Me Knitting Socks! |
Creating something with your own hands brings a sense of fulfillment that’s hard to beat, whether it be home baked muffins you made for your kids or a sweater that you knit for yourself. I think that the closer you can get to the real business of life, the closer you come to “really” living and the greater your sense of fulfillment becomes. If it’s something I can’t or don’t want to make myself, then the next best thing is to pay another Handmade Artisan to make it for me. At least 5% of the profits from my own handmade jewelry business go right back into the hands of other Handmade Artisans, because I value their way of life just as much as I value my own!
What’s great is that so many Handmade Artisans feel the same way. I was really heartened and delighted every time one of my creative Twitter friends took the time to tweet about some really great handmade bag or shirt they’d bought as holiday gifts for themselves or loved ones. Not only are we a community of people who love making things, we are a community of people who love things made by others, and are more than happy to promote the work of other worthy craftspeople. The more excitement that’s generated about this new/old way of living, the more fulfilling all of our lives will be! (You know: Down with The Man and big-box stores and up with independent, artisan crafters!) Because of that, I wanted to feature all of the wonderful handmade artisans I’ve bought from this year to give you a little taste of the creative world of the Handmade that’s out there waiting to be discovered!
Wrap Top by Treehouse28 – I got this in Olive Green and I LOVE IT! It’s warm and comforting, well-made and I really love the uniqueness of the scalloped edges and seams. (I have been craving a wrap top all year, it’s like wearing a hug all day long!)
A custom Wool Felt Wallet by ettarose – I messaged her asking for a wallet in browns and pinks and left the actual specifics up to her. Boy am I glad I did! It’s gorgeous and I feel so fancy when I pay for things now π C’est magnifique! She was so easy to work with, too, I highly recommend her shop for all your wallet needs π
Felted Handbag in Burnt Orange by madorange – Now, technically I didn’t buy this, my mom got it for me for Christmas, but it’s so fantastic, I wanted to feature it! Sturdy, well-made and really beautiful. She’s got a great selection of bags in her shop, well worth the price as they’re the type you’ll keep and use for many, many years!
Flow Stonewash Pants with Hmong Pocket by cocoricoo – Now these haven’t actually gotten to me yet, as they are making a pair specific to my measurements and they come all the way from Thailand, but I’m sure they’ll be fabulous! I got an email right away from this seller letting me know they’d gotten my order and would begin making my pants. It’s so nice to be contacted personally, it really gives you a feeling that someone cares and that you’ll be taken care of!
Waviness Cotton Blouse/Dress by designbyme2010 – Another lovely handmade item from Thailand, I really like how the color changes in this little dress! You won’t find awesomeness like this in a big-box store.
Fuschia Quartz and Argentium Wire Wrap Ring by anjasarts – I bought a selection of these simple rings, they’re just great for wearing with my own handmade necklaces and earrings! What I loved about this handmade seller is that she offers discount packages for buying in quantity, so I went ahead and got a package of 5 rings, really fun when you need your fingers dressed up.
Even my business has been buying handmade! Here are some great sellers of natural beach pebbles. They collect and hand drill all their stones, and I absolutely LOVE using them in my Rock Collections necklaces! I’ve always been the type to pick up interesting stones, sticks, leaves, etc. so there’s a special place in my crafting heart for these kindred spirits:
Elysium’s Beach Stone Supplies – This crafter of stones lives in Battle Creek, Michigan and has a really great selection of unique stones! I imagine she spends a lot of fun hours poring over small sections of beach searching for the very best rocks. She says “These stones are polished by the waves and sand over many years.”
Stone Buttons by madeforfun – Now this is not what I bought from her, but it’s what I’m trying to decide what I’d use them with! I mean, STONE BUTTONS?! What a genius idea! She’s a friendly crafter from Florida who included an extra stone with my order, how sweet!
Last, but not least – stonestudiostoo’s naturally colored rocks! If I had known before that Idaho has such pretty stones, I might have moved there!! All of her stones are rare natural colors and I just want to buy them all and empty Idaho of it’s rocks! She’s a talented crafter with a really good eye for rocks and great customer service. Handmade doesn’t get any better than this.
Now that I’ve convinced you how fulfilling it is to buy handmade, let me leave you with a word of caution: Once you start, you won’t want to buy anything else! A big round of applause and kudos to all the wonderful handmade sellers I’ve been fortunate enough to buy from this year, I hope you all see continued success and thank you for enriching my life.
Juli says
What a great post! Thank you so much for including the felted handbag. I am glad to know that you are happy with it.
I also love buying handmade and find that since I started selling on Etsy, I end up buying more too since I am always checking in. I just recently started buying handmade clothes and it is so fulfilling to have something well made and unique and not from a chain! Love the Treehouse28 shop and now have an eye on a top there.
Thanks again! Also glad to know of your blog, I'll be checking back! π
Tyler says
Wow, this was a great post. As an Etsy shop owner, I appreciate you supporting handmade artisans.
http://tylerhandmade.blogspot.com
Linda says
I know exactly what you mean – once you're hooked you rather buy handmade and unique (or in small collections) than off the hook in some big store! My closet is filling with wonderful dresses from around the world (yes, there might be a little weakness there… ;-)) – and I have some beautiful pieces of jewelry and bags and…
I would guess that I spend more than 5% of what I make on other artisan's products – actually I'm rather looking on etsy nowadays than go and buy on highstreet.
And one of the big advantages of "my product": there are a lot of artisans falling in love with my paper yarns, paper twines and paper yarn jewelry – so quite often they are more than happy to swap!
What a great way to live…
Have a wonderful weekend
Linda / PaperPhine
http://www.etsy.com/shop/paperphine
Jenny says
Juli – Thanks! I'm glad you like my post π I get SO many compliments on your bag!! It's just fabulous π Handmade clothes are the best, especially when they make it just the color I want and in my exact measurements! (read more about our Ancient Desire to Customize in a previous post: http://jennyhoople.blogspot.com/2010/12/desire-to-customize.html )
Linda – Yes yes, I know what you mean! I find it hard to stick to 5% of my profits on handmade, but I try to be firm. We need all the rest of that money for retirement funds, food, building a house in Mexico. It's all a part of the Big Plan. As a rule I try not to buy too many presents for myself, so spending this 5% was like 5 Christmases all rolled into one! It's a win-win situation: I get to support my fellow handmade artisans AND I get more cute stuff for me. I'll graduate to also buying cute stuff for others as my income increases π
Silverlight says
I second the comments about the joys of handmade clothing! I've found that, having tried handmade clothing, I don't want to wear anything else. Products that are handmade by craftspeople have so much more *character* than the mass-produced stuff! And there's nothing like that feeling of wearing or using something that was made by a person with a real personality and real talents β not a machine, not a slave labourer, but a craftsperson who was paid for their work.
As I'm sure most of the artisans who sell online wail to themselves and each other: if I had more money, Etsy (and ArtFire, Zibbet, DaWanda, etc.) would be half empty!