| There are specific reasons why I love fair trade gifts. | | | | for my granddad, a harbour scene or something more |
| The most obvious reason is that it is ethical. I have | | | | masculine. |
| peace of mind knowing a fair wage has been | | | | I feel the same applies when I select ethical gifts. I |
| exchanged. Sweat shops simply do not exist in the | | | | have a friend who has a fixation with giraffes. |
| world of fair trade production purely because families | | | | Amongst the realm of giftware, there are many kinds |
| and communities constitute the 'workforce'. | | | | of items available for me to choose from. Some |
| Interestingly, these families and communities tend to | | | | examples would be giraffe money boxes, pencils with |
| specialise in a certain craft technique such as | | | | a carved giraffe, wooden giraffes and giraffes made |
| embroidery or jewellery making for example. Or they | | | | from recycled tin! |
| may focus on working with a specific kind of material | | | | It is this diverse range that illustrates another reason |
| like wood, bamboo, shell, silver or tin. | | | | why I love fair trade. There are just so many items |
| The reason for this characteristic of these specialised | | | | available it is a shopper's paradise. Another friend is a |
| skills could be explained by traditional crafts being | | | | textile designer and so its easy to find a fair trade gift |
| retained by families and communities that are passed | | | | for her like an embroidered wall hanging made from a |
| down through each generation. A good example of | | | | patchwork of recycled silk array of materials with an |
| this is the art of Zardozi, Aari and Kantha embroidery | | | | eastern twist. I actually bought her a lovely hand made |
| techniques still used in India today. Here, artisans apply | | | | bag in brown suede embroidered with flowers on the |
| traditional skills for fair trade homeware such as | | | | front panel and embellished with sequins. It was |
| cushions, throws and embellished bags or scarves. | | | | beautifully made and had a jewel green lining and |
| It is this very skill and craftsmanship that is another | | | | pocket. The bag was very affordable and suited her |
| reason why I love fair trade. Since everything is made | | | | personality perfectly. She loved it and so did I! |
| carefully by hand, it is in its own right, a work of art. | | | | Talking of bags, there is a wide selection of soft |
| Since I have always appreciated the skill and beauty | | | | leather handbags too. I would like to put one on my |
| of handmade gifts, discovering fair trade opened a | | | | Christmas list because I think the design and |
| whole new world. To me giving these items as gifts | | | | craftsmanship is exceptional. |
| appeals to me very much. I feel it is like when you buy | | | | So not only is fair trade ethical, but I also love the idea |
| a card for someone you buy it with the character of | | | | that everything is handmade making each product |
| the person in mind, but also to an extent, it reflects | | | | exclusive. Furthermore, producers are constantly |
| your own personality too. For example, I tend to buy | | | | modifying their designs so as to retain the appeal and |
| cards that have an element of artiness about them like | | | | keep the range refreshingly gorgeous. |
| a watercolour illustration or some kind of creative | | | | I genuinely believe fair trade gifts have so much more |
| montage element to them. The theme of the card | | | | character and appeal purely because of the |
| tends to depend on who it is for and their likes and | | | | fascinating people that make them. For this reason, I |
| dislikes. So, for my grandma I may select flowers or | | | | would always choose fair trade. |