Charm of "Handmade"

The modern era of industrial production has given us a lot of benefits. In any industry that we look around, be it textile, home furnishing, home decor; there is surplus supply of products and products. That leaves customers with a lot of options to choose from; also the massive volumes of production have rendered the prices relatively substantial. Though, the only issue which comes with such identical looking products is of "uniqueness". When it comes to gifting someone special or rather gifting someone special on a special occasion, one might find himself/herself in a difficult position. In such a situation gifting branded products seems to be the best option available. Surely, the branded products do come with an impressive price tag that gives a sense of pride to the one receiving the gift as well as to the one gifting them. Though again, it is not so difficult to differentiate a branded product from another, provided the tags/labels are still there on the product.  Branded products without their respective tags/labels all look the same. That leaves us back to the "Catch-22" situation of "gifting someone special something special". 

Moving on to "receiving a gift" from the "dilemma of gifting", I am quite sure of one thing. For me, the charm of my grand mother gifting me a stole that she knitted herself is more than possessing an original Gucci watch that colleagues at my workplace had pooled in to gift me on my last birthday. This puts me to the solution to my problem of "gifting".  "Handmade gifts" command a special place and respect for everyone. One might forget gifting or receiving anything random, but anything made special with hands is worth remembering forever. The "uniqueness" associated with every product made "handmade" is that special branding that bonds people together. 

The lure of a craft is something that never goes out of fashion. There are many options to procure handmade items if you cannot make one yourself. The good part is that the handmade craftsmen can customize products as per your requirements, or as per the likes and dislikes of the beloved you wish to gift handmade. So, if your friend is very fond of "Vintage", you can shop or get some vintage product like an etched "home decor product" crafted at many of the vintage handmade sellers. 

The next roadblock might come in your way in the form of locating shops to buy "handmade" products. The good part is that many of the "handmade selling" craftsmen have opened their shops on the World Wide Web, making it much easier for the handmade buyers and sellers to connect with each other. Also, they just do not have their own exclusive handmade labels, but also showcase their handmade crafts through sites that exclusively cater to the "handmade products" as a genre. So, now you do not need to travel to Ireland to look for something for your vintage frenzy friend; or even to some store in your city that sells such items as a fake and expensive copy. You just have to visit virtually any of the sites that cater to handmade gifts, and your life will be much easier. Only an adage to follow is to zero in on a site where you can find the sellers of handmade gifts selling directly through a handmade products selling website instead of a site buying through the sellers and then retailing the products as theirs. Interacting with the sellers directly leaves you not only with the option of customizing your products, but also you know that the products are genuinely handmade and made by genuine people. The process is similar to looking for an inconspicuous art work in an "online art gallery". 

There are many such sites that leave one with an option of creating handmade gifts by genuine craftsmen from all over the globe, of course ours is one such genuine. 

Threads do the talking

Till now it had been individuals who used our site to present their own handmade label to the World. But now it seems we have got our first designer label on the block. Firstly, it was a feeling of apprehension to get such a reputed LABEL on board. It was more jittery to know that the same label is showcasing in the ongoing Lakme Fashion week. Apart from the other concerns of linking ourselves with a designer label, it was also a concern of sticking to our philosophy of "selling things only made by hand" and only showcasing the products made my "natural products".

But have to admit, all the concerns were ripped off once the products were showcased. Each product boasts off its thread, which is organic and speaks of its close to the Earth philosophy. Each product is unique, each and every thread along with its weave narrates an intricate story.

In fact really glad to know that the philosophy of  Bhu:sattva is an extension of ours. They do not favour artificial dyes and harmful chemicals. Empowering the craftsmen and technicians is their motto, that is concurrent with ours too. Proud and delighted to be aligned with them. Wish there were more like them...

                                          This one is my favourite of the lot!!!

Vanity Updates

It really does not make much of a difference, but even a little amount of appreciation goes a long way in keeping our spirits and enthusiasm on a high. I am talking about the recent article that was in the press about us.

It was indeed a pleasure being appreciated by the local and respected DD news. It is a full page article on our business. The link is attached, do have a look.

Credits to Bhagyajit Bhuyan for covering the story. Thanks it means a lot to us.

http://www.ddinews.gov.in/Social/Aditi-+Handmadeselling.htm

Estonian Connection

The only time I had heard about Estonia was when I was working for my last employer. Estonia forms one of the 3 parts of the Baltic, which has Lithuania and Latvia as well. It was a research project on the Pet food category for the exclusive Baltic region.The second instance was when I was reading the uber-hero novel by Karan Bajaj - "Johny Gone Down". The central character in the novel had an acquaintance from Estonia. I recall there was also a sarcasm mentioned in the novel relating tot he small size and the disconnect of this country with the rest of the World. And now finally, it was our very first customer - Vilve Molder, who acquainted me to her very own Estonian world.

Estonia restored its independence from the Russian Federation in 1991; and since then it is enjoying its independent status in the Northern Europe region. Today, Estonia has the highest GDP per person of any country that used to be part of the Soviet Union. It is listed as a High-Income economy by the World Bank. But the characteristic of Estonia that has helped us the most is that Estonia has the highest level of Internet freedom in the World. It probably could be the reason for getting our very first Seller from Estonia, Vilve Molder.

Vilve as she describes to us, is passionate about handmade crafts. Well, that does not come as a surprise considering Estonia boasts of some rich craft and culture that includes native blacksmith, native textile design and traditional handicraft. The craft that Vilve involves is more on the home decor subjects. She crafts trays and artifacts out of Juniper bark. Juniper is a coniferous tree, much like the tropical pines. In Estonian/European culture, it is known for its exorcism properties, hence used to ward off the evil spirits. The dishes/trays made out of Juniper bark are in beautiful shapes and small to big sizes with medium in between. They can be used as a home decor product to beautify the living rooms. An interesting anecdote of these Juniper dishes is that they spell out an aroma when a hot dish is put on them !!

Click on the link below to check out Vilve's Profile on our site, and also her exquisite collection.
http://www.handmadeselling.com/home_treasure

The Handmade Handkerchief

The good old "Handkerchief" is what I miss many a times. I am sure making of kerchiefs must have been a very lucrative business some ages ago. Today I cannot even recall a single "handkerchief" maker. I have memories of my mother stacking unopened boxes of colourful sets of handkerchiefs in her wardrobe. The boxes used to have a transparent sheet as a cover displaying the bouquet of aligned kerchiefs in beautiful vivid colours. She used to match her outfits with a befitting colour from among the many coloured ones she had. Me and my younger sister used to entertain ourselves sensing the neatly stacked, crisp coloured set of feminine napkins. And today it is a thing of surprise to to find anyone with a "good old" handkerchief in their pockets purses. I fear how many of us could even spell the word HANDKERCHIEF correctly. It seems much like the physical handkerchief, its literal identity has also dwindled. It turned to "kerchief" and now just a small "hanky" replaces it all. The super-soft white coloured fragile paper tissue has replaced the entire era of cloth tissues. The major issue to reckon is that the paper tissues are so popular in the today's time of "Forest Conservation" and "Green Movements". Such irony you see.

Hope to see someone doing some really nice Vintage Art on handmade Handkerchiefs some day.
Please get in touch, we would love to showcase your art on our site.

Handicrafts, the way they have been

       

Over the last decade or so, handicraft pursuits have enjoyed an enormous upsurge in popularity. Traditional handicrafts, such as patchwork and quilting, tie-dying and batik, bead work and embroidery of all sorts - the origins and history of which in many cases, are lost in antiquity - have shot back into fashion, whilst new 'handicrafts' have emerged to meet the demands of contemporary living. All have been greatly enriched by the introduction of modern fabrics, colours and designs, which have done much to make handicrafts more exciting. Economy has doubtless had much to do with the current popularity. Clothes, gifts and all manner of household items, nursery and garden accessories - many examples of which will be found all around us can be made at home at a fraction of the cost of an  equivalent shop-bought item. They have the advantage that they may be made in the sort of materials wanted to achieve a chosen effect. The traditional handicrafts are present till today with some exciting and unusual ways of using them, and recently popularized rafts, such as candle and collage making, and constructing mobiles and wall hangings - now have become so much part of the usual home decor. There have come up some enchanting patterns for making economical toys and some bright knitting, crochet and rugs, to name just a few. The materials available today are also in abundance, paper of different sorts; leather, suede and felt. In terms of techniques, applique work, smocking, various embroidery stitches, paper patterns, transferring of designs to fabrics, proves the enrichment of handicrafts making. Happily, the days are gone when handicraft pursuits were pastimes only for those people who were especially talented or had lots of spare times. Nowadays, anybody can try their hand at any number of different crafts, and we are sure we will be of help at all the stages of your handicraft making pursuits. Happy Handcrafting !!

How to attract more customers

Let us admit it, we are all here to have more and more customers and make money. Money follows the sales of your products; which is in turn effect of lots of customers buying your products. Now the question that comes to our minds is, what is that leads the customers to buy our offerings??

For your little princess

Hello guys, we have come up with our latest Newsletter. The trend in this one has been on showcasing the exclusive handmade jewellery for young girls.

We at handmadeselling consider ourselves really lucky that we have such diverse artists from all over who showcase their art on our site. It is indeed a privilege for us.

Our artist Kristin Hipple specializes in crafting beads and various motifs from clay. Looking at the chocolate beads that she makes, it is difficult to believe that they are not the real ones.

Another artist from Canada, Chantal Bernier is proficient in moulding silver and metal wires, turning them into beautiful piece of jewellery.

Do check out the latest newsletter which has the links to both if their remarkable crafts.

http://p0.vresp.com/JRB7nB

Link to the Jan Newsletter

Please find the link to the Latest Newsletter

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/787663/d77e8e667e/TEST/TEST/