HoodBabyLA - Saray Martinez

 

The artist we'll be highlighting today is one that first came to mind when I had the idea to start this blog. Saray Martinez aka @HoodBabyla and I have been mutuals on Instagram for years now and it's been so cool to see her explode in popularity. Saray is a clothing designer, most known for making handmade reworked pieces. Her customized jerseys have been worn by some of the coolest people like Tinahse, Young Miko, and Tyla. Each piece being completely unique makes her work so special and also creates a huge variety that appeals to so many people.

She had such sweet things to say about her family and how her upbringing has affected her work. "My family comes from Copan, Honduras. It definitely affects my art because I come from a first gen family. But what affects my art the most is growing up in a Swapmeet. I think it makes it super colorful."

Saray has been making clothes for years now. This is what she had to say about how it all started. "I knew I loved fashion since I was a kid and upcycled so much of my clothing in high school. One day I decided to take a chance and pursue my brand. It’s been nothing short of life changing hard work. I would describe my art style as hood and baby."

She has started hosting workshops in LA where attendees would learn how to make their own customized Hood Baby jersey. When I reached out to her about this interview, she was preparing for an extra special workshop, a Hood Baby workshop in Tokyo, Japan! Both her and another favorite brand of mine, Moños De Mi Niñez hosted this workshop at the clothing store Pin Nap in Shibuya. Even the flyer for the event was so insanely cute. Pin Nap is a vintage clothing store that also carries curated brand including Hood Baby. Literally the most Kawaii y Latina collab that could happen!

Saray took the opportunity to source clothing while in Japan for her brand. There are still pieces available on her site under "Japan Drop." You can keep up with her work on Instagram @Hoodbabyla and shop at https://hoodbaby.la/    

3rd Annual Rilakkuma Picnic

Saturday May 17th, the 3rd Annual Rilakkuma Picnic took place. The picnic is a collaboration between Nathalie Vazquez of Rilakkuma Memes (and this blog :3) and Maria Fernanda Lozano of Blue Hour Goods. This is the second year that Maria and I have collabed for this event by having her mobile tea truck at the meet up serving up yummy drinks and snacks including the famous Rilakkuma Paletas made by yours truly. Thanks to TikTok we were able to reach more Rilakkuma lovers and had an amazing turnout.

So many cuties came out with amazing coordinated outfits and the most adorable picnic spreads. @AppleTrinkets and @ShopSherlin were there vending Kuma themed goodies. @Finalkuma brought a bunch of handmade bracelets to share and @Verrykuma brought a giant connect four game that she set up. We also had Kuma shaped banana bread and brand new sticker sheets for sale. Below are the pictures of the event and all of the kuma fans that came through!<3 (some pictures also included were taken by @yellemarie_)

I took more pictures that I can fit on one blog post so I made a folder where you can check out all the pictures :3 ~ Check out more pictures here~

Be sure to follow along with this blog and my account on Instagram & TikTok @nonipnat for updates on my projects and future pop-ups! :) 

Piñata Panadería - Julie Beltrán

I think my tik tok algorithm has been working overtime to show me the exact content I've been searching for. Not too long ago while scrolling I came across the account Piñata Panadería, a Los Angeles-based piñata confectionery. Julie Beltrán is the genius behind the this account and Etsy shop that goes by the same name. She is a first generation Mexican-American, with both of her parents being from Jalisco. When speaking about how this impacts her art she said, " My identity definitely impacts my art. I love making art that takes up space, large ceramics pieces and 3-tiered cake piñatas. Just getting into piñata making was very inspired by my Latinidad. Taking something that typically is made to be destroyed and making it something that is meant to be displayed and treasured."

The first piece of her's that initially caught my attention was the strawberry sandwich piñata which looks exactly like a strawberry sando or Japanese fruit sandwich. It perfectly encapsulates ~kawaii y latina.~ I was also absolutely losing my mind when she sent over a picture of her workstation and it was just so insanely cool. The framed movie memorabilia next to collages adorned with small keepsakes, the candelabra with the perfectly mismatched candles, and the perfectly stacked rolls of streamers come together in her workspace that just oozes with personality!

 All of Julie's pieces are incredibly cute and have so much attention to detail. This is what she had to say about how she got into this specific medium, "I paint and I love ceramics and working with clay so up until I picked up making piñatas I usually expressed myself creatively through those mediums. However, ceramics is a very expensive medium and paintings can take me months to finish so I wanted to find something that would be cheaper to construct and was less time consuming to complete. I followed a TikTok artist (The Piñata Mom) who made piñatas and that planted the seed of interest. I would describe my art style as maximalist, kitschy and vibrant."

When I first came across Piñata Panadería, I was thinking of how I want to snag one of Julie's piñatas just to keep on display as decor. So it was no surprise to see that Julie's eye-catching work was included in a Valentine's Day store display for the clothing retailer LoveShackFancy. Julie's upcoming projects include a piñata inspired by pineapple upside down cake and a strawberry tart piñata. You can find her on both Instagram and TikTok @PinataPanaderia and check out her Etsy shop is Piñata Panadería.