A Portuguese Love

Just discovered that this postcard that I created and published at the Zazzle store is part of the New Year Gift Facebook application! No one asked for my permission, and no one informed me about it. I think this is a very, very wrong thing to do. I would have said yes to the developer, of course. What can we do to protect our work from this unethical behavior? Any similar stories you want to share?

To all my visitors,friends and customers!

Portuguese celebrate Christmas with a rich table of sweet cakes and biscuits, dry fruits and good wine and liquors. The traditional Christmas cake is 'Bolo Rei' (which means 'King Cake') and is placed in the center of the table. It's a wreath like fruit cake laced with crystallized fruits and pine nuts. There is a tiny present inside the cake and a broad bean. The person who finds the broadbean in one slice will pay the next "King Cake"!!Some of Christmas popular desserts are rice pudding with cinnamon, fried desserts,-"filhoses"- pastries made with honey - "broas de mel" -pumpkin fritters - "sonhos". I'm about to go to the kitchen to make Rabanadas. These are also a regular presence at our table. Do you want to try some Rabanadas? What you need to buy: 1baguette loaf of bread - 1 egg - 200 ml (3/4 cup) milk - Olive oil - Sugar and cinnamon How to prepare it: 1. Cut a baguette into 1 cm (1/2&

My nephew dancing to one of my favorite Christmas songs - Jingle Bell Rock!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009qhac.php My eyes' dark circles are getting bigger and bigger. Two nights in a row losing sleep is just too much. Two nights ago the responsible for it was a strong wind blowing on my window. Too much noise around my building. It was really a wind festival. As a result yesterday I was on coffee all day. I lost count of how many cups I drank. As a result of too much coffee, I was still awake at 1.37 AM and so I felt an earthquake!  Its origin was in the south, in the sea - 190 km (115 miles) WSW of Faro, or 265 km (165 miles) SSW of Lisbon, our capital. You can check the link above for more information on it. It was felt as far as Braga, in the north, Madrid, the capital of Spain, and Marrakech, Morocco. The magnitude of 5.7. No damage but enough shakes to scare good people. As some of you might know in 1755 Lisbon had an earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake. It took place on 1 November 1755.

Photo source: see link below Today Alto Douro is celebrating the 8th anniversary of the Alto Douro Wine Region Inscription at Unesco 's World Heritage sites. The wine region in northern Portugal charms visitors with historic and natural attractions. It's an iconic region for wine production. Beautiful landscapes and relatively little tourism have kept cultural authenticity in the region. An International Conference "Douro Destination - Tourism, Sustainability, and World Heritage", is taking place today in the city of Vila Real. A partnership with the National Geographic Society to promote the Douro as a destination for "Geotourism" in accordance with the principles of sustainability defined by that international organization will be signed at this conference. Some photos for you to take a look, here and here .

Jenna(Mariposa Soap) and Tammy(O melhor) ,both from Ohio,and Frannie (O meu sabonete),from New York are the lucky winners! Congratulations!In a few hours they will be on the mail on its way to you!

It comes from The Portuense Centre for Photography , Directorate-General for the Archives. I get a Christmas card from this cultural institution in 2001. I attended a photography workshop there. I keep all the cards because they are old black-and-white photo reproductions just like this one. This old photo was taken maybe around 1910 by Aurélio da Paz dos Reis . He is known as the father of Portuguese cinema. His first movie is similar to the one the brothers Lumière made in France. It depicts workers leaving the factory at closing time.

Just sold 10 pins!  It's a wonderful sensation to know that people will be wearing it in New York! Happy New Year to my buyer! This product isn't available anymore!

Since 2001 Manoel de Oliveira is the oldest cinema director in the world still in business. He was born in Oporto on 11 December 1908. He was a member of the jury at the Venice Film Festival in 1981. In 1942 he made a movie about children that lived in Oporto's Ribeira near the Douro river. It's called Aniki-Bobó. I enjoyed it when I first saw it many years ago and I still do. A poetic tale and a simple story shot in black and white in beautiful Oporto city. Watch the footage below. It has no captions but you can easily follow what's happening with Carlitos and it's cute. He has filmed a lot but his cinema isn't that much appreciated in Portugal. He seems to be more popular in other European countries like France. Some say it's too personal...others say it's too slow and too boring. Others say it's too artistic! I enjoy some of his movies but not all of them. What I find really amazing in Manoel de Oliveira is his longevity. He's quite active a

THE SOAPS : O melhor - O meu sabonete - Mariposa - read about it, here ! CONFIANÇA'S HISTORY AND PRODUCTS - Visit the site ! A SHORT LIST OF REASONS TO ENTER CONFIANÇA’S SOAPS GIVEAWAY 1.Confiança is a brand of reference for Portuguese cosmetic industry! 2.It has lots of history as it was funded on 12th October of 1844 3.Confiança is the only Portuguese company to obtain the ISO 9001:2000 quality certifications in its field! 4.All soaps ingredients used are natural and 100% vegetable. 5.No animal test is conducted. 6.Quality control is made in all production stages and the final products are evaluated by external certified laboratories. 7.Confiança produces even today according to its traditional methods passed from generation to generation. 8.To Confiança each of its products is more than a cosmetic. It’s a piece of history, a memory and a small part of each one of its co-workers. 9.It's so easy to enter Confiança's portuguese bar soaps giveaway! 10.

. ..but I hate to see it! (Do you know what I mean?!!)

While rain was pouring down I was having some fun creating this funny Santa Claus. He's checking numbers in his beard to keep track of the time left for Christmas! My idea is that we use the postcard - or the other products - to really countdown to Christmas by checking numbers with a real pen. (Deleted product)

I remember high school English class about the idiom "it is raining cats and dogs", referring to heavy rain. We all laughed a lot at this expression, it was really a funny one. Well, today it has been raining cats and dogs and that's not funny at all. I do not like wintertime. But I do like to wake up to the sound of rain pouring down. I found a cool illustration of this cat and dog thing(Wikipedia).In Portugal, we do not have this expression. We usually say "Está a chover a potes.""Potes" are recipients. So nothing funny about our expression. In Brazil, they say "Está chovendo canivetes." "Canivetes" are penknives! Their expression is funnier than Portuguese expression! A killer, I say!

Source http://pedrita.net/projects/lh2o/ Pedrita is a Lisbon-based design studio and has since 2005 been collaborating with other creative structures, individuals and clients from different parts of the world. These bottles are irresistible. Cute and well thought.

"Progetto Qualigeo realizzato dalla Fondazione Qualivita; in particolare verrà illustrato il primo Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari europei DOP, IGP e STG che rappresenta una vera e propria mappatura dell’agricoltura di qualità europea. Con i contenuti dell’Atlante è stata realizzata una piattaforma web Qualigeo.eu con la georeferenzazione delle zone di produzione, delle aziende che costituisce il primo social network di settore a livello internazionale per le produzioni agroalimentari ad indicazione geografica". Qualigeo Atlas is Qualivita Foundation project. It's the first world editorial work that describes 850 European PDO PGI and TSG products through exhaustive product fiches written in easy language. The atlas turns out to be an indispensable tool both for specialists in the sector and for consumers who want to know about new healthy products. An agri-food product database shows 116 hundred Portuguese products listed . Portugal occupies 4th place in agri-food e

10 days till closing time on A portuguese love first giveaway.You still have time to grab one of this these soaps.Read previous posts for detailed information on this giveaway products and Confiança's rich history.To acess more information on lots of marvelous products visit Confiança's site .I am very pleased that Confiança’s offering three fine soaps to my blog visitors. They are quality products and full of tradition and carry Portuguese history of success.What an excelent Christmas gift,I just wish I could enter it myself! O meu sabonete - This line of soaps doesn’t dry your skin and leaves it perfumed and with a soft touch. An exuberant combination of Art Deco sensuality for your body.O meu sabonte Individual Soap Silver. Mariposa - With the restyling of an original dated from 20 th Confiança re-launched the Mariposa in a refined and traditional Portuguese packaging. Mariposa embodies the spirit of the butterfly spreading joy over the fields. The

Another Today's Best Award (28th November) for a cute and simple Christmas Card I made last week. I like to work with simple shapes and colors. This item is not available anymore.

King Ramesses II Vintage Egyptian Art Card! Postcard by RenascencePub Vipul describes himself as a common man, getting back in touch with the artistic side of himself. Well, his interests aren't common, he's fond of exquisite illustration and has a Zazzle store called Renascence Pub . I like this Renascence Pub Mug a lot. Well, Vipul was kind enough to feature my 2010 Kids Calendar in his Squidoo Lens . What a good-morning news!Thanks, Vipul!

Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/news/091130 During the XIX Ibero American Summit Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Lisbon, nine Greenpeace activists climbed on top of Torre de Belém. The annual summit brought together the leaders of 19 Latin-American countries plus Portugal, Spain, and Andorra. For a few moments, we could read OUR CLIMATE, YOUR DECISION in the beautiful monument. The summit in Copenhagen is vital for the fate of the earth and climate wasn't on the Ibero American Lisbon summit agenda. This was a small effort to catch the summit leader's attention to this big question. The Copenhagen summit, also known as the Conference of the Parties 15 or COP15, is the fifteenth big meeting organized by the United Nations to discuss a global response to climate change.

It seems I missed the party of the year. This guy is Joaquim, he's Portuguese, yes, in fact, he lives in my street when he's around. I've seen him plenty of times jogging in the neighborhood. He works international level ( www.bestmodelsagency.com Porto, Portugal, www.whynotmodels.com Milan, Italy, Bananas Mambo, Paris, France, and Blu Models Los Angels, US ) and has quite a reputation as a top model. Lately, he's acting DJ also at very celebrated parties. A few months ago I read an interesting interview he gave the local newspaper. He seemed quite an intelligent man -yeah, yeah, you know, I always seem to forget that models have a brain on top of those bodies - and I was pleasantly impressed with his opinions on local development, fashion, and culture. Well, it seems he just turned 34 and made a big birthday party at the local Casino. Music and fashion and lots of celebrities there, I'm sure. Not entirely my cup of tea. But it might have been fun! Happy Birthday

video Yesterday I saw a documentary on Afghanistan and Pakistan and USA's efforts to pacify those areas and fight the Taliban. It’s Obama’s war from FRONTLINE producers Martin Smith and Marcela Gaviria. It has been eight years since the USA went to the territory. It’s a controversial issue and I’m glad I do not have to decide about it. This does not mean I do not worry. My wish is that a solution could be arranged so people stop being killed. I learned from the documentary that its outcome is uncertain. And that probably a lot more USA troops are needed. One big problem is the corruption of the Kabul government, and the other is the Taliban. The government is losing population support. Taliban are organized and offering the population thinks that the USA still can’t provide: security. One could ask why not live Afghanistan to its fate. But since 11 September people fear that these countries can nest terrorism so an effort must be done even if it means a great loss. There

Davis is my sister and nephew's dog. He's a shar-pei. Sometimes I take care of him. He's been sleeping all afternoon next to me. It has been raining since lunchtime and he got very sleepy. He's almost four years old. Davis is a very sweet dog for all family members but hates neighbors. In fact, he gets a bit mad in the presence of strangers, persons, and dogs!

You are still on time to enter Confiança's bar soap giveaway. O Melhor is a product range specially formulated for men’s skincare. Translated as “The Best” it includes shaving cream, exfoliating soap, and balsam after-shave. The stylish retro packaging is the result of the restyling of an original logo dating back to the 1920s. The strength of this line is reinforced by a back-to-basic old-school fragrance with notes of musk and marine. Still represented in Confianças’s ranges Art Déco and Art Nouveau art was popular influences during the ’20s. Rich design and recipes portfolio were recovered as Confiança’s aim is to bring back that heritage to the XXI century. The old molds are still in use to preserve the original soap shape. Soap characteristics and packaging is an art passed on by generations that allows Confiança to still preserve all of its essence. O Melhor is an example that is still in the memory of many and will bring to the present the scents of another century. Abo

It seems people are really enjoying this line of products. Simple, colorful and happy designs inspired by traditional Portuguese motifs. It's an illustration of a heart with flowers. Sorry, not available anymore.

Tiles in Mercado de Forno do Tijolo, Lisboa.

Today I went to the local mall and Christmas is already showing the worst of it. Lots of people around stuff, piles of stuff to sell. At Christmas, the supermarket makes piles of stuff. Everything is red or golden and looks as if we touch it might fall. Most people do not realize that they spend hard-earned money just to give a present that sometimes the other person does not want or really need. I had to stay in line to pay for a single pack of chestnuts. Christmas means queues. Outside more queues to wrap the presents…uff! I get tired only from watching!  One thing that really upsets me at Christmas is co-workers and colleagues' random gift exchanges. Everyone brings a silly and symbolic gift to the pile… and then one-by-one everyone gets an absurd present. One benefit of going freelancing is not having to worry about buying these gifts or rehearse for the smile you have to show after getting your surprise gift. I like buying a present for the kids. Many times I like it be

Each new day brings a nice surprise.  A Portuguese Love is being featured at Zazzle's main door.  So cool to read my store's name in the Top 10 list!

I got another Today's Best Award on 17th November. I know it's a bit hard to believe but in a matter of days, I got myself three nice little red ribbons. The Scissor Whale belongs to a collection of designs I entitled Scissor Animals Collection. The Whale isn't my favorite. I prefer the Scissor Antelope or the Scissor Birds. But Zazzle team went for the Whale. These designs were inspired by my fondness for cut and paste. I do a lot of collage and I have at least a dozen different scissors. I left design background deliberately empty so people can customize and play with different color options. It also got Top 10 Bags Views ribbon for that day. Conclusion: whales are popular.Thank you, Zazzle! It's an illustration of a whale. Not available anymore, sorry!

Found three photos I took in the Summer. This exhibition was on display in our public garden for maybe two or three months. I think these fish were painted by children with some help from local plastic artists.

Today I spotted a nice spot on the net! It's a web page where you can find interesting information about Lisbon. If you are planning a visit you can check tips from locals instead of reading one or two guide books bought in the airport. Don't get me wrong, I do like city guide books. But this perspective is up-to-date and personal...and this site looks good! http://www.spottedbylocals.com/lisbon/category/activity/art-culture