For Martha Victoria Lozano Cango, the joy of weaving beaded jewelry goes hand in hand with the challenge of coming up with innovative patterns that delight her customers and Cooperative members. She has been innovating on the traditional designs since she was a pre-teen and, today, her patterns are sought after by a faithful clientele of tourists and professional indigenous women who come to the Cooperative’s shop in the city center of Saraguro.

Like most of the women of her tribe, Martha wears her own wide-collar necklaces for special occasions such as local festivals or weddings, and always saves her newest designs for a special fiesta where the design will be seen and admired by many. The ultimate form of flattery is to have her original design copied by others and incorporated into the Cooperative’s bead work. Martha estimates that, today, about 25 percent of her family income comes from bead work; the rest of the family’s livelihood is from their work in agriculture.