Ribbon storage

So there was a thread on Ukscrappers on how to storage ribbons. Although there are many ways of doing so I found two really good ones: on empty kitchen rolls and on ring binders. I did the fisrt system for over two years with mix results, it's neat, accessible and the ribbon doesn't get any creases. However when you have as much ribbon as I do, they take a lot of space, and by a lot I mean seven deep A4 boxes like the ones on the photo.
After looking Saffa's storage I came up with something would allow me to use the dead space behind the door of my mini studio. It's a over the doos hanging thing form Tesco. In top two bars I have the reels of ribbon, and on the bottom one I have hooks which hold ring binders. Each ribbon is stapled to a white card that has a hole (to go thorugh the ring binder). Each ring correspond a colour, so if I need say red ribbon I only need to grab the red ring binder. The ribbon doesn't crease or get little holes from the pins. And it looks really pretty, much more than in the photo!

Doing some scrapping

I know I haven't been very good uploading projects (not that anyone reads this blog for that purpose). But finally I got some photos of some layouts I have done this past weeks. Here there is the first one, the one with my DH Omar. It is quite unusual for me to use more than two photos in a sigle layout specially this small. But I love it.

A day in London

Crafting is a solitaire hobby most of the time. You see, we are in our little (or not so little) studios designing our pages, cards or projects, listening music or whatever, but we are alone there. That is why forums such as Ukscrappers are so good for us. They allow us to meet people with the same interests and passions. And sometimes we meet in real life this virtual friends.
Tuesday, I met Anam and Sharon in London. We visited my favorite shops in Bloomsbury. Paperchase flaship shop in TottehamCourt Road is very impressive, they have lots of beautiful handmade papers and lovely acrylic storage. Faulkiners fine papers is just lush, a very old style shop that sell book binders stuff and large sheets of fine papers. And just off the British Museum, there is Blade Rubber, one of the few craft shops in London. I had a great time it's so nice to meet really nice crafters!

Chocolate, more chocolate

You know, there isn't a person on this earth that loves more chocolate than I do. Truly. I could live just on chocolate and the truth is, some days I actually do. And it has been always like that, as far as I can remember. So imagine my immense delight when I ate for the first time an individual hot chocolate cake which it's center was just melted chocolate. It was in 2001 and in a very posh place,The Soho House, invited by my good and very well connected friend Sephira. But, silly me, I didn't get the name of that delicious dessert, so for over two years I thought I would never taste it again. But then I found it somewhere else and this time I remembered to take the name. And it was: Chocolate fondant.
I have tried since then many, many, many different ones. Some good, some horrendous, some just plain perfection; some have different names such as Hot chocolate pudding or lava cakes... but all all them were either bought or tasted at a restaurant.
Fast forward to this summer. After spending two weeks with my mother in law watching the Food Channel, I really got into the cooking scene, so much so, that I am actually thinking of new dishes, new recipes... And not even two weeks ago I decided to look for a recipe for the Chocolate Fondant. It couldn't been easier. I found it and after a few trials, it has reach perfection to my taste. And that, trust me, is no small feat.

The messy house

This Christmas we stayed home because of many reasons. One of them was listed in another post, but one of the main reasons was so Omar and I could do some work on the house, which needs it desperately. Omar is keeping a blog of all his work on it. It takes so long, and so much money...
But hopefully the dining and living room will be done in ten days. I am sooo looking forward to that.

150

Read this in Julie's blog. Love it. The items that are in red are the things that i actually have done, the others I haven't.
1. Bought everyone in the bar a drink
2. Swam with wild dolphins
3. Climbed a mountain
4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive
5. Been inside the Great Pyramid (Been several times outside, but never wanted to go inside it's tomb!)
6. Held a tarantula (not a chance)
7. Taken a candlelit bath with someone
8. Said “I love you’ and meant it
9. Hugged a tree
10. Bungee jumped (What for?)
11. Visited Paris
12. Watched a lightning storm at sea
13. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise
14. Seen the Northern Lights
15. Gone to a huge sports game (does bullfighting count?)
16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa (when I went it wasn't possible)
17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables
18. Touched an iceberg (does the lettuce kind count?)
19. Slept under the stars (and count them all...........as if)
20. Changed a baby’s nappy (unfortunately)
21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon
22. Watched a meteor shower (the same night under the stars)
23. Got drunk on champagne (never ever got drunk, nor planning to, and I don't like alcoholic drink)
24. Given more than you can afford to charity
25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope
26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment
27. Had a food fight
28. Bet on a winning horse
29. Asked out a stranger
30. Had a snowball fight
31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can
32. Held a lamb
33. Seen a total eclipse
34. Ridden a roller coaster
35. Hit a home run
36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking
37. Adopted an accent for an entire day (When I am speaking in catalan in Catalunya I forget my mallorcan accent)
38. Actually felt happy about your life, even for just a moment (very often, as often as I feel the complete opposite)
39. Had two hard drives for your computer
40. Visited all 50 states
41. Taken care of someone who was drunk (never been on a situation when this could be done)
42. Had amazing friends
43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country (I'll dance with anyone as long as there are more people dancing and my husband nearby)
44. Watched wild whales
45. Stolen a sign
46. Backpacked in Europe
47. Taken a road-trip
48. Gone rock climbing
49. Midnight walk on the beach (not exactly walking, more like talking)
50. Gone sky diving
51. Visited Ireland (in our honeymoon, not a place for that though!)
52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love
53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table and had a meal with them (and talk to them)
54. Visited Japan (the most amazing and beautiful place ever!)
55. Milked a cow
56. Alphabetized your CDs (and realized that this wouldn't help)
57. Pretended to be a superhero
58. Sung karaoke ( I sing horribly, but you have to when you are in Japan, The Look of Love)
59. Lounged around in bed all day (on my really dark days, exactly a few days and a year a go)
60. Posed nude in front of strangers
61. Gone scuba diving
62. Kissed in the rain
63. Played in the mud
64. Played in the rain
65. Gone to a drive-in theatre
66. Visited the Great Wall of China
67. Started a business
68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken
69. Toured ancient sites
70. Taken a martial arts class
71. Played D&D for more than 6 hours straight
72. Got married
73. Been in a movie (not commercial though)
74. Crashed a party
75. Got divorced
76. Gone without food for 5 days
77. Made cookies from scratch (not exactly cookies but biscuits)
78. Won first prize in a costume contest
79. Ridden a gondola in Venice
80. Gotten a tattoo
81. Rafted the Snake River
82. Been on television news programmes as an “expert”
83. Got flowers for no reason (on the first weeks of our relationship, Omar sent me a beautiful rose by Interflora, and then lately some bouquets of white or red roses, my favorites)
84. Performed on stage (love it, love it, love it, but I didn't do it very often, pity)
85. Been to Las Vegas
86. Recorded music (I sing horribly, not know how to play any instrument, so I recorded lots of fake radio programs)
87. Eaten shark
88. Had a one-night stand
89. Gone to Thailand
90. Bought a house
91. Been in a combat zone
92. Buried one/both of your parents
93. Been on a cruise ship (been in a lots of boats, nothing fancy)
94. Spoken more than one language fluently ( I speak three, Spanish, English and Catalan)
95. Performed in Rocky Horror
96. Raised children (or…raising children)
97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour
98. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country ( a short one in France)
100. Picked up and moved to another city to start over (Does another country count? When I got married four years ago)
101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge
102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking
103. Had plastic surgery
104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived
105. Wrote articles for a large publication (Does Crafts Beautiful Count?)
106. Lost over 100 pounds
107. Held someone while they were having a flashback
108. Piloted an airplane
109. Petted a stingray
110. Broken someone’s heart
111. Helped an animal give birth
112. Won money on a T.V. game show
113. Broken a bone
114. Gone on an African photo safari
115. Had a body part of yours below the neck pierced
116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol
117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild (but only picked up by our wise neighbour)
118. Ridden a horse
119. Had major surgery
120. Had a snake as a pet
121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon
122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours
123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states (most certainly!)
124. Visited all 7 continents
125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days (and it was hell)
126. Eaten kangaroo meat
127. Eaten sushi (love japenese food but not sushi)
128. Had your picture in the newspaper
129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about ( I care deeply about many things, some of them not very important!)
130. Gone back to school (all the time on my dreams, nightmares!)
131. Parasailed
132. Petted a cockroach
133. Eaten fried green tomatoes ... yum!
134. Read The Iliad - and the Odyssey
135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read (loads at University)
136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
137. Skipped all your school reunions (There weren't any reunions, were there?)
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language (since I was little)
139. Been elected to public office (no, but been a student representative from High School trough University)
140. Written your own computer language
141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream
142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care
143. Built your own PC from parts
144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you (when I was in my father's art class to someone to my surprise)
145. Had a booth at a street fair
146. Dyed your hair
147. Been a DJ
148. Shaved your head
149. Caused a car accident
150. Saved someone’s life

Black Day

You know, I promise myself (kind of) to not talk about politics on my blog, although unfortunately I have a keen interest on the subject. But today I can not walk away from what happened yesterday and still is happening in my country, Spain. Yesterday, December 30th, a ETA bomb went off in one of the parkings of Madrid's International Airport. Two people are still under all the debris, suspected dead. The only people on earth that I hate are terrorists, whatever there cause is or whatever position in society have.

Mal de muchos, consuelo de tontos

I love Spanish (and English) old sayings because they are so on the money. And this one, on the title, means more or less : afflictions of many are fool's consolation. It comes to say that finding consolation in that other people are suffering or going through similar process of pain/disappointment/... is just plain stupid. But you what I don't care. I really find that the recent post in Ukscrappers that many people have been not so happy with their pressies.
It's not that I am happy that I am not the only one, it is just that it brings relief to know that all this present season is a little bit much with all the expectations of gifts.
I am quite happy now. It seems more likely that I will get the camera, although it is still uncertain.
Omar's work on the house is amazing, he is such a clever man, I am very, very lucky!

Not so bad on Boxing Day

So it turns out that some of my friends actually read my blog. I didn't think so. Honestly. My dear husband got really upset that I wrote about the whole event on the blog. I am sorry Sweet. Really sorry.
Life looks a little bit brighter at 27 (years old).

Christmas is soooo depressing

I am not sure how true is that in Christmas more people dissapear (voluntarily) and that the number of people depressed soars. I am not sure why, but although I love what Christmas is, it always turns out to be a dramatic disappointment for me. Maybe its due to the fact that is also my birthday on Christmas Day.
Take for instance this year. Our plans for the festive season included a trip to Egypt to be with Omar parents (last year my family came). Of course something important health related made that plan impossible. Not to worry. Maybe we could go to Canada and have a nice white Christmas, but, oh no! prices are crazy. All right we will stay at home alone (all friends are away or with family) and fix the house, because it certainly needs it.

Then comes the big decision about my present. Since its both Christmas and Birthday it tends to be a big present rather than two medium sized. So I make an small list. The two first presents are my dream and I know they are very expensive, specially the first one (a studio cabin in the garden so I can teach and design there). The second present is something I have wanted for over two years now. All right it is expensive, but I think that i will use it quite a lot and it is a D80 (before it was just a D70). The other three things on the list were: an voucher for my favorite scrapbooking shop, a voucher for House of Fraser and a Pamper day at my favorite beauty salon (to which I haven't been for almost a year).

My lovely husband doesn't like any of my listings. Friday, 22nd of December: we go to London to do some errands, then we go to Oxford street and we go to Currys where amazignly he buys me exactly what I wanted plus a personal photo printer. Wow! I can not believe my luck!
Next morning, Saturday 23rd of December, my husband realizes that he has spent too much money and starts to feel really bad about it. So I say that it's all right and that we must return the items. They are really expensive. Sunday, December 24rd: we go to our local Currys and return everything. I insisted on doing that, it is a lot of money. Then, my sweet husband spents two or three hours in my studio making me card, and that means a lot to me. Also he does me a voucher for something, what will it be?

This morning I wake up with the sweetest person in the world beside me and also with the cutest cat in the world beside us. Husband goes and gets me the card, it is gourgous, really nice and it says: The best thing about Chritsmas ... (inside) is you . He apologizes about the whole D80 event and he gives me a voucher for a "Deluxe haircut, makeup and photoshoot" just for me. It is so sweet, but inside me it's raining heavily. That is something I definetly don't want, and actually I feel quite uncomfortabily with the idea. I only trust a few people with my hair, and the whole makeup thingh is something more for a teenagers rather than someone who is already closer to thirty than twenty. To have a few phtos of me looking like someone else it is not something I would like to scrap or frame. A photoshoot with both of us by Kirsty Wiseman would have been perfect, I would have gotten to meet her and have some photos of both of us together.
Am I a selfish, ungrateful cow? I honestly think that I am, for that reason alone I feel depressed, seriously depressed and all I want to do is sit on my pijamas and cry on my sofa.