š October at GBF: Cultura, Creativity & Community. š
Remembering, Creating & Making Space
Dear Reader,
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October has arrived, bringing cooler mornings, cozy evenings, colorful leaves, and approximately 47 reasons for me to buy another notebook.Ā
But this month also feels especially meaningful.
October is a month filled with creativity, culture, and community. It's a time to slow down, gather together, tell stories, and remember the people and experiences that have shaped us.
And lately, I've been thinking about how much those same ideas have shaped GBF.
From translation and language access to stationery, workshops, books, and community events, so much of what we're building comes back to one simple idea:
Connection matters.
So, grab your cafecito and let's catch up.
Fall is here: come say hello!
One of the sweetest parts of the past few months has been having Que Cute Stationery featured as a Guest Maker at Made Mercantile in Downtown Woodstock.
Seeing something I created sitting on a shelf inside a local shop still feels a little surreal.
When Que Cute started, it was simply another creative idea I couldn't get out of my head. Then came products. Markets. Etsy. And eventually, seeing those products find their way into a real retail space.
Being a Guest Maker has given me the opportunity to introduce Que Cute to new people, connect with other local makers, and see another little piece of the bigger GBF & Co. dream come to life.
I'm incredibly grateful to Made Mercantile for creating a space where small businesses, artists, and makers can grow.
And to everyone who has stopped by, picked something up, shared a photo, or told someone about Que Cute:
mil gracias.Ā
Every bookmark, sticky note, and little stationery purchase helps this dream grow.
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āļø Should We Do Another Junk Journaling Class?
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Remember that little experiment where I taught my first junk journaling workshop?
Well...
I may have caught the workshop bug.Ā
There's something incredibly fun about sitting around a table together with piles of paper, stickers, scraps, stamps, and absolutely no pressure to make something "perfect."
Junk journaling is really just storytelling with stuff.
A receipt from your favorite bookstore.
A ticket from a concert.
A handwritten note.
A coffee sleeve.
A photograph.
A scrap of pretty packaging you couldn't convince yourself to throw away.
Individually, they're ordinary little things.
Together, they tell the story of a life.
I've been thinking about hosting another journaling class, and I want to know what YOU would like to see next.
Maybe another beginner-friendly junk journaling workshop?
A bilingual journaling night?
A cozy holiday memory journal?
A vision journal for 2027?
Or something completely different?
Hit reply and tell me what you'd sign up for.Ā
Your answer might just inspire our next class.
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Ā DĆa de los Muertos 2026
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October also means we're getting closer to one of the events nearest to my heart:
Woodstock's DĆa de los Muertos Festival.
I'm grateful to once again be part of the work surrounding this year's celebration and helping our community learn more about a tradition that means so much to families throughout Mexico and beyond.
And there's something I always want people to understand:
DĆa de los Muertos isn't "Mexican Halloween."
At its heart, DĆa de los Muertos is about remembrance.
It's about keeping stories alive.
It's about gathering with family and creating ofrendas filled with photographs, candles, marigolds, favorite foods, and objects that remind us of the people we've loved.
It's colorful because we're celebrating their lives.
It's joyful because remembering someone can also mean remembering the laughter.
And it's deeply personal because every altar tells a different story.
As someone who grew up in Mexico, I love seeing our Woodstock community come together not just to enjoy the beauty of DĆa de los Muertos, but also to learn about the meaning behind it.
That's the part that matters.
Culture is more meaningful when we take the time to understand the story behind the celebration.
I hope you'll join us for the 2026 DĆa de los Muertos Festival and experience those stories for yourself.
Hispanic Heritage Month Doesn't End on October 15
Hispanic Heritage Month officially comes to a close on October 15.
But language access shouldn't.
Neither should supporting Latino-owned businesses.
Or reading Latino authors.
Or learning about Latin American history.
Or making sure Spanish-speaking members of our community can understand important information.
Heritage months give us an opportunity to celebrate and learn.
The real work happens during the other eleven months of the year.
For businesses and organizations, this is a good time to look back at the Hispanic Heritage Month materials you created and ask:
What happens to our Spanish-language communication now?
If the answer is "we'll revisit it next September," there's an opportunity to do better.
Language access is most meaningful when it's part of how we communicate year-round.
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Lost in Translation: DĆa de los Muertos Edition
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Since we're talking about DĆa de los Muertos, here's your October language lesson.
Ofrenda ā Offering
Technically, ofrenda can translate to "offering."
But simply translating the word doesn't tell you what an ofrenda means within DĆa de los Muertos.
An ofrenda is an altar created to honor and welcome the memory of loved ones who have died.
It may include:
CempasĆŗchil
Ā Candles
Ā Photographs
Water
Ā Pan de muerto
Ā Favorite foods
Ā Personal objects or keepsakes
This is a perfect example of something I talk about often at GBF:
Translation gives you the words. Cultural context gives you the meaning.
And sometimes, you need both.
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Meanwhile at Que Cute...
If July introduced you to the bigger dream behind GBF & Co., August gave me another little glimpse of what that dream could eventually look like.
Translation.
Stationery.
Books.
Literacy.
Creative workshops.
Community resources.
At first glance, those things may seem unrelated.
To me, they're all connected by language and creativity.
That's why the idea of eventually creating a modern papelerĆa continues to feel so right.
Not simply a stationery shop, but a welcoming bilingual space where you might come in for a notebook, discover a Spanish-language book, attend a workshop, find a locally made gift, get something notarized, or ask about having a document translated.
We're nowhere near the finished picture yet.
For now, we're building it one tiny piece at a time.
And August added another piece to the puzzle.
Building the Modern PapelerĆa, One Little Piece at a Time
I've talked recently about my dream of someday creating a modern papelerĆa through GBF & Co.
And lately, I've realized something.
Maybe the dream isn't something that begins someday.
Maybe it's already beginning.
Que Cute stationery sitting inside Made Mercantile.
Teaching my first creative workshop.
Talking about books and literacy.
Helping someone access information in Spanish.
Providing certified translations and interpretation.
Creating spaces where bilingualism isn't something that needs explaining.
These might seem like completely different things.
To me, they're little pieces of the same place.
I imagine the future papelerĆa as somewhere you could browse notebooks, books, stationery, and locally made gifts...
then attend a journaling workshop...
pick up bilingual resources...
have something notarized...
or ask about translating an important document.
A place where English and Spanish exist comfortably beside each other.
Language. Cultura. Creativity. Community.
We're still a long way from opening those doors.
But I'm beginning to realize we're already building what's going to live inside them.
And that's pretty exciting.
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Suki's Corner
Spooky Season
Our Chief Barketing Officer has discovered that humans have begun placing suspicious objects in their yards.
Skeletons.
Ghosts.
Inflatable pumpkins.
And, most concerningly...
things that move without being alive.
Investigations are ongoing.Ā
Now that cooler weather is finally arriving, Suki is also thrilled that walks no longer feel like expeditions across the surface of the sun.
Her October responsibilities include:
Ā Inspecting all seasonal decorations.
Continuing year-round squirrel surveillance.
Reviewing incoming Que Cute inventory.
Ā Thoroughly investigating every crunchy leaf.
Ā Protecting GBF HQ from suspicious Halloween activity.
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Suki's October Affirmation:
"Be curious about everything. Bark at questionable decorations. Always check for snacks."
Another productive month from upper management.
Before You Go...
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October has me thinking a lot about stories.
The stories we translate.
The stories we write down.
The stories tucked between the pages of a journal.
The stories represented on an ofrenda.
And the stories behind the businesses and communities we choose to support.
Maybe that's why translation, stationery, literacy, and culture have found themselves living together under GBF.
They're all different ways of saying:
This mattered.
This person mattered.
This memory mattered.
This culture matters.
This voice deserves to be understood.
As we move through October and toward DĆa de los Muertos, I hope you find a little time to create something, learn someone's story, support something local, and remember the people who helped shape yours.
And as always, thank you for continuing to be part of ours.
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Ā”Gracias por ser parte de nuestra comunidad!
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Con cariƱo, The GBF & Co. Team
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