The Smirking Santa

This winter we worked on the North Oaks Holiday Design Idea House, a fundraiser for the children's hospital. The space that Design Vertigo occupied had a huge wall that needed to be filled. I wanted art to be bold to make an impact and festive without being predictable. So, I called my good friend Kyle from Senthor Creative to help me out.   

 Senthor offers many creative service, but one that I have been utilizing a lot of is their 'Big Prints'. They do a great job taking any image, no matter how small or poor resolution and blowing it up BIG. 

The image itself is inspired by Andy Warhol
Myths: Santa Claus, 1981-85 

The Myths Portfolio is one of Andy Warhol's most sought after collections. Warhol's Myths collection contains ten screen prints of iconic mythical figures, including Santa Claus, Mickey Mouse and Superman.

What's cookin' good lookin'?

Asparagus wrapped in prosciutto is one of those finger food that is always a party pleaser! 

-buy prosciutto from the deli (imported is best!) and have them slice it THIN so that its almost falling apart.
-cut the woody ends off asparagus and then blanch the asparagus for 2 min.
*blanch- rolling boil water, add asparagus, cook 2-3 min, strain and put in ice water bath immediately, strain again
-after the asparagus is done, roll prosciutto on the center of the stock, line them up on a baking sheet lined with tin foil 
-sprinkle generously with parmesan cheese 
-broil on top wrak of the oven until it just starts to crisp on the edges, usually only takes a few min. 
-serve at room temp


This dish can be prepared up to a day before serving. Simply cover with a damp paper towel and wrap in plastic wrap. 


YUM! 

December's Featured Artist - Robin's Nest

Robin's Nest Textile and Design products are created by a wonderful local artist Melani Bowser. Melani creates these one-of-a-kind purses and bags by up-cycling textiles. One of the best parts about her products is reading the tag that discribes the 'former life' of the textile used to create the bag!  

 You can see in the hand sewn details that nature inspires the creativity and that’s why you’ll find birds, flowers and pods. I also love love love how she incorporates  pocket, buttons and details that were on the original shirt into the bag. 

"A bird’s nest is a collection of carefully selected materials (fallen twigs, a piece of string or even a lost wrapper) woven into a beautiful yet purposeful creation and that’s exactly what I do as an artist. Using quality repurposed textiles: shirts, sweaters, aprons, curtains, or whatever I can “gather” J gives all of my items a cozy nostalgic feel that make each piece completely unique.

The fact that I personally and lovingly create each item out of my own cuddly nest in Maplewood, MN, down to the free hand sewn artwork on some of my bags, cinches Robin’s Nest TD as the perfect name for what I love to do."

-Melani

Robin's Nest believes in giving back: 10% of all sales goes to a charity that works, teaches, gives and loves along those in need.

Robin's nest products were the featured art at Design Vertigo for the month of December. She almost SOLD OUT! You can shop for these items and more on her Etsy store. 

Goodbye 2011 Hello 2012!

For me, ringing in the new year comes in two parts. One is a time of reflection on the last year and second would be goal setting for the upcoming year.

I've always been a big fan of making a new years resolution accompanied by a game plan of how i will accomplish the desired intent.  I fondly remember the year (2008 I think) that I  was determined to learn to drink (and enjoy) beer. After months of sampling lights, darks, loggers, and ales i said 'Hello' Spotted Cow! a local brew (in New Glarus, WI) you're my favorite!  I think new years resolutions should be  a bit more lighthearted and 'easily' obtainable. Resolutions like the beer or making stronger friendships through hosting a dinner party once a month or be more inspired through attending an art show or museum once a month were great resolutions that enriched my life and i knew i couldn't (or wouldn't) let myself down.

This doesn't mean that I dont also want to make a list of goals both professionally and personally for the upcoming year. I call this list of goals my "2012 To Do List" and i've got three of them. One for my business, on for just me and one I share with my boyfriend.
A sampling of the top 3 on each of my To Do Lists:
2012 Business To DO List
1. Grow the Interior Design Business
2. Be a better Blogger
3. Grow the online Wilde Room store
2012 Amanda's To DO List
1. Cook NEW food
2. Balance STRESS with living life!
3. Make more art
2012 Justin and Amanda's To DO List
1. Do a polar plunge
2. Write a duet
3. Figure out how to live in the same zip code

But before I choose a resolution, I like to look back and think about the blessing from the year past. I found this great list of questions that really encourage reflection and celebrate what you've put yourself through in the last year and get you geared up for the year to come!   I strongly encourage answering these questions for yourself!

1.  What accomplishments am I proud of from 2011?
2. What brave chances did I take?
3. When did I impress myself?
4. What challenges did I overcome?
5. Which relationships did I strengthen?
6. What did I create?
7. How did I nurture my relationship with my body?
8. What setbacks did I greet with grace and courage?
9. What were some fun ways I pampered myself?
10. What promises did I keep with myself and others?

You found the perfect gift, now wrap it up!

During the 'Merry little Shindig' Design Vertigo offered shoppers complementary designer gift wrapping. We probably wrapped more then 30 gifts and each one was unique and a little work of art!

Our favorite wrap was the 'hole punch' embellished box! This is a 'NO WASTE' way to keep utilizing your scrap booking paper scraps. 

We just kept hole punching the scraps until we had a nice box full of hole punches. ThenYou just use spray adhesive. (we put two pieces of paper on either side of the desired area inorder to keep the adhesive in a strip in the center of the box.) Once the adhesive is down, you dump the hole punches on the area and push down, then dump the excess off. *Please let this dry completely before adding a bow... we used natural twine :) 

Our other crowd-pleaser was the paper garland stands. This was a really fun alternative to ribbon! we used it the same way and just wond around boxes.  You can see how to create this on this other blog post. 

We also got some inspiration from good ole martha for using yarn to do some creative gift wrapping! 

These are some of our other favs. that we found for gift wrapping:

go green gift bags!

endless possibilites with these bows! 

Twelve Days of Christmas

Ok, so I don't have any geese a laying or turtle doves to offer you this Christmas season, but  I have created a shopping guide of 12 of our most popular gifts to give! You can find all of these (and obviously much more) at Design Vertigo! You can also choose to shop our select items online too at the new Wilde Room. 

1. Gold cuff bracelet $9.99

2.Pearl drop earrings $7.99

3.Vintage inspired Stud earrings $14.99
 4. Bangle bracelets $5.99

5. Recycled magazine frame $28.00  

6.Watch necklace $16.00

7.Sacred Suds "Inner Peace' Soap $7.00

8. Sparrow Necklace $12.99

9. Cupcake pin cushion $11.99

10. Knit bow clip $5.99

11. Coffee cozy sets $12.00

12. Glitter Leaves $8.99 

Candy Cane Deserts!

My sweet friend Tiffany and fabulous intern Sara were so kind to help me do some backing for the Merry Little Shindig. Below you will find the recipes and tips to makes these festive treats at home.

Cookies for the Holidays

Christmas is the perfect time of year to pull out all those passed down recipes of delectable treats!

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is making Christmas Cookies with my mom.  Even though I now live a state away every year I find time to go home and we spend a day or two sifting through recipes and choosing the winners! 

Here is a recipe we have made several times but over the years we have tweaked a bit. This is our version of Candy Cane Cookies that we have come to enjoy! I hope you and your family enjoy them as well

Here are a few tips to help you in the cookie making process:

1.I like to place the dough if the refrigerator prior to making the cookies; it helps to keep the dough from getting too soft   

2.If you want larger cookies you can use more dough per cookie; I suggest not rolling the rope as thin to keep the cookie stable

3.Ensuring that both ropes of dough are the same length is very important

4.Prior to twisting gently roll your two ropes together so they form one

5.Once the ropes are twisted gently together carefully pick them up and place them on the cookie sheet

6.Once the cookies are one the cookie sheet create the hook and bake

Art Evening Card Class!

Anne Schilling from Independent Paper Craft Consultant Zen and Now Crafting came to design vertigo to sell her goods a street vender during the summer friday night car shows. Her had-crafted greeting cards, journals and scraps were so wonderful, i just had to have teach a class at the store! 
Anne Schilling is a native to Northern Minnesota. She began scrapbooking at the age of 12 years old. As an Independent Paper Crafting consultant, Anne was a former crafter with Club Scrap®. Now on her own, Anne teaches paper crafting of all types in her home studio in Esko, MN. She has also taught card making classes for WITC (Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College) community education.
While Anne does paper crafting of all kinds such as scrapbooking, hand bound book making and crafts, her real passion is with card making. Anne has participated in crafter competitions, making over 300 cards in a 6 week time period. Her card making is unique in that no two cards are ever the same! Each one is a miniature work of art.

The art class was SO FUN! Anne was supper organized, providing all supplies. We learned how to emboss, stamp, ink, watercolor, spritz and tear paper and made SO MANY cards in a short amount of time. We enjoyed learning how to hand craft cards that are one-of-a-kind! We learned several techniques for making cards that will be cherished by those you send them too.

Contact Ann at 218-213-6954 or aszenandnow@msn.com

City Chic Country Mouse

The Featured Artist at Design Vertigo from November was the creative mother/daughter duo of City Chic Country Mouse. The "City Chic" is daughter Jamie and "Country Mouse" is mom Carmen. They set out on a venture combining a mom’s love of sewing with a daughter’s sense of style. "We enjoy creating items designed to make your household chores more cheerful, fun and lovely." From the sewing/craft studio to the laundry and kitchen they enjoy bringing style to these everyday tasks. Their hope is that these designs make some of your not-so-fun chores more enjoyable (like ironing!). Their ideology and products fit in just perfectly with Design Vertigo's Idea of making the Everyday ordinary into everyday extraordinary. You can still purchase these amazing products at their Etsy Store. And I can assure you that the highest level of quality and craftsmanship goes into each product.  

The City Chic Country Mouse Story:
Jamie has a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife and masters in Human Resources. While working her office job during the week, she has always spent time outside of her day-job keeping busy with home decorating projects – painting, rearranging furniture, and incorporating thrifty shopping finds. A few years ago while shopping with her mom she realized the endless possibilities of decorating by being able to sew.

Carmen has been sewing ever since she made her first Barbie dress when she was 5 years old. She has always loved being creative and trying new artsy endeavors, but has always come back to her first love; sewing.

After 25 years of sewing on her Singer, Carmen decided it was time to upgrade to a fancier sewing machine. She passed on her old Singer to Jamie, hoping she would one day share her passion for sewing. That day finally arrived when the pair went shopping for fabric for Jamie’s first home.

Jamie lives with her husband and two furbabies (Sadie – an English Pointer and Cricket - a mix of Sheltie, Corgi and ???) in St. Paul. She enjoys the city life and is therefore referred to as “City Chic” by her mom.

Carmen lives in Northern Minnesota with her husband and their 3 doggies and 1 barn kitty. In the summertime all of them (yes – all the furbabies plus their parents) can be found at their cabin on the lake in Grand Rapids Minnesota.

You can also enjoy their fun blog where they share their adventures and inspirations with you!









Design Vertigo also had the pleaser learning from these creative gals at an art evening where we learned and created gift wrap! It was such a fun night and all the customers who attended had a blast! The gals brought supplies to create three different gift packages that customers could use for your future gifting needs.  They showed us tricks and tips for using fun supplies like Japanese washi tapes, fabric, paper, ribbon, baker’s twine, and tissue.