AMOR: Pretty Embroidered Fabrics from Mexico

I can't get enough of these fabrics!  These are just a few of the textiles that we brought back  from our trip to Mexico.  There are so many things to be made from these lovely embroidered fabrics!  What would you make?  Which on is your favorite?

Inspired By: Frida Kahlo

{Photos: Atelier Olschinsky} 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Giveaway

Sorry that I've been MIA. I thought that i would be able to post from my iPhone while on our trip but I've been having some techincal difficulties. If you would like to follow along with us, visit our Facebook page. Our lucky Valentine's Day winner is...Gee Whiz Lady E!!! Congratulations Lady E!! Thank you to all who participated!

Moving SALE

Mexico Lindo

Tomorrow we are heading out on our 3 week long trip to search for new product for the new store!  I am sooo excited to be going with my dad on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.  My bag is packed, my camera is charged and I am ready for an adventure.  Let's get one thing straight - this is not a luxury vacation.  We are going to be staying in hostels, spending the nights on buses, eating at the markets and living out of a backpack (you heard me, 1 backpack).  So, as much as I would love to look like this girl in the picture above, I probably won't.  :) But that's okay.  If you are interested in following along with us we will be posting as usual and updating our Facebook Page with photos from the trip.  Are you ready?!  Let's go!

Click here to enter our Valentine's Day GIVEAWAY.

San Diego Museum of Art: Vochol

Going on now at the San Diego Museum of Art - This 1990 Beetle was covered in 2,277,000 beads applied by eight artisans from two Huichol families, who finished their work in late 2010.  While you are there make sure to check out the Mexican Modern Paintings from the Andres Blaistein Collection.

What is Huichol?  Descendents of the Aztec, the Huichol or Wixáritari are an indigenous ethnic group of western central Mexico, living in the Sierra Madre Occidental range in the Mexican states of Nayarit, Jalisco, Zacatecas, and Durango.  They are best known to the larger world as the Huichol; however, they refer to themselves as Wixáritari ("the people") in their native Huichol language.  For the Huichol, yarn painting is not only an aesthetic or commercial art form.  The symbols in these paintings are sprung out of Huichol culture and its shamanistic traditions.  The yarn paintings were originally used as offerings at their religious sites.  From the small beaded eggs and jaguar heads to the modern detailed yarn paintings in psychedelic colors, each is related to a part of Huichol tradition and belief.   The beaded art is a relatively new innovation and is constructed using glass, plastic or metal beads pressed onto a wooden form covered in beeswax.  Common bead art forms include masks, bowls and figurines.  Like all Huichol art, the bead work depicts the prominent patterns and symbols featured in the Huichol religion.  Peyote is a focal point for their ceremonies, and their colorful beadwork and yarn work reflects a reverent and symbiotic relationship with nature.

Where can you view and purchase Huichol pieces? Casa Artelexia, of course! ;)

{Photo: Imelda Mediana}

AMOR: Pretty Painted Walls

There is so much to do to get ready for the new store (eek!).  We leave next week on our buying trip leaving us little time to make some big decisions.  Picking colors is one of them.  One thing we absolutely love at Casa Artelexia is color.  Lots and lots of color.  We've painted every single room and ceiling a different color.  The outside of the store is even painted a bright orange (and I mean BRIGHT) with a royal blue trim (think Frida Kahlo's house).  It took us forever to choose the colors our first time around - we practically lived in the paint department at Home Depot and changed our minds about a trillion times.  It is so hard to decide on a color palette when there are so many possibilities.  With the new space we have a TON of wall space and we will be doing the painting ourselves.  Yup, you heard right.  I'm counting on YouTube to teach me how to faux paint.  Crazy?  Absolutely.  Once we settle on the colors then everything else is a piece of cake.   Have you ever faux-painted?  Any tips?  Which colors do you like best?  Here are a few colors that caught my eye.  Enjoy!

{Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10}

Amigas Por Siempre

Love this picture by Zocalo.