History

Since starting her art career in high school, Anna Ibarra, owner, artisan, and artist of Iba Sisters, has always experimented with various art forms, from drawing to painting to sculpting to even making art utilizing cooking. She has always been open to trying any medium of art to make a connection with people.

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With the encouragement of her high school art teacher/ later on colleague & peer, she pursued higher education in fine arts. During her first year obtaining an associate degree in Fine Arts at South Texas College, one of her professors suggested she try out polymer clay to make fine, detailed stamps for her ceramics and prints. This sparked the flame of learning polymer clay as an art form. Once she understood how polymer clay worked, she moved from stamps and regular beads and started making more personal things, such as sugar skulls and foods like cakes, chocolates, pan dulce, tacos, etc. She even made characters she liked, such as Pokémon. However, she quickly moved away from those because she preferred to hear the stories and personal connections people would share about food and how it reminded them of their culture, childhood, and, most importantly, family. 

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In 2015, Anna officially made Iba Sisters Arts and Crafts (Now DBA as Iba Sisters Handmade/ Iba Sisters Handmade Jewelry & Accessories) into a small business. After a few months, Iba Sisters became vendors at various festivals around South Texas, the Coastal Bend area, and Austin. With continued feedback from satisfied customers, Anna decided to expand by creating a website to help the influx of customers from around the United States and abroad. 

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During the COVID-19 pandemic, owner Anna cut back on pop-ups and festivals. Following that decision, she changed some aspects of her shop, such as accepting wholesale for retail orders to accommodate her existing clientele who want to shop in person while expanding to various cities around the United States. You can now find Iba Sisters products at retail shops, museum gift shops, and boutiques.

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In 2025, she started offering beads, charms, and tutorial videos for other crafters to use as materials for their DIYs and create jewelry to gift and sell at their local markets.

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Events

Since the start, Iba Sisters has participated in various events hosted by local small businesses, multiple cities' governments, and individuals fundraising for causes and charities they support. Their choice of festivals and pop-ups mainly revolves around the arts, handmade/artisan-only shows, and events that aid local communities/charities. On some occasions, they will accept markets outside of those parameters. However, Anna's primary goal is to promote the arts while encouraging people to unite to aid each other, rejoice in Mexican and Texan culture, stimulate the local economy, and share a more profound connection than a material object.

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If you would like to contact Iba Sisters regarding your event or fundraiser, please email them at ibasisters@gmail.com

 

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