I just discovered Instacart. It’s an App. I create the shopping list. Someone else goes to the store. I stay safe inside. I pay with my credit card. The shopper delivers the goods to my doorstep within hours after ordering. No more bare cupboard. It’s a miracle. And, I’m still safe and healthy, isolated, and needing a distraction.
So, I made some beautiful black clay pottery beaded necklaces this week. The beads are hand-rolled, individually formed in San Bartolo Coyotepec, Oaxaca. The artist, Adelina Pedro Martinez, is from a famous family that works in traditional high-temperature pit firing, fueled by wood. I have four necklaces to sell, listed below.
In addition, I brought with me filigree and amber earrings, a finely embroidered blouse, and an assortment of other lovely pieces made in Oaxaca and Chiapas.
Thankfully, the USPS is operational, so I can package these up and get them to you within a reasonable time from my sequestered place in Southern California. I’ll ship USPS Priority Mail.
How to Buy: Send an email to norma.schafer@icloud.com and tell me the item number, price, your name, mailing address. I will send you an invoice to purchase with a PayPal link. The total cost will be the item price plus $12 USD mailing cost.
#1, Oaxaca Finest Filigree Sterling Silver + Onyx Earrings, 2-1/2″L x 1-1/2″W, $285 #2, Graduated Black Clay Pearls with Hand-Carved Bauble, 22″ long, $145 #2 Detail, carved and incised bauble, sterling silver toggle clasp
A note about the black clay pearls: Each pearl ball is formed by hand. The stringing hole is made by hand while soft with a stick. When leather-hard, they are polished with a stone. Then they are baked in a wood-fired pit oven. Each pearl, therefore, has blemishes and irregularities, which make it an unique object of handmade beauty. If you are looking for perfection, these are not for you!
#3, Black Clay Pearls, 20″ long, sterling silver toggle clasp, $125 SOLD. #4, Coins (copper, base metal, Mexico and India) with Black Clay Pearls, 19″ long, $145#5 Heart and Black Clay Pearls, 23″ long, w/3 unpolished accent pearls, $135#6 Chenalho, Chiapas, densely embroidered fine cotton blouse, 23-1/2″L x 23-1/2″W, $85#6 Bodice detail, precise, dense embroidery, soft cotton cloth#7 Chiapas amber earrings, 2″L x 1-1/2″W, light as a feather, $85#8 Chunky Chiapas Rare Green Amber Expansion Bracelet, $75#9, Finest Quality Chiapas Golden Amber Necklace, 22″ long, $145#10 Good Quality Chiapas Amber Necklace, 20″ Long, $85#11 Pendant (top), 2-1/2″x1-1/2″, $72, and SOLD #12 Earrings, 2-1/4″x1-1/4″, $105
#11 and #12 are handcrafted in Santo Domingo Pueblo, New Mexico by an outstanding craftsman who hand-cuts gemstones and inlays them on shell. These include onyx, mother-of-pearl, coral, turquoise and sterling silver. Selling for less than what I paid for them.
#13 Pendant Earrings, inlaid gemstones and shell, 2-1/2″L x 3/4″ W, $125#14 Handwoven, indigo-dyed wool bag, lined, Chiapas, 10×14″ w/46″ long strap, $55#15, Handwoven, wild marigold dyed wool bag, lined, Chiapas, 10×14″ w/46″ strap, $55SOLD. #16 Multi PomPom Cluster, Chiapas, 7-1/2″ long, 1-1/2″ dia. $15 SOLD. #17, Peach PomPom Cluster, 14″ long, 1-1/2″ diameter, $25SOLD. #18 (L) Magenta and SOLD #19 (R) Red, Pom Pom Cluster, 7-1/2″ Long, 1″ dia. $15 eachSOLD. #20 (L) Lavender Heart and SOLD. #21 (R) Blue Heart, 3×3″ — $10 eachSOLD. #22, finest woven bag, Tenejapa, Chiapas, 9″W x 9-1/2″ L, 44″ strap, $75SOLD. coin purse w/zipper, Top L. #23, Top R. #24, 3-1/4×5, $15, SOLD. Bottom, #25, 5×8, $25 Zinacantan Drawstring Bags, Handwoven, #26 L, 7-3/4×6-1/4, $30, SOLD. #27 Sm, 4×4, $15#28 and #29 SOLD. Top: 3-3/4×5-1/4″ w/zipper, $15, #30 Bottom, 3-1/4×4, $10
Why We Left, Expat Anthology: Norma’s Personal Essay
Norma contributes personal essay, How Oaxaca Became Home
Norma Contributes Two Chapters!
Click image to order yours!
Norma Schafer and Oaxaca Cultural Navigator LLC has offered programs in Mexico since 2006. We have over 30 years of university program development experience. See my resume.
Study Tours + Study Abroad are personally curated and introduce you to Mexico's greatest artisans. They are off-the-beaten path, internationally recognized. We give you access to where people live and work. Yes, it is safe and secure to travel. Groups are limited in size for the most personal experience.
Programs can be scheduled to meet your travel plans. Send us your available dates.
Designers, retailers, wholesalers, universities and other organizations come to us to develop customized itineraries, study abroad programs, meetings and conferences. It's our pleasure to make arrangements.
Our Clients Include
*Penland School of Crafts
*North Carolina State University
*WARP Weave a Real Peace
*Methodist University
*MINNA-Goods
*Selvedge Magazine
We offer textile experiences in our studio where we weave and work only in natural dyes.You can see the process during our textile tours, dye workshops or customized weaving experiences. Ask us for more information about these experiences, customized scheduling, and prices.
Oaxaca has the largest and most diverse textile culture in Mexico! Learn about it.
1-Day OaxacaCity Collectors Textile Tour.Exclusive Access! We take you into the homes and workshops of Oaxaca State's prize-winning weavers. They come from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the Mixteca, Mixe, Amuzgos and Triqui areas and represent their weaving families and cooperatives here. For collectors, retailers, buyers, wholesalers, fashionistas.
1-Day Oaxaca Textile Walking Tour When you visit Oaxaca immerse yourself in our textile culture: How is indigenous clothing made, what is the best value, most economical, finest available. Suitable for adults only. Set your own dates.
2022 Going Deep, Not Wide--Extended Tours
July 25-31, 2022. Oaxaca Textile Adventure Tour: Sierra Norte Mountains. Visit two remote mountain villages where silk and cotton are woven into glorious cloth and dyed with natural plant materials. Come early or stay later for Guelaguetza! Not too late to join!
October 28-November 4, 2022: Women’s Creative Writing Retreat in Teotitlan del Valle — Memory and Tradition. Click this link to read about it. ONE SPACE OPEN FOR SHARED ROOM.
October 29-November 4, 2022:Day of the Dead Culture Tour. We meet locals and visit 4 villages to experience this mystical pre-Hispanic observance, awesome and reverent. Still space for a few more!
February 5-13, 2023: Bucket List Tour: Monarch Butterflies + Michoacan. Spiritual, mystical connection to nature. Go deep into weaving, pottery, mask-making and more! We haven't offered this tour since 2019 and we anticipate it will sell out quickly. TWO SPACES OPEN
February 21-March 1, 2023: Chiapas Textile Study Tour--Deep Into the Maya World Based in San Cristobal de las Casas, we travel to distant pueblos to meet extraordinary weavers --Best of the Best! Just a handful of spaces open.
Stay Healthy. Stay Safe. In Oaxaca, wear your mask. Questions? Want more info or to register? Send an email to Norma Schafer.
Maps: Teotitlan + Tlacolula Market
We require 48-hour advance notice for map orders to be processed. We send a printable map via email PDF after order received. Please be sure to send your email address. Where to see natural dyed rugs in Teotitlan del Valle and layout of the Sunday Tlacolula Market, with favorite eating, shopping, ATMs. Click Here to Buy Map After you click, be sure to check PayPal to ensure your email address isn't hidden from us. We fulfill each map order personally. It is not automatic.
Dye Master Dolores Santiago Arrellanas with son Omar Chavez Santiago, weaver and dyer, Fey y Lola Rugs, Teotitlan del Valle