Writers’ Paradise

My husband is going ga ga over Lady Ga Ga. He went to her concert with a friend and hasn’t stopped talking about her since returning. I am a U2 fan so I insisted on getting U2 tickets. My husband wants me to come with him for another Ga Ga gig, but I put my foot firmly down, that this time it’s my turn to go out and he must baby sit the kids. Poor fellow, he will be sulking at home an I would be enjoying!

We all know that giving and receiving a special present can be incredibly powerful and emotional. As you give time, energy, thought and love in choosing a gift, you are showing your personality and your generosity as a human being.

Forget the novelty socks and bath salts and let’s see if we can find some new and funky gift ideas after raking our brains together.

So here is my list, you are free to add yours.

1. Make up a crossword puzzle and have all the hints be personal inside moments and jokes that only you two would know about. Put it on a poster board and add some clipart and some pictures to it! The crossword puzzle could be time consuming and a bit frustrating, you could do the same idea with a WORDSEARCH or WORDFIND puzzle. Put your computer skills to work! Use Excel, get clipart from Yahoo Images Search, copy them, and reformat them, use a glue stick to put on poster board.
Use graph paper, and pictures from magazines if you are not as good on the computer, and it will give it a homemade feeling.

2. Hot air balloon flights: Truly and honestly there must be few experiences as serene and satisfying as a balloon ride. The experience starts with the inflation of the balloon and after a brief chat with your pilot, off you float, controlled only by the wind. Amazing views, peace and quiet and a sense of total wonder will all be yours. Then finish off the experience, a traditional glass of champers.

3. Make a newspaper: Unless someone is a royalty, their birthday or wedding probably didn’t make it into the newspapers - however it can be pretty interesting finding out what was going on in the world on that special day. You can dive in to newspapers’ archives and fish out this information. Personalise this by recording the recipient’s name, the occasion being commemorated, as well as a short personal message.

Some gifts are thoughtless, rude and even offensive. Never, ever give an appliance to your wife or girlfriend as a gift. Unless you are certain that cooking is her passion - stay clear from appliances. Never give someone “A charitable donation made in his or her name” as a gift. Unless they have specifically requested that you give money to charity instead of buying a gift. Don’t give overweight friend fitness equipment or diet books. You might think you are doing them a favour but they may be offended. Think about what your gifts are saying before you buy them.

I am really thinking of buying a printer. I have been dabbling in photography lately and specially bought nikon coolpix s3000, just to give my creativity a platform. Now I need a printer. I don’t like the digital storage, I like the handy albums which spark nostalgia when you look at old photographs. I am also thinking of buying a printer which allows me the option for poster printing, as I am learning to use photoshop. Photoshop is very useful to enhance and add special effects to your photos.

One of the best things about a smoothie is that it’s actually good for you- but it tastes so good it seems positively sinful. Fresh fruit and fruit juice provide many of the vitamins and minerals our bodies need- doctors recommend we have at least fie servings of fruit and vegetables a day. Add other good things, like yoghurt, nut milks and soy milk, and smoothies become vitamin powerhouses. Some recipes aren’t so virtuous: chocolate and ice cream may not be exactly saintly, but they taste terrific.
To make delicious smoothies, all you need is a blender- and very often not even that. I like to start with ice cubes blended to a snow. However, not all blenders are designed to crush ice, so if yours isn’t, put the whole cubes in the serving glass, blend the rest of the ingredients and pour them over the ice. Different brands of blender have different capacities. Most will make a one-serving smoothie, but to serve more people you may have to work in batches.

I have been busy in making cards there days. I have bought lot of card making and scrapbooking stuff. But I think I need to join some course to get a hang of things. I have been doing research about Online Schools which offer craft courses. Will be deciding soon. We don’t have card making and scrapbooking classes in our area here in Staines. I had inquired about craft classes at Strodes College in Egham, but they also don’t offer the course I am after.