There are few times when I can resist striped clothing items. I have a clear weakness for them, and you will see that recurringly in my wardrobe. Since some time ago I've thought that I must have been a zebra in my past life, because I'm crazy about stripes.
This is a white and violet striped tee that I purchased at a very small shop near my home. I remember I'd been eyeing it for a couple of weeks, until one day it was gone from the display window. About a month later I was running some errands nearby and remembered about the shirt. I decided to pass by the shop and try my luck with the tee. Bingo!They still had it; so I quickly tried it on and fell more in love with it. I obviously got it on the spot!
In the pictures I am pairing the tee (it is brandless -only says "made in Peru"-) with a black gathered skirt made by yours truly, black sunglasses, a heart-shaped necklace and black sandal wedges (by Vic Matie). The skirt is made of black stretch gabardine. Later on I will post a tutorial on how to make one like this.
The 16th anniversary of Tiki Oasis is right around the corner, so put on your best Hawaiian outfit, sip on an ice-cold Mai Tai and relax to the beat of Polynesian Pop!
Did you know Tiki Oasis was originally conceived as a fundraiser to help out on the refurbishment of Palm Springs "Caliente Tropics Motel"? The main idea was to conduct an extreme makeover on the already Hawaiian-themed hotel in order to attract hundreds of Tiki lovers as a great vacation site.
Year by year, Tiki Oasis has been adding more features, booths, acts and performances, accommodating more guests and growing in popularity. For each event, Tiki Oasis features guest bartenders, artists, musicians, DJ's and other personalities to entertain the audience, who also have the chance to enjoy wonderful meals and appetizers at tiki restaurants, or delight themselves with eye-catching cocktails straight from the bars of experienced mixologists.
Be prepared to receive all the 86 special guests that will be coming this year to Tiki Oasis 2016. The planned musical lineup includes King Kukulele, The Sonics, Sid Presley, Jimmy Psycho Experiment, The Wogglers, Jason Lee & Riptides, Howie Pyro and Cali Kid. The event will also introduce a roundup of over 20 burlesque shows, and 29 educators will bring exhibits and presentations, including Vaudeville Vixens, El Vez, Mike Skinner and Kelly Patterson.
Other important shows at Tiki Oasis include car showcases, educational seminars and merchandise stalls who display their stands around the magically decorated hotel following a chosen party theme. Previous editions of Tiki Oasis have included Tiki Surf City, Hulabilly, Exotic Espionage & Polynesian Pulp, Hawaii-a-Go-Go, and many other well-thought ideas. This year's theme is "Party on Monster Island".
Tiki Oasis has become the largest and longest-running festival worldwide to celebrate island and tropical lifestyles, and to gather tiki lovers from around the globe. Get ready to experience four days of Hawaiian splendor every day from Thursday, August 18 through Sunday, August 21 at San Diego, California.
Don't forget to get your tickets and book your reservations on the event's official webpage:
After almost two years of blog barrenness and over a week of lots of hard work and redesign, I'm happy to announce that the blog is back on air! Going through refurbishments, concept changes, style modifications and guideline redefining has definitely produced a better, stronger and more structured blog.
This was the old layout... Maybe we'll meet again someday.
I'm so glad to have started my blogging experience with the original name, layout and concept; but it's time to say farewell and embark on this new challenge.
All that's left to say is...
I officially welcome you to "Joy's Paradise Cove".
Feel free to follow my social media channels to keep yourself updated.
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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
