Hello, I'm madtwinsis!

OMG! It's 3.30 in the morning, I'm pulling an allnighter as I enjoyed the fantasic weather earlier today a bit but my deadlines still stay the same and ofcourse an "emergency" job was also added to that list :-S But that's ok, I love my job.  

What I don't like is this storm that is raging now... the sky just doesn't stay dark, it's one lightning after another, the wind raging against our windows and I had to stop working and go hold the window/door to the terrace closed!  
Our damn landlord still hasn't fixed it, and with this wind it's just a matter of time before it will be blown open... (these are NEW windows from floor to ceiling 4m high, we live/work in a loft) I can't think of what would have happened when I was sleeping... now I was able to hold it close (and there was a lot of force on them)  
The wind is now much gentler but now it's the thunder that keeps rolling over :-s

Not the ideal weather to get my work done, my heart is still pounding from keeping that window shut...

This takes me back when I was a teen on vacation in Rimini (I had my own room, my parents had a room down the hallway), at night there was this wild storm and the wind blew the window in the hallway open, the one facing the sea where the storm was coming from... I was in the room next to it so I heard it smash open, thankfully it wasn't broken but I had to try to close it... well, it was a very hard struggle and I got soaked... Thankfully an older Italian guest who stayed in the room next to me came to my rescue, together we managed to close it.

It's weird how frightened I can get from this weather... Normally I love to watch the lightning and listen to the rain falling :-S

Well, it's seems better now... back to work :-)

I just found this gem through the WOW-thread on istock... I looooooooove stopmotion and this videoclip is so sweet and creative. The song makes me want to curl up on the sofa with a good book and some hot tea (or watch the rain falling... OMG, I'm such an emo! )
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do...

I recently joined swapbot because I enjoy swapping very much but I was kind of stuck with Blythe-clothes swaps. I still love them but there are few and they always seem to have the same people in it which is kind of nice as you can rely on them but I just wanted to do others too.
Soooooooo some of the swaps I've received already:

* Fast turnaround swap (4 different notecards) 2 partners:
- I still need to receive one (probably lost in the mail but she' s going to send a new one)
- from ollie

Fastturnaroundswap_0646.jpg

* Small goodies in a handmade envelope swap: (2 partners)
Description swap:
let's send some handmade envelopes full of small goodies to 2 partners:
* a list of 5 things you collect (or if you don't collect anything, 5 things you wish you could collect)
* a picture of the cover art from your favorite album, and a small description of what makes it so great
* a photo you've taken
* something to read (this could be a short story, a magazine article, zine, something you've written, etc)
* 2 bags of tea (pick two different flavors)

- from creeny (superfast!)

swap 5 goodies in selfmade envelope 1

- from ljctree : the most amazing swap! It wasn't an envelope but a box that arrived (with the biggest envelope in it)
She had not only put in the 5 goodies from the list but also a package of precut blank ATCs, a sachet of scrapbook/atc-treasures, fabric and ribbons, a sachet with a personalised stone and crystal, a bar of soap, some pretty waxmelts, an envelope with pretty dried leafs and a embellished notebook.

swap 5 goodies in selfmade envelope 2

* Decorated envelope swap: 1 partner

I still have to receive it (it only was due last friday so it would be superfast if I already got it)
but I can show you mine (at least the outside, forgot to take a picture of what I've put in it)

* Quick and easy bookmark swap: 3 partners
You will make 1 bookmark for each of your 3 partners!! You may include more if you like although it's not required. please do them nicely, something you would want to receive in return, not just stickers thrown onto a card. These are handmade only. Your choice! Please make them flat where it won't rip a page. Bookthongs are welcome too. Any way/medium you choose, make it something you'd like to receive. (ex fabric, collage, bookthong, magnet, etc)
- my 2 others are still in the mail
- from deenakate : suuuuuuuuperfast! They were due today and I already recieved hers! WOW! It's a nice bookmark:

bookmark 1 in the "Quick And Easy Bookmark Swap"

I'm really enjoying this so far! ^_^

Show us your key ring.
Submitted by Alexandra.

My keys & keychain

I've pulled an all-nighter again and I'm living on caffeine and the music of Mika!
He's as good as a half liter coffee :-D
The only downside is "Happy Endings", I soooooo love that song but it's a real tearjerker and instant goosebumps maker for me, not what I need at the moment.

Anyone else that has fallen for this xtc on CD? ;-P
(and he's sooooo the type of musician I fell for when I was a teen: deep dark eyes, half long curly hair... *swoon*)

Well back to work...

These are hilarious!!!
They want to promote taking a SOA-test before you "do it" unsafe... They're in English with Dutch subtitles and in the end a Dutch woman tells you to go see a doctor for a SOAtest. (her voice is in heavy contrast with the rest and IMO totally wrong for this commercial, somehow I just can't take her serious...)
Frankenstein has a girlfriend and wants to make love without protection but can Sally be sure he's healthy? LOL!!!

I'm home alone tonight...daughter is with my parents for the weekend, hubbie is helping out a friend at a party...
So I decided to make it a movienight with all my fav movies. The last one of the bunch was "Down with Love", for me that's a designer's orgasm! I'm passionate with the style of the fifties/sixties, it's so positive and full of hope for an amazing future! The design is just amazing simple but at the same time elaborated... (the story of the movie is fun but really not the main reason to watch it)

This year Belgium is celebrating the 50th birthday of the world fair of '58. It's logo was a star in the typical fifties style, so simple but so iconic. My father went to see it with his parents when he was little, it was the year his brother (my uncle) was born. He always told me this amazing stories about seeing the first "black" person (ok, this may sound racial in this time but then it was something very new and special) and riding a teleferic (a sort cableride) and seeing a real elephant at the booth of chocolatier Cote-d'Or.
I grew up with these stories and I loved to watch the illustrations in his history books, they were so different than the ones we got... so naïve, so optimistic, so idealistic! The space-age just began, one of my great-grandfathers died the month before they landed on the moon, saying mankind would never do so. People gathered together at my grandparents as they were the only ones in the neighbourhood who had a tv. In summer everyone brought their chair to their frontlawn to watch it.
My other great-grandfather died October 13th, 1975. Exactly 2 years after that, I was born... They tell me my character is much alike... I sure loved my great-grandmother! When she died (I was almost 4) I was devastated! She was such a modern woman, always wearing the latest fashion... and such a strong woman.

OK, I got side-tracked... What I wanted to talk about: design of the fifties & sixties. I'm such a fan of the Bauhaus... please give me a Barcelona chair, egg or ball-chair, an Eames,... !
I would love to wear long black gloves, hats and pearls every day... And please play some crooners... I'll melt away.
Probably the romantic part in me that tries to escape.
I sooooooo desire to design something in that style that doesn't look fake, too clean, too... I don't know.
I just bought an old TV from "His Master's Voice" to make some art of. It will become a "viewing box". I don't know yet how but it's boiling...

I guess these are all ramblings that are flying through my mind and not really a coherent post... but they'll be kept now.
And isn't that what every thought wants, to be reminded; not being thought of and immediately forgotten?

Hi everyone,

these are the two last days to vote in a contest I entered. It's all about Blythe dolls and heroes (personal/fictional/...)

Dare I ask to vote for me? Well, I've nothing to loose

Would you please send an email to gina@thisisblythe.com with HEROES VOTES as subject and add my entry ( Entry #113 from Peggy (Ugly Betty) ) in your top 3?

If you can't log in on flickr (where the entries are grouped for easy browsing) to see the other entries, may I suggest some of my other favourites (you can pick 2 out of to add to the top 3 beside mine :P)

the Incredible Hulk: Entry #87 from Snoopygirl

Mark Ryden: Entry #16 from Erika/Peppercorn_pixie

Within Temptation: Entry #13a from Verity/Dolly*Hex

Charlie Chaplin: Entry #68 from EffieDal (view 1)

Barbarella: Entry #114 from blender70 | jaszmade (view 2)

Audrey Hepburn: Entry #2 from Paula

my entry:

This is an ode to Ugly Betty. I loooooooooove the show, it has been a long time since I was so addicted to a show that isn't about crime/SF/law but just about feelings and being yourself... I added Daniel in the back, who's watching Betty, and a model that wants all the attention of Daniel...
Betty is a prism in that cool sleek world, giving everything she touches a bit more warmth and colour ^__^



"How to vote (quoted from the site)
Pick your top three and send them to me at gina@thisisblythe.com. be sure to put them is order (top choice is #1) and please title your e-mail 'HEROES VOTES' so it doesn't slink into my spam box. The deadline for voting is May 22 and the winners will be announced on May 23rd. To read more about the contest (and the great prizes) go here:
http://www.thisisblythe.com/newforum/viewforum.php?f=36&sid=953b37ff99d38cf226399c3d080b3b31"

Yesterday it snowed!
Giddy as a schoolgirl I took one of my Blythes to get some snowpictures, very quickly 'cause the snow melted immediatly... I had to enjoy every minute of it as long as it was falling ^__^
So here is the little photostory I made with Lunaria, nothing fancy, just about our shared love for snow ~_^

Lunaria and the snow 1/7

Lunaria and the snow 7/7

The after-snow-chat on the sofa 1/6