In our world of industry and mass production. When factories produce hundred of the same thing faster than a single maker ever could, I find value in the individual and the individual effort.
By sitting down and making a necklace or bracelet I get to use my hands to make a beautiful item. That item will have a bit of my soul in it. It will have a bit of my time in it. I will have made it without machines or cheap labor. I have pride in my work and what I make.
There is the big difference, I think, between a maker and a manufacturer. The maker can be identified as a person who actually made an item. If you buy an item from a maker, you know who made it, where it came from and that it has not contributed to certain terrible realities such as cheap foreign labor and traveling long distances to get to you and all the pollution that goes with that. You know your item was made with someone's two hands and that their skill and pride in their craft will make it come alive and feel warm in your hand. You know that you are buying from and supporting a person and not a corporation. A person who had an idea, it could be an artistic idea or a practical idea, and they made it a reality and share it on a smaller level.
When you are a maker you are the person who creates, makes, and sells your product. The product is you and there is no one else who you have to please except the person buying your products. This makes things so much simpler and easier if you are interested in the way the item was made, what it took to make it, who made it and why.
Here and CiaoFolchi we sell items from makers and not manufactures. We value the individual crafts person and artist and support the American maker. When you buy from us you can know you are supporting them too.
 |
| My beading mat |
