Buying Handmade

Was reviewing the tongue in cheek resolutions as written by Maad, and thought of re-visiting the buy handmade pledge. If you have not already heard, there is a ‘revolution’ of sorts, a pledge rather, to buy handmade. It has been floating around for quite a few months already but I figured that there is no harm in highlighting it again.

As taken from the website,

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.

The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.

Buying handmade is better for people.

The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.

Buying handmade is better for the environment.

The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.

Sparkle Thots retails only handmade items. What it means is that I hand assemble each item with love and care. Unfortunately, being human, I err and sometimes the items do not last as long as you or I like them to. If that does happen, please contact me and we can work something out.

When we talk about buying handmade, we look for something unique. So the items are not mass produced and you are most likely not going to see someone accessorised the same way. We also think individually made. So well, the economies of scales does not really come to play.

In a nutshell, when you buy handmade at Sparkle Thots… expect uniqueness, expect designs with a feminine flair, expect quality, expect your particular piece to have been handmade with love over a period of time. Expect something you would love.

But also, do give us room to err.