March 13, 2012
The tradition of bread in Portugal is a Gourmand's Award Book!
I bought myself a pair of purple shoes!
Porto has lots of shoe shops. You can find designer shoes and simple ones, cheap and expensive ones all in one street. As it was sales time I could not resist to return home with a new pair of shoes for half price!
Portugal is the world's eighth-largest producer of wine (Port Wine, Vinho Verde, and Madeira Wine) and the world’s largest producer of cork. Other major exports are clothing, synthetic fibers, paper products, and footwear. From January to June of 2011, Portugal exported footwear to over 130 countries in five continents. More than 95% of Portugal's production was exported.
"The Portuguese footwear industry, a youthful, sexy, modern, forward-facing industry that combines tradition with cutting-edge technology and know-how with the best in design, is constantly evolving." - Check the blog Portuguese Shoes for all information on Portuguese shoes if you are curious!
Well, I bought a pair of Aerosoles shoes. I like this brand a lot. These shoes are very comfortable and the design is great. I do a lot of walking especially since I sold my car. So I need good, comfortable shoes that last and look good for a long time. Aerosoles are not cheap but they are worth the price.
When the American Aerogroup launched the brand, the U.S. company chose a Portuguese company named Investvar for the main supplier of shoes to the European continent. Then Africa and middle East followed with four production facilities in Portugal and India. For more than 20 years Investvar was our biggest shoes exporter. In 2010 Aerogroup ended the contract with Investvar. But fortunately these good shoes are still being manufactured here in Portugal and it can be found easily in many shops. (This is just an opinion, I wasn't paid in any way to write this postage!)
March 12, 2012
#7 Zazzle Store: Portuguese Filigree at Sílvia Neto's Zazzle Store
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Hello readers! It has been a long time since my last products showcase. I had a problem with one Zazzler if you remember. He disliked my blog linking to his store and made a complaint to Zazzle. I thought about giving up showing products. But I think there's no need for that. I can make it this way. Instead of showing multiple products of several stores at one time I'll pick one store at each time and first I will ask the owner if I can promote. It will be the end of any possible problems.
Today's collection of products is the work of Sílvia Neto´s. She's also Portuguese. I like what she creates a lot. These products below are inspired by traditional portuguese filigree. She even managed to mix it with St.Patrick Day's clovers and the result is awesome. Sílvia is a professional designer and illustrator. You can take a look at her personal site to check her talent for book illustration and design also.
Contemporary handicraft in Gaia - Amor de Galo
A few weeks ago, you know, I went to Porto. As usual, I try to make the best of my time when I go there. As the weather was fine I crossed D.Luis bridge over the river Douro and went to Gaia, the city that stands in front of Oporto. The view from there is superb.
In Gaia I found this super cute store that sells contemporary handicraft. The store is very small but is packed with beautiful crafts. And the girl in the store was so very nice. I really enjoyed our little chat while watching all the pieces in the display. Quite an exquisite selection of modern handcrafted dolls, necklaces, purses, toys. If you have seen my previous post now you can understand where some of these modern crafters get their inspiration - the heart shape you can see on the store wall is from traditional filigree heart. I loved a purse with this shape and a necklace too. Unfortunately, my souvenir budget was already spent by the time I reached the store. The name of the store is Amor de Galo ( Rooster's Love). The store has a blog with the same name - Amor de Galo - if you want to visit online.
How Portuguese filigree is made
The art of filigree found its origin in the Far East maybe China and India. It's a delicate, lace-like ornamental openwork composed of intertwined wire threads of gold - 19.25 Karat gold is used in Portuguese jewelry -or silver. It's known since Greek and Roman civilizations. One of the most ancient known traces of filigree work was a pair of earrings found at Citânia de Briteiros, an Iron Age settlement located near Braga in the northern part of the country. If you are familiar with traditional Minho region folklore, you maybe remember women using several pieces from this art, necklaces, and earrings. The gold hearts were considered essential for a bride's dowry in the Minho.
Filigree is flourishing in Portugal today as it has for generations. Today in the northern area of Portugal there's an active goldsmith industry that produces beautiful works like the ones you can see in the video. Póvoa de Lanhoso and Gondomar are the most representative places. It is a demanding art requiring patience and skill, consisting of curling, twisting and plaiting fine, pliable threads of metal and uniting them by means of gold or silver solder and borax. Very delicate work is generally protected by a framework of heavier wire. Popular motifs are the butterfly but also hearts, the Barco Rabelo, - a vessel that used to sail the Douro River - the caravela, - the Portuguese ship of the 15th century - the Galo de Barcelos - the Portuguese rooster - the daisy - we call it malmequer. Check these dangling earrings referred to as queen earrings. I have a pair of the smallest to a friend and here she is. Aren't they lovely? Watch this video to know more.
March 3, 2012
#6 Zazzle Stores: Janette Dengo's Store at Zazzle
Compassionate Fury by janettedengo
Find more small canvas prints at zazzle.com
“I receive daily inspirations into my emails, stay in touch with friends and “butterflies” (people who come and go in and out of my life) I meet online. I love getting to know people. Once in a while, I run across a person who I may have a strong connection with and similar interests, and these are our balance partners. “
I was impressed by the beautiful photos I found on Janette Dengo’s blog and by her paintings too. Just look at the two posters she’s yelling at her Zazzle store. I decided to discover a little more about Janette and headed for her complete website where I found links to all the places where she sells her artwork and writing.
Who is this lady? She has an interesting life philosophy and while I was reading her About the artist I got the impression that she’s a very strong and sensitive person. Janette was born in Kosice, Slovak Republic, Europe in 1973. She's an award-winning artist. Now she lives in Canada but before that, she lived in Austria and Slovakia. She had to face a lot of challenges like learning a new language. She held numerous part-time jobs while finishing high school and receiving her OSSD and a year later pursuing a college degree in General Business. She believes that everything in life happens for a reason. After a car accident, she quitted her job and got married. Then she decided to venture off into a field unknown and became a desktop publisher while playing and experimented back into the art field. In the early part of 2007, she began opening and designing multiple online galleries and stores, where her artwork and designs are now displayed, viewed and purchased. Art and writing is the life she loves, a family is her priority. All her poems and articles are published at her present primary publishing site for writers called HELIUM. Love for arts and passion for color has opened Janette’s window to endless possibilities. She enjoys photography, painting, writing, illustrating, mixed media, jewelry design, sewing and she’s constantly experimenting with different textures and colors. Most of her inspiration comes from nature and the elements. Janette loves learning and she's pretty much self-taught herself everything to do with website building while spending a lot of time on the net. Laughter is a must in her daily living. Finally, Janette believes that we are all here to learn what we are meant to.
Now that you know a bit about her, go on and take a look at her website Janette Dengo's Fine Art and Photography or her Helium site and, of course, her Zazzle Store.
March 2, 2012
Very nice and affordable accommodation at Porto
Hello again! This week I went up north to Oporto. As many of you know Oporto is my favorite Portuguese city for sightseeing and taking photographs, for shopping, for enjoying cultural events, for having fun and so much else. I am trying hard to find a job there so I can go back and stay for good. I lived there twice and I believe I will get a third chance. But so far I had no luck!
When I go to Porto sometimes I stay with friends and sometimes I book a hotel. I tried three and four-star hotels and other accommodations. But lately, I can't afford that anymore and I constantly search for affordable alternatives. I am sharing with you some photos and my opinion about Residencia Pedra Antiga, the place I booked this time. It's located on Sta. Catarina street one of the biggest and popular streets of the city for a large number of shops in it. It's in Porto downtown wish means you're near important monuments, theatres and bars, and maybe some 15-20 minutes away from Ribeira and River Douro, a very enjoyable walk all the way down. If you want there are metro and bus nearby that will take you everywhere in the city. The railway station isn't far also.
In this first photo, you can see the reception and Andreia sitting at her desk. Andreia was a very nice host. We have to climb a stair from the front door to this first floor. When I left the Residência she was kind enough to carry my luggage down. As I once fell off a stair and get easily scared by it I was really thankful.
Note that I am not getting any kind of reward by writing this post. This is an honest opinion and I hope it can be useful to you if you have plans to visit this city. It's a good choice if you are thinking of visiting Porto and want an affordable solution for your accommodation. I paid 20 euros/night for all this = 26, 4 USD. The city has a lot of good offer for every kind of wallets.
Crime on TV and real life
Today I bring you the story of one of the most horrendous crimes that took place in Portugal. I read in the newspaper that it happens 25 years ago on March 1st, 1987. The place where it all happened is not far from where I live, maybe 50 km. From time to time I can’t sleep at night and so I watch TV. I watched countless episodes of crime series like CSI, Criminal Minds, Law and order, Cold case, The forgotten, The Mentalist, Bones, Profiler, Lie to me, Prime suspect… These programs deal with the ugly side of life, they depict so much evil. Yet, I watch it. I don’t even like some of these TV shows very much. I just watch it because it's available. My favorite is Dexter. Dexter hasn’t bored me yet! In fact, I think it’s exceptional.
Why is crime series so popular? Why do we tune in to shows containing so much violence? Usually, I am not impressed by it as I always keep in mind that what I am watching isn’t real. But some episodes of some of these series have stories that are really disturbing. More than the violence it's the abnormal deaths or a strange murderer personality that sometimes makes us think after turning off the TV. One may think that it’s only fiction. But once in a while, a violent crime happens in the world or in our country or in our neighborhood reminding us that we’re all exposed to violence in the real world and that violence is unpredictable and real.
The Massacre of the Whale Bone Beach is on our memory and when we travel to the area of Marinha Grande city. Victor Jorge was 38 years old when he killed seven people in cold blood, including his wife and daughter. He worked in a bank and in his spare time he worked as a wedding and baptism photographer. Five of the persons that were shot on the beach have just attended a birthday party. He had a relationship with one of the ladies. After the beach killing, he turned for home and stabbed his wife and daughter. He spared his younger daughter who begged for her life.
He escaped but was arrested a few days later and confessed the crimes. He was presented to a grand jury and convicted to 20 years in prison, which was the maximum sentence under the Portuguese Criminal Code. Some psychiatrist specialists defended he was insane but doctors that examined him ensure that nothing was detected in the direction of his incapacity. He was then imprisoned and become a model prisoner. He even helped to the Mass. He was freed after 14 years in prison benefiting from amnesties agreed during his captivity. Its release in October 2005 shocked the country again, this time by the alleged leniency of penal laws in Portugal. Vitor Jorge went abroad, to live with relatives in England, and has attempted suicide several times.
Last month another killing made the newspapers headlines. At Alentejo, a man killed his wife, his daughter, his granddaughter and pets with a big knife, a catana. He lived a normal life for a few days after the crime was committed. He lived in the company of the dead bodies that were hidden in the house. Then his daughter’s boyfriend started to make questions. He was caught and explained that he wanted to spare the family from misery as they were facing financial problems. The now called Monster of Beja has committed suicide in prison. No one claimed the body yet and he may be buried as an indigent.
So we all get shocked reading about these facts in the newspaper or in this blog. But we still sit in front of the TV and watch crime series even when the bad guy escapes. Actual crime series is all about murders, rapes, kidnappings, child abuse. It’s heavy content for daily night TV menu. One TV show did surprise me for a different approach, it’s a White Collar. White collar's writers balance the seriousness of solving white collar crimes with plenty of humor and sarcasm. It’s sleek and sophisticated. I like the easy plots and the characters, the acting, and locations. The con-man-works-with-police-man thing isn’t new but this show is pretty enjoyable.
And, yes, we do have some crime series made in Portugal. But I haven’t watched the recent ones. Zé Gato (1979) and Duarte e Companhia, (1989) made history on Portuguese TV. The last one was very funny. Cidade Despida is from 2010. The leading actress is Catarina Furtado, a well-known TV shows Portuguese presenter. Check the trailer above.
February 25, 2012
St. Patrick's Day Pinterest Challenge
Are you on Pinterest? I am. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard that allows users to organize and share images that they find on the internet. You can create your own boards for any topic you can think of, pin images to those boards, and browse pinboards created by others. Once you create an account, you can add the Pin-It Button to your Bookmarks Bar which will allow you to easily "Pin" any image from any page on the web to one of your pinboards!
Zazzle just announced a challenge that involves Pinterest! You can win some prizes, yeah!
St. Patrick's Day is just around the corner, so show off that Irish pride (everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, right?) by joining in our Pinterest Challenge for your chance to win a $100 Zazzle Gift Certificate! Here is how it works:
1.Create a pinboard with the title "My Favorite St. Patrick's Day T-shirts".
2. Pin your favorite St. Patrick's Day T-shirt designs to your board! You can pin as many designs as you'd like, but make sure that at least 10 of them are from Zazzle! (You can definitely add more than 10.)
3. Send an email to pinterestchallenge@zazzle.com with the Subject Line: "St. Patrick's Day Pinterest Challenge" containing a link to your pinboard.
That's it! Have fun with it and feel free to browse other people's pinboards!
Prizes:
1 Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 Zazzle Gift Certificate and their pinboard featured on the Zazzle Blog.
4 additional winners will receive $25 Zazzle Gift Certificates.
February 22, 2012
Have you heard about Pixelmator?
I've been trying to make this blog more useful to my readers. So when I find a good tool that you can use to create graphics or promote your online business or blog I'll write a small post about it. I use an old version of Photoshop when I need to paint with my tablet or edit photographs. Photoshop is very good but very expensive. Many of us don't need to use all the tools, effects and possibilities of this Adobe Software. One of the most talked about and used alternatives is the free a and popular GIMP. But I found an excellent review about PIXELMATOR and PIXELMATOR tutorials also!! I can't try it because it's a MAC software only. But I am not selfish so here it is! Check this link to the PIXELMATOR fully functional 30 day trial. PIXELMATOR isn't free, it costs 30 USD. That's a bargain if it delivers what it promises. Try it and let me know what you think!
A suggestion that was left in the comments section - thank you so much! - is a link to a site that has more tutorials on PIXELMATOR ! Don't forget to check this one also!
Carnival at Figueira da Foz
Pedro Cruz is the author of these photos. He publishes his work in many newspapers and magazines. I asked his permission to post it for you. He's a local young man, a journalist who is also passionate about taking photos.I think he has a keen eye for photography. Want to see more? Check out this link to his Carnival 2012 album on Facebook.
Thousands came to Figueira da Foz to watch the Carnival parade on the Avenue of Brazil, near the beach, on Sunday. The weather was great, lot's of sunshine, no wind. This year the kings of the Carnival were a former football player, Paulo Futre, - I wrote about him before on a post about Licor Beirão advertising campaign - and a local female figure. In addition to several decorated floats that focused on the satire of national and international recent political events, many masked people, adults and children, and the samba schools filled the street with color and animation.
February 21, 2012
World Harmony Run starts at Figueira da Foz
To find out more about the World Harmony Run and the progress of the running teams, visit “Live from the road” at www.worldharmonyrun.org
February 18, 2012
Caretos de Podence, oldest Carnival in Portugal
The next days are dedicated to Carnival celebrations all over the world. So I bring you the oldest Portuguese Carnival. Its origins go back in time. It’s the Carnival of Podence a small village in northern Portugal. Men you’ll watch in this video are known as Caretos. They become superior beings, they are magical figures when they wear tin masks with a hooked nose, colored wool bangs, and a stick. Only men and boys can wear these masks and suits and they are like devils that chase women on the streets. They grab women, especially single women, and then they shake the body. The belt has cowbells – chocalhos - attached so the dance is quite noisy. The gesture of beating with chocalhos is related to the beating Pan priests gave women in the Spring festivals. They believed women would get pregnant with such a beating. Caretos has its origin in those fertility rituals and Spring announcing festivals.
I understand the growing curiosity that Podence's Carnival and Caretos are causing as people are getting tired of getting more of the same. Why not starting something new but with some local meaning? More and more we want to escape reality but to experience genuine and traditional festivities, not a poor sample of what Brazil is making. For that I rather stay at home.
Listen to this cool music inspired by Caretos. It's from Stealing Orchestra.Stealing Orchestra is a band from Porto, Portugal exploring music through sampling and real instruments since 1997.
February 9, 2012
The true house of Flintstones is in Portugal
Hello once more!
A friend of mine read the recent post I wrote about Monsanto's big rocks and houses and phone me saying that she once visited this house that has been built between four rocks in the hill of Fafe. It stands in the north of Portugal. I made a quick search. It seems everybody knew about it but me! This House of Stone - A Casa do Penedo - was built in 1972 when Rodrigues family discovered the rocks on the hill on a spring afternoon. They decided to build a house and bought the land. They had no phone or electricity or water but they spent their holidays in the House of Stone. It has a fireplace and pool, interior stairs, what a shame no one lives there anymore. A few years ago everybody was talking about it on the internet as someone took photos of it and called her The true Flintstones house. Because of vandalism, it has bulletproof windows and a steel door! Everyone is climbing the hill of Fafe to take a look at this peculiar house. No one lives there anymore and the house can be rented. Take a look at the video!
February 8, 2012
Free download Cupid Paper Toy
Hello Zazzlers and friends!
Today I bring you a free download for Valentine's Day - It's the very famous CUPID!
I used Scribd before to giveaway printable calendars. You must log to Scribd to download the file. All you have to do is Download the file - Print the file - Cut the parts - Glue it using the grey area - Fold it - G.I.V.E!!
I hope you like this small surprise from A Portuguese Love for Valentine's Day! Still a lot of time to play with paper and scissors!
An easy way to download it is via GOOGLE DOCS!
No need to sign in. Here's the link!
https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B1i0BetaI52lNGRiNTM3MzMtM2ZjOS00ZDAzLTlmZmMtYzAyNDA2MDNhZDI4
Cupid Paper Toy 2012
February 7, 2012
Monsanto - An historical portuguese village
A friend of mine, Lia Flora, - thank you Lia! - went to Monsanto and made a couple of nice photos. I asked her if I could share it with you and she said yes. I prefer to show you photos taken by Portuguese people on travel than to show you the ones I have from advertising sources. Sometimes these late are digital retouched. This way I give you what you could really see if you were on the spot.
Monsanto is a peculiar village. It belongs to Castelo Branco District. It's in mid-Portugal, nearby to the Spanish border. Look at the map. In the summer the temperature is very high in this region, in winter it can get very cold. I am sure you would love the local scenery where the houses are built only with granite stone, a local and natural resource. Some of them are build using the rocks as walls or ceilings and one of these big, huge rocks has a restaurant bellow in the basement. Monsanto really rocks! It's a remarkable village and at the top of maybe 1500 feet high hill there's an old fortress. From there you can get stunning views of the countryside. These rhymes about Monsanto are famous :
Nunca se sabe em Monsanto,
Que as águias roçam com a asa,
Se a casa nasce da rocha
Se a rocha nasce da casa.
This means:
You'll never know in Monsanto,
a place eagles touch with its wings,
if a house is born from a rock
or if a rock is born from a house!
No rhyme, no fun. But you got the idea!!
February 5, 2012
#5 Zazzle Stores: Mariana Ewa's Zazzle Store
Hello readers and friends! Today's Sunday and it's pretty cold for my likings. Mariana Ewa would laugh about it because yesterday she was facing -21º celsius outside her house. For me, anything below 10º is very cold! No kidding, nights here are terrible, terrible meaning -1º to -3º. I live by the sea where everything is warmer and my body really doesn't react well to low temperatures. My body and mind. I get restless, I can't think straight, I feel sick. I long for 20º up so I can go to the beach and be happy! Brrrr!
Mariana Ewa was born in Sweden. She has a daughter called Emmy and lives on a farm with her boyfriend. She's fortunate to have horses and cats around, I would like that for me too. She suffered an accident and as a result of it, she's disabled. I 'm sorry to read about that. She gave me some advice on the MAC computer. I am more convinced than ever that's what I need. But for now, I just have half the money for it. Zazzle keeps launching new products and I can't create any because my old PC isn't exporting big files anymore. I must be patient and wait a little longer. Mariana creates on her computer and also paints for family and friends.
Mariana Ewa has a great Zazzle store. Click on the flash panel and take a look around. I like what she does with national flags. Some countries have flags with little design appeal. Mariana found a way to deal with that. She plays with the design and offers you a great final product. I also find her use of fractals interesting. But the store has much more. She wrote: "Here you can find beautiful products for the wedding, for the birthday, for all the holidays. Products like business cards, posters, cards, shoes, invitations, and much more."
One thing that really stroke me is the way she presents her Zazzle products. Just look at the example above. She placed her new Valentine's products on a table. I found this awesome. Then I found more great products presentations on her Facebook page. You should visit and learn from her. Get inspired and find new ways of showing your stuff! I am convinced that to post a link with the product isn't enough anymore. You have to stand out from the crowd. We have to reach the client using other more appealing strategies. Of course, not everyone can do it. You need to master graphic software.*But, let me tell you one thing - if you want really hard you can learn it. I did. Till 2004 I knew nothing about graphics computer software. Today I use Corel Draw, Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop and more. If you don't have the time or the interest on it or feel you'll never learn, you can ask someone to create the banners for you. There's always a way. Thank you Mariana Ewa for your inspiration! I hope you like this postage!
* But you can explore online tools like Photofunia! Check my previous posts here and here on it to see what I mean!
February 3, 2012
Valentine's Day on the street with Photofunia
Can you imagine your Valentine's Day Zazzle designs glued on streets and building walls? Photofunia helps us to picture it! Yes, I've been playing a bit more with this online tool. No, I am not earning anything from this promotion, I'm not in any affiliate program or anything like that! I am just wasting time PLAYING! Sometimes we need to unwind!
For several times I had advertising posters I made on the street but it has been a while since I had those moments of glory! Now I do mostly small formats. It was lots of fun to wake up and get on the streets and discover it glued, some in very big format.
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