Flower Earrings Made From Fish Scales

This weekend my friend V and I went to a chocolate lovers festival in Fairfax, Va. Aside from consuming a chocolate chip pancake breakfast and loads of little confection samples, we also browsed some local vendors displaying good. Above is a pair of earrings I bought my sister -- made of dried and painted fish scales. (So cool, right?)

The full display was so beautiful, it was hard to make a decision which to pick!




She's coming home to New York later this week after two months studying in Spain. I'm not sure when I'll give them to her, since I'm in D.C. anyway...I think she'll really like them, not only because they look pretty but because they are also somewhat extraordinary, at least from what I've seen.

Everything Old is New

Hey hey....Once again, sorry I'm so behind. As soon as the wedding passed and I was getting better from the virus, my throat became very sore. After frustrating few days of throat decline exacerbated by having to smooth out issues with my new health care plan (oops, never picked a primary-care doc so no one would see me or accept my insurance!) I finally got things worked out and my throat checked out. (Note: I hate throat cultures. Sigh.) My tonsils and the glands under my neck are more swollen than I've ever seen them. I looked so bad my boss sent me home from work. Restful sleep has been almost impossible to achieve. And on top of it all, I'm writing this month's cover story for my job. Awesome timing to be hit by everything, right? :)

Thankfully I had some good emotional support (even though I'd just left my mom's home to go back to work and the group house where I'm currently living)...and a hot plate in my bedroom so I can make tea whenever I want. I just started taking antibiotics four times a day for a week, plus ibuprofen for the pain and I feel like I'm getting better. I also got very lucky to come across a very nice medical practice and am going back Friday to have my throat reexamined. And my story seems to be going okay at work, so it's all good. (Done whining.)

Anyway, a very relaxing activity while I've been sick is crocheting. For those of you who aren't super familiar, knitting is done with two needles, whereas crocheting is done with only one hook. I've been shown how to knit but I don't do it on my own. Maybe one day. With crocheting, though I've worked on fancier things like doll t-shirts, hats and blankets, I like to fall back on the classic scarf. I promised a friend of mine I'd make her a teal one, so when I can't sleep, that's what I've been working on.

Once you pick it up, crocheting can be relatively easy and a real stress reliever. It helps me clear my mind and focus on one thing. Plus, it's nice to see the fruits of your labor at the end.

I originally started this project using the dark teal and white yarn, and crocheted about a foot worth of the scarf but took it out because I didn't like it. That was a few hours worth of work, in and of itself. But if the project didn't look right there was no sense in finishing it. This scarf though looks nice in person and I'm excited to finish it up and give it to my friend. Hopefully by the time I get to the end I'll be all better too. :)

Handicraft Stores Make a World of Difference

Last month I wrote a story about volunteering at Ten Thousand Villages, a non-profit organization with stores that sell fair trade and eco-friendly items from around the world. Plenty of reasonably priced goods are available -- pretty onyx candle holders from Pakistan for $12, Vietnamese paperweights made of hand-lacquered stone (40 days to make) for $7, etc. There are higher-priced items too -- like $300 quilts and copper bowls, $70 necklaces, -- but to me, those price tags seems comparable to what you'd pay for these goods in any other store, except here you know where the items are coming from and that the workers are really benefiting.

This is a slightly abridged version of the article:

Handicraft Stores Make a World of Difference
From the outside, Ten Thousand Vil­lages looks like any other store along the cozy streets of Rockville Town Square. Stepping inside, however, reveals a vibrant web of colors and stories from faraway lands told through handmade crafts.Unique tableware, home décor, station­ary, linens and jewelry are just some of the products you’ll find nestled on the shop’s over-brimming displays.

But Ten Thousand Villages is more than just a chain of stores. It’s a nonprofit or­ganization devoted to providing a livable and dependable source of income to the underprivileged artists who hand-make its products in developing nations — a con­cept known as “fair trade.”

From humble beginnings out of founder Edna Ruth Byler’s car trunk six decades ago, it’s developed into one of North Amer­ica’s largest fair trade organizations, with more than 80 stores nationwide and part­nerships with dozens of artisan groups in more than 30 countries.

Volunteers staff stores
To reduce overhead costs and keep products affordably priced, the organiza­tion uses a significant number of volun­teers to supplement the small number of paid staff in each store.

“Working at Ten Thousand Villages is very rewarding because…no matter how tired you are, you know you’re working for someone disadvantaged, and without our store network this person might not have an income at all,” said store manager Bea Strattner, who’s been with the Rockville store since its April 2007 opening.

...

Strattner said most of her store’s volun­teers started out as customers, liked the atmosphere, and wanted to make a more significant contribution. There are many tasks for volunteers to work on, from help­ing customers up front to unpacking prod­ucts in the back.

Retired nurse Carole McWilliams, a Rockville-resident who’s volunteered at the store for several months, cited the opportu­nity to give back to the community and to promote a non-profit organization as two fac­tors that drew her to Ten Thousand Villages. Though she has plenty to do — “Retire­ment is busier than you think it is!” — she finds the experience worthwhile and would recommend it to others.

“It’s a good place to spend some time. It’s very positive,” the 71-year-old said, adding praise for her coworkers, the cus­tomers and the products.

...

Caring for the crafters
As part of its fair trade mission, Ten Thousand Villages’ business practices are designed to support economic, environ­mental and social sustainability in develop­ing countries. For example, artisans are paid about 50 percent of their wages for a product upfront, when the organization places its order, Strattner said.

This gives workers the funds to live on and create those goods. It also means their livelihood isn’t totally dependent on how a product sells.

Because it’s to everyone’s advantage that the products sell, the organization works closely with artisans to develop goods that are true to their region yet will also appeal to North American tastes.

On the environmental front, the organi­zation sells several products made from re­cycled materials. A rooster-shaped orna­ment from Columbia is made of dried or­ange peels; recycled magazines are used for coasters from a women’s cooperative in the Philippines; a choker made from soda tabs is created by disabled artists in Kenya.

Volunteers don’t need a lot of retail ex­perience to get involved. Sales associate Roberta Staat, 61, who began as a volun­teer, said she would never have seen her­self going into sales because she doesn’t like “hawking” products.

Knowing the stories behind the wares, however, gets her very excited about the merchandise. Plus, as an art teacher, she sees her work at the store as inherently tied to her career as well as her interest in social justice.

“To find a way for artists in other coun­tries to be respectable and economically independent” is a very powerful thing, she said.

That feeling is passed on to customers, who “want to be a part of the system, help­ing to support this mercantile system,” Staat added. “It’s guilt-free shopping.”

There are two local Ten Thousand Vil­lages stores in Maryland's Washington suburbs: 4959 Elm St. in Bethesda, (301) 718-3465; and at 107 Gibbs St., Unit D, at the Row at Rockville Town Square in Rockville, (301) 340-7122. There is one local store in Virginia: 915 King St. in Alexandria, (703) 684-1435. For more information online, visit www.tenthousandvillages.com.