Today we’d like to introduce you to Mija, Kim and Kat Vera.
Mija, Kim and Kat, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
We are three Hispanic sisters who adore crafting! Each one of us has a different medium we love to work in. The oldest is Mija who works on all our web and paper designs. Right now, her main focus is on designing and creating stationery sets for our Etsy. Kim is next in line, she loves all different types of textiles. She sews, knits, crochet and is also learning embroidery. Kim also does all of Mind-Speaks video editing and uploading! Kat is our youngest Vera sister. She is a full-on pastry chef! She comes up with amazing treats and recipes on our blog! Recently, she has been diving into making pan dulce.
We started the blog in 2008. Mija went off to college and we opened this blog as a way to keep in touch with each other. We are all four years apart so we were at different stages in life and in different cities. This felt like a good way to share our projects, recipes, and how-tos! We are also slowly starting to showcase different shops/restaurants and geeky hangouts in Houston!
We love anything colorful, video games, comic books, stationery, pens and of course food!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
We started our blog back in 2008. Blogging journals where everywhere online but group craft blogs were a little more uncommon. We had to come up with a format that would fit us and our lifestyle. We are also really geeky, merging our love for comics, Nintendo and books into a shared blog was hard. We have really different personalities and showing our individual passion on social media was difficult at first.
We all live in different parts of Houston, so meeting up for craft session or to film a video together can be difficult. Our schedules are so different we also have full-time jobs as well. Finding the time to create in our own space also can be hard. Not only are we sisters, but we are creative partners. When one of us is having a creative rut, we know we can talk to each other and get some inspiration.
Mind-Speaks – what should we know? What do you do best? What sets you apart from others?
As bloggers, we post projects but we have also joined in with other Houston creatives for events. If you’ve met us or stumbled onto our Instagram, you may know as the crafting sisters. We mainly focus on projects we are working on, either for ourselves or for events. We are always looking for more local events or shops to partner with!
We are most proud of being able to share our obsessions with people. We love when we share a project that can relate to our readers.
Mija has been focusing on adding more stationery to Etsy, Kim has been learning embroidery design, and Kat has been working non-stop as a pastry chef in a Houston hotel. We are always trying to better our work and connect with our heritage. Kat has been mixing the two, she is learning how to make pan dulce (Mexican sweet bread).
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
There are some really awesome moments we’ve experienced since starting the blog. One that comes to mind is the Sailor Moon Birthday Bash event we hosted at Viet Nom Noms in Bellaire (vietnomnoms.com).
We grew up with an obsession to Sailor Moon as young girls and wanted to have a gathering with other fans. We had Sailor Moon cookies, jewelry, stickers, and goody bags made! We met so many other people who were also fans of the series! (For pictures of the event we have a post over on the blog: mind-speaks.com/usagi-bash)
Recently, a stationery shop in the Heights called Noted. (noteddesignco.com) Started to carry some of our stationery in store! The shop is so cute, and it is amazing to have some of our items there alongside some amazing local artists!! It is the first time you can buy some of our stationery outside our Etsy.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://mind-speaks.com
- Email: hello@mind-speaks.com
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/mindspeaks
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrSWVcUI_5qywsZ8GNMguRg
https://www.etsy.com/shop/MindSpeaks
Image Credit:
The Sailor Moon event pictures were shot by Ashley Smith at www.ashsnapem.com
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