And come Dec. 6 and 7, Manzo's work will be available for the public to view, as she teams with three other Bay Area artists to raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society with the first-ever "Wearable Art With Heart."

Using her Saratoga home as a design showcase, the event will feature an assortment of wearable arts available at a 40 percent retail discount. Featured artists include Leilani Bennett of San Jose, who designs wearable art outerwear using vintage fabrics with a Japanese touch; Palo Alto artist Janet Lasher, with a selection of jewelry embellished with crystals, pearls, and lamp glass; and Saratogan Pauline Fong, with clothing from her former Cupertino shop, The Collection.

After all sales are complete, artists will donate 20 percent of their earnings to benefit the society. According to Ellen Smith of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, 75 percent of every dollar raised at the event will go toward the cause in the form of research and patient services at local hospitals.

Organizing the event is Manzo's friend Lynn Berardo, who hopes to turn this into an annual design bonanza. "I wanted to promote women who create wearable art, because times are a little tight and the artists are not selling it," Berardo says, "and organizations are needing to look for new, creative ways to raise capital."

"My goal in the end is to make this a sizeable event and in the future have more artists and more types of wearable art," she adds. "It's a wonderful opportunity that highlights local artists while benefiting a charity. It's a win-win."

Manzo immediately took to the idea, and looked to the local wearable art guild, PenWAG, for interested artists. "We wanted to start small, at my home, and just see where it takes us," she says. "We have high hopes."

With a price range of $60 to upwards of $700, there will be a wide range of prices and types of wearable art. Manzo will be showing the most items, with hundreds of scarves and 40 garments, including vests, kimono jackets, and her newly launched line of men's tuxedo vests and cummerbunds.

After being a librarian, house designer, teacher, and potter, Manzo feels she has finally found her niche in the wearable arts. She was taught to sew by her grandmother at the age of 6, and has not stopped since. Her love of color is only surpassed by her need for invention, which has led her to transform one of her rooms into a fully functional studio for artistic research. Equipped with a drawing board, sewing table, and hanging area for fabrics sorted by color, she spends at least eight hours a day working on new patterns, texture and color combinations.

"I love bright colors and love building for other people," Manzo says. "When I discovered this process, I just went crazy, it was so much fun. I started with collaging cotton fabrics, but then I moved to silk. I wanted to find something that would drape."

Although Manzo uses the same technique to create each item, she can never duplicate a piece due to the assortment of fabrics and colors she uses in each one. "I really like that I can't duplicate anything I do," she says. "I have an idea of how something will turn out, but not exactly." It makes sense then, when Manzo says one thing she loves most about being an artist is the spontaneity. "I also love that it is 3-D. I can get my hands around it, it's real," she says. "Paintings are beautiful, but they're flat. This is alive."

"Wearable Art With Heart" will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 6 and 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Dec. 7. The event will take place at 20471 Walnut Ave. in Saratoga. For more information, call 408.867.8605.