Our First Giveaway Of The Year - Sofia Navarro MXArtsCrafts - Artisan Pillow

Get Ready, Get Set, GO!

Diva Girl Ellie is joining forces with Sofia Navarro of MXArtsCrafts for our very first giveaway! One lucky participating reader will be able to take home one of Sofia's very own pillows! Here are the official rules!

Diva Girl Ellie & MXArtsCrafts Giveaway Rules

1. Like & Share – MxArtsCrafts Mexican Hand Made page on FB – Tag us in the shared post.
2. Like & Share Diva Girl Ellie’s Interview Post with MxArtsCrafts – Tag us in the shared post.
3. Follow - @MXArtsCrafts and @DivaGirlEllie on Instagram and Twitter.
4. Subscribe to Diva Girl Ellie’s post at divagirlellie.blogspot.com (bottom, left hand corner).

All participants who complete all 4 steps will be entered into a random drawing for the grand prize winner to be chosen on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2016.

All entries must be completed before 12am midnight on February 13th.

Diva Girl Ellie's MUA Guru: Jessi Rivers - Golden Shadow Tutorial

Jessi is back! Our resident make up artist and GLAM GURU, Jessi Rivers with her new tutorial on how to achieve the Golden Shadow eyes. Don't forget to go to her youtube page (linked through video) and subscribe to her channel.
She is available for booking!

January - Meet The Artist: Sofia Navarro Of MXArtsCrafts

While scouring my Facebook news feed posts of the day, I run across many talented people. But one in particular, stood out to me because I'm a huge Frida Kahlo fan. Nestled quietly but colorfully within the many talented artist, was a photo of a Frida inspired pillow. It was colorful and bold and visually pleasing and I immediately wanted one. So, in my "typical of me" reaction - I posted to a total stranger in a common group page and reached out to the artist/crafter. I quickly had several facebook conversations and a few back and forth emails and a Mexi-Chica bond was formed. Bonded by the same cultural icon and passion for arts and crafts. And I can't wait to share Sofia's work with you, as well as her interview. Sit down, get comfy and meet my friend Sofia...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Name: Sofía Navarro
Age: 22 years
Hometown: Zamora, Michoacán, México. Near Patzcuaro, a global famous city for the Day of the Dead celebration.
Favorite Hobbies: Dance but mainly crafts of all kinds, especially painting and sewing.
Favorite Band/ Singer: I really like Cumbias like Los Ángeles Azules and several others, also modern pop and Mexicans songs like Mariachis. (Side Note: Please listen to La Llorona from Chavela Vargas)
Favorite Food: I really love Mexican food, I would die without chili and salsas.
Favorite Place To Visit: Near Zamora is place called Lago de Camécuaro. You have to visit, it really is paradise. Legend has it that a Purepecha Princess cried the death of her beloved and so the lake was formed.

Your Favorite Color: Actually, I like all colors, especially blue.
Who Inspires You: My Mom, my Grandma and Frida Kahlo. I guess for me as a child, my Mother is my biggest influence. My mother is the youngest of three sisters, she always worked. She is a teacher, a very good one. During my childhood, I was not really in touch with her because she was always working and my grandmother took care of me. She was a single Mother who worked to support us. I have always been involved with arts and crafts since childhood. My Grandmother was a seamstress and my Mother used to hand sew crafts on felt with sequins. All the Christmas ornaments in the house were all made by my Mom. I even remember that I enjoyed watching ArtAttack, do you remember? One day I needed green paint and didn't have any, so I tried to grind grass to get the green paint. Now, I laugh when I think back and remember doing this.

During college, I was a Foreign Exchange Student in Spain for six months. It was a wonderful experience but it also made me miss and appreciate the cultural wealth of my Mexico. It's flavors, the colors, our traditions, my people, especially my people! Many people may have a negative image of my Mexican culture but those are false stereotypes. Mexican people have a fighter spirit. I translate that into what I do. I want to share my love for Mexico and its traditions and the beauty of my people. Frida Kahlo at the beginning did not value her own art. She painted for herself, with all her heart, and thus became a Mexican iconic figure in the world: a strong, independent and enterprising woman. She wore traditional Indigenous clothes, especially like the Itsmo de Tehuantepec, which was a Matriarch community. Now, that I have just finished college and out in the real world ... it can be hard at times ... .and now what do you do after a lifetime of study?

I work as an intern, part time, in a big company. But I found, in crafts, my inner peace and certainty of doing something I really love. I put all my effort into my creations, they are an extension of me, they are part of me. I never really thought about selling them until my family went through a hard time, economically.

Now, I have a shop on Etsy, MXArtsCrafts, and people have welcomed me with open arms. I have been very successful. There is much support in online communities. I love how comfortable they are, every day I meet new people and see what they do. I am inspired to create new things. At this moment, I am working on the San Valentine line and more Mexican inspired items. You can also find many other items that are not made by me, but by local Mexican artisans there. My mom also helps me with the shop, and she is also my fashion model. In the near future I want to include food and Mexican candies, that have been in my family for generations. Expect many surprises! Love what you do and you will do it well. People will feel it. That is the key to success.

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Sofia, Thank you so much for taking the time to let us learn more about you and what inspires your work. Sofia and I will be joining forces to bring you our very first GIVEAWAY of Sofia's artisan craft work. Stay tuned for all the details in a following post. Diva Audience, please support Sofia and her beautiful artisan craft by showing her some social media support.



You can find her here:
https://www.instagram.com/mxartscrafts/
https://www.facebook.com/MXArtsCrafts/
https://twitter.com/MXArtsCrafts/
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MXArtsCrafts/

Featured MUA: Jessi Rivers - Get Ready With Me

I am proud to be able to bring you the first, of hopefully ENDLESS, videos from the one and only lovely Jessi Rivers! Check in on my blog for her future videos and tutorials here!


Don't forget to subscribe to my blog for future updates and new looks!

I find inspiration everywhere. In people, their words, their actions. In emotions and feelings. Today, I found it in a song. Dare You. As I sat there listening to the lyrics of this song - to which I have heard over and over to no end. It wasn't until today that I really heard it for the true value of what it was trying to say. I dare you to love, I dare you to cry, I dare you to run, I dare you to try, I dare you to fall, and lay on the ground, I dare you to feel, I dare you to be here now.
Since when have we become so frightened to FEEL and BE in the moment and be here now? What has taught us to become so afraid of who we really are? At the end of the year, I saw a video posted on Facebook. It was Jim Carrey speaking at a commencement. It wasn't till the last line that the impact of that video truly hit me. The simplicity of it. The truth of it. And just how complicated we as humans tend to make our own worlds - that we even create our own prisons, put barred doors and locks on it - make the keys then throw them out of reach. For what? That last line in that video was, "You can fail at what you don't want, so you might as well take a chance at doing something you love." Why do we feel that we must be miserable and endure what we don't want? And that we aren't worthy of trying at something we truly LOVE and are PASSIONATE about? Why would we choose what we don't want? When in our mind, hearts, should and world - did someone tell us that we were never good enough to do what it is brings our heart the most happiness? As the song says, "And your dreams were made illegal by the laws of lesser evil we call life." Under whose authority did we allow someone else, something else - to dictate what is most important to us and the reality of our dreams? When did having a dream become a bad thing? If we would dare ourselves to DO those things that fuel our passion, our hearts, our creativity - that feed our soul to become better people, to share in this journey, to help each other up, along and through the rough times. To be there for each other and cheer when we are victorious. It would all become second nature to us - what should have been innate in the first place. What are you going to dare yourself to do? What are you going to unlock within you? "Let your heart be your religion, Let it break you out of this prison you became", is what the song calls to action. Are you going to break yourself out of the prison rut that you have created for yourself. You won't know unless you try. And as Jim Carry's speech said, we might as well take a chance at doing something you love. <3