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.

How To Make Your Own Spongebob's Pineapple Home

Spongebob's pineapple definitely portrays a unique and funny home choice. Now you can have your own with this make-your-own pineapple mini tutorial! 

These are the materials you will need to make this awesome piece:

-Pottery clay

-Water

-A balloon

-Pottery tools (A toothpick and a knife will do just fine)

-A sponge
-Paintbrushes

-Paint:

   +Green for the leaves

   +Yellow for the pineapple

   +Light blue for the windows, chimney & door

   +Orange for the details

Here's a small step-by-step with supporting images of the process:

1. Inflate the balloon just above the minimum capacity and build the pineapple's body around it. Make sure to make the bottom flat.
2. Carve out the two circles for the windows and a smaller lateral circle to insert the chimney.
3. Make the outer door and window frames molding thin clay rolls (about half a centimeter thick). Attach them to the body by making small markings with the toothpick on the areas to put together, wet them a little and stick the parts to the body. (You can also make the whole door with the helm instead of just the arch).
4. Make another roll for the chimney and attach a bell-like ending. Stick it into the lateral hole.
5. Take out the balloon carefully through the bottom of the body for the pineapple to stand on its own.
6. Trace the body lines with the toothpick or carving tool. Don't make them too deep or you could end up cutting part of the body! Then do the "X" markings in the middle of each "diamond" in the body.

7. For the leaves, make a half-centimeter thick layer and cut out 9 leaves: Starting from a middle leaf, draw the other four to each side, each becoming smaller than the last one. Then order them in a triangular shape (biggest in the middle, smallest on the edges). Attach them together with the same technique as before. Wet your sponge a little and rub it on the leaves smoothly to flatten any irregularities.
8. Attach the whole leaf bunch into the center-top body of the pineapple (same technique as before).

9. Leave it all to dry for a couple of days. (Unless you have one of those fancy pottery ovens).

10. Once dry, paint it all. I started by painting the orange details and the inner piece. Then I moved on to the yellow part. Next, the leaves. Afterwards, the door, windows and chimney. Finally, I passed a brush with orange dust-paint over the whole body in order to give it that fresh-pineapple appearance.
11. You can later coat the piece with white glue or varnish for extra protection. If you are going to use it on a fish tank or over humid dirt, you MUST bake it and coat it at least twice with varnish.

Voilá! A perfect Spongebob's pineapple home. 

You can use this pineapple as an ornament, as a cake topper, as an aquarium decoration or as anything you like. I personally made this one as a home for my escargot snail, Gary. Unfortunately he passed away before I managed to finish it properly. Now I just use it as a decorationin my tiki-themed bedroom.

Did you know? #4: A study on Finding Nemo's aquarium fish

Finding Nemo is, perhaps, one of Pixar's most cherished motion pictures worldwide. This "Best Animated Film Academy Award" winner was released in the year 2003, and it set the record for the highest-grossing opening weekend for an animated film, rounding up over 70 million dollars.

The movie mostly takes place in the ocean, where two of the three main characters (Marlin and Dory) meet many different sea creatures while searching for Marlin's lost son, Nemo. Of course, what they don't know is that Nemo has been taken by a dentist who puts him in his dentist office's aquarium, (at P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney) amongst other previously trapped fish.

Animal Kingdom's Finding Nemo - The Musical

P. Sherman's visor tag

Not only is the movie exciting and the sea landscapes breathtaking, but it's the fine choice and creation of its characters what really brings life into the film. In fact, the characters became so popular that the sales of Clownfish and other tropical marine fish in America skyrocketed after the movie was released. Nevertheless, since these fish are naturally free marine sea creatures it became a problem for the ecosystems, mainly because the extreme extraction of tropical fish caused a reef species decimation in countries such as Vanuatu.

In Walt Disney World Resort's Epcot Park there is an attraction called "The Living Seas", which directs most of its components towards the Finding Nemo film. There are a couple of tanks holding real life species of all the Finding Nemo fish tank characters: Nemo and Marlin, Dory, Deb/Flo, Bubbles, Gill, Bloat, Pearl, Gurgle and Jacques. In the next section, you will find detailed information about each of these character's family group, species, habitat and other curious things you might want to know.

Nemo, Marlin and Dory's friends say HI!

A lot of Finding Nemo's marine characters at Sydney

All the aquarium characters mentioned above are tropical marine fishes, each belonging to a different group and family. This makes them part of the sea creatures living in the 77% of Earth's surface. A main problem with these fish living in tanks is that these species have very little tolerance to even the slightest change of their water conditions, both in salinity, temperature and cleanliness. Here's a little on each of these fellows:

1. Nemo and Marlin: Common Clownfish
-Group: Anemonefishes   -Family: Pomacentridae
-Species: Amphiprion ocellaris

This fish's common habitat is coral reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific Ocean. This type of Clownfish has three black-edged white bands across its yellow/orange body. It will chase out other fish from its chosen territory.

2. Deb/Flo: Black-Tailed Humbug
-Group: Damselfishes   -Family: Pomacentridae
-Species: Dascyllus melanurus

This fish inhabitates corals around the Western Pacific Ocean. The Black-Tailed Humbug has a white body with three dark stripes, with the tip of its tail creating a fourth stripe. Like most members of its genus or group, this fish is never far away from corals in the wild.

3. Dory: Regal Tang
-Group: Sturgeons and Tangs   -Family: Acanthuridae
-Species: Paracanthurus hepatus

The Regal Tang lives in coastal reefs from East Africa towards the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It has a blue body with dark blue markings and a yellow triangle on its tail. This fish is very active, thus requires plenty of space for its own. His color may fade while aging.

4. Bubbles: Yellow Tang
-Group: Sturgeons and Tangs   -Family: Acanthuridae
-Species: Zebrasoma flavescens

This fish's natural habitat is shallow waters, particularly around Hawaii. Its all-yellow body gives him a velvety appearance due to the small scales. In Hawaii, these fish are called Lau'i-pala, possibly because of their similarity to a shovel.

5. Gurgle: Royal Gramma
-Group: Basses and Groupers   -Family: Serranidae
-Species: Gramma loreto

The Royal Gramma's natural habit is coral reef caves of the Caribbean Sea. This particular fish has a vivid body coloration, split between bright yellow on its rear and violet up in front. Males from this species protect a spawning cave and breed with various females daily.

6. Bloat: Long-Spined Porcupinefish
-Group: Porcupinefishes and Pufferfishes   -Family: Diodontidae
-Species: Diodon holocanthus

This fish tends to inhabitate seaweed and near-shore rocky beds both in the Indo-Pacific and Atlantic Ocean. It has a golden/brown body with a paler bottom side and can usually have dark dots too. The Porcupinefish carries its spines folded against his body, but will inflate himself when frightened.

7. Gill: Moorish Idol
-Group: Zanclidae   -Family: Zanclidae
-Species: Zanclus canescens

The Moorish Idol lives in coral reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific Sea. His black and white striped body also features dashes of yellow near the tail and snout. Its dorsal fin has very long, extended rays which are also black, white and yellow.

8. Peach: Pink Sea Star
-Group: Asteroidea   -Family: Asteriidae
-Species: Pisaster brevispinus

The Pink Sea Star's usual habitat is coral reefs. Due to its bright pink coloring it becomes an easy prey in darker environments; that is why it has the ability to stay on the corals and blend in. As all other starfishes, this species also has the ability to regenerate fully from a separate part of a sea star.

9. Jacques: Pacific Cleaner Shrimp
-Group: Malacostraca   -Family: Hippolytidae
-Species: Lysmata amboinensis

This shrimp species inhabitates the reef ecosystems, specially in the Red Sea and the Indo-Pacific. Its body is bright red on the top and white on the bottom. The cleaner shrimp has long antennaes, which he uses to eat dead tissue and parasites off other fish, thus "cleansing" such fish.

All of the information and facts about Finding Nemo's aquarium fish found above were taken from the book "Aquarium Fish" by Eyewitness Handbooks.

Did you know? #3: Pirates Of The Caribbean's Pirates Dice

Pirates Dice, "a game of high seas deception" (as read on the game box by Disney Friendly Games), is a must for everyone; especially pirate wannabes, Pirates Of The Caribbean fans and people who enjoy playing board games.

Pirates Dice is inspired by the original game, Liar's Dice, thought to have its roots on South American cultures, and becoming a very popular game among pirates since the sixteenth century. It is a bluffing game for two or more players where each of them gets a cup with five regular dice. No real skills are required to play, but you must understand the rules in order to make smart moves... So YES. Luck is quite appreciated.

Pirate Dice

"A game of high seas deception"

Pirate Dice is a main part in the plot of Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest. The game plays both a drastic and crucial part in the course of action aboard Davy Jones's Flying Dutchman. This is basically how the scene goes:

Will Turner wanders through the ship at nighttime and spots the crew playing the game at a corner. His father, Bootstrap Bill, explains to him in a simple way how the game is played. Will then challenges Davy Jones to a match by betting his soul: If he lost, he would stay on The Flying Dutchman as part of Jones's crew. If he won, Davy Jones would have to give him the key drawn in a piece of parchment that he held. Never having lost a game, Jones accepts the challenge. As they play, Bootstrap Bill joins the game as well. When Will is about to lose, Bootstrap loses on purpose, preventing his son from having to pay his debt. Davy Jones then sentences Bootstrap Bill to serve an eternity on The Flying Dutchman. Here's a video with the scene:

Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest

The famous Pirates Dice scene

Although Pirates Dice's rules differ a little from Liar's Dice, both are suitable for a gameplay including bets or not. This is how to play by Pirate Dice's rules:

All the players shake their cups with the dice inside and turn them upside down. You can only see your own dice (unless you decide to cheat, which is up to you… After all, you are a pirate). The first player will announce two numbers: The first addressing how many dice he is referring to, and the second meaning the number written in such dice. For example: "5 3's" or "five threes" would mean he thinks, in total, there are five dice in the table holding the number three on top.

The next player will have to announce either a matching first number with a higher second number, a higher first number with a matching second number, or both numbers higher. It is not allowed for a player to lower a number once it has been set by a previous player. For example: If Player A said "5 3's", Player B cannot say "5 2's" or "4 3's".

Also, a player can't simply agree with the previous call during his turn. He must always choose between betting higher or calling it a bluff. The fun part is that any player can point another player's announcement as a cheat during the opponent's turn by saying "Never trust a pirate!" (in this part, I like to add a little "Aaarghh!!!" at the end of the sentence). If the one accused of cheating was telling the truth, the accuser must withdraw one of his dice from the cup. On the other hand, if the player was caught bluffing, he must be the one to take out one of his dice. This game will go on until the last pirate standing wins!

A life-or-death matter

Davy Jones and Will Turner playing Pirates Dice

The point of the game is being able to cheat without being noticed and being smart enough to discover those who cheat. The art of bluffing in this game may take a lot of practicing. Beginners are most likely to be caught cheating than more experienced players; but don't you worry. If you have some pirate soul in you, I'm sure you'll be ready to master the game!

Did you know? #2: Top 10 songs not to play at a funeral

Just as there are songs that remind us of great moments in life, there are others that... let's just say they don't exactly enlighten us about death. That's right. A funeral is a moment of grief where people mourn their dearly departed: a serious situation in need for serious behavior. The following list contains the Top 10 songs not to play at a funeral, deemed less appropiate for this kind of event:

1. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
2. Ding Dong The With Is Dead (from The Wizard of Oz)
3. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
4. I Wanna Live Forever - Bon Jovi
5. I Touch Myself - Divinyls
6. Another One Bites The Dust - Queen
7. I Wanna Piss On You - GG Allin
8. I Can't Live - Mariah Carey
9. Highway To Hell - AC/DC
10. Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult

I think most of these songs (if not all) are self-explanatory as to why they're terrible picks for a funeral march. Other than a poor music selection for the event, certain behaviors and actions may be deemed inappropriate during this kind of ceremony. Nevertheless, culturally speaking there are major gaps between funeral traditions around the world. Cremations, graveyard burials, bone-turning, mortuary rituals, processions and other traditions differ in several countries. Learn about some fascinating funeral traditions following this link.

Yikes! Chinese and Taiwanese hire funeral strippers to honor the dead.

Anyway, playing respectable music during a funeral service seems to be a constant agreement for most people. Here are 5 other songs that didn't make it into the top 10 but still are amongst the worst:

1. I Fucking Hate You - Godsmack
2. Bodies - Drowning Pool
3. Congratulations - Cliff Richard
4. Cold As Ice - Foreigner
5. Dead On Arrival - Fall Out Boy

PS: If you pick Ding Dong the Witch is Dead, don't forget to bring a complimentary broom to bury with the corpse. (Just kidding)