Sale from Norma’s Taos Collection
We haven’t had any snow in Northern New Mexico since I arrived on November 19. It’s been sunny and unseasonably warm, with temperatures rising to the low 50’s. Great walking weather. At night, it dips down to the 30’s, just perfect for sleeping. I’m returning to Oaxaca on December 30, in time for our January […]
LAST DAY TODAY! 20% OFF the Shop Sale
Don’t miss out! Sale ends TODAY, Tuesday, August 20 at 9 p.m. Mountain Time. Use Code AUG20 on Shop Oaxaca Culture our online store for all things Oaxaca and Mexico — through Tuesday, August 20. It’s still summer and we have some beautiful, lightweight clothing for sale in the Shop that will carry you through […]
Last Two Days! 20% OFF the Shop Sale
Don’t miss out! Sale ends TODAY, Tuesday, August 20 at 9 p.m. Mountain Time. Use Code AUG20 on Shop Oaxaca Culture our online store for all things Oaxaca and Mexico — through Tuesday, August 20. It’s still summer and we have some beautiful, lightweight clothing for sale in the Shop that will carry you through […]
Don’t Forget: 20% OFF the Shop Sale
Use Code AUG20 on Shop Oaxaca Culture our online store for all things Oaxaca and Mexico — through Tuesday, August 20. It’s still summer and we have some beautiful, lightweight clothing for sale in the Shop that will carry you through the dog days of August and into September. And, as we transition into autumn […]
Take 20% Off the Shop — Use Code AUG20
It’s still summer and we have some beautiful, lightweight clothing for sale in the Shop that will carry you through the dog days of August and into September. And, as we transition into autumn and then winter, check out some mid-to heavier weight blouses (blusas) and huipiles and ponchos. All are handwoven. Many are made […]
Mother’s Day Tidbits + New in the Shop
Mother’s Day, started by social activist Anna Jarvis in the early 20th century to honor her own mother, has now become the second most popular holiday in the United States for gift-giving, following Christmas. Groups of mothers whose sons had fought or died on opposite sides of the American Civil War were involved in the […]
New Shipment Arrived for Shop Oaxaca Culture: Shop Mother’s Day
Three more very large shipping boxes just arrived from Oaxaca and we’ve just listed their contents on the shop! We are featuring handwoven and densely embroidered huipiles and blusas, rebozos, neck ties and bandanas, handwoven palm baskets, beaded coin purses, and more. These are from the Oaxaca Coast, Chiapas, the Mixteca Alta, and Michoacan. There […]
Shop Open! New Blusas, Baskets, More
We have just returned to the USA from Oaxaca. From January through March we traveled the Costa Chica along the Oaxaca coast, the highlands of Chiapas, Oaxaca’s Mixteca Alta, and the folk art villages around Lake Patzcuaro, Michoacan, to source some of the finest clothing and craft. Each of the 123 items in the shop […]
Jump Start Summer Blouse Sale: Oaxaca + Chiapas
Stay cool and fresh as spring is here and summer is just around the corner. Preview sale of Oaxaca and Chiapas cotton and linen blouses before we put them in our shop. The shop won’t open back up until mid-April. Buy before March 29 and we will take these back to the USA when we […]
Life Update and All Things Mexico Spring Clearance
Here in Northern New Mexico the winds are gusting. While some of the early spring wildfires are contained, more are igniting, mostly from lightening strikes. Near Georgia O’Keeffe’s home in Abiquiu a new fire erupted in El Rito, a small mountain community about 30 miles from where I live. Scary stuff. Smoke obliterated the mountains […]
From San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas: Textile Sale
My modus operandi is to visit the homes and cooperatives of the finest weavers wherever I travel in Mexico and elsewhere. I can’t possibly wear everything I love. But that does not deter me from buying to support what they do. We hear time and again from weavers on our textile tours that the pandemic […]
Francisca’s French Knot Blouses + Rosario’s Embroidered Shoulder Bags: Holiday Shopping
Just in time for the holidays! Colorful hand-embroidered blouses and shoulder bags from Mexico, yours to gift or for festive wearing during the next few weeks and beyond. Francisca is an expert in embroidered blouses using the French Knot technique. She lives in Aguacatenango, a small Chiapas village about an hour-and-a-half from San Cristobal de […]
Fun, Cool Cotton Summer Blouses from Oaxaca
I asked Rosario, my friend from Teotitlan del Valle, Oaxaca, to work with me on creating hand-embroidered blouses on machine-washable cotton — perfect for summer wearing. She said YES. They just arrived and are ready for purchase. The embroidery floss is cotton, too. These are whimsical floral designs. Each piece is very different. You can […]
Support for Chiapas Embroidery Cooperative: Shop Open
Aguacatenango is a Chiapas Maya village about an hour-and-a-half from San Cristobal de Las Casas. The altitude is lower and temperatures warmer. The women there embroider exquisite natural cotton blouses, and we found the best of the best. Her name is Francisca, and along with her family members, she creates completely made-by-hand blouses — there […]
Pssst. Embroidered French Knot Blouses Are Back
I’ll be putting them up here for sale on Friday, December 11, at 1 PM Eastern Time. This time, I have mostly large and extra-large sizes, and 90% of them are long-sleeve. The French knots are densely embroidered on the bodice with accent touches on the sleeve cuffs. Color choices are peacock blue and red […]
Coming Today: French Knot Blouses From Chiapas
Our shop will open at 1 PM Eastern Time today! Don’t miss it! Limited sizes in long and short sleeve.
Coming This Week: Woven Rugs + French Knot Blouses
First, I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the artisans whose work I have featured here. The dollars I have sent back to them in Oaxaca and Chiapas have helped sustain families through this health crisis — Covid-19 — when there is no tourism. I also want to add that there […]
Shop Open: Textiles from San Mateo del Mar, Oaxaca
It’s hot on the southern coast of Oaxaca on the Pacific Ocean where it meets the state of Chiapas. Hot and humid. Situated on a spit of sand in the Juchitan district sits the fishing village of San Mateo del Mar. The region is home to about 14,000 Huave speakers, a native indigenous language. The […]
Shop Open: French Knots Embroidered Blouses from Chiapas
Thank you everyone who supported Francisca. I’m putting in another order soon. We have ONE blouse left — this one: Here is a selection of 8 beautiful hand-embroidered blouses from Aguacatenango, Chiapas. The village is about an hour-and-a-half from San Cristobal de Las Casas. It is situated in a fertile valley where farmers grow corn […]
Preview: French Knots Embroidered Blouses from Chiapas
This is a preview of what’s to come tomorrow, when I offer 9 beautiful hand-embroidered blouses from Aguacatenango, Chiapas. Sizes small, medium and large. Most short sleeves. A few long sleeves. There are no sewing machines there. The hand-sewing on these garments is impeccable with finely finished seams. Shop Opens, Thursday, Sept. 3, 2 PM […]
Chiapas Textile Study Tour Snapshot: Saturday Serendipity in Aguacatenango
The idea was to drive to Aguacatenango which is about thirty minutes beyond the pottery village of Amantenango del Valle. We were a good hour or so beyond San Cristobal de Las Casas. Few tourists come in this direction. The idea was to pull up at the church, park the van, gather under the big […]
Cuetzalan del Progreso Hosts Annual Fair, Puebla, Mexico
It’s sunrise in Cuetzalan del Progreso, Puebla, Mexico. I’m high in the mountains of the Sierra Norte where the indigenous language of Nahuatl is spoken. Beaded and embroidered blouses are predominant here. This is one of the original ten Pueblo Magico‘s and my second visit here. Definitely worth the return! The triangular scarves and ponchos called huipiles […]
ExpoVENTA: Mexican Beaded Blouses & Jewelry, Saturday, September 17
RSVP Here!
Chatino Textiles from Oaxaca at Santa Fe Trunk Show
The Santa Fe International Folk Art Market runs from Friday night to Sunday afternoon the second weekend of July each year. Festivities start days in advance with galleries and retail shops all over town featuring artisan trunk shows from various parts of the world. (Mark your 2017 calendar for July 14, 15, 16) Barbara Cleaver […]
Oaxaca, Mexico: Source for Natural Dye Textiles
It’s an ongoing discovery. Finding the weavers who work with natural dyes. They live and work in humble homes or grander casas, on back alleys, dirt streets, cobbled avenues, main highways, hillsides and flat-lands. Their studios are filled with the aroma and sights of natural materials — stinky indigo dye vats, wood burning fires, prickly […]
San Felipe Usila ExpoVENTA: Today, Last Day
Our two-day event to showcase the beautiful hand-woven textiles from San Felipe Usila, in the Tuxtepec region of Oaxaca, Mexico ends today, Friday, October 30, 2015 at 5 p.m. Where: Casa Las Bugambilias B&B, Calle Reforma #402, Oaxaca Centro Historico, between Constitucion and Abasolo When: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. What: hand-woven textiles made on a […]