Why We Love: Mercedes Rivera

13312847_10107673365930013_7394803996112528617_nI am so excited to talk to you guys about Mercedes. She is a goddess. She is a queen. She is the coolest chick to ever come into my life. I literally  gaze at her in amazement when she speaks, because everything she says is the epitome of cool… yet she has no clue how fucking cool she really is, which, again, makes her the coolest chick ever. If you are lucky enough to meet Mercedes a few things go through your brain.

First off, you truly feel like you have just met a fairy. A real life, wings about to come out of her shoulder blades, glittery fairy.

Secondly, within seconds, you realize, “Wow, I think I am talking to the most genuine human to ever exist.

And lastly you think, “Did I just make a new best friend?” because she makes you feel that special. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. YOU. TALK. She is simply incredible!!

Okay, now that I have gushed over my girl crush, let me tell you what makes her even more amazing: HER JEWELRY! That is right folks, Mercedes makes awesome jewelry and you should all go to her pages (listed below) and buy all of it. I was honored that she wanted to sit down and talk to me about herself and her art. So here ya go…

So, tell me a little about yourself? My name is Mercedes, I was born and raised in the County of Dade, Florida.  I don’t like to read or watch TV. I have a Ninja Turtle obsession and think I was a mermaid in my past life. My ultimate life goal is to have a sick treehouse with a view and until then, enjoy the journey.

How did you get involved with jewelry design? My Mom loves to create jewelry in her spare time, she got really into beads when I was in middle school and started making buddhist prayer necklaces.  I thought the beads were super cool so I would steal a few at a time. Started my own collection and eventually had a shit ton of beads I wasn’t doing anything but hoarding. Took them along with me to college and eventually got bored one day here in Atlanta and made some bracelets. Made one for a friend as a thank you gift.  It received a lot of attention when she posted it on Instagram and the rest was kind of history.  Opened my Etsy for fun, won Best of Atlanta in Creative Loafing in 2015 and took that as a confirmation to follow my heart.   

Have you always been an artist in some way? I actually just started admitting it this year. Mostly because I can’t draw worth a dime. I can admit I’ve always been creative.

You are also writing a children’s book? What has that experience been like? I have always had the desire to write a kids book since I’ve worked so closely with them my whole life.  As a nanny I read dozens of kids books a week and I just get tired of stories with weak plots, or no plot at all.  I also can’t stand a wordy, lengthy kids book. I’m sure most parents can agree with me on that! I happen to be best friends with an artist, Roger, who specializes in character design. He also happens to be a KICK ASS tattoo artist (visit his site here). Funny story, we would always talk about doing this book, I spent months doing research on writing and publishing, so much that I never got to the actual story.  Roger one day kindly bribed me to sit down and start writing the book saying that he would make my logo for Heart Mercedes.  So that night I did just that. I wrote half the book in a little over an hour. It just kind of poured out. Showed Roger, I couldn’t believe how excited he got (the main characters are his kids that may have had a little something to do with it; they’re awesome).  I finished the book that night. He is currently working on illustrating the book and in the process we lucked out on an opportunity to pilot an animated series. Writing a book has now turned into working on episodes for a plausible series, its been an unbelievable journey with so much work ahead of us.

If you could be any children’s book character yourself, who would you be? Ramona Quimby. I loved reading her books growing up, Ramona happens to be my middle name and I can be a bit of a brat at times, felt like we related well.

What inspires you to create? Everything. Music, people, nature, travel, culture. Life is beautiful, it’s inspiring.

Describe your perfect date? I’m a simple girl. I like thoughtful surprises and random adventures. Bonus points if it’s outdoors with a killer view. The best dates end with ice cream.

Who is your favorite artist? My mom, she approaches life as one big art project, our house, the food she cooks, the garden, and of course in her jewelry.

I ask all of my guests this… what is the shittiest move you have ever made? When I was in 7th grade we had a teacher that no one liked.  She was just always mad! She happened to like me but she was still mean to all my friends.  One day she asked me to fill up her water bottle and my friends saw me at the water fountain asked me whose it was and when I told them it was hers, two of them spit in it. Ah!!!! They shook it up and gave it to her. I watched her drink it and felt like shit. She didn’t get any nicer to say the least. Never told her but even retelling the story I feel like a douche.

Where can readers purchase your designs? I have an Etsy shop but the easiest way to find it is on my websiteHeartMercedes.com

Shameless plug….social media info/website/etc.

@HeartMercedes for my Jewelry on IG. If you want a glimpse at my personal life and all my selfies you can follow @YokoOnoBenzo. Like my facebook page: Shop Heart Mercedes

Every please go and check her out. Follow her journey because she and it are amazing!

xoxox

The Shitty Housewife

Jan O