A Sparkling Debate!

The other day, my husband brought home a bottle of "cava". It was a Segura Viudas. We do have this sparkling wine from Spain available at home most of the time, so it called my attention. Then he explained to me that someone gave it to him because it had been storaged for a while and since he knew my husband liked wine, thought we might drink it and don't let it spoil.

What is more interesting here is that my husband thought this bottle was not properly taken care of, so he said he wanted to try it just to compare with a well preserved cava.

Sometimes people ask me how a well preserved wine should taste and I always say, if when you drink it, you like it, it's fine... If it tastes like vinegar, then something is wrong... LOL!

Anyway, we rested the bottle for a couple of days and brought it to the right temperature, and the day arrived... we opened it. Immediately we saw a dark color you don't usually see in this liquid. Then when we tried it, it was too sweet, with no effervescence at all... It wasn't refreshing.

Here you can see at left the one I am talking about... and at right the same kind of cava, but from a bottle we had for comparison. So, you would definitely notice the difference.

Then we tried a Prosecco. Prosecco is a grape from Italy, but since it is the grape most commonly used for sparkling white wine there, most people call Prosecco the wine itself... or any sparkling wine from Italy.

It's so fruity... and light... It smells like fresh flowers and is very effervescent. You can see the bubbles all the time. It has the right sweetness and is very delicious. If you look at the picture above, you can also notice it is very clear... It's a very appropriate sparkling wine as an appetizer, or just to refresh...

Here are the prosecco and the cava side by side.

Salud!

Being an Airhead

A lot of work... a lot of stress... I need to dedicate time to scrapbooking... I'm so in need to relax... I always say we need to get time sometimes just to be an airhead. Do nothing... Just enjoying being alive and resting... Of course you cannot get too used to it because then you become another thing... lazy! But sometimes... just sometimes... do nothing.

However, I don't have time for that right now... :( I have been very busy lately and have not being able to dedicate some time to the hobby...

So, I decided to share with you this card I made a while ago and I hadn't shown. It was made for a friend moving to the States.

I used pink tones because she's very girly and delicate. Patterned paper is from scraps I had from a very old collection called Penelope... Do you remember it...? it was gorgeous!

I also embossed the pink cardstock with the Cuttlebug machine, and border punched the blue cardstock with Martha Stweart punch.

The sentiment if from a stamp I've used before and am sure you've seen it... it's from Unity Stamp Co!

I tied a big eyelet with a brad and ribbon to embellish the card. The big eyelet is pink and has what you can think is either flowers or kind of resemble snowflakes... The girl was moving to a cold place so I thought this might me interesting to use.

I used patterned paper and also ribbon tape.... I love it! Ribbon tape can be attached perfectly and it looks very nice.

I also added some punched flowers in the inside for continuity of the theme.

I also inked some edges with Colorbox ink. Hope you liked it...

And I also hope you are having time for your hobby... Even if you don't have a hobby, you need time to relax, do quite nothing... and be an airhead...

Re-load...

Let me share this with you... A friend asked me for a card to give to her boyfriend.... The ocassion? Their 2-year anniversary... She didn't ask for any colors, shapes or details... just that she wanted to tie the anniversary to the "reload" action in computers...

So, first of all... I needed some inspiration, and searched in internet the word re-load... and also emphasized on the "images" related to the word... this usually inspires me more than reading definitions.

Suddenly, I understood the power of the message... re-load. And thought... "who doesn't need a re-load?"... And I started to write words that somehow related to the "reload" meaning, and started with "re"...

We all are in a "reload" stage at some point in our lives. Maybe we need to reassure our faith, or re-invent our passions, get a re-fill of love and self esteem, or readjust some of our decisions made or to be made... Sometimes, we need to recapitulate on the blessings we have received and on the dreams we wish to accomplish... the we realize how loved and fortunate we are... or maybe it's just a matter of re-doing or re-trying something we have given up before...

For the card, the first idea was to use all these words as background for the card, and create 3D shapes to stand out the work Re-load... but then after a while I desisted and planed for another idea. And this is the card I came up with:

The arrow is very important to tie the reload message to computers, as well as the "2.0" number (not just 2). I didn't want a fully romantic card, nor too girly, since a 30 year-old man would receive this... so I added the little hearts as the "love" touches without losing the cool theme mood.

I have to admit, that when I finished the card I thought it might be too childish... and I panicked. I felt my friend was not going to like the card... so I made another one as plan B, so if she didn't like this one, at least I had another option... I am not showing it here... It is not necessary.

When she saw the card, she loved it... she said the colors were very appropriate, the arrow, the presentation... she loved it... And I was so happy... I needed to reload my faith in my creativity... I had just underestimated the power of scrapbooking and the subjectivity of it! I had dedicated so much time and effort in the card, that I just couldn't look at it from outside and appreciate it as it was... and I wasn't sure, so I had to make another card to feel good. So, her reaction reloaded my self esteem... and I am renewed.

So, as I always say, I love scrapbooking for so many reasons... but one of them is the subjectivity. What can be too simple for you, means the world for others... The symbols you don't understand, are the more significant for me... Maybe the colors you don't like to use, look beautiful when you put them together on a project... and never, never, never underestimate the power of your creativity... and when you look at a project several times and it feels you are not getting what you had in mind, stand up, take a cup of coffee (or a margarita if you want!), and return to the project to be amazed to find new things and ideas on it... you'll see it from a different perspective.

I hope you can take advantage of the excuse of a new year, to reload all the areas you need to reload now... Re-think the possibilities!

Dog Christmas, and Fabulous Party Favors

Hey... Happy New Year... Hope you are having a wonderful 2012 so far...

Today we celebrate "Three Kings Day" locally... So we are still celebrating. Some say we have the longest Christmas Holidays in Puerto Rico because we start in Thanksgiving, continue in Xmas Eve and Day, then New Year's Eve and Day, then Three Kings Day and another 8 days of party, which historically also include San Juan Capital activities called "San Sebastian Street Parties"... so there still some activity here...

Anyway, I made some party favors for our Vet... I know I know! Some people look for some detail to give their children's teachers, but in our case my husband asked me to do something for our dog's vet and helpers in the office...

So I made some with typical Puerto Rican candies... Here are some pictures:

Then, a friend was going to turn 40 and decided to celebrate... so I told her I was going to support her with some party favors...

This was the theme of the bday decoration and the inspiration...

I decided to make three different kinds so she had variety, and was free to add random details to some of them, so even though they are the same type, they look different and unique somehow.

One of the designs was this concept of the little baskets...

And these other types which are like cups but bent for some nice shape...

For the third kind, I used some pre cut boxes that I assembled and decorated:

Here's a photo of the three:

Each one had a Ferrero chocolate truffle my friend provided, and I added a little note.

But then... where to display them?

I had an idea.... A friend gave me three cake plates I could use for different levels, but how to connect them?

I thought of these nice ribbons I had in these:

I cut some cardstock strips with same colors of the bday decoration theme.

And decorated the rolls...

I then attached with hot glue and created this display (very similar to the ones used for cupcakes)...

Here's how the party favors looked at the party:

And look at the fabulous and delicious cake another friend made:

Finally, I had a gift card for the bday girl, but wanted to present it differently:

So I cut a strip of cardstock and bent for different sections and this is what I came up with:

Isn't it nice?

The sad part... look how my Scrapbooking table ended up ... what a mess... LOL!

Thanks for stopping by... your comments are really appreciated...