My Hester Prynne Art Doll Published in Somerset Studio Art Doll Quarterly!!

http://www.artdollquarterly.com/http://www.artdollquarterly.com/ Hester Prynne art doll by m.diaz

Meeting and Working with Doll Artist & and Teacher Lillian Alberti

Doll Artist Lillian Alberti

Thanks to my good friend Manon,whose birthday gift to herself was a doll-making class this past October- I got to meet doll artist and teacher Lillian Alberti. Knowing my long-time interest in doll-making, Manon told me about the class at Boces and invited me to tag along with her and share in the experience. I am very grateful to Manon or I would have never met Lillian and learned about her accessibility via workshops.

Unfortunately, the class at Boces was only three Saturday mornings long and I had to travel out of the country (to Oaxaca, Mexico) during the very last session, so I was left to complete my doll on my own. As you will see I only got up to stage two with my class and teacher.

Nevertheless, meeting Lillian Alberti was SUPER inspiring and the two short classes I had were enough to ignite and unleash a pretty palpable creative firestorm inside me.

One of LIllian Alberti's work in progress dolls that I got to meet during my second class.

About Lillian, she graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Fashion Design, and worked extensively in the fashion industry as both a designer and illustrator, before beginning her venture into Art Dolls. She has a wonderful story of being so affected and lured into art doll-making by a moment in time when she passed by Van Craig sculptural dolls and his art in a Tiffany window display while walking around NYC. Now if you have never seen Van Craig work - you are in for a super treat and should click here: VAN CRAIG. Furthermore, like me, Lillian is a LATINA! So on so many levels she was her Van Craig to me!!

my first clay doll teacher Lillian Alberti in class with her work in progress doll

My mind was set from the beginning that my doll would be a sad, sullen girl - this I knew.

So check out my early stages and as my students told me all along the way the images can be freaky...

Stage one photo and doll by m.diazStage two of my doll Stage three - Beginning the Painting photo and doll by M.Diaz

So having made dolls before and truly enjoying the spirit of allowing a narrative to develop between me, the process and the matter (which in this case of art-making is the doll), I allowed much to be developed intuitively as I went. I also based much of my artistic design choices on where my heart was at that moment.

So right around stage three (painting the doll) I decided (or she decided) that the surface treatment of an antique wooden puppet doll would suit her best and that she perhaps made her living in a Cirque du Soleil kind of way- performing for others and wearing a daily covering of clown make-up...and that maybe there had been a build up.
As a former clown, she at one time or another had done a lot of smiling before everything went sour. The way I imagined that her life had come undone and gone black of course was in matters of the heart. And so I used some glazing and inks,stains, and shellac instead of paint to get the effect I wanted. I also couldn't help noticing that the tears were doing a real number on her makeup and that her current outward face was a fusion between that old life and this new one.

paint jobpaint job and beginning of soul gutted process detail shot SO COME BACK here this week to see the finished doll..she has been soul-gutted has had her heart ripped out (and is living somewhere else in another vessel of sorts) with only a clock works of time existing in her chest now...AND HELP ME NAME HER!!!!! I will be asking in the next blog post for help as you get to know and see her - I would love your ideas, comments and when I finally have it narrowed down to top five we will take a vote!! So I hope to see you back here!

Creatively Invoking The New Year with Sorority, Intention, Incantations, Stitchery & Felt

All of Us CC's photo taken by Erin with Annamaria's Camera- thanks Erin!

I was fortunate this New Year's eve to have an opportunity to get together with a portion of my CREATIVELY CONSCIOUS Sisters (some of the original collection of women from my women's art retreat this past summer) and do a crafty version of a New Year's Invocation.

My gift to the women were little precut and personalized embroidered heart sachets that had charms, wishes and love stitched onto them.

One of the unsewn, unsealed, unstuffed New Years sachets I made for the Ladies of CC

As part of the process, I had each woman consider what the people, places and things that impede their daily dreams and goals are and on that sheet of paper physically write and name those things as what I like to call our 'Chief Censors'.

Beginning the incantation photo by CC Sharon

After that we wrote down what our deepest desire was for this up and coming new year...not so much a resolution but more something we wanted to see realized and manifested in our lives.

I wanted us to ritualistically experience a metaphor for being released by that chief censor into action towards our deepest desire. So I brought a stainless steel bowl in which to individually 'torch' the chief censor and watch it burn into ash and into the ether while asking to be released from it verbally. Our Burning Bowl photo by CC Sharon

We rolled up our our deepest desire and placed it along with stuffing and fragrant filling into the core of our heart sachet. Each woman went through the process of physically stitching her deepest desire into her heart....

the unstuffed sachet I made for CC Kesha CC Kesha Sewing her sachetCC Khadine Sewing her sachet CC's Khadine & Sharon working on their sachet's together CC Annamaria's sachet The Other side of CC Annamaria's Sachet

"Wishing you all a wonderful New Year!!"-Amarettogirl

Some of My NEW Favorite Things

I had a restful and great Sunday this past weekend, which is slightly rare. My best weekender experiences usually fall on a Saturday, the day of the week that I would normally call one of my favorite things, but not this time. So I declare that Sunday is making the also-one-of-my-fave-things list.

So this Sunday I woke up early enough to do some morning reading. I'm currently taking a reprieve from my usual cerebral, booky, mystery fiction and I'm reading something that reads rather quickly due to my pressed time schedule this month. Since I am determined to be an author/illustrator combo some day, I'm now reading a fun young-adult graphic novel WONDLA illustrated and written by the author of The Spiderwick Chronicles, Tony DiTerlizzi. Best of all, this book has a phenomenal interactive website and it was one of my surprise b'day gifts from my hub!

Then I got to brew a whole tea pot of some of my newest addiction TEAVANA Rooibos Cocoa Praline Tart tea The ultimate zero calorie, caffeine free sweet tooth satisfaction! Try Haute Chocolate tea too- ooh la la is all I gotta say! Teavana Cocoa Praline Tart Rooibos Tea And thanks to that husband of mine I got to enjoy that tea in another awesome Bday gift- check out my new porcelain tea thermos from TEAVANAMy new procelain thermos

This Sunday Morning we also had a delicious omelette, a gift from my ladies and my hub:

our eggs my handmade ipad case by me

I made major progress (though I'm still not finished) with a daunting sewing project that I wanted to tackle now for a while, a handmade case for my iPad. I wish I could have done a tutorial for you all, but I seriously had no idea what I was doing! I just made it all up along the way and struggled to boot, which is something I usually don't do as an autodidact, but hey I can't always be sunshine and roses!

span class="full-image-block ssNonEditable">latch open openPropped up for viewing

Lastly this is going to be a GREAT thanksgiving week because my ART children are coming home from college and I get to see those fresh eyed babes who hold such a special place in my heart!

- Ciao Amarettogirl

Shopping for Color in Downtown NYC

Here's a post on an island of a different color- Manhattan!

Kremer Brushes

This week my hub and I went on a city trip that wasn't to our usual Astor place haunts, but instead to some new ones that had been on our living-an-art-full-life must see list. We did have to go to one usual stop and that was Pearl art supply store to restock, but all our other stops were new treats!

And if you're a creative, I think you'll love these places too- in fact you might just want to hit the links in addition to reading my blog and bookmark these sites (which are all pretty impressive in their own right) for your next artsy NYC shopping trip.

Kremer Pigments Inc.

Kremer storefront window

I know I've mentioned the book COLOR: A Natural history of the Palette by Victoria Finlay on this blog before but its worth mentioning once again. Every creative, illustrator, watercolorist, designer, painter and well-rounded artist should own this book, and maybe you do. But if you have a hankering to get a hands on visual supplement to the origins of color you need to go to Kremer's.

my hub browsing the stock

This is a shop that sells all you need to create your own paints, dyes or mediums for watercolor, acrylics and/ or oils. They also sell damar, varnishes and inks. The store, lined with shelves of gorgeous bags of powdered pigments specializes in historical pigments as well as contemporary methods. If you like the way the ol' masters did it- or you just want to be in the know - you have to go.

Next stop: Purl Soho

Yarn at Purl Soho

Purl is a fabric store in Soho New York that you will often see advertised in any crafty magazine with gorgeous photos of stacked fabric.

Wool felt at Purl Soho

They have wool felt for felting, stellar embroidery thread, rows of gorgeous fabric and walls lined with delectable high quality yarn for all you knitters and crochet divas out there.

Next stop: Papabubble

What a name right! Well, years ago I took some glass classes at Urban Glass in Brooklyn, NY. For fun I took an additional weekend workshop on pulling sugar. We worked with it very much the way you do lampworked glass.

candies up close

Anyhoo- it gave me an appreciation for handmade artisanal candy and Papabubble is just the place for that! They have shops in some of the best cities around the world like Barcelona, Tokyo, Amsterdam, Seoul & Taipei. They employ the millefiori technique to roll designs into the center of the candy and specialize in making custom designs to order.

Papabubble Artisanal Candy bags for $5

Above you see two Papabubble Candy Artisans making a custom order of candy.

Next Stop- Kid Robot

Ok So we HAVE been to Kid Robot before, but not since they've remodeled and expanded their shop! The Urban Vinyl toy mecca still houses many DIY munnies and Urban Vinyl Artist figures, clothes and blind boxes.

We also went to a gallery where I saw artwork by some of my all time fave artists from our fave art magazines Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose! But this blog has become long enough and it was all just in a single days work- so I'll blog about the gallery next.

I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did and I'm so happy I was able to take you along with us as we depart from chickens, coops and travel to return to our art-full lives! ~.~

Ciao- Amarettogirl

Mystery Project Revealed!

Remember this:

Well its been a few days now and finally all you clever readers started to get it right!

A very good friend of mine, Linda Gargano of Fruition Dolls & Gifts gave me a sewing kit for Christmas. Inside of the kit were all sorts of surprises including button earrings and a paper pattern and instructions from Quilt Plus an online fabric shop that sells DIY sewing patterns.

The pattern was for a project that I was concerned would be too small for my liking so I had to modify it- For example, instead of the prescribed 22 squares of fabric I used 34, which gave me a chance to add some of my preferred fabrics like Heather Ross mermaids and tattoo- inspired fabric.

An inside pocket I made for my mystery project

I'm an autodidact person and a visual learner, so even the best laid out instructions can stifle me. I usually struggle with and dismiss any patterns - instead I simply have to hold, see and analyze something to figure it out for myself.

I had to sew all the squares together, make a lining with an inside pocket, FOLD it in half and start to sew it together. Inner Liningfolded and inside out before sewing together

Well I'm sure you can start to see it all come together, readers had some really creative ideas. Some of you thought it was a picnic blanket, dooms day device and others a quilt (since quilt techniques are employed).

Quilt Plus has such a great design of how to engineer the pattern of squares into a three dimensional form that I thought it was truly brilliant even with my modification! So HANG ON...

WAIT FOR IT....drumroll please....IT's A HOBO BAG!! Hobo Bag modified pattern by QuiltPlus made by m. diaz HobobagfrontHobobag backpeek inside of the hobobag by m.diaz

I finally finished...uh, hmm well close enough...I still have to buy the leather handles (which QuiltPlus sells!)

I'm so excited about the bag and I think it will look GREAT with jeans!

-Ciao Amarettogirl

Kokeshi FREE Laptop Sleeve Tutorial

the laptop sleeve by marisol diaz tutorial finished laptop sleeve

- Ciao Amarettogirl

Choose a Hairstyle! Custom Kokeshi Laptop bag

Ok, well among all else I'm doing these days, I've taken on a commission for a custom kokeshi laptop bag. I'm designing the kokeshi applique now, before I start assembling the laptop bag.

kokeshi applique in process by m. diaz

I was wondering if (even just for fun) if I could get some help with her hairstyle options.

• a. Lady- which is an updo,

• b. chic - which is a short bob or

• c. Harajuku style

Leave me a comment and let me know WHICH do you think I should put on the laptop bag???

Ciao- Amarettogirl

Fun News and New Giveaway to celebrate Driftwear!

My new 'Rettogirl' blog widget is finally UP and grab-able! So if you have a blog, feel free to grab the code (just copy and paste it into your sidebar) and place little 'ol Rettogirl on your page! Now that I know how to do this, I'm looking forward to making new widgets!

Widgets can be kind of tricky (especially if coding is not your forte) so I'm pretty proud.

As for memorizing my lines - thanks for all the stress-free suggestions. I found a FANTASTIC Iphone app called Mentalcase and an online study program that exchanges with mentalcase called Flashcard Exchange. I've been able to first study my cards on the phone then record audio with each of the lines and play it like a slide show, so all I have to do is listen and repeat while I drive - it's brilliant and I've already memorized many of my lines! Isabella Whitney at work making hand pulled silkscreened Driftwear t-shirts

Now on to some fun stuff!

As promised a NEW GIVEAWAY is in the works to celebrate the APRIL 19th LAUNCH of Driftwear!

Isabella has graciously donated a white Bear t-shirt ($25 us dollar value) in the winner's size choice of S,M,L,XL male or female. These shirts are 100% organic cotton made in America by American Apparel. And as a SPECIAL treat in addition to the typical black Isabella is offering the white t-shirt with a limited edition color print of the bear in red, blue or green to one of my readers!

Driftwear BEAR design by Isabella Whitney

Here are the conditions:

• Open to anyone anywhere

• become a fan of Driftwear on Facebook and leave a comment!

• Go to the Birth of Driftwear blog and comment on some posts especially the NAME THE BEAR post!

• Come back here and leave a comment letting us know WHY oh why you need to win a Driftwear Bear shirt!

• A winner will be chosen on the April 19th to celebrate the official launch of Driftwear! A check of all requirements will be made and a random digital number widget will be used to generate a winner. On the 19th at 10pm (the opening time of the Esty Driftwear shop) a winner will be announced here!

The Driftwear Bear shirt designed by Isabella Whitney

-Ciao Amarettogirl

Update on Thursday, April 15, 2010 at 07:17PM by Amarettogirl

REMINDER - This is a three-comment requirement giveaway:

1. Facebook Driftwear Fanpage become a fan + comment,
2. Driftwear blog + comment,
3.This blog post+comment

This Giveaway is a promotional tool for Driftwear and you must GO TO: THE BIRTH OF DRIFTWEAR Blog and leave SOME comments on posts especially the 'Name The Bear Post'in order to be qualified to win!!!

Sew, Mama, Sew! and JCasa's Something Special Vday Card tutorial!

So as I was traveling through the 'crafty' blogosphere (as I am known to do), and I encountered two delightful entities, the website Sew, Mama, Sew! and JCasa's Jennifer's handmade blog tutorial for a special kind of correspondance.

Imagine what kind of a wonderful world (or VD day...oh, uhm I meant Valentine's day) it would be to get your 'love notes' like this!!

JCasa's Something Special Handmade Card

If you go to Sew, Mama, Sew! you'll see an exceptional high quality tutorial that clearly illustrates step by step procedures to simply make both this fabric envelope and the 'love note'.

JCasa's Envelope with a sample note from tutorial Another sample of JCasa's Envelope and Card from Sew, Mama, Sew!tutorial

Better yet, as part of their February True Love Series, if you try your hand at one of JCasa's fabric envelopes and cards before February 12th and post it on the Sew, Mama, Sew! forum you can win one of these awesome prizes!!

Regardless, its just so much fun (and inspiring) to check out all the versions that have already been posted on the Forum!

I think I may have to try one!!!

After you make the basic card + envelope as a foundation piece you can then embellish, embroider, quilt, print… Do something to make it unique! Mix things up, and personalize your card to make it the perfect something for your special someone.

-CIAO! AMARETTOGIRL