Sugar Guadalupe and Day of Dead Skulls

I have loved stocking these wonderful Day of the Dead themed sugar and chocolate moulds and judging by sales it seems my customers love them too. Now back in store at last is the Large Original Mexican Sugar Skull Mould plus a couple of newcomers.



First newcomer is the Medium Original Mexican Sugar Skull mould, previously I just kept the more whimsical Oaxacan skull mould which has two moulds front and back of skull, but thought these were rather nice and perhaps a little easier for sugar skull newbies to make as they only have one piece. Also joining my ever growing troupe of sugar and chocolate moulds is Frida, she came along as the result of a specific customer request, but has been flying off out of the shop, so will be kept as regular stock in the future.



But onto the real star of the show, once again, my favourite lady, the Virgin of Guadalupe stands out. A wonderful new addition to my range of Mexican sugar moulds, a beautifully detailed 3D Virgin of Guadalupe mould which comes in two pieces, front and back.





Here’s what my supplier has to say about the new Guadalupe mould, “Last year, when I was in Michoacan for Day of the Dead, I ran across a sugar skull vendor selling from a rickety wooden table under the arches of the town square. He had just brought in a new batch of his famous sugar Guadalupes and women were clamouring to buy them for their ofrendas! It would make a very special offering for their departed loved ones. They were iced with green or blue frosting for the Virgin's cape, golden yellow flames of the esplandor, and little gold "teacher stars" stuck into the icing of the cape. They were true works of folk art! We have tried to make a similar Guadalupe mould this year for your enjoyment... for those of you who can't go to Patzcuaro to get the real thing.”

Sugar skulls are a traditional folk art from Mexico used to celebrate Day of the Dead on November 1st and 2nd. For hundreds of years, mounds of colourful sugar skulls were sold by Indian vendors in the open air village markets of Mexico. During Day of the Dead, spirits are welcomed back to their homes with beautifully decorated altars covered with wild marigolds, candles, incense, special foods and sugar skulls being the name of the person being remembered. The Day of the Dead festival is in November and I plan to write more about how to make sugar skulls a little later in the year and have my own mini workshop with some of the neighbouring kids, so for those of you interested in trying out this wonderful activity, pop back around early October to find out more.





To finish off today's blog post, I thought I would include a few of the lovely photos sent in to me from an Australian customer who was designing decorations and displays for his home and cafe for last year's Day of the Dead festival. Thanks to Aaron x





This last photo is his cafe where some Day of the Dead festivities took place, note the lovely papel picado and loteria imagery he has used! I have some new Day ofthe Dead papel picado in which I have yet to list in my shop..so watch this space as I will blog about it soon. Gorgeous!

Our Lady, a bejewelled beauty!

Staying on the subject of my favourite saint, here is another gorgeous item that arrived in a recent goody box full of new saintly items. Although I'm not particularly crafty myself, I hope others that have an eye for these things can see the potential for this wonderful sequinned applique featuring a printed image of the Virgin of Guadalupe with her cloak and aura beautifully sequinned and beaded with a final flourish of pretty roses surrounding her. A lovely thing for arts and craft projects and well, just perfect for anything you would like to sparkle! It is huge, measuring approx 19cms / 7.5" inches length x 14cms / 5.5" inches width. More from my goody box of all things saintly another time.

Frida goes Shopping!

Imagine what fun it would be going shopping with Frida Kahlo, Mexico's own style icon and modern day trend-setter. Influences of her eclectic folk style and indeed her own iconic image can be found inspiring fashion, folk art and every-day household items. Frida's style and appeal is hot this season and as she can't accompany you personally, then why not do the next best thing and shop with her on your arm. Like Frida, these Mexican market bags are generously sized, colourful and simply gorgeous plus the best excuse a girl's going to get to leave those supermarket 'eco' bags where they belong ie in the broom cupboard. Art doesn't always mean practicality has to be sacrificed! If you don't want to shop with it, then hang it on the wall! I love this hot pink one, but check my shop for more colours and more Frida images. For those with the need for a more saintly approach to shopping, get your hands on your very own Virgin of Guadalupe market bag. Go on..you know you want one.

Fluttering works of art, now showing in a garden near you!

Now that Spring has finally shown itself and thoughts move to al fresco living (well almost!) what could be more stunning than these wonderful Mexican Papel Picado banners fluttering in the breeze. Perfect for parties and events, store openings or whatever! I have these available in Turquoise, Indigo, Purple, Yellow, Lime and Magenta at the moment.

So beautiful are these paper cuts, I have been tempted to create an art installation by individually framing some of the sheets, who knows, I may even get around to it one day, so watch this space.

I have lots of different designs at the moment, Multicoloured banners, Red or White Amor banners which are fantastic for weddings or events of a romantic nature, and Mexican's style icon, Frida hasn't been left out either. Check out some of the images below ... photography a bit hit and miss, but all the same......viva la fiesta!

Large Multicoloured Wedding Papel Picado



Medium White Wedding Amor Papel Picado

Pretty Medium sized 'Spring' Papel Picado

And finally, here's Frida Kahlo's Paintings.. stunning!

Flora de los Muertos, a rare find from Alexander Henry

After much pondering, I have decided to put up for sale, the last few yards of Florade los Muertos, an out of print fabric from Alexander Henry's 2004 Folkloric range. I managed to get about 14 yards of this a couple of years ago from a US fabric seller, of course that was when the dollar was weak, so it still made sense to be able to buy for resale then. I had plans for these last few yards, but it occurs to me that since I don't own a sewing machine and can barely cut in a straight line, there are probably others more worthy of owning a precious fat quarter or two of this wonderful dreamlike mix of day of the dead and papel picado design. For those who find it, enjoy!

I adore AH's Folkloric fabric range, and am sad to see the passing of some fantastic prints, I hope one day they will make a return to print, we can but hope!

Loteria, this was the funkiest fabric ever, and I kick myself whenever I remember I never kept any back for myself! It was available with black, natural or tea backgrounds.

Cabeza's, this one was available in black, white, red and turquoise backgrounds



Star Signs - I managed to get about 10 panels of one full repeat of this wondrous fabric, it came about 24" x 24", perfect for one-off projects!

A missed opportunity for some fun with snow skulls

As the last of the snow melts away from my garden I realise I missed a great opportunity to experiment with my sugar skull moulds and create a mini mountain of Snow skulls although I did hear word that snow might be returning for the weekend...

Mini Mexican Saints Wallet - too cute!

Everyone could do with some saintly protection and a pocket full of blessings right? In Mexico these curiously appealing saint wallets are carried by those who believe they will bring blessings and protection.

I may not be Catholic, but I would never turn my nose up at the chance of a saint bestowing a blessing or two upon me. Besides, they are a mini work of art in themselves. I just can't resist them.