Creative Women

It was hot ...

I just spent a week in Senegal; my emails home were short ... "it's hot, very interesting, too tired to write, more later".  I never got to write the "more later", so here's a short version of it.

• I saw the sun set over the Atlantic; here in the US the sun rises over the Atlantic, so having a beer on the deck of a bar, in Saly, Senegal while the sun setting, was a "must".  So was swimming in the Atlantic, no waves, warm water ... I knew I wasn't floating at Fire Island or in Maine.

• The desert ... the trip from the ocean to the desert, was just a two hour trip.  We traveled to Ndem, about a 3 hour trip from Dakar, but light years away.  The rainy season had just ended so, although everywhere we walked, we walked on sand, there were still signs of green vegetation and flowers.  

  
 Ndem ... an area of small villages that have been hit by draught, desertification, people leaving for the city.  Also the home of Ong Ndem, a non-governmental community of Senegalese and Westerners who are bringing water, farming, schools, health centers back to the Ndem area. And, they are bringing jobs  ... through their artisan projects (one of their job creation projects).  And that's why I was there, to see their lovely textile products.

Thanks to Aid to Artisans, a US based non-profit that works with artisans around the world, Ong NDem has created new products that they are eager to export to the US.  I was there to see if any of these products will work with the Creative Women lines and appeal to our customers.  It was a long and hot journey, but looking back, wow, I did find some products. I also have some amazing photos, and I met fascinating people who are spanning cultures, creating jobs, and resisting some of the pressures of a changing ecological climate.  

Take a look at a few of the images I keep in my mind:

NGO Staff and ATA Designer

Product Development

 

 

Creative Women Loves Stripes (or at least I do) ...

Couldn't resist ... I now own the book, The Devil's Cloth; The History of Stripes.  It's short; that's good.  The beginning section is a bit more serious than I need it to be, but the sections dealing with more recent history really make the connections between stripes and feeling good. Once stripes stopped being associated with monks, prisoners, prostitutes, jugglers, and the French navy, Picasso, Coco Chanel, and others, began dressing in striped shirts, it was just a short jump to associating the stripes with the sea, then the beach, then the sun and feeling goood.  Why wouldn't Creative Women use stripes in our products?

I've been going through some of my photos looking for stripes, here, in the my travels, on kids,adding pizazz to decor, and just making people feel good. Take a look ...

Colorful Stripes in Ethiopia

 


Hand-knit striped hats, on the side of the road, Dorze, Ethiopia.

Fat babies like stripes.

 
Les Nubians (carrying a Creative Women bag) like stripes.

Tying the warp and making the stripes, in Ethiopia.

 

Some people can't get enough stripes ...

Well, maybe these aren't strictly stripes, but couldn't resist showing you these plastic manikins seen in shops all around Addis.

Ellen

Creative women at the NYIGF, terrific experience

Just back from the NYIGF (well I took a few days off in NY to see family and move at my own pace, rather than the show's pace).  Definitely our best show ... great location, good customers who I really enjoy seeing, and a chance to see the friends we've developed among the other exhibitors over the years. 

I used to be so nervous before each show.  Now I'm a bit more confident that our booth will hold its own among all the others in the Hand-made section.  And the press seemed to agree ... HandEye,an exciting and elegant on-line and print magazine featured us during the show.  And otto included Creative Women on their site during the show, with a close up of our booth.  Good press is priceless!

In photos, our booth seems to look like a collection of unrelated textiles, rather than the story I try to create.  But people ooh and aaahed; I'm happy.  Take a look at our site, if this photo doesn't move you.

 

Nice to be back in Vermont,

Ellen

Great Day ...

This morning on my walk, I was thinking about how I now need to create a Hassle List on our white board.  I believe that if I don't stay on top of my hassles (become the "squeaky wheel") than those hassles will never be resolved ... or at least not in my favor. 

On the way to work, I checked my IPhone and found out that the bank in Mali, which had been sitting on my $1600.00 wire for 6 weeks and not depositing it in the account of Cooperative Djiguiyaso, my supplier in Mali, finally was convinced the money belonged to Dyigui, not the bank.  Hassle #1 ... settled.

Then, at work, I got an email from my broker at UPS, forwarding Customs and Border Protection's ruling that I had complied with their requests and they would not be charging my duty on my current shipment from Ethiopia.  Of course, under AGOA they were not supposed to charge me duty, but they had the right to ask me certain questions: they did, I replied.  After more than a bit of wrangling, they agreed with me.  Hassle #2 ... settled.

It's a beautiful day in Vermont, we're almost ready for the New York International Gift Fair (BOOTH 6308); things are looking good.

Come meet us in NY ... see the wonderful accessories our colleagues make for us.  It's one of those days when things go right.

Ellen 

It's either too hot or too cold ...

Am I the only one who thinks it's amazing that the temperature in Grand Isle, VT (and Burlington, VT where Creative Women is located) is hotter than the temperature in Bamako, Mali or Addis Ababa, Ethiopia?  Next time I travel to either of these places to work with the women who produce Creative Women's textiles,I'm not going to bring them all my winter photos of Lake Champlain frozen.  (Yes, you really can drive your truck on the ice.) I'm going to bring them photos of Vermont at 97 degrees ... that's amazing!

Wedding Dilemma

A friend of mine is getting married in (she's a bit panicked to realize this) exactly 16 days. My panic is slightly less than hers, seeing that I don't have to organize anything about it except arriving in plenty of time to enjoy the ceremony. But I have been fighting a gnawing sense of Oh-Help-What-the-Heck-Do-I-Give-Her.

This friend is someone who's had a rough time the last few years, so it's especially wonderful for those of us who care about her to have such a happy occasion to celebrate with he. We've all been looking for ways to help her feel extra special: I've been fumbling for weeks to come up with just the right gift.

My ah-ha (or, in this case, Duh!) moment came when a customer of ours offered to share pictures of her wedding, for which she had bought one of our gorgeous hand-woven silk Cocoon Shawls: she wore the shawl during an evening beach campfire after the ceremony. You can see in the picture how happy and special she's feeling (okay, no doubt most of that is because of the occasion, but I have to think that wrapping a lovely hand-woven silk shawl around yourself can only add to the feeling).  

I can't think of a better way for my friend to wind up her day (which, in the Green Mountains, is likely to turn chilly) than wrapped in something this soft and luxurious. Excellent! Gift question answered.

And since it may chilly evenings, maybe I should nab one of our cotton Netela scarves to wear myself.... hmmm....

Amy

photo by Marie Clark, www.mclarkphotography.com

Another Creative Woman

I want to tell you about another Creative Women ... this time someone in the US, rather than one of the interesting women I work with abroad.  Cathy Frank, a long-time friend, co-worker at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England, and computer guru, gets kudos for putting our website together.  Now she, and her good friend, Margie Holden, have just completed and had published their first book, A Kayakers Guide to Lake Champlain; Exploring the New York, Vermont and Quebec Shore.

You don't have to be a kayaker, or even live on Lake Champlain (which I do) to enjoy this little gem.  Lots of history about our part of the world, lots of photos of Cathy and Margie kayaking.  And they did paddle ... the entire 125 miles of the lake, plus they found many coves and islands to explore.  They celebrate their love of paddling, history, natural beauty, the everyday noises of birds, kids, boats, lawn mowers, and appreciation of each other in this book. 

And I celebrate these two Creative Women ... another example of women doing the unexpected. 

 

(I'll be highlighting more of the interesting and Creative Women that I meet and work with around the world.  What a fringe benefit of owning this business.)