Art-Full Life Friday: Upcycling

I love upcycling. I think it is brilliant to take something used and turn it into something art-full and beautiful.  Here are some of my favorite Upcycled items from across the web:

Vespa turned Rocking Toy as seen on ohdeedoh

Man's Shirt Upcycled into a Dress as seen on Craft Gossip

Upcycled Furniture Set as seen on Adaptive ReUse

Vintage Lace Top Turned into a Necklace. Tutorial on Instructables

I have had this photo for a while. I don't know where it came from but I love it. If this is your upcyled design let me know!

Tires turned Belt seen on Sexy Upcycling

And finally.....

Circuit Board Boxers (!) as seen on Inhabitat

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National-Barbie-in-a-Blender Day: Celebrating Free Speech and Fair Use

In 1999 a lawsuit was filed by Barbie manufacturer Mattel Corp against artist Tom Forsythe over his photograph of a Barbie in a Blender (as a comment on crass consumerism says the artist).  Five years later on July 27, 2004 Mattel lost the suit and had to reimburse Forsythe $1.8 million in legal costs because the judge in the case ruled that it ran counter to the first amendment.  In celebration of free speech and fair use, FreeCulture.org created National Barbie-in-a-Blender Day. 

Photo courtesy of Ellisly

Here are some more artists following in Forsythe's footsteps and featuring Barbie in their eclectic artwork.

Barbie and Ken as American Gothic painting by Brad Goodell / Spring Creek Arts

Above is art created by Margaux Lange in high school (with artist's favorite - Carrot Barbie) seen on Midge's Mind.  Below is some of Lange's more recent Barbie work-Body Part Jewelry.

Since body parts have to come from somewhere....

Wilde Moon's collection of Barbie Murders prints absolutely delights me.

If anyone wants to buy me a present, please make it this! I am in looove with artwerx by Tracy Webster's  Altered Barbie Birdcage sculpture. 

"I want to be Barbie - that bitch has everything."

You Can Have It All pendant by G Jarvis Jewelry, Etc.

And finally....

"Ride 'em Cowgirl" original Barbie art by artist LaVonne Sallee. Photo by Paul Chinn / The Chronicle as part of an annual Altered Barbie Art Show.

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Mice on the Loose!

I am truly honored to have been a part of Truly Nolen's social media project on July 24, 2010- the Mousecar Parade.

We started the day driving down AIA in our Mousecars with our incredible drivers (including my driver Raphael who was not only a genius on insects but sang M.C. Hammer's You Can't Touch This) and headed to the Fort Lauderdale Museum of Discovery and Science.  There I got to live out my lifelong dream of holding a tarantula.  It was a fantastic experience!

Next we drove to Pizza Fusion for tasty organic pizza.  Their organic Mediterranean pizza with Kalamata olives was to die for.  I highly recommend it!

Next stop - Butterfly World in Coconut Creek. If you have never been to Butterfly World, take my advice - it is totally worth the entry cost to experience it at least once.  It is like being in The Secret Garden or a fantasy world. I have expected a fairy to fly by. 

You can sometimes touch the butterflies and occasionally they will land on you, but hundreds of them fly around you - some the size of little birds. BW's Barry the Bug Guy gave us an entomology lesson as well and I got to hold a hissing cockroach and a giant African millipede.  My mom (who breeds exotic pets) would be so proud!

Back to our cars to cruise on home, all of us squeaking (sorry had to) about our day.  The public's reaction to the parade was priceless - they were taking photos, tweeting about seeing the mousecars drive by and the media responded to talking about the event as well.  All in all it was an extremely successful campaign for Truly Nolen and their PR team at Tilson PR in Boca. Congrats to all and thank you for such an incredible, unforgettable time!

To see more of the Truly Nolen Mousecar Parade event images, visit:  http://bit.ly/derQCn





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