posted September 12, 2006 By Jennifer Santos-Hamer

Let’s face it: Most scrapbook products are made by and for English-speakers with few artistic – non-touristy – products in different languages. Before companies like Arte Latin-Oh! came along, we had to journal and embellish non-English words on our own or use non-archival-safe ephemera to punctuate Latin culture or the Spanish language in our scrapbook layouts. While there are hundreds of thousands of well-designed products readily available to scrapbook layouts in English, it wasn’t so easy to find Latin-inspired design and text.

Amelia Holt and Pilar Martinez recognized this need. The two sisters decided it was time for a change. They left their corporate positions to follow their mutual passion for scrapbooking and sharing Latin culture.  In the interview below, Amelia shares with Memory Villa the story and inspiration behind Arte Latin-Oh!, a distinctive company that produces Latin-inspired scrapbook supplies for anyone with an appreciation of art, culture, family, and friends.

Can you please tell us more about Arte Latin-Oh's creators and designers? What inspired the creation of Arte Latin-Oh! ?

“Arte Latin-Oh! is very proud of its team of Latin designers. Our team counts with about 5 designers. Our designers all contribute to different collections with different ideas and points of view. We are a team and we work as such. Arte Latin-Oh! was inspired by the lack of products out there that would help us capture our memories with a Latin flavor. We felt we did not have any choice..Arte Latin-Oh! was born!”

Can you tell us a little more about Arte Latin-Oh!'s history as a company? When did Arte Latin-Oh! begin? Where is it based?

“Arte Latin-Oh! was founded in 2004 by my sister Pilar Martinez and myself (Amelia Martinez-Holt). We are currently located in Fayetteville, a small city South of Atlanta, GA.  Pilar and I were both living the great corporate lifestyle, working for 500 fortune corporations, when we decided to follow our passion and our instinct. We wanted to become a channel by which the Latin culture could be preserved by people from different ethnicities and backgrounds, who have an appreciation for our culture, our people and great designs.”

Can you tell us a little more about the production process? Specifically, after you've created a design you love and can't wait to share with the world, how do you get these designs on paper and into retail stores?

“We have very strong in-house capabilities for design. We surround ourselves by key suppliers that are the responsible for bringing our concepts into real products. We currently have about 200+ SKUs. The production of those have been an interesting learning experience for us. Each collection brings its own challenges, and each category of products brings its own requirements. We have worked with our key suppliers to make sure the final product is something that we are proud of. It is a lot to coordinate, but we love what we do. When we see what can be done using Arte Latin-Oh! products, we know it was all worth it… Then we get inspired and start all over again with new products.”

“Bringing our products into retail stores has its challenges too. Many stores still do not understand the benefits of carrying multicultural products, especially products in a language they not necessarily know. But. we strive to become the preferred vendor of scrapbooking and paper-products in Spanish, and we work restlessly to help them understand and embrace diversity.”

What is/are your favorite paper(s) from Arte Latin-Oh!? And why?

“I feel very proud of all of our designs. They are like children to us and I love them all in their special ways, but I have to admit a particular fascination by the Reggaeton collection. Reggaeton is a gender of Latin music that has become very popular in the last years. Reggaeton is played everywhere! You hear it constantly at radio stations, TV musical channels, discos, parties, cars, wherever there is music these days. And it has made the cross-over, so now it is being listened by Americans, Canadians, Europeans and even in Asia!. When I see that collection, I know that we became the channel by which Reggaeton will be playing forever! Our designs captured the best of that musical phenomenon and celebrate our rhythms and beats in every one of the papers and stickers of that collection.”

What kind of paper crafting projects do you enjoy working on during your spare time, Amelia?

“ I do have 2 children, so I give priority to their albums and the memories I want to preserve for them and the children of their children. I also love making special gifts for people in the form of cards and creative little projects. You want to know the best part? I am quite fast at making my projects. Since I started to use Arte Latin-Oh! products, I don’t spend too much time on my projects and the finish product always looks very beautiful and classy.”

What inspired the Arte Latin-Oh! rubber stamps? Will you be producing more in the future?

“We love our rubberstamps! I guess that the main inspiration is Pilar’s and my own preference to use lots of stamping on our projects. It is like buying an “everlasting chocolate”, right?  You can just use it over and over again, and depending on the colors and the technique used, they will never look the same! We have many more ideas and new designs for stamps in Spanish and we will be releasing them in due time.”

We appreciate the multicultural niche that Arte Latin-Oh! fills in the scrapbooking world. Can non-Spanish speakers use the products for their scrapbooks, too? For example, Pap-ah paper features fabulous colors and a motif we all recognize and often associate with fathers -- the mighty barbecue grill. How would you recommend non-Spanish speaking scrapbookers use Arte Latin-Oh! paper in projects such as scrapbook layouts and cards?

“Arte Latin-Oh! designs and the Latin culture are not limited by a language. Our Latin culture embraces those who care with passion about family, music, food, art, nature, friends, pride, and warmness. Our products are only inspired by the Latin culture. They are made for people with an appreciation for quality and great designs who will be proud of their using Arte Latin-Oh! products in their projects.”

Is there anything else you'd like to share about Arte Latin-Oh! with MV customers and friends?

“We, at Arte Latin-Oh! are very proud of MV and its dedicated support to multicultural scrapbooking. This is a one-of-a-kind web store that has gone the extra mile to offer not only Arte Latin-Oh! products in Spanish, but bringing on its own ideas and layouts as to how to use them, always with a creative edge. Bravo to MV!”

Sample Layouts:

Click to view Arte Latin Oh! products