My husband and I started making our Chicano crafts in 1990 and sold hundreds of handpainted pieces all over the world to Bloomingdale's, Target, Hallmark and gobs of indie boutiques. It was hard to keep it going, we got burnt out. I turned to my original passion of writing and worked as an entertainment newspaper columnist for 13 years at The Arizona Republic. In 2000, they asked me to write a weekly craft column. I did - and it got syndicated by Gannett News Service and it ran in hundreds of papers all over the country every week.
I started CraftyChica.com in 2001 as a way to show contemporary Mexi-crafts and I got my first book deal the next year. I've authored seven craft books total.
I left the newspaper in 2007 to pursue CraftyChica.com full-time. My goal was and always will be to show, promote and support contemporary Latino arts and crafts. I teach workshops, I speak on the topic and develop products. I now work in the craft industry for iLoveToCreate, and I lead this cruise every year as a way to bring lovers of Latino crafts together!
I also am writing novels about Latinas who craft!
You can see my main web site here.
