meet Lil Red Wolf design - Mary...she HAD a little lamb...

Introducing Little Red Wolf an artistically altered clothing line...

It has taken a while to get this set up for online debut but it is finally here! One of my first New Years resolution's done. CHECK! Using images straight out my sketchbook pages... I made a series of six introductory designs for my new Indie Biz - Little Red Wolf- artistically altered clothing & more...the image above was the catalog cover for my table at the craft fair where I debuted this past holiday season- and now after many request I am finally getting it all online and possible for you to share in the experience.

So in the next few posts make way for me to introduce the first of the six debut designs of Li'l Red Wolf . We will begin in this post and meet BEAR GIRL. If you are impatient and want to see it all just go to www.LilRedWolf.com Original Sketchbook Page and modified Silk- Screen transparency by m.diaz

Altered Couture of the Month- Customize Your Shoes Tutorial

Recently, I was in the market for a new pair of black wedge sandals. Though I liked the simple form of these wedges from Urban Outfitters, I wasn't crazy about the non-black heel. At first I thought, "thats ok, I'll just buy them and rub black shoe polish over the pseudo-suede heel." Ok. So probably not the best idea I ever had, but thats the great thing about thinking... sometimes one thought leads you to ANOTHER! And lucky for you my blog on Artful Living is here to share it with you!!

The Gift of Prints n Student Creativity

Students, both former and current are one of the greatest forms of creativity sparks and inspiration we can have as teachers and quite honestly as human beings.

From founder of Karma Seed Chris Lo, to current Brown University student Isabella Giancarlo (who recently sent me an envelope filled with valentines day handmade wares including a silk-screened pillowcase) and Colin Alexander current art student to my alma mater Maryland Institute College of Art whose art graces my walls- students feed my daily life.

Current students do it on an hourly basis - whether it is with a cool new nail polish design, an altered book art piece they made, their illustrations, or math class doodles or simply their solutions to the parameters of my assignments, like AK's solution to my good ol' brown paper bag">BROWN PAPER BAG HEAD PIECE PROJECT you see here: made entirely of brown paper brown paper bag">lunch bags to read about this assignment click brown paper bag">here.

Wearable Art made of brown paper bags by my current student AK Hence todays post- A former student came bearing beautiful gifts recently - Lena Jorde (who I taught for only one year during her freshman year of high school before she transferred out of my school). The one year we shared was a full one, Lena participated in my Herstory project and we got very close. And we remained close- at times she wrote me letters and even brought me as a speaker to the Putney school to present the Herstory project. I have always been impressed by Lena, her maturity and her artistic inclinations among an array of other passions and talents..always choosing the path of greatest resistance and integrity in order to develop her whole self. Lets put it this way - she chose to milk the cows at dawn while in high school - as opposed to a cush office task...now that is what I'm talking about. Lena is now a graduate of the Putney School and is attending Columbia University. Without realizing it she made an inadvertent portrait of both my hub and I :
He uses a coffee infuser and I of course am all about tea.

tea by lena jorde

coffee print by lena jorde

My Kate Cusack Inspired Plastic Wrap Marie Antoinette Wig!!

Every year I take on a very large and taxing wearable art/sculpture costume for a 15 min. walk of fame (thanks for pointing that out Mr. Warhol) in the Halloween parade at the school where I work. I mean how can I be a VISA teacher and not?

So last year I was a pretty gigantic butterfly and you can check that out here, but this year I decided to take it easy on myself and use some parts and pieces of old costumes. Since this year the murder mystery party that my hub & I are throwing is on a French Revolution theme - I decided to be Marie Antoinette. Honestly, I wanted to be the decapitated Marie but I just couldn't find anyone to sell me more hours in the day, so I had to settle for the regular intact Marie.

I was SUPER inspired by the phenomenal and beautiful plastic-wrap wigs made by designer Kate Cusack for Tiffany (which you should totally check out)and wanted to try my hand at it using only a 10 hour time frame. Here is the result:

My Marie Antoinette Wig made with plastic wrap and bags inspired by Kate Cusack

Note- If you want to blog about any of these images please be sure to give credit and link back to this site, Thank You :)

I'm planning on making a tutorial for this wig in November so that you can have your own masquerade ball any time of the year or set up for next Halloween early!

Tomorrow I will walk the parade in a pretty big get up- The skirt is an old wood frame skirt that I made to be the Queen of Hearts some years ago and it is MEGA big- so stay tuned for some pics of the WHOLE get up and my leeched white face!!

-Ciao Amarettogirl

My Finished Hobo Bag!

So the leather handles and magnetic snap from Quilt Plus came the other night- just when I was feeling so low! I was so excited to sew them on, I started immediately and the bag became an awesome therapy session. Here is my one of my student's AK modeling it - and these are quite fun pics since that's my coffee and phone she is using as props!;))

AK modeling an Amarettogirl Hobo Bag

Quite a few folks have been asking me if I plan on making more of these bags and I think I will!

I really loved making it and it's the first time I've ever used any kind of quilting squares technique. Gathering a collection of matching fabrics is the most fun part. In fact my mom is beginning to collect her own matching fabrics so I can make one custom to her.

Have a wonderful weekend folks and may something creative get you out of a hump the next time you encounter one!

-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!!!

The Birth of Driftwear

The Birth of Driftwear

My student Isabella Whitney is the proud owner & designer of the new brand Driftwear. She is completeling her senior thesis/focus project soon by developing this brand and it launches April 19th!

I am so very proud of her work and her accomplishments and I wanted to share them with all of you.

Many people aren't aware of all of the nuances and complexities involved in developing a product line, brand and indie biz. Isabella has done a fantastic job documenting all of those things in her blog- The Birth of Driftwear.

In addition, she has approached marketing wisely, creating guerilla art (I blogged about what Guerilla Art is two years ago- check it out here!) marketing campaigns and using the stop- motion fever my hub and I imparted on our students to promote the brand. I already have three of her designs that I'm interested in purchasing!

PSSSTTT- SECRET... another giveaway opportunity is in the works to celebrate the Driftwear launch!

Driftwear Mission ststement detail shot of guerilla marketing by Isabella Whitney

Mai Sweetshop on Etsy

I've just updated my Etsy shop with some new and now available Mai Sweetshop products. So be sure to go check it out!

A Mai Sweetshop Exclusive! Macaroon Extraordinaire ring available now in my Etsy shop! a Maisweetshop charm not yet available

Valentine's Day Apron

detail of Lizzy's Apron by marisol diaz

So after seeing all the aprons I gifted to women in my fam this past holiday on my blog, my long-distance cousin in Florida really felt forgotten....making it so that just when I thought I was done with apron's for a while, I had to sew another one.

I guess I didn't really 'have' to, but this particular cousin has a special spot in my heart.

With all the other aprons I chose fabrics and patterns based on the woman's personality. So in accord with that manner of approaching the apron design, I chose 'love' as the theme.

It was shipped last Thursday and should be arriving in Port St. Lucie Florida any day now... hopefully she gets to see it, before she sees this post!

If not well, here is the sneak peek Lizzy!

Completing Lizzy's Apron by marisol diaz detail of upper portion by marisol diaz Lizzy's Apron hanging by marisol diaz modeling the apron by marisol diazapron detail by marisol diaz

Hope you all had a wonderful and crafty Valentine's Day Weekend!

- Ciao Amarettogirl