here at this site, you can learn the basics of glass painting, so for beginners it is a good start link.

2- A tutorial with pictures: Stain on glass and How to apply It

3- Art of stained glass This site is dedicated to providing step by step video and photo instructions, on a variety of techniques. step by step video and photo illustrations will include both original color photographs and short videoclips that are easily downloaded.
The site not only give you some guidelines for beginners but for professionals or mature artists it provides information on:
• How to cut glass - from large sheets to small pieces.
• Perfect tube hinges for stained glass boxes.
• Designing your own lampshades - panel and on mold.
• Assembling an Odyssey shade without tacky wax.
• How to build a bird feeder.
• Foiling heavily textured glass.
• Lampshade photography.
• Pricing your work.

Beginners can start from here:
Art of stained glass-begginers

4- Free and easy stain glass patterns
Lot of free patterns

5- FREE patterns at this site: Stain glass free patterns This site features only stained glass patterns for windows and panels. All patterns are absolutely and completely free.
Each stained glass pattern page features both a black and white and a colored version to give you color ideas. Just below the series of black and white versions, you will see a small, but complete, black and white version of the pattern. It looks small on your screen, but if you right-click on it, as save to your computer, you will be saving a full size stained glass pattern which you can use to resize as you please.

6- Warner-Criv.com This is a commercial site, but you can get a lot of ideas and patterns for your stained glass projects free from this site. They are offering 173 free patterns.

7- Harmoney glass
These patterns are for sale, but you can just copy the pattern.

8- Forums are a good place to discuss about the topic and get advice or tips. This forum is free to participate. And it is only for "Stain glass" topic discussion. So you can get in touch with other persons having the same hobby and interest.
Link: Stain Glass Square

9- Chickadee dee dee offers free stain glass patterns.

Learn drawing from free to offer sites!- Part 1

From my student age I love art, crafts and drawing. Now I am an art teacher for reception year class, and love working with kids, especially teaching them drawing or crafts.
I was really astonished to see that internet has a rich source of really free and quality stuff about art/crafts and drawing.
Before creating this blog, I had many sites links saved at my hard disk and often read those lessons or articles about drawing. Now this blog is providing me an opportunity to share all that stuff with the parents, teachers and of course children.

My readers would be happy to know that there are number of sites, offering free drawing lessons. So hold a pencil and paper and get ready to DRAW:

1- Artists helping children
Artists Helping Children is a Children's site dedicated to comforting children by empowering artists and others to donate artwork, donated murals, donated art supplies, donated toys and a lot of love to sick and needy children. Artists Helping Children also helps artists by giving them information on how they can help the sick and poor children by volunteering to paint murals and other art for hospitals, shelters, clinics, etc.
We also have filled this site with free coloring pages & coloring printouts for children to color with as well as 1000s of free arts and crafts projects for kids to use when they need some crafts ideas.
Link: Artists helping children

2- Learn how to draw and improve your skill in no time with the help of an online coach. Whether you're an art teacher, art student, or just a hobbyist artist you will find the step by step education that will give you the ability to bring those images in your mind into paper reality.
monthly newsletter, Just Draw It. It's delivered at the end of each month and will inform you about new info that has been added to the site. It's a great way to keep up with the latest an greatest drawing tutorials from the coach.

*Drawing techniques
*Drawing blog
subscribe to Blog to get updates.

3- free drawing lessons at Fine art education

4- KinderArt® was developed in 1997, because they think art should be an important part of any home or school curriculum, and if there are easy-to-follow lessons with readily available materials, it makes the lives of artists, teachers and parents much easier.
The goal of KinderArt® has been, to make art lessons and educational information accessible to people around the world.
In addition to the thousands of free art lesson plans, they offer printable activity pages, the art kitchen, educational links and articles, early childhood education resources and much more.
Everyone who visits KinderArt® is encouraged to share their experiences, questions, comments and ideas. The result? A wonderful variety of lesson plans and educational tips complete with an online children's art gallery.

* lot of resources at Kinder Art

* Bulletin board ideas at Kinder Art

* Art from recycled materials

5- For art teachers a must check site: Every day Art
Art Curriculum for Classroom Teachers and Homeschoolers:
On this page classroom teachers and homeschoolers can find resources for teaching art, including classroom art projects for kids and guidelines for class discussion. These children's art lessons are open ended to stimulate creativity, and are flexible enough to work with a wide range of ages and abilities.
Page link: Art Curriculum for Classroom Teachers and Homeschoolers

* What is Art?

I liked the sentence at the bottom of the page, saying "Art makes kids smart" and I took the picture of it.

Few useful resources for primary teachers!

These are few links where you can get a lot of resources for your primary level subjects. All the information, work sheets or teaching material are FREE to use.

1-Primary Resources

Primary Resources offers free worksheets, lesson plans and teaching ideas for primary and elementary teachers.
Subjects covered: Maths, English, Science, History, Religious Education, Geography, Art, ICT

It has loads of brilliant information, worksheets, and homework ideas on each National Curriculum subject, appropriate for both key stages.
The files are downloadable as Adobe Acrobat PDF files and can be printed off for FREE!
For Numeracy or Literacy syllabus and work sheeets it is must see site.




2- Top Marks is aimed specifically at pupils, teachers and parents.

Although they bias their resources to UK curriculum requirements, but they are appreciated globally as well. All sites featuring on Topmarks are carefully reviewed by teachers.
This is a free to use site, with the aim to provide:

* Easy access to the best educational web sites.
* For Teachers to use the web in the classroom.
* For Parents to support the education of their children.
Launched in September 1998, and was conceived by Sue Spolton, a primary school teacher and Chris Spolton who designs the site.

*At parents resource section, you can find articles written by practising teachers designed to help with the education of your child. Topics are:
Sand & Water Play, Learning Numbers, Learning Words, Homework Help, Learning to Read, Starting Secondary School.

*Primary Classroom Resources section includes: Maths, English, Science, Other Subjects, Maths Games, Victorian Toys.

3- Teach it
Launched in 1999,by English teacher Siobhain Archer, Teachit is a trusted education resource, a free online library of learning resources,used by thousands of teachers nationwide.

Specialising in English, Drama and Media Studies from primary to post-16, the online Teachit library offers 9,565 pages of classroom materials, schemes of work, lesson plans and teaching tools, all created by working teachers

Link: Teach it

*Teaching Ideas section
gives you teaching tips from the experts, essential news, and resources.

4- Crick Web provides Free interactive resources and activities for Foundation Stage, Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2.
Subjects including:
Maths, English, Science, History, Geography, R.E., D.T., I.C.T.
(Three education stages in the U.K. covering the following ages;
Early Years/Foundation Stage for 4 to 5 year olds.
Key Stage 1 for 6 to 7 year olds.
Key Stage 2 for 8 to 11 year olds.)

What they are offering:
* 142 free to use educational interactive resources for Primary Schools.

* 12 free to use fun games for children aged 4 - 11.

* 70 web links to other free interactive, image and software resources.
(Highest number of daily visitors : 17,060 on 16th October)

Note: More sites and resources would be added as I get them.

Get Prayer time, calendar, and other useful information

Take advantage of these tools, which are very handy.

1- Prayer Times For 6 Million Cities Worldwide:

Prayer Times For 6 Million Cities Worldwide

Country: Select a country Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Ashmore Cartier Islands Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Bassas De India Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Ter.. British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burma Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman_Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Clipperton Island Cocos Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo Democratic Republic Cook Islands Coral Sea Islands Costa Rica Cote Dlvoire Croatia Cuba Cyprus Czech_republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic East Timor Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Europa Island Falkland Islands Malvinas Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French S. Antarctic Lands Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Glorioso Islands Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guatemala guernsey Guinea Guinea Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Is. Mcdonald Is. Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle Of Man Italy Jamaica Jan Mayen Japan jersey Jordan Juan De Nova Island Kazakstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao Peoples Dem. Rep. Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue No Mans Land Norfolk Island North Korea Norway Oceans Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paracel Islands Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Helena Saint Kitts Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Pierre Miquelon Saint Vincent Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Slovakia Slovenia Solomon_islands Somalia South Africa S. Georgia S. Sandwitch Is. South Korea Spain Spratly Islands Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard & Jan Mayen Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad Tobago Tromelin Island Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine Under Sea Features United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay US Virgin Islands USA Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City Venezuela Viet Nam Wallis Futuna West Bank Yemen Yugoslavia Zambia Zimbabwe

2- Gregorian/Hijri calendar service



3- Date conversion from Gregorian to Hijri or Hijri to Gregorian

Date Conversion

Gregorian to Hijri Hijri to Gregorian Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Month: January February March April May June July August September October November December Year

Sites for Islamic images and pictures

From a long age, I wanted to collect all links and resources about Islamic sites, miracle pictures, Islamic blogs, and Islam related stuff. Allah has fulfilled my wish, and now I am saving all my book mark sites, links, images at this blog to share with all. I love Arabic calligraphy and I love to draw Islamic pictures with calligraphic verses.

Here are some links and few pictures. I would be updating these posts, as I get new and more links and resources.
Islamic Finder has a good collection of pictures, which can be used as e-card also.

I liked the page with miracle pictures: Miracle pictures

Another site with miracle pictures is: Miracles of Islam To my knowledge they have the largest collection of authentic Islamic miracle pictures. You can subscribe there by entering you e-mail, to get updates at your inbox.
They say:
"This site provides you with access to Internet's largest collection of Islamic miracle pictures. Our goal and intention is not to prove Islam using these pictures, but to show the world that Allah's signs are visible all around."

Few pictures:




MOre sites with miracle pictures:

Pictures at Al-Iman

Note: This article and more article links would be updated as I get more links.

This is Truth- for the seekers of truth!

For the truth seekers, This is Truth is in fact a web version of a book, prepared by Abdullah M. Al-Rehaili. Brother Al-Rehaili compiled this book by transcribing a televised series by Dr. Abdul-Majeed Al-Zindani which is now on videotape.

The book shows recent scientific research, linking to Quranic verses.

In Truth seeker section of the site, importance of seeking truth is explained in a very clear way:

"Islam teaches that our Creator has given human beings the faculty of reason. Therefore, it is incumbent upon them to reason things out objectively and systematically for themselves to ponder, to question and to reflect.

Nobody should press you to make a hasty decision to accept any of the teachings of Islam, for Islam teaches that human beings should be given the freedom to choose. Even when a person is faced with the truth, there is no compulsion upon him to embrace it.

But before you begin to form an opinion about Islam, ask yourself whether your existing knowledge about it is thorough enough. Ask yourself whether that knowledge has been obtained through third party sources who themselves have probably been exposed to only random glimpses of Islamic writings and have yet to reason out on Islam objectively and systematically themselves.

Is it fair enough that one should form an opinion about the taste of a particular dish just by a mere hearsay from others who may themselves have not necessarily tasted the dish yet?

Similarly you should find out for yourself about Islam from reliable sources and not only taste it, but rather digest it very well before you form an opinion of it. That would be an intellectual approach to the truth.

In making your next move to the truth, Islam continually reassures you that your rights to freedom of choice and freedom to use that God-given faculty of thought and reason will be respected, for everyone has that individual will. No one else can take away that will and force you to submit to the true way of your Creator, you have to find out and make that decision yourself!"

What is this book about?

"The contents of this book were originally presented in the form videotape, in which several meetings and dialogues were conducted with well-known scientists in different fields of science. This was done to examine the scientific facts mentioned in several Qur'aanic verses, and to highlight the fact that the religion of Islam encourages science and the acquisition of knowledge with absolutely no contradiction between the Qur'aanic revelation and the scientific facts.

The scientists who participated in these dialogues were all non-Muslims, most of whom were explaining some scientific facts which they have realized only very recently and after several years of research and study. When they were told that what they have just discovered recently was already referred to either directly or indirectly in the Holy Qur'aan more than 1400 years ago, they showed a great deal of astonishment. Their comments were varied, but almost all of them confessed that this Qur'aan could not have come from any human or ordinary source. Indeed, some of them were convinced and have affirmed that the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) is a messenger from Allah, to the point that one of them even embraced Islam by declaring the Islamic creed otherwise known as the "Shahaadah" and thus became a Muslim.

When those experts and authorities of science acclaim these facts, they actually demonstrate a proof of the truthfulness of Islam in front of their fellow scholars and to those endowed with less knowledge among their own people. They are actually opening closed doors and paving the road to the true faith in Allah, the Lord of the universe. What then, is the excuse of those who turn away from faith after these proofs and the testimonies of those scientists?"

As This is Truth is a web version of the said book, the site gives links many topics, including:

* What is Islam
* Quran
* Muhammad
* Islam and Science
* Modern Science
* Truth Seeker

More topics start from creation of man, human body, origin of earth, seas & oceans,astronomy etc. Site is easy to navigate and you can get printer friendly pages to print out the articles and pictures.

May our intellectual journey towards the truth be a pleasant and fruitful one... Amen

How addiction of Watching TV is affecting our lives?

This is a fact that we spend a large amount of our lives watching T.V. And beside work, sleep and eating, main activity of our life revolves around T.V programmes.

But how much time of our life, we are watching TV?
* An opinion of a participant at a message board:
"According to the TV Turn Off Network (formerly TV-Free America) people watch an average of 4 hours and 35 minutes a day. If you watch just 4 hours of television every day (not an outlandish estimate), and live to be 70, it will amount to 11.6 years of continuous television watching."
Link:We spend 11 years our lives

How much T.V is effecting our health,lives, cultures, latest studies show a clear picture of it.

As to a report where watching T.V is considered "Electric Herion" and is called a serious addiction. And effects of this addiction are analyzed very clearly here:

"Not unlike drugs or alcohol, the television experience allows the participant to blot out the real world and enter into a pleasurable and passive mental state. The worries and anxieties of reality are as effectively deferred by becoming absorbed in a television program as by going on a 'trip' induced by drugs or alcohol. And just as alcoholics are only vaguely aware of their addiction, feeling that they control their drinking more than they really do ('I can cut it out any time I want—I just like to have three of four drinks before dinner'), people similarly overestimate their control over television watching. Even as they put off other activities to spend hour after hour watching television, they feel they could easily resume living in a different, less passive style. But somehow or other, while the television set is present in their homes, the click doesn't sound. With television pleasures available, those other experiences seem less attractive, more difficult somehow.
"Finally it is the adverse effect of television viewing on the lives of so many people that defines it as a serious addiction. The television habit distorts the sense of time. It renders other experiences vague and curiously unreal while taking on a greater reality for itself. It weakens relationships by reducing and sometimes eliminating normal opportunities for talking, for communicating." [p.p. 23-25, Marie Winn, THE PLUG IN DRUG; Penguin, 1977. ISBN - 0-14-007698-0]

Washington Post, Terence McKenna's FOOD OF THE GODS says, "television is emotionally equivalent to electronic heroin"

Link for the article: Report

I have given more information about how TV affects our brain at one of my article:
You-watch-tv-to-turn-your-brain-off/

More articles:

- Why-You-Want-to-Keep-Your-Baby-Away-From-the-TV--12053.aspx

- tv-is-not-the-truth-even-if-you-think-it-is.htm

- parents_arent_limiting_kids_tv_media_time

- tv-does-more-damage-to-your-children-than-you-ever-imagined.htm

- tv_be_gone.htm

- TV and Games Linked to Antisocial Behavior

* The children's communication charity I CAN has conducted further research to find out why language skills are declining.
Its poll of 1,000 Britons suggests that parents are so caught up with their daily routines - including TV viewing - they are neglecting to find time to chatter to their children.
According to the survey, a third of parents spend less than two hours a day engaged in conversation with their children.
However 38 per cent spend more than two hours a day in front of the television and 47 per cent spend at least two hours on domestic duties.
The findings sparked warnings that busy parents are failing to realise the importance of conversation in the home.
Scientific studies have shown that talking to children, especially under-fives, is crucial for brain development.

Article link: 'Parents spend more time watching TV than talking to their children'

* A site dedicated for screen time awareness( About turning off the TV): TV Turn Off

Few words about the site:
"Center for SCREEN-TIME Awareness( TV Turn Off.org) provides information so people can live healthier lives in functional families in vibrant communities by taking control of the electronic media in their lives, not allowing it to control them."

*Mark Stibich, PhD, is a behavior change expert, over 10 years of experience in helping individuals make health changes and increase their wellness. His opinion about watching tv:

From Mark Stibich, Ph.D.,
1. Television Eats Your Time
2. Television Makes You Stressed
3. Television Makes You Overweight
4. Television Makes You Uninteresting
5. Television Ruins Your Relationships
6. Television is Not Relaxation
7. Television Loses Opportunities
8. Television is Addictive

Television can become addictive. Signs of TV addiction include:
-using the TV to calm down
-not being able to control your viewing
-feeling angry or disappointed in how much TV you watch
-feeling on edge if kept from watching
-feeling a loss of control while watching
9. Television Makes You Buy Things
10. Television Costs Money

Article link: Turn off TV

* A parents suggestion to limit watching tv

Ready Web-- A resource for parents and educators

A very impressive and easy to navigate site "
Ready Web" is an electronic collection of resources for early childhood and school rediness. So for parents and teachers this site is a valuable source of inforamation, research based studies, tips and advices.

Founded at: December 9, 2006

ReadyWeb provides a Virtual Library of the full text of documents and articles, and hyperlinks to documents and articles, on various topics related to school readiness.
"ReadyWeb" also provides bibliographies of documents and journal articles from the ERIC database.

Link to virtual library where you can find 4 catagories:
1-Tips for Parents

2-Research, Statistics, and Definitions

3-Getting Schools Ready for Children

4-Public Policy Issues and Initiatives

Virtual library
For parents: There is a long list of articles which take you to other sites or information sources.

Check here: Tips for Parents

I am giving here few article links, rest of the articles, or research reports are also a source of information.

** Tips to Help Children Adjust for both parents and teachers

** Preventing Reading Difficulties Before Kindergarten

ReadyWeb is a project of the Early Childhood and Parenting (ECAP) Collaborative, College of Education, at the University of Illinois.

It was originally funded, at least in part, with Federal funds from the U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences.

Achievements:
* ReadyWeb has been awarded the Parenting Q&A Seal of Approval.
* ReadyWeb has received the LookSmart Editor's Choice award.
* ReadyWeb has been rated in the Top 5% of all Web sites by Lycos.
* ReadyWeb has received the
* "RECOGNIZED BY 4therapy.com AWARD" as a Web site that provides a useful public service to consumers and/or professionals seeking information on the Internet.
* ReadyWeb was featured in the July 20-September 20, 2004, issue of Parents' Source as a great resource for the whole family!