A dream come true

I had this huge dream for years to go to the lost city of the Incas: Macchu Picchu. I yearn for it, some go to Fatima others to Lourdes for me Peru had something that i had to do...sensing that this incredible and magical place possess something unique. And it sure does! 
I have been in beautiful places around the world but Machu Picchu is a journey in itself.
My husband by coincidence(if such exists...) had the same dream so there we went on our own personal pilgrimage.
We wake up at 4am took the bus to be among the first to enter and contemplate the sunrise. 
Wow! it was worth every penny of it! we were that lucky to be there the 7th of july exactly 100 years after the american Hiram Bigham discovered this sanctuary in the middle of the clouds.
I was speechless and still feel the incredible energy of the place.
We have experienced something unique and the results are yet to be seen...

If you have the chance go to Machu Picchu it will be unforgettable.

Wish you all a great summer...and winter if you are planning to visit MACHU PICCHU

Human fragility

I realize how easy it is to fly to " the land of victims" we all do it once in a while, some more than others but eventually it feels good to be the victim "poor me". I have just made a difficult flight, the crew were great, half of us went dancing till dawn which feels so good and then everything fell apart as one of us was robbed. She went frantic and completely out of control which in itself was rather scary. We felt completely powerless at first then our anger started to grow up as we realize that all her catastrophes
( cancer, broken teeth, death in her family....) was an invention and we felt cheated! She threaten us about suicide, that life was not worth living...i can tell you it was quite complicated to handle and the hours went on and on we were exausted so in the end we had to call for a doctor.
Now that it passed i realize how much pain and despair she must carry within her to invent so many dramatic experiences, to gain attention, to be the center of it.
She was a confident baby i am sure, what happened?
Heading to Paris
Have a good week
Xo

Man's search for meaning

I have not been creating lately and am ok with it. I have been flying a lot, preparing my next holidays for july and just relaxing whenever i get the chance!
I have read a lot though and recommend you this powerful biography from Jim Fergus "Marie Blanche" who has written too "a thousand women" both wonderful and poignant stories. If you are into old fairy tales about "Merlin l'enchanteur" read "le lit d'aliénor" from Mireille Calmel superb too then i reread from Dr Viktor E. Frankl "Man's search for meaning".
A book not to be missed and to offer to the ones you like. How Dr Frankl managed to survive from a concentration camp alive and still be able to live a fullfiling life till his nineties. He created the logotherapy on the base that if we as humans find a meaning in our lives we can survive to anything. A book that makes reconsider your own life.


Have a nice week
Heading to Douala
Xo

The Fall

Being half french i am very concern about what is happening to the ex IMF boss DSK. I have been reading french, portuguese and american newspapers first out of astonishment then incomprehension.
I have to say i didn't like the man nor his arrogance and contempt.
I am pro american and have always been even when it was not political correct in France. Nonetheless, i recognize that for us europeans seeing a man with such high position being handcuffed is disturbing because the power of the image will remain, guilty or not guilty. I do admire though that a maid has the guts to incriminate him, unfortunately in Europe the all story would have been wipe away. 
I do hope she will receive a fair trial
I do hope that justice will come out of it
She is a woman of courage and of high standards.
When a woman says NO to a man it means NO.
Men like him think that rules don't apply to them they are not  above the law.
He has a past of harassment, was protected by his own wife over the years despite his sexually compulsive behavior.
 What takes a woman to remain with a man who disrespect women in so many ways? Is it love or the greed of power?


Have a good week end
I will
Xo

On pleasure

This album brings back excellent memories since it was started at Artfest 2009. I am rearranging all my photos, classifying and organizing and of course i can see the path that i made in these 2 years.  I remember the pleasure and desinvolture i had, so it's time to get back in track as i like to say. At the beguining it was only for fun now as people are getting more found of my work it do not want the comercial side to take over. It's not that easy to accomplish will I sell this album? Is it overpriced? I hear a thousand advices you should do this and that.....But in the end it's all about pleasure and feeling whole at least it is for me and i want it to remain like that otherwise it will become more and more stressful.
The power of money and greed are fast to arrive....my ego as well!

This album was made out of love since I offered it to my husband and as his own place in our living room. My goal is achieved when people feel the truthness and the authenticity of the album they are buying for themselves or for those they care. My work is about emotion, empathy, being connected.

I do not have to hurry
I have plenty of time
Creating with love and care
Being self balanced
....
What are your goals?
What do you crave for?


DO YOU FEEL WHOLE?

Wondering....will you be there

I am completely addict to photoshop...love it! There are so many things one can do so i have been playing hope you like it... On my way to Paris i have seen again this extraordinary french film "les petits mouchoirs"de Guillaume Canet and again i was deeply touched. French movie makers from Claude Sautet to Truffaut have this special way  in transcending our ordinary lives and make it something unique and worthwhile. Do you remember "les choses de la vie" with Romy Schneider and Yves Montand? This new film from Guillaume Canet is the portrait of a couple of childhood friends  who despite one of their best friends being in the hospital still go on vacations... After all he is in coma what difference could it make so they all decide that's there's no point in being present just standing next to him  and off they go 
to the bassin d'arcachon(beautiful surf spot). Every character lying to the the others, their egotism coming out, concentrating on their own problems... A superb movie,one that makes you wonder "am i like that driven only by me?"  Do i give enough?  
I do remember when my husband was in the hospital i couldn 't get out of him and even managed to sleep there, being with him touching him speaking to him reconforting him every single day.
I do remember in another context being told that i was unlucky to have my birthday in the 4th of august with the summer holidays going on, not that practical to come to my fortiest birthday party....maybe i could postpone it! We all have this private jokes...that do not make us laugh at all

I am glad now that i am almost 42 not to waste time with those who are worthless. Do you? How many dinners and useless parties do you attend, with people that most certainly wouldn't come to see you if you were in the hospital? I love this kind of movie who keep you in the good track.
As my mom usually says we are always victim of one's education, saying no to what's useless, preserving real friendship are today's goal to me. I will not waste time with  toxic people and that's a statement! Time is precious. I do hope that my friends know that they can rely on me, that i am trustful.
I am writing this post while drinking my tea at the Peninsula hotel  in Hong Kong, so cool! Love this ancient atmosphere. Time stands still! 
Have a good sunday
Xo

On love

 I am practicing photoshop as you can see and it's incredible what you can do and undo with a photo. I am still barely walking but i am enjoying the ride...endless possibilities so cool! I love this young couple were they happy did they love each other or did they have to married against their will? I want to believe that they were deeply in love, ahead of their time free spirits maybe artists? Living a life of bohême somewhere in San Francisco, knowing that they were lucky to have one another....

 I was speaking with a friend who is facing major issues at the moment in her marriage. I will quote the art of happiness from the Dalai Lama "...a relationship is also a dynamic living system, composed of two organisms interacting in a living environment, it is equally natural and right that the relationship go through stages. In any relationship, there are different dimensions of closeness, physical, emotional, and intellectual. Bodily contact, sharing emotions, thoughts, and exchanging ideas are all legitimate ways of connecting with those we love. It is normal for the balance to wax and wane: sometimes physical closeness decreases but emotional closeness can increase; at other times we don't feel like sharing words but just want to be held....p171

Now i am working on my new banner... very exciting
Have a good week
Have fun
Enjoy the ride
Xo

Thank you

This week end was a blessed one, i had another Craft and design market, the weather was perfect, the public awesome. I met this french grandma who married a portuguese like my mom from the same city, Vila Nova de Famalicao, how peculiar! I met  this  young mom of two who had a flush of emotion when opening my scrapbook albums, she had tears popping in! How cool... Plenty of friends and friends of friends come along... I feel truly blessed. 

Last week i had all this exams that we woman definitely have to take past 40 mostly due to a pain in my right breast, so there's no need to tell you that i was scare while waiting for the results. Everything is ok but it made me realize that i could have been the other way round. How do yo react when you are ill?
Do you keep it to yourself and fight alone the disease? or do you share it? I am a very private person when dealing with my intimacy and it cross my mind that if i was ill i would tell no one so to keep a semblant of a normal life and not having to deal with pity in the eyes of the others.Yesterday at lunch there was this bald young lady with all her relatives laughing and enjoying the gathering and it was a great lesson for me. I was touched by her openness, her lack of hair showed us "ok i am ill but doing certainly everything that i can to heal", the path is really to open up. When i come back the the fair, a friend was reading the art of happiness from the Dalai Lama, i opened the book and the message was "we all need one another, have you realized that we are all connected?"So true, there's no way we can hide from the world, human relations are the essence of life.

Love is what we all seek.
I am thankful to be alive
I am thankful to be in good health
I am thankful to be in love
I am thankful to have true friends
I am thankful to be able to connect
I am thankful for those who love my work
I am thankful to create
......
endless list
 Make your own
What are you thankful of?
I have my gratitude notebook with me and write down every night all the blessing of the day.


THANK YOU
Have fun
xo

drawers are opening

I am in a good shape well maybe not yesterday as i drink too many caipirinhas! That's the thing with this brazilian drink once you begin it's quite difficult to stop... but i did  enjoy myself and dance with my husband and a dear friend which was great! I was saying that i have recover from the endless flights and have plenty of new items in my atelier, drawers are definitely opening for me.
I am back with ideas, projects.... and am planning to have my own site .
Come this week-end to jardim da estrela, Craft and Design market with a jazz concert at 17h and plenty of beautiful handmade art.
Have fun
xo

What are your strengths?

Do you know what are your strengths?
or like most of us you are trying to improve your weaknesses? I have just discovered this excellent book "strengths finder 2.0" by Tom Rath where he explains just that. How in the occidental and even in the oriental world our education is based on improving our weaknesses, how the enterprises nowadays run endless workshops on "how to improve yourself" in areas where we lack talent! Some of the attendees will have success because of their natural talents with or without workshops but most of us will strive for it. So this book relates to our natural talents, there's this online test in the language of your choice and the result  is in english about 2mn later or within weeks by mail in your own language.
Natural talents i kept repeating it because though i sense it by now (i m more than 40 remember!) i wouldn't have told you they are talents! They are 34 themes that the Gallup organization have come out with and they verified over and over that people have 5 major themes. Wow! My results gave me this underlying confidence which feels so good. I am a person who relates with the past, who goes into the past to resolve present and future problems, i love biographies and feel connected with old people ...so true and the scrapbooking is just that going into the past to know where you want to go from there.
I am a person with empathy who feels the others and who immediately scans someone, knowing with my guts who this person is. I tend to solve problems either mechanicals or in person's life, i am very concerned about the others and rapidly discovered the uniqueness of the ones surrounding me. I could be an excellent therapist i am .......in my own way as friends seek for advice and direction and so on.....
I couldn't recommend you more to buy the book (as to be new so you can have the test) and feel that what you took for granted are talents and the only ones who need to master. I know now that i have to relate with someone who goes into the future, with someone whose talent is a natural salesman...see! So our goal should be improving and becoming an expert with our natural talents so simple.

Have a good week end
Sunny weather in Lisbon
Heading to New york....Barnes and Noble here i come...
Xo