On to Rio de Janerio in my 7 Continents altered book

Before we begin this imaginary trip to our next country in South America in my 7 Continents AB, I want to say how proud I am of my friend Sally (who I'm helping clean her garage and home), because some of you may have read yesterday I spent my Labor Day helping her clean her main bath.  I helped her find homes for (or get rid of) massive amounts of cosmetics, old make-up, beauty products, old and some never used skin care products, never used toothbrushes, and such.  Although opened cosmetics, beauty products, and old containers of OTC medicines had to go to the trash, there were new products that others could get use from.  I knew there is no way a place like Goodwill (a US thrift store) would take these products, even though they have never been opened and were still in their sealed packages.  Instead of Sally keeping and never using them (mainly out of sentiment and guilt), I suggested we find where to drop off items for women of abuse.  Oftentimes, these women leave home without so much as their toothbrush in order to get away from a life threatening situation.

While in undergrad school, I got interested in women who had been abused.   I continued to learn more about this problem at the graduate level, even though it was not my area of study.  No woman should ever feel she "deserves" to be beaten.  No woman should ever feel "it was her fault."  No woman should have to believe her abuser owns her because of some marriage document.  No woman should ever believe the lies that the abuser promises never to hurt her again.  No woman should ever think a few "forgiveness" trinkets will make up for the black eyes, swollen lips, and broken arms or ribs.  No woman should ever have to accept rape or forcible sex from her husband.

Until just recently, if a women would not sign a warrant for the abuser's arrest, the abuser could not be held.  That has changed in the last few years, though.  Now abusers are jailed, whether it's due to abuse of a woman, a wife, an elderly person, or an infant. 

Gosh, I apologize.  I was just saying how happy I was that Sally and I spent the past two days cleaning out her main bath, and I digressed badly.  BTW, I found a place where we can take these items and the charity helping battered women is very, very grateful.   I'm off my soapbox, now, but I hope if YOU ever see anyone abusing another person, whether it's verbal bullying or physical contact, please get that person help immediately.

Dramatically changing subjects, now it's time to travel to Brazil.  Our first stop along the way is Carnival (Carnaval).

Our first stop is actually Sambadrome, the exhibition area for the famous Samba schools in Rio.

Should you want to visit Carnaval in Rio, here are the dates for the next two years.

I found this photo in a travel magazine and it was taken at Sambadrome.

I enjoyed learning a bit about the history of Carnaval that I found on the above web site.

One of the things I had forgotten was how much I like tape.  Before washi tape came along, I occasionally used colored masking tapes to hold my photos and other information in place.  I sewed the info onto some of my handmade shimmering misted card stock, then grabbed my green masking tape to finish off the entry.  Of course, I painted the background in three colors: white, red, and burgundy acrylics.

Now let's visit the beaches of Rio.  Contrary to popular belief, beach goers do not go nude on these beaches.  The most famous ones are

Ipanema Beach

and Copacabana Beach.

For this side, I first painted the used file folder burgundy, red, and yellow.  I added a partial dictionary page (found in my scrap basket) to the mix.  The postcard is old and the description of the picture is written in Portuguese, the official language of Brazil.  All other images are from various travel magazines.

Now it's time to visit Ipanema up close and personal. The colorful beach

is where this beautiful girl is visiting.
This spread started with the girl as the background, to which I added more of the beach scene.  All elements were sewn to the magazine image of the girl, which was then sewn to the substrate.

I found this Chinese fortune that seemed to apply.  In case you can't read it:

The mysterious side of your nature makes you most alluring.

Now that we've cooled off at the beach, lets visit

the beautiful Botanical Gardens in Rio.  For this side, I sewed a sheet of hand painted paper, a strip of my handmade misted paper, the image from a travel magazine, and a paint chip to the used file folder substrate.

I hope this trip to Carnival (Carnaval), the stunning Botanical Gardens, and the two most famous beaches in Rio piqued your interest in Brazil, the next South American country I'm visiting in my 7 Continents AB.  As always, I appreciate your visit and reading through my earlier rant!