Home is where my bed is

I have a blog friend with a very cool blog: Jesus Was Not A Republican. I very much enjoy her writings, but she also has another very cool thing going for her: she makes the most beautiful and innovative arts and crafts with Guatemalan textiles and materials. She has been living in Guatemala since spring 2007 and has done a wonderful job at immersing herself in the culture and has a wealth of knowledge on traditional Guatemalan clothing, for instance. She can identify huipiles (the beautiful blouses that Guatemalan indigenous women wear) from different regions, towns, and villages. She has become fluent in Spanish and has also done some great work helping migrant farm worker communities.

Erin has a crafts blog where you can see her art and also learn more about Guatemalan handicrafts, La Chapina Huipil Crafts. (Guatemalans often refer to themselves as chapines (plural), or chapin for a man and chapina for a woman.)

The best part, however, is that you can buy her beautiful products at her Etsy shop. (Etsy is a marketplace for hand made arts and crafts, where you buy directly from the seller.) Some of you commented that you really liked the couple I posted about earlier, so here is your chance to look at some really great art from Guatemala. In addition, if you yourself like to create, Erin also sells very unique materials, such as pieces of huipiles, that can be made into beautiful pieces. Enjoy!

(And sorry for not writing lately - my arms are hurting so I am trying to stay away from the computer!)