A Canadian writer's life: Sandra Herrera

Friday, April 17, 2015

Yesterday's News is Today's New Business, Sandra Herrera

Sandra's store on Juarez north of Elements

Who'd have thought - your morning newspaper and coffee could be turned into art.

What started as a method to learn English, reading discarded newspapers from the hotel where her papa worked, has turned into a business for Sandra Herrera. Eight years ago, she moved to Isla Mujeres from the silver town of Taxco in the state of Guerrero.

Soon her sister Monica followed, then her dad, and finally she returned to Taxco to bring her mom and younger brother to the island.

Sandra is working on a new item (her photo)

Working at a local café, Rooster on the Go, her boss urged her to learn English. She attended the English School on Isla for a year and a half, and diligently read the newspapers. Slowly, slowly, she learned to understand and then speak the language. And then her life took a funny little twist. She made a small basket out of the discarded newspapers as a gift for a customer at the coffee shop. The recipient was delighted: “It's beautiful! Why don't you make more of these?” Using glue to bind the rolled paper and coffee to varnish the finished products, she created more baskets to sell at the café.

January 2012 Artist Fair at Barlito's location

Then, when approached by Brad and Tiffany Wareing of Barlito's to participate in their first Artist's Fair, Sandra shyly agreed to display her baskets. She was pleasantly surprised when her creations sold at the event. Sandra agreed to participate in the second show as a way to practice her English. A year ago, when the Artist Fair changed locations from the street corner in front of Barlito's to the larger municipal plaza, Sandra continued to participate, gaining more confidence and selling more of her artwork.

Sandra's new store on Juarez

Recently, Sandra decided to take the plunge, opening her own store on Juarez just north of Elements of the Island. She said the scariest part of being a new business owner is keeping up with the demand for new creations and special orders.

Even though discarded newspapers are plentiful on the island, she still needs a steady supply of clean paper to keep up. Sandra smiled as she recounted one incident. She was checking various nearby garbage cans for newspapers when a customer from the café recognized her. She laughed with embarrassment, feeling a bit foolish at being caught with her hands in the garbage can. If you happen to have newspapers that you are throwing out, why not drop them off at her store and check out her newest creations?

Materials for making baskets (photo by Sandra)

Sandra is normally at her store Monday to Friday from 10:00 in the morning until 5:00 in the evening, unless she is in Cancun buying supplies.

On weekends, she works at Rooster on the Go, situated on the street behind the Artisan's Market near Poc Na. The owners are very supportive of her creativity.

Sandra at a recent Artist's Fair

When the Artist Fair resumes in the fall, you will find Sandra set up at the municipal plaza with her beautiful creations and a gorgeous, welcoming smile. Be sure to stop and say hello. She makes some pretty cool stuff!

Hasta luego

Lynda, Lawrie, Sparky, and Thomas

Grab your copy today!

Isla Mujeres Mystery Series

Death in the Vineyards Mysteries

The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky

Friday, January 9, 2015

Unique souvenirs of Isla Mujeres!

Iconic location on Isla - great for photos!

Displays of delicate sea-glass jewelry, stacks of quirky hand-painted signs, decorating accessories, greeting cards, and hand-crafted clothing overflowed the tables that vendors had set up in the municipal plaza in Centro.

A great souvenir - bilingual book

This month, the Artists' Fair was held on the first Friday of the month, instead of the first Thursday – that being New Year's Day this year.

Since the all-night New Year's Eve party in Centro didn't wrap up until late in the morning, not many vendors or customers would have been able or willing to attend an art fair.

On Friday afternoon, Lawrie and I packed up a stack of books, a display table, chairs, tablecloths, banners and assorted other paraphernalia to set up our booth at the fair.

Island Girl hand-painted fun signs

It reminded us of when we were still working for a living, attending big conventions and trade shows, lugging in heavy boxes and display items.

At least here the location is small and intimate, and we didn't have far to walk. We even planned ahead this time and had a small two-wheel hand-truck for the heavier items.

Souvenir-hunting tourists and locals.

The fair was busy with friends and tourists, cruising around to examine the various displays.

Several local restaurants had samples of their food for sale at ten pesos a taste. Barlito's, Gringo Burgers, Sonny's Pizza and Due Torri were some of the ones that we noticed - serving up yummy samples of wings, fries, burger bites, pizza, lasagna, and even apple pie. The idea was a big hit with the roving crowd.

Lior, Isabel and Maya - young fans!

In our location, we enjoyed a steady stream of fans dropping by to say hello, or to purchase our book: The Adventures of Thomas the Cat – Las Aventuras de Tomás el Gato.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the storyline of this first book, it begins with our adoption of a tiny stray kitten and ends on Isla Mujeres with the grown-up Thomas making friends with a number of the local animals.

Written in both English and Spanish, it makes a unique souvenir of your vacation to Isla Mujeres, and is a purrfect gift for the youngsters in your life.

Sandra, Yesterday's News handmade items

One charming young lady by the name of Isabel stopped by to inform me that she owned a copy of the book and had read it all by herself, several times. Impressive! Being avid readers ourselves, it makes us smile to know that youngsters still enjoy reading.

The second book, The Adventures of Thomas and Sparky, is underway. (I have ideas for many more books in the series.) Now, if I could only convince Thomas to do personal appearances.