Earth day show

Happy Earth Day Everybody!

I am writing this blog post while cooking dinner, and listening to my husband snort and sniffle his way out of allergy-ville. Poor little fella! I think that as beautiful as the spring time is, it's also a time of craziness. Allergies, cleaning, planting..and my favorite ...out door shows! Yikes! Now let me just say this, I am a brown girl, very brown, I mean I have a perma-tan...at this point I figured that I no longer could burn, but alas I am wrong again! I did an earth day show this past weekend and I turned into a Chola Chicharone!! My feet are striped from my baby dolls, and I have a tan beard on my face...(Tan beard : A strange phenomenon that occurs when a silly Chicana refuses to remove her sunglasses, and tans only the lower half of her face and nose, causing the appearance of a brown Five O' clock shadow). What the heck??? How can I be fancy whilst sporting a beard?? At least I can wax my mustache, but a tan beard? No dice!

All that roasting, and I hardly made any money! I did however have a good time! I really wanted to debut my loteria jewelry with a bang, but again Wrong-O! This was not my crowd of customer! Don't get me wrong the event was fun...free cookies..Starbucks samples..marshal artists, a hula hoop dancer..and even the comedy stylings of Goldie Garcia (she is famous for awesome bottle cap jewelry)! But although the entertainment was a plenty, the sales were not!


Carolyn from Flores Originals (Sigfried to my Roy) did much better than I, but still not her usual massive sales. I think I even overheard a lady call my Guadalupe bags blasphemous! Can you believe it..I call it functional devotional art! To each his own I guess. Either way..I had some fun, and this show was the push I needed to get started on my Loteria jewelry. On the bright side, I have plenty of inventory for my next show..yay me!

Flores Originals set up.
Some more of my stuff...

Carolyn's Bettie Page Box(I call her Deady page..get it?)

Marielena & Jayden -Mari is a Flores Original...

Pablo and Shatangy aka Lorena my god-daughter -also both Flores Originals. Wait where the heck are my kids???

Oh and I'd like to send a shout out to Cody Smith-Candelaria... Thanks so much for the Wicked Twilight Magnets..you are the bomb diggidy!

Artistas son locos!

Happy Good Friday everyone! I have been very busy this month and I am sorry to say that I have neglected my blog..but I'm back and full tales to tell from the trenches of the Dia de los Muertos show in Bernalillo! Yes I know my set up looks a little Sanford and Son, but I am working on my merchandising as we speak! On the first day of the show, I was in a dark and cold corner, and sales were very slow...so slow in fact that I was ready to give up on all artistic ventures, and apply for a job at my local Walmart! It hurts when you have worked you fingers to the bone, and get nothing but a few polite smiles, and the obligatory "can I take a card?". I have to tell you, after a few hours of this I get a little delierious, the lack of sleep takes over, and I get poquito loca! Luckily, I am never in my craziness alone...Carolyn from Flores Originals is right there with me, and together our mayhem erupts, and spreads to neighboring vendors! ( By the way she kicked but at this show...everyone was walking around with her Calavera bracelets.) You see Mrs. Flores and I have a long and sorted past together...we started off many years ago making junkie crafts, and attempting to sell them at small church craft shows, and even once the local flea market! Needless to say we were not a success at selling, but we were highly successful at freaking out the little old ladies that were sitting by us, selling ceramics and quilts! We go straight into crazy talk, and enjoy our day regardless of our poverty!! But here it was a different story...Our delirious banter did not scare or fellow vendors...they joined in! In fact, these Artists were just as crazy as us! We have found our people! I felt like I was a high school kegger, and not an art show...and I liked it!

Donna Lea a.k.a. the Potholder Queen was located to our left. Her potholders are fabric hotcakes! She has a real talent for mixing fabrics, and she rules her potholder kingdom with kind and gentle hand. She called us the "crazy girls", and we worked very hard that weekend to live up to our names! Need wicked potholders?? You know you do...contact Donna at theodoregreer.com/potholderqueen.

I didn't get the card of this awesome lady, but we called her the Hippie glass lady. She makes jewelry, kaleidoscopes, glass hangings, and so much more! Her stuff was beautiful, and her stories were even better! We shared a couple of cigarettes (her treat),and some good times! She had tales of Woodstock, and being banned from Disneyland because of her hippi-ness! Oh yeah, she is also the owner of a tricked out Honda Accord...her Honda is embellished with buttons, bottle nipples, troll dolls, plastic figurines, and various other craziness..you gotta love this lady!

Here we have Diego, he is a wicked bad artist and carver..and glitter hemp guy extraordinaire! He asked the question "Why are artist so weird?" My theory is that since artists are usually functioning in their right brain, (you know the creative side) their left brain, the side containing logic and reason, shrivels up and dies, leaving only weirdness and odd thoughts. This guy was a testament to that. He was a good time in a hat..and staying true to a good Chicano boy, he loved his mother! He talked so much about her cooking, that I plan to crash their next matanza! Hit him up if you need art of any kind..he does allot of image design for musicians, and he is also good with a tattoo needle or so I hear...Diego Gonzales 505-204-4936. Go Diego Go!

Ahhh...Josephine, Josephine...this chick is crazy! She makes the baddest..and I mean baddest jewelry and masks using feathers. She is also hilarious! She shares my passion for the Chola baby doll shoes, and even owned some with dragons! That right there makes her my hero! She told me the funniest stories about how she met her husband...and her early days in the barrio. I really dig this chick! You can see most of my friends in the Contemporary "Hispanic" Market in Santa Fe this summer. You can reach Joe right now at BrionezDesigns@yahoo.com.

I met so many cool people that weekend, and even sold some bags and jewelry, it was soo worth it. So alas, I am pulling my application from Walmart, and am venturing forward. I really dig these right brainers, and am totally curious to see what would happen if I added alcohol to the equation..would we get normal?? HA! I can't wait until our paths cross again..until then I will just stick to scaring the left brainers, and annoying the uptight.



Happy 4th Birthday to my Baby Boy Miguel!!