The restaurant industry has long been a central part of Lauren Valenzuela’s life, and she has seamlessly woven that passion into her artwork at Sigfús Designs.

Located in Bushido Studio at 3264 North Country Club Road, Sigfús Designs offers a space where customers can find handmade jewelry crafted from polymer clay, unique housewares, and clothing items. The studio is also home to a tattoo studio for Lauren’s husband, Hector Valenzuela.

The couple, both entrepreneurs and Tucson natives, opened their dream store last February, blending their respective businesses under one roof.

“What you're experiencing here is kind of like a community space where people can be inspired by art,” Hector Valenzuela said.

Both Lauren and Hector Valenzuela have experience in the restaurant industry, with Lauren spending 17 years working in the field at restaurants across Tucson, including the now-closed Stray Dogs and Hacienda Del Sol Resort.

So it’s no surprise that her tiny handcrafted charms of items like pastries, vegetables, pasta, and more are bestsellers at the shop’s charm bar, which allows customers to tap into their creativity and design their own necklaces and bracelets using unique charms.

Valenzuela has found other innovative ways to blend her experience with the restaurant industry, even incorporating actual food ingredients in her works.

“When I started making jewelry, I would always experiment with turmeric, black pepper, and different herbs,” she said. “Basically additives to see if I could give it a different texture or feel.”

Sigfús Designs introduced the charm and jewelry bar this past summer, with many of the charms inspired by Lauren’s culinary interests. These food-themed charms, including the iconic goldfish cracker and salted pretzel, are among the most popular at the charm bar.

“You make what you're excited about, so I’m constantly making little food charms and playing with that,” she said.

Each charm begins as raw clay and undergoes a careful process with specific ingredients and steps to achieve the perfect look. Due to the small, intricate nature of the pieces, Valenzuela creates batches of each charm to avoid having to replicate the same design for several months. It’s a lengthy process requiring plenty of patience.

Lauren Valenzuela draws on her experience cooking and exploring global cuisines for inspiration for the charms. Recently, she and her husband traveled to Mexico City, where they took a class on how to make conchas—a traditional Mexican sweet bread.

“That’s where I got the idea for that charm because I remember exactly how we made it and what it looked like,” Valenzuela said. “I know it’s not a perfect replica, but I’m using my own experiences to translate it to the charms.”

She has also started collaborating more with restaurants and hosting community events. Recently, the store hosted an event with Bubbe’s Fine Bagels, where participants sculpted their own bagel charms while savoring freshly made bagels from the popular local eatery.

She also collaborated with Tucson baker Carbs & Coffee for another special event, where attendees crafted miniature pastry charms inspired by the bakery’s offerings.

“Getting to eat all this food and using real food as your example for what you're creating is fun,” Valenzuela said.

In addition to its intricate and handmade food-focused jewelry, what sets the store apart from others is its unique blend of art and hospitality. Lauren Valenzuela’s philosophy is to bring the same kind of customer service she provided at the restaurants to Sigfús, creating an inviting space where people can feel at home while exploring the artwork and products.

“It’s a huge indicator of how I operate as a business owner because customer service and hospitality are really important to me,” she said. “We want them to feel like they were taken care of here.”

Sigfús’ food charms and other products are available in the store and on its website. The store is open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

“Food is a way to connect with people. Obviously, we need it for sustenance, but we really like food as a vehicle for community and creating spaces for people to come together,” she said.

Griffen Engelberg is a journalism major at the University of Arizona and reporter with Tucson Spotlight. Contact him at at gje1@arizona.edu.

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