Hello, my name is Ana Buigues, I am 46 years old (that is in 2009), and my Etsy shop is contexto. I am from Valencia, Spain, where I am currently living. Although I love my Etsy adventure, to which I devote all the free time I have, I make a living as a translator (English <> Spanish) and web designer.

A ver, sobre mi aventura en Etsy. Siempre he hecho cosas a mano para mi y mi familia y amigos y siempre me ha gustado. Mi madre, me enseñó a coser y a hacer punto cuando era una adolescente y mi abuela me enseñó a hacer capazos de palmito – el palmito es una palmera enana mediterránea. De mi padre heredé el gusto por cuidar los libros, forrándolos y arreglándolos cuando se estropeaban. Además, soy una “friki” total del reciclaje, no sólo por el respeto al medio ambiente, sino también por el rechazo al exagerado consumismo al que tanta gente parece abocada para mostrar cierto estatus. Un día de 2007 haciendo una búsqueda en Google sobre productos de papelería descubrí Etsy por casualidad. Desde entonces no he podido desengancharme.

Let’s see, about my Etsy adventure. Well, I have always made things for myself and for my family and friends, and I have always liked it. It was my mom who taught me how to sew and knit when I was a teenager, and my grandmother taught me how to wave bags from palm leaves from a Mediterranean palm tree variant called ´palmito.´ My dad taught me to take very good care of books, one should put them a plastic cover, and repair them if they got damaged. Moreover, I am recycling freak, not only because of the environmental issues, but also because of my rejection of the exaggerated consumerism to which so many people are prone – in order to show off about their status. One day, in 2007, I was running a search on Google on sustainable stationary products and I found Etsy by chance. I have been an Etsy junky since then.


Quiero hacer otras cosas – fuera de la encuadernación y ponerlas en mi tienda Etsy, pero ya veremos...

For my bookbinding works I like both, a shaggy, rustic and unfinished look as well as a decadent and lush aesthetic. I like to create thins than can be used for a very long time, that change while they are being used. I love creating new objects from things that have been discarded as useful. I am very interested in alternative bookbinding and mail art.

I have plans to make other things for my Etsy shop – apart from bookbinding - but we will see ...