Denver is the ancestral home of the Ute, Cheyenne, and Arapaho Peoples. We honor their stewardship throughout the eons and acknowledge the past wrongs and genocide. We are grateful and thank you for allowing us to live on your lands.
History of Herstory
Mariachi music. Green Chile. Viva La Raza! Beautiful Music and Dancing
Villa Park is a west Denver neighborhood of the Cowell Elementary Mustangs. It is bordered by Colfax, Federal, Sixth Ave., and Sheridan Blvd. While I was growing up here within this square area, there was only 1 grocery store by Martinez Park, one liquor store, and three churches. My family attended Presentation of Our Lady. This is the geographic area full of busy and not-so-busy streets, small parks, ravines, creeks, hills, traffic, a beautiful view of the mountains to the west, and of downtown to the east. Pikes Peak can be seen to the south on clear days as can expansive blue skies and fluffy white clouds. The Denver Broncos play at Mile High just over a mile away. Even though my other schools were out of this neighborhood, here’s a shout out to Lake Middle School Knights and the Denver West Cowboys!
All pics taken by me except the Mexican Dancers.
This landscape got into my soul. The people; their aggression, their hope. Their cuisine. Their music. Their humor. Yeah, we might have had some of the shortest kids in the city, but their heart and fierce pride was bigger than anybody’s. That is something I still think about to this day. Oh, and loyal. So much loyalty. And yeah, the rumors are true; you don’t want to get into a fight with us.
Villa Park Hearts is the parent company to Dos Chicas and Angela Yoder Designs. We are currently located in Washington state, on the traditional lands of the Puyallup Peoples. We are so grateful to you for allowing us to live on your beautiful land. Thank you for caring for the living creatures for time immemorial. We acknowledge the past genocide and pain and we work every day to correct and make things right for all people on this planet. O’siem.
The Art
Watercolor was the beginning in 1990. Angela started cutting paper buildings in 2004. Now she combines those; watercolor, pastel and paper into elaborate pieces.
Surface Pattern Design
Our most recent path began in 2020, pre-pandemic, when Angela decided to follow a life-long dream of having her designs on fabric and other items. Practicing all year and meeting some great people virtually, she now has a shop on Spoonflower and is pitching her portfolio around to get licensing and book illustration deals.
The Hand Bags
Dos Chicas– our first generation of unbeaded hand bags was started with four designs to honor our grandmothers who have all passed. Mexican oilcloth was a perfect choice because it is colorful and vibrant and we have strong ties to Old Mexico. We designed bags each grandma loved and fit her individual personality.
Ay Artbags– our second generation of high-end, hand-beaded bags was the natural progression of my work. These bags can take up to six weeks to complete because we take great care in the process. One-of-a-kind and unique, these are meant to display as art, or be used as your special occasion bag. No one else will have a bag exactly like yours!
Ang got burnt out sewing so many bags on her own. She felt like a factory worker. Not fun. So, she stopped and isn’t too regretful about it.
The Artists
Ang, (that’s me) runs everything while creating new ideas. She lives in fabulous Tacoma. T excels in creating new items that are fun and useful. She is our production guru and still lives in sunny Denver.
We are QFF: Queens of Feminine Frivolity! Life can get too serious and our work is meant to uplift you, make you laugh, and make you smile.
PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS
Our sturdy, colorful bags come with and without beads. Each bag is made with special girly details and two bonuses: a pewter charm and a story of the lady it is named after. Oilcloth is a material that withstands yoga class, swimming, babies, doggies, diapers, and mud. Hand wash your oilcloth with mild soap and water, but never submerge your Dos Chicas bag.
Villa Park Hearts buys oilcloth, beads, charms, and other items for our work from American companies. We then hand-cut, hand-bead, and machine stitch each one in our workshops. We aren’t interested in getting big enough to “out source” or have our work done over-seas. We believe it is more important than ever to help keep our local and national economies vibrant by creating on American soil. Your purchase is proudly MADE IN THE USA and you are helping us support our families and our American Dream with your purchases. We very much appreciate it. XO
By the way, did you know that when you support/spend/shop from small businesses like ours that you strengthen our local economy? You give us a means to pay our employees and take care of our families; shoes for the kids, dance lessons, insurance, gas for the vehicles, food for our tables, etc. Yep. It’s true. 🙂
History is good.