Many designers and independent professionals start their business by themselves alone, and need to spend as little as possible in all that they can. What do you imagine when you think in starting your business? You will for sure think in things like business cards, flyers, catalogs... A business usually needs lots of printing services. Specially at these times of economical crisis, your costs must be controlled. Good printing services tend to be expensive, and can take a big portion of what you earn. And they are in fact the face of your business. The printed materials are what people see when they approach: the business card, of course, but also the posters in your office, a club card, a bookmark, calendars that you give each end of year and make your customers remember you... Sacrificing these things means offering a poor first impression, something that any company can't afford. When your new small business starts its activity, you can benefit from online printing, that is much cheaper than traditional print shops. Some reach a high quality, like for example PsPrint's printing services, and once you use it you will never leave them. They have online tools for designing your printing materials, and also professionals that can design them for you. So, as Christmas is coming soon, you will surely have some printings to do. And online printing is one of the best options.

My friend Gogue (if you remember some time ago I interviewed him, and you can read it here) went to New York again this last week, after 5 years and was received by Bill Gallo in the editorial office of the New York Daily News. Bill Gallo was born in Manhattan the 28th of December 1922, and is one of the most prestigious cartoonists of the United States. He has been working for the Daily News since 1941. He was called to arms and took part in the World War II in the Pacific Ocean area. He is the creator of the characters Bertha and Yuchie, very well known in the American press. His greatest passions are baseball and boxing, and he has been drawing cartoons about these for many years, and getting awards and mentions because of his creativity and humanity. He has thousands of admirers both in the USA as well as in the rest of the world. He got the James J. Walker Award from the Boxing Writers Association, and the Champions Award from the Downtown Athletic Club. He was also included into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He also received the National Cartoonist Society Milton Caniff Lifetime Achievement Award in 1998, and many countless awards more, what makes this brilliant artist one of the most admired cartoonist of the American press of nowadays.

“I grew up in this town, my poetry was born between the hill and the river, it took its voice from the rain, and like the timber, it steeped itself in the forests.” - Pablo Neruda- November was a rainy month where I was born. And I had never thought to tell this but I miss the rainy days. This is for nostalgic people like me. Enjoy it! Photo by ZoneDancer Photo by pfly Photo by accent on eclectic Photo by Noël Zia Lee Photo by John-Morgan Photo by James Jordan Photo by gregor_y Photo by Lori Greig Photo by Frapestaartje Photo by paalia Photo by lepiaf.geo Photo by ex_magician

I've done these Photoshop brushes. And I want to share them with you. Download them for free, but before please read and understand the terms of use. Terms of use These brushes are free to use in commercial and non-commercial designs, as long as you follow these conditions: - The brushes can't be sold. You can sell the designs you make with the brushes, but not the brushes themselves. - They must be downloaded clicking the links from this article in blog.emmaalvarez.com. If you like the brushes and want your visitors to download them, place a link to this post, so they come and download them from here. Don't directly link them. - You can't redistribute the brushes without my explicit consent. If you want to pack them in a clipart library, cd or dvd, or anything else, ask me first. - You can't claim these brushes as yours. - Don't use these brushes in racist, sexist, hateful or blaspheme works. - You can link back and name blog.emmaalvarez.com in your website or designs, but it's not required, although I will appreciate it. Sunflower Brushes Click here to download

As you know, every time that someone who uses my brushes sends me a link to the works done with them, I save it. Later, I choose the best ones to be featured here. Lately, I have received rather good works and It's difficult to choose. My congratulations to the authors for their artworks and I encourage them and the others to continue taking part in this contest. Meditation on the river by Irinama Forbidden Rose by Ladyamalthea12 Dana by *uppuN Happy Halloween 2009 by *uppuN Waiting for my love by *starscape629 Princess Moonbeam by *starscape629 Watching Over Your Shoulder by =TheDeviantIndigo 7- Heaven by ~J1Star Scene of the Forest by *NiteMuse Ice Vampyre w background by ~Ohai-Tei-Chan

It's the 20 anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. But did you know that...? It was built in just one night, in some hours between days 12th and 13th of August 1961. It was also called the Wall of Shame. It was demolished on November 10, 1989. The length of the Berlin Wall was more than 140 Kms long (87 miles). Its purpose was to divide Germany in two parts: West and East. One was the democratic Germany, and the other the communist (although called German Democratic Republic). That wall separated many family members. Many people died trying to cross that wall. They shot everyone that tried to go through that. Over 200 people died this way, and 5,000 tried to cross the wall. The wall made difficult to travel to Germany, and this was the cause of many protests. During a mass and live press conference with Gunter Schabowski (member of the German socialist party), the Italian journalist Riccardo Erman asked him when will the traveling permissions be legal between the two German countries. The politician answered "immediately", and that night people started to pull down the Wall of Shame with their hands. The Berlin Wall costed 16 million of German Marks. The pieces of the Wall of Berlin were sold as souvenirs and some Germans nowadays still have some of them in their houses. Fragments of the Berlin Wall have been auctioned sometimes.

"[Choir] I can feel a sorrow linger in my mind And the dark that follows Makes me falter in my life There's a darkness, there's a light A narrow path and a wide [Choir] There is no tomorrow for the lost and blind There's no glee, nor sorrow In the maelstrom of their minds There's an hour, there's a time Is this the end of the line? [Choir] There's a fire fading deep within Lost it's spark, it's will to be There are seven doors within my dreams I've found them all, but still no key [Choir]" -lyrics of the original song- You can find this song "The Mind Maelstrom" in the last album of Sirenia called "The 13th Floor" edited in April of this year. Sirenia is a Norwegian band. Their style is between gothic and symphonic metal. The band began in 2001 and "The 13th Floor" is their fifth album. Hope you like this song!

The Twilight Saga: New Moon Director: Chris Weitz Screenwriter: Melissa Rosenberg Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Rachelle Lefevre, Billy Burke, Peter Facinelli, Nikki Reed, Kellan Lutz, Jackson Rathbone, Michael Sheen, Dakota Fanning Genre: Romance, Thriller Plot: For all the fans of the writer Stephanie Meyer. This is the second part of "Twilight". For Bella Swan there is nothing more important than the vampire Edward Cullen, but their romance is more dangerous than she could ever imagine. Bella may lose everything, and endanger the people she loves. The Road Director: John Hillcoat Screenwriter: Joe Penhall and Nick Wechsler Starring: Viggo Mortensen, Robert Duvall, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Kodi Smit-McPhee Genre: Thriller Plot: This movie is based on a novel by Cormac McCarthy. There has been a nuclear holocaust. A father tries to protect his son in this devastated world. He tries to go to the south, near the sea, but this won't be easy at all. People have gone mad and many have become cannibals. 2012 Director: Roland Emmerich Screenwriter: Roland Emmerich and Harald Kloser Starring: John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woody Harrelson Genre: Action Plot: A Mayan prophecy said that the world is going to end on 2012. A group of scientists discover how to open a dimensional gate to a parallel universe. Their objective is to prevent the apocalypse.