A Journey of Hope~Semana Santa

Have you ever heard of the Chimayo Pilgramage? This wonderful event takes place starting on Good Friday and ending on Easter Sunday in Chimayo, New Mexico. People come from all over to be a part of this great event, some carrying crosses, most others carrying candles, but most importantly they are carrying petitions for loved ones or themselves that are sick with disease, battling addictions, crippled, losing their jobs, praying for their children to come back safe from the war, well you get the picture, the list goes on and on. Some will walk only a few miles others will walk 100! You see the rustic and beautiful Santuario is known for the healing powers of El Posito (the Sacred Earth). Once here they will leave something behind, maybe a note, a picture, a rosary, a candle, art and they leave with that little bit of Holy dirt and Hope.

Why am I writing about the Santuario? Well, I wanted everyone to have a visual of the beauty of this place and to also tell you that Rob was there today and the gallery that is also a part of the church, has generously allowed him to place some of his art there! Wow, I think this is so great and I am so happy for my guy! The pictures are a couple of the new pieces, I took them in a hurry before he left.

Staying on the Spring theme...

Today I'd like to introduce the oh so talented, I wish I had her skills, Rebecca of Adobe Sol Designs. I stop by her shop and her blog often to see what new pieces she has created to add to my wish list! Yesterday, she blogged http://www.adobesol.com/blog/ about spring and being in the mood for flowers, being a May baby I can relate to flowers! This is her new Calla Lily necklace and earrings, made of copper, she has handformed, textured and wire wrapped these stunning pieces and they are available in her Etsy shop http://www.adobesol.etsy.com/ Rebecca also has a wonderful twigs collection that I know you will be impressed with, so go now and check out all the pretties she has in her shop!

Besides handcrafting rustic art jewelry, Rebecca is also the mom of a child who was recently diagnosed with Type-1 diabetes, she now has a strong voice for JDRF-Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and will often have charity sales where the amount of the sale will go directly to JDRF! This is what drew me to Adobe Sol on Etsy in the first place, so please watch for these terrific charity sales Rebecca has both in her etsy shop and on her website which you can get to through her blog.

Thank you Rebecca for bringing flowers our way today!

Spring has finally arrived!

Happy spring everyone! Don't you just love this time of year, the rebirth of the trees and flowers never ceases to amaze me. Rob is also glad for the warmth since his shop is outside and the winters can be cold and long. He is working on a new piece and I can't wait for you all to see it, I think it is fabulous and I'm not saying that just because I'm his wife! I have been working on some polymer clay beads for the past few months and hopefully by the end of April I will be placing them in some new spring pieces. Both of us are now a part of 1000markets.com and we love the atmosphere there, Rob is in the Day of the Dead Market, I am in the Grand Arcade market and we are both in the Spirits of the Southwest. My shop name is Roja Tierra Designs, and we are still on Etsy collectively under ElReyArtwork, we just thought it would be better to separate the jewelry from the Santos!

Welcome to Santos and Tesoros!

We (Rob and Tammy) have created this blog to keep our many friends and family updated on all of our new creations. Rob is the Santero, creating Spanish Colonial style art, carving wood into Santos on retablos and bultos. Tammy is the jewelry artisan, crafting necklaces and bracelets out of stones and precious metals.