Close Window

Anita Espinoza

"Hi. I'm Anita Espinoza, and all my life I've had a talent for crafting things with great detail. When I was a girl, my mother taught me to embroider, sew, knit, crochet and paint, and way I'd entertain myself with these hobbies. Over time, I continued to develop these skills with little more instruction than that of my mother and the creativity that God gave me. When I got married, my husband's grandmother gave me a sewing machine, and this is how the idea of creating dolls was born.

"I make the patterns myself and use cotton muslin to cut out the bodies one at a time. Then I sew them on the machine and stuff them. I make the doll clothes in the same way. Cotton threads become the hair. I adorn the faces with buttons and beads, and paint their makeup by hand. I always like to add traditional motifs to give my dolls something different. I also make their little chairs from pinewood, which I paint or sometimes engrave with a wood-burning tool like those used long ago in Mexican homes. I craft the shoes from fabric or crochet them, and dress the dolls according to the identity of each character. They must always show the love and the importance of children in the Mexican family.

"I've always had a special affection for the children and the grandparents of the world, so I pay loving tribute to them through these charming little people I create."