Did you know? #6: "Shredded" with Adam Saaks

Adam Saaks is a world-class famous fashion designer from Los Angeles whose creations have been modeled by numerous stars and featured in many TV broadcasts and social events. His style consists of a very quick but delicate nip-and-tuck performed on any clothing item of stretchy fabric. Pants, shirts, dresses, swimsuits and more get a Saaks makeover with many cuts, stretches and rips done by the designer, who puts it all together into one peculiar and unique handcrafted masterpiece. His recognizable style stands over two main pillars: 

1. Adam Saaks likes to shred clothes.

2. He can do it on-the-go.

Adam is publicly known for his precise and creative cutting skills, leading his fans to name him  "The Master Shredder", "Fashion Butcher", "T-Shirt Circumciser" and "Adam ScissorHands". Some of his videos called "Shredded" have become very popular in his Youtube channel nowadays, with more than 45,000,000 total views. "Shredded" is nothing else than a fashion travel show where Mr. Saaks does public displays of his abilities, showcasing real-time fashion creations both on random pedestrian women and models. The clothing's concept could be showing some skin in a sexy way, but instead of cutting everything off in a vulgar way, he focuses on fabricating intricate knits, twists and patterns with the fabric itself. 

"Shredded" with Adam Saaks in New York City

Saaks once explained in an interview that his idea of shredding clothes came out by mistake. He had been a designer working with fabrics and models for ten years, and one day he was asked to cut a shirt in public. He started doing so and his performance started to draw people close who were amazed by his curious skills. "Everyone started applauding and I wasn't even done" stated Adam. He felt the emotion and expectation building up and he knew at once that it was his thing. "I thought: This is so natural to me... The crowd loves it, I love it, the girl loved it. So it was a pretty good formula and I fell in love with it with the first shirt I ever did" said Saaks.

Working with the item's lines, angles and edges is one of the main principles Adam likes to follow. Using the selected piece as a guideline, he imagines where and how the cuts could go along and merge into the clothing item. He then slices it up, knots and weaves the strips, and adds some finishing touches.

Well this certainly looks familiar...

Adam travels the world showcasing his high fashion street art. He's been in talk shows, TV interviews and fashion shows worldwide. United States, Turkey, Austria, India, Belgium, Philippines, Thailand, France, Sweden, Russia, Italy, United Arab Emirates, Korea and many other nations have made it into Saaks's performing locations. On the other hand, as I mentioned earlier, famous international superstars, models, actresses and others have been "shredded" by Adam Saaks. 

For example Shakira features one of Adam's creations in her "La La La (Brasil 2014)" FIFA World Cup video. The piece was handcrafted by Saaks and named after Shakira: "Shak Long Sleeve Body Suit", which can now be purchased online in a variety of colors and sizes for 450$.

These are some of the many celebrities that have been "shredded" by Adam Saaks. You can view more if you click here.

• Heidi Klum (German top model and actress)
• Mila Kaladjurdjevic (Montenegro top model)
• Giulia Arena (Miss Italy 2013)
• Moani Hara (Miss Hawaii 2014)
• Shakira (Colombian singer)
• Red Foo (American singer)
• Mariah Carey (American singer)
• Michelle Ashman (American actress)
• Sameera Reddy (Indian Bollywood actress)
• Jayde Nicole (Canadian model)

"Shredded" with Adam Saaks, cut dress on Mila Kaladjurdjevic

To this day, Adam Saaks has already written a book "Love At First Cut" and opened an online store where you can order custom made pieces (of course, handcrafted by Adam himself). He also currently offers online booking for personal appearances and promotes his Cutting Tour Dates, including performances in a long list of live shows throughout the world.

Learn more about Adam and his famous shredding in his official webpage.

Heartryoshka (The Heart Matryoshka)

Thinking of cute and original anniversary gifts, I came up with the idea of creating a Heartryoshka. For those of you who don't know what Matryoshkas are, this is how these iconic dolls look like:

Matryoshkas (also known as Babushkas) are Russian nesting dolls carved out of wood. They consist in a number of dolls painted to look the same or similar, but each of them is smaller than the next one in order to fit them all inside each other. Matryoshkas can come in many shapes, sizes, numbers and themes: from sets of three to sets of twenty, or from traditional Russian motive dolls to funny-themed ones.

Monster-themed Matryoshkas

In this case I made felt hearts that fit inside each other. My Heartryoshka is a set of six hearts of different colors, with the last one holding the initials of the two lovers. The making process is quite simple:

1. Cut as many pairs of felt hearts as you need to create your Heartryoshka. Measure each heart before cutting it to make sure it will fit inside the immediate larger one.

2. Sew together the edges of each pair together and cut a slit across the middle of one of the heart's sides. Sew those edges too (be careful, you don't wanna sew it against the other half).

3. Decorate the smallest heart if you want to. I sewed the foam initials carefully.

4. Put each heart inside each other and you're ready to go!

Did you know? #5: "The Last Goodbye"

About a week ago Peter Jackson posted on his Facebook page a video of the song "The Last Goodbye", performed by Billy Boyd. This song will be featured in the third and final release of The Hobbit saga, "The Battle of the Five Armies", as a honorable final closure for the Tolkien series.

"The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies" premiered yesterday at London

and will open on December 17 for USA

Long story short, this tune from the original motion picture soundtrack summarizes the long and passionate journey from the very beginning, featuring some of the best scenes from the "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" movies, mixed with behind-the-scenes footage and Boyd performing the song. For those of you who don't remember (shame on you!) Billy Boyd portrayed the hobbit Peregrin "Pippin" Took throughout the three "The Lord of The Rings" movies.

Both the melody and lyrics are powerful, evoking strong emotions from all the best and worst moments shared during the adventures that took place in Middle-Earth, and transforming the five-minute video into a heartwarming connection between the fans and the fiction. The song was composed and written by Billy Boyd himself, with Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens collaborating with the lyrics.

If you haven't watched it yet, be prepared to get goosebumps and maybe shed a tear or two.

The fact is 16 years, 6 movies and one fellowship after, the classic story is finally coming to an end. And this will be a true "last goodbye" to the Middle-Earth series.

You can read Billy Boyd's interview with Entertainment Weekly HERE.

Hawaiian Tiki Masks and Door Decor

Since I'm very much in love with Hawaiian stuff, I've been creating Hawaiian-themed decorations for my room, one of which is a set of four papier-maché Tiki masks and a bedroom door guardian. My inspiration for these Tiki gods comes from the ones featured in Disneyland's "Enchanted Tiki Room".

Meet Disneyland's Tiki gods!

I chose to make Tangaroa, father of all Tiki gods, large enough to fit my door… Similar to the doors featured in Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas when Jack walks into the woods and stumbles upon the different holiday doors. Then I picked four of the other gods to hang masks of their faces in each of my closet doors. Pele, Hina Kaluua, Ngendei and Tangaroa Ru were the chosen ones.

All of the masks and the door decor are made out of papier-maché with a cardboard base. First I traced and cut each of the silhouettes out of a sturdy cardboard. Then I rolled and flattened 2-3 centimeter newspaper tubes of several lengths. I taped them accordingly in order to create the base forms for the facial features and the face edges. Later the papier-maché magic started, glueing lots of newspaper and toilet paper strips to make the Tiki form. After covering all the needed parts, the Tiki gods were let to dry for a couple of days.

Once dry, the painting process began. I chose several colors and alternated them between the masks. I followed some of Disneyland's colors such as the pink and purple lanterns that hang from Tangaroa. After the paint dried I added a special detail with neon glow paint on the masks' eyes. Then I hung them on the closet with yarn and attached the door decoration using four thumbtacks.

Now you can make your own Enchanted Tiki Garden in an easy and simple way!

The Little Prince Figurine

My boyfriend is a huge admirer of the book "The Little Prince" by Antoine De Saint-Exupéry. One day we decided to make clay sculptures, just for the fun of it, and I decided I would make him a Little Prince figurine. He loved it so much that he placed it on his bedroom's shelf, displaying it as a book keeper.

It took me a week to make the figurine. I molded it on a Saturday, let it dry for the whole week, and painted it the next weekend.

I made the torso and legs as a whole body piece. The rest was made separately: arms, hands, cloak, lapels, belt, head, hair and flower. Then everything was attached using a technique I learned back in my pottery lessons, consisting in tracing diagonal lines and wetting generously both areas to be attached, after which both pieces should be connected carefully.

I flattened the Little Prince's "feet" and molded the cape to support the statue to remain standing. I also made a small hole on the figurine's upper right hand before setting it above a shelf, where it received enough air and sunlight to dry properly.

Normally clay figures should be baked, but since I don't have a pottery oven I simply let it dry naturally. After that I picked the right colors of acrylic paint (special for painting pottery) and proceeded to paint everything with small brushes. I also covered a toothpick with silver paint and stuck it in the figurine's right hand hole. I finally let the Little Prince dry for a couple more days.

Jack Skellington Piggy Bank

A friend once asked me to paint a piggy bank for a charity project hosted by the company were she worked. You see, that company (ARS DDB) conducts a yearly auction during Christmas called "Navidarte", which works as a fundraiser for the Children's Orthopedic Hospital. ARS hands out plain ceramic piggy banks to national artists and company employees, who commit themselves to paint, embelish and fix the pigs however they wish. Every year people go online on this web page, where they can see the piggies, choose their favorite and bid on it in favor of donating to the kid's hospital.

The piece they hand out is a smooth, cute, clay baked pig; a basic figure good enough to work on it from a basic perspective (such as simply painting it) or taking it to a next level by adding elaborate parts and details.

After mentally going through some options and consulting with my friend, I decided to make a classic Jack Skellington piggy bank.

Here's a brief step-by-step:

1. Since I didn't need to mold the piece, I simply proceeded to draw the guide lines with a pencil: Facial features, body parts and suit stripes.
2. Following that same order I painted the face, legs and tail white, while the rest of the pig got black paint. I gave it a couple of coats to make the colors stronger.
3. With a tiny brush I painted the eyes, fingers and other facial features. Then I let it dry for a day.
4. To make Jack's signature pinstripe suit, I carefully retraced all the fine suit lines with a white colored pencil.
5. I carefully covered the pig with a generous coat of white glue, which would make it shinier while protecting the paint job.
6. For a finishing touch, I made Jack's iconic bat tie cutting it out of sturdy cardboard and painting it black. I then attached it below the pig's chin with thin, super sticky, double-sided tape.

So there you have it! My finished Jack Skellington piggy bank. A true bone daddy.