I've read on a forum a post by
an artisan about various reasons to buy handmade, specially with the holidays season coming up, and I thought to post them here as well.
1. Handmade products are unique. Do you really want the same scarf, mug, or other item that 20,000 other people have? Of course not! Handmade items are always unique, even if they are the same type of product because they are not made by machines they are crafted by human beings so each piece will have its’ own unique characteristics.
2. Handmade items have personality. Life is not about being blah. Life is about expressing yourself and to do that your things need to have as much personality as you do. If you are happy with buying mass produced items that have no personality off a shelf at Wal Mart or Aldi think about what that says about you. Don’t you want to express some personality?
3. Handmade items are special. When you get a gift don’t you feel a little bit more loved when someone gives you a handmade gift? Everyone loves getting handmade gifts or wearing something that was made just for them.
4. Handmade goods are high quality. If you are a person who values craftsmanship then you already know that handmade items are far superior to mass produced items. When quality matters, go handmade!
5. When you buy handmade you are supporting traditional arts and crafts that have passed down through generations. In today’s high tech world the old arts and crafts traditions are being replaced by mass production but when you buy handmade you are saying that you prefer your items to be high quality pieces of art instead of mass produced trinkets.
Keep these things in mind the next time you see a scarf, a bracelet, some great handmade soap or other item and think,” I could get that for half price at Wal Mart/Aldi.”!
Buying handmade also means that you can spend the same amount you were planning on spending, and you can get unique gifts for everyone on your list. Please, shop handmade this holiday season!
A colleague at work just bought this set from me. She told me a while ago that she wanted them when she had money, and now she went for them, yayy!
SOLD
RESERVED
I made this silver and swarovski pendant today, it looks really cool. Project taken from the very new Easywire magazine.
I just got the winter edition of the Step by Step wire magazine and it has a lot of great projects. One of them is the cluster earrings that I made this afternoon. Took me quite a while to finish, but it was fun. I'll try it out with other types and colors of stones as well, for a different look.
I love my new baby, this cute pendant I made the other day. It strongly reminds me of an African mask, due to the shape of the gorgeous 6cm long Carnelian stone. So I worked it up with silver wire and silver beads to an actual mask. In making this piece I used my newly aquired skills in making the 'beach pendant' (a few posts back), and then I've expanded upon it.
While I've been terribly flighty the last two weeks, I did manage to make some bracelets using aquamarines. I have some especially pretty blue aquamarine, both opaque and translucent, that falls into the category of gemstones that I want to use and have too. The first bracelet "At the Edge of the North Sea" features one of my favorite combinations: aquamarine and labradorite. Here I've thrown in a couple of ringers: special dichroic beads by Paula Radke and amethysts. This is on the Handmade Bracelets page.
The next two bracelets also have those lovely aquamarines; the first aquamarine bracelet has dichroic beads that look great with the blue aquamarines. The second aquamarine bracelet is for those purists who want only sterling silver with their aquamarines. Both of these are on the Aquamarine Bracelets page.
The last two bracelets are made of Swarovski crystals. The clear crystal bracelet is made from the new shaped Swarovski beads in crystal Moonlight. The last bracelet has Indigo Swarovski crystals, Karen Hill Tribes and Turkish sterling silver. Both of these are on our new page Holiday Gift Ideas.
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Today I decided to post everything I have made in the last couple of days beginning with "S" - why i hear you ask - maybe its to do with the "snakes" I have with family committments, my work and passion and the juggling I seem to be doing at the moment - I'm sure it will all settle down real soon but for the moment I feel like the plate spinners you see trying to keep everything up in the air!
I haven't mentioned it before but my "E" is revamping my website - its looking fantastic and I'm really pleased - it looks very professional as he's not involved with IT at all. I will update you all with news of it going live - of course it will be the same web address but anyone on my mailing list will probably have to re-submit their details but emails will be sent out to remind you of this!
