{hand}making change: great pairings for a great cause!

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well xanadu!

2 of my handmaking faves are collaborating on something extra special & i thought you nicies might just love it!

eco superstars eco karen & herban lifestyle have teamed up to bring us HERBAN CRAFTS: crafting DIY kits to provide us with everything we need to make our own yummy organic bath and body products. organic herbal soap kits. organic sugar body scrub kits. 

organic lavender fizzing bath salts kits.

wow! wouldn't the kit make a wonderful gift for pretty much ANYONE on your giving lists? 

and to add to the fabulousness: listen to this: "Herban Crafts is a social enterprise – revenue from our sales will support job skills training for unemployed women." The project helps the very same unemployed women who prepare & package the kits!

isn't that fabulous?  support their crowd funding campaign at StartSomeGood from June 1 - June 30, 2012. 

eco friendly + beautiful + DIY + 2 of the niciest nicies around = one of my favourite things, indeed! yay craftivism!

herban crafts

shop | crafting a better world | flickr | facebook | twitter

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herban lifestyle

shop | twitter | facebook | blog

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eco karen

blog |  twitter | facebook 

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have a gorgeous weekend, superstars!

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{hand}making change: helping japan

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gosh. what is there we can say to help with the emmense tragedy of the events in japan this past week?!

very little i'm thinking.

but i do think there are things we can DO to HELP, in our own ways.

handmaking for the cause is one of them. 

supporting handmaking causes donating to relief efforts is another.

kudos to the many great handmakers who have rushed to the helping effort, donating monies (in part or in whole) from handmade items to support various causes assisting the relief efforts in japan. 

please ADD links below to items you have made, 

or that OTHERS have made,  

where a portion of the sale is going toward 

Japan relief efforts.

i will also tweet as many of the entries as i can to help spread the word.

and if you can, please visit the following shops and help support {hand}making change efforts in our wonderful worldwide community!

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{hand} making change: the D.A.D. project

like many lovelies out there, i'm greatly inspired by folks that create change for the better in the world. gosh.... folks do this in so many wonderful ways. in this rikrak studio series, we'll be meeting wonderful lovelies who are creating a better world with their handicraft. thanks for inspiring good in the world, each and every one of you. today, here's the next {hand} making change feature: the D.A.D. project!

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what do you do when difficult times come your way?

two wonderful artists & sisters, emily chen & serena chen, chose to turn a challenging health prognosis into a healthy action: the D.A.D. (drawing a day) project!

emily & serena write: "This project is a tribute to our father, who has been battling stage 4 colon cancer since May 2009. We are taking turns, creating a drawing every day, and donating $10 from the sale of each print... to the Canadian Cancer Society, the largest national charitable funder of cancer research in Canada."

so wonderful!
i was so moved to read how one of the most difficult things about their father's situation are their own feelings of helplessness. gosh - that can be such an obstacle in life, can't it!?

i think it's such a brilliant, positive, hands-on way to turn that helplessness into a way to help! love it!

i've been so lucky to get to know emily a bit over fun tea parties {we found out we lived on the same street in ottawa after tweeting and etsy foruming last year!} and i'm such a grand grand fan of everything mchen. she's an amazing, kind, generous, loving creative powerhouse and i hope you'll visit her latest project!

--> artists: you can also donate your own artwork to help raise funds! just contact serena & emily!

the D.A.D. project
shop | twitter | blog

serena chen
shop | twitter | blog

emily chen
shop | twitter | facebook | blog

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have a great *{hand} making change * group,
shop or project that i should feature?

let me know!

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have you ever focused on your art
to help you thru a difficult time?
to create change?

tell us! i'd love to hear!

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handmaking change: what are you doing for earth hour?

flying lanterns, sheng-fa lin's photostream

okay creative handmakers!
it's global earth hour on saturday march 27th @ 8:30 pm.
are you in?


the premise is, for me, super & simple: wherever we live, let's all turn off our lights for one hour to show our support against climate change.

this year over 120 countries will officially participate. and while we all know EVERY hour is a good hour to help the earth, i think the power of all at once working together on change is a great idea! check out the earth hour site for listings of great things going on in your part of the world & great ideas for earth hour, and follow the official tweets here.

last year i asked what you wonderful nicies did/planned to do for earth hour.
the responses were fantastic!

so let's share again!
participating in earth hour? HOW?
having a candlelit party with family?
attending a vigil with folks in your town or city?
taking a chance to enjoy the light-free quiet?

let's show the world what HANDMAKERS can do for change!
tell me here and on monday i'll feature as many of you as i can!

and take a picture during earth hour if you can! and add the links here!
i'll try to include them, too!

and just to get you inspired.... i thought all of you crafty superstars out there would LOVE this fun earth hour ad... yay to repurposing and handmaking!} THAT SONG's kept me dancing for weeks now! love it!



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{hand}making change: for Haiti

like many lovelies out there, i'm greatly inspired by folks that create change for the better in the world. gosh.... folks do this in so many wonderful ways. in this rikrak studio series, we'll be meeting wonderful lovelies who are creating a better world with their handicraft. thanks for inspiring good in the world, each and every one of you.today, here's the next {hand)making change feature: hearts for haiti + craft hope for haiti

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beautiful donations in the hearts for haiti shop from:
caelum , malam, kriya
twinkleofmyeye, quotesandnotes
south street , uncorked

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folks rising to the occasion of helping however they can has been one of the uplifting stories amid the horrors of the recent Haiti earthquake tragedies. folks pulling together to help one another, people around the world volunteering their time and money and active hope for relief; these are things that bring me hope. when many hands come together to help each other out, i'm so inspired!

i was so encouraged to see the 1000s of handmakers who quickly offered portions of their shop sales as donations toward relief efforts. where our feature arises today is in the projects of 2 amazing groups of handmakers that instantly felt the call to help. two etsy shops sprung up following the quake, accepting donations from handmakers, craft suppliers, and vintage etsy shops, to raise monies for doctors without boarders: hearts for haiti and craft hope for haiti.

kudos to the tireless volunteer efforts behind making these 2 shops (and i know there are so many others like them!) such an amazing, honestly: jaw-dropping! success almost overnight! at publication time, together they had already raised OVER $44,000.00!
OH MY HEAVENS!
that's the great power of handmaking change, nicies!

that kind of grassroots organizing, handMAKING real change, really thrills me!

so be sure to visit these fabulous shops and show your support with purchases, spreading the word, donations, etc!


know of some amazing craftivists (like these folks!) who are handmaking change? show them your appreciation by nominating them for event #5 in the handmade olympics: our favourite nicies forwarding kindness thru handmaking! they make change!

as the hearts for haiti shop so wisely states in their shop announcement: "We can make a difference, together."

indeed.

are you donating proceeds of your work to Haiti relief? please leave us a comment with the link to your items below so we can all visit & i'll try to TWEET them all on twitter today (include your twitter address if you like, too!) !! thanks!

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beautiful donations in the Craft Hope shop from:
wee gallery, iluvsugar ,
bolsabonita, abbytrysagain
amanda may, LaLaShoes, sarahrubens

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{hand}making change : the scribble group

like many lovelies out there, i'm greatly inspired by folks that create change for the better in the world. gosh.... folks do this in so many wonderful ways. in this new rikrak studio series, we'll be meeting wonderful lovelies who are creating a better world with their handicraft. thanks for inspiring good in the world, each and every one of you. today, here's the first {hand)making change feature.

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there is a group of wonderful handcrafters i know who meet on a daily basis to to share stories, encourage one another, share their art and cheer each other on over virtual coffee. that's a wonderful thing in itself!

the wonderful souls who are part of the canadian buy n' sell party on etsy are a warm and welcoming group, and whenever i pop in, i'm always cheered by their friendly welcomes and kind words. a few months ago, these lovelies decided to take on a group art project where "the concept is to practise the art of being creative while letting go of preconceived thoughts and barriers of what art 'should' look like. Art for arts’ sake." it was the brainchild of member Emmarts, and folks loved the idea!

papers of your choice were passed between 3 members of the group all across Canada, and as each member added their own beautiful touches, both fabulous mixed-media art & a gorgeous idea was born. now The Scribble Group on etsy is a wonderful little shop where you can buy the artworks made by these lovely souls, and all of the proceeds from sales in the shop go toward supporting a wonderful charity.

currently, the Group donates all of it's monies toward 'Use words, not guns' a "project that originated through a city wide task force on guns and gangs violence intervention and prevention." Scribble Group member StuffbySteph is a vital part of the "Use words, not guns" mandate, and she writes: "The winter months are upon us and the needs (of the task force) are high. I am beyond thrilled to be a part of the Scribble Group's 'love and heart of scribbling.'

it's wonderful to see handmaking artists not only expanding the parameters of art, but making change, thru their art, in such meaningful ways. so be sure to visit The Scribble Group shop, peruse the gorgeous gallery of their works, and know that your art purchase will go toward using words, not guns. inspiring work, nicies!

have an inspiring story to share about {hand}making change in your own world? please let me know! i'm always looking for new folks who have a story of change to share! thanks!

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