Candle Base

  This wooden plate was covered in Pewter to create a candle base. It is a fast, easy project ideal for any gift. The main MercArt tools used were: * Refiner *Teflon Tool D-01 *Cup and Ball # 4 *Paper stump #4 *Suede *Pewter Patina *Mercart’s Filling Paste *Pewter Reminder: April is the month for…

Read More

R.I.P. Magdalena Barrena (1933-2012)

  I am so sorry for the lack of posts lately. On September 29 of 2011 my mom, Magdalena Barrena, was diagnosed with cancer. I was able to go to Mexico City many times. We were also able to spend Christmas and New Year with her. She was so happy to have her kids and…

Read More

Gift Tea Box

Looking for an original gift?  What about this wooden box covered with pewter ? I was inspired by a heart shaped box done by Kaori Kochi, one of  my students in Japan. I gave continuity to the ribbon by folding  it over the box in its 4 sides. The box blue color was given with the new CS207…

Read More

Mexico

I was in Mexico City for some days and, besides enjoying my mom’s company, I was able to get some new ideas. I was also able to visit Mexico City’s downton, which is full of historic colonial buildings ( XVI century) and prehispanic (Aztec) sites. I was lucky to see the huge and amazing exhibition…

Read More

JAPAN

I came back this week from another amazing 12 day trip from Japan. I taught 100 talented artists in 3 cities: Tokyo, Osaka and Fufuoka. My wonderful hosts and distributor (Athena), plus the JMEA (Japan Metal Embossing Association) team, the translators and the enthusiastic group of students made me feel at home (just like they…

Read More

NYC and Canada

  Sorry for not posting anything for a while. This has been a hectic time. After the opening in Mexico City of our new MercArt store (last post), I went to New York City with my family. We went to celebrate Sofia’s (my daughter) 16th birtday. She loved Broadway (“Wicked” was so funny), MOMA, Central…

Read More

MercArt’s New Store!

I was in Mexico City  last week for the Grand Opening of a new MercArt store.  It was a great success and I was thrilled to see so many friends and loyal customers. It is remarkable that my mom, who founded MercArt in 1970 (yes, 41 years ago!!!) still has the energy, and enthusiasm to…

Read More

Embossing Plates

We used to carry these embossing plates in our main company in Mexico about 13 years ago. As we are opening a new store in Mexico City, we decided to bring them back. These are 4 of the 16 designs we have.                          …

Read More

Nautilus

This was such a fun, simple and fast project to do. I used Dreamweaver’s stencil Nautilus LS04 and our Texture Plate #14. MercArt’s products used were: Teflon D-01 Paper stump #4 Teflon D-03 Cup and Ball #5 Suede Pewter Plate #14 Filling Paste Pewter Patina Texture Plate #14 After embossing the nautilus, I placed the pewter on…

Read More

Wooden Chest in Pewter

I always try to teach the traditional “Repujado” (Metal Embossing)  techniques in my workshops. I believe that knowing the techniques allow you to create a wider variety of projects; from the simplest and easiest using molds or plates, up to very intricate pieces like this wooden chest. This wooden chest was covered in Pewter. It’s  such a malleable…

Read More