Gifts With Humanity

Top 10 Accessories to Start a Discussion about the Environment

globalcrafts — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 18:38:11 +0000

Telephone Wire Bangles

We have just completed this guide to 10 eco-chic products, the guide is both serious and fun. We hope that you will enjoy our picks, look great in them and more importantly feel confident talking about Fair trade and the environment.

It can be downloaded here

With the rise of markets such as China, comes shortages of basic raw materials. At the same time the environment is under pressure causing both draughts and floods. These and other factors have lead to significant increases in basic costs, from food, to raw materials and energy.

Artisans find it harder than ever to make a sustainable income, yet the consumer markets of the west are in recession and retail price points struggle to with stand price increases. We believe that some help can be found through recycling of trash in to products. This achieves several results, it reduces the demand on raw materials, reduces the artisans costs and helps support positive environmental clean up.

In addition theses products are a great fit with current eco–chic trends in the United States. This guide features our favorite ten fashion accessories, that are recycled for this spring.

Support Your Community By Shopping

globalcrafts — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 14:47:14 +0000

SUPPORT YOUR COMMUNITY BY SHOPPING Gifts With Humanity launches March 1st 2011 with a new look and local community connection. Every purchase will support a US-based Good Cause in addition to the Fair Trade mission of selling handmade products from Artisans in 20 countries.
With every purchase made, Gifts With Humanity will donate 10% of the order total to a US-based Good Cause of our customers’ choosing. We are calling on our customers to nominate local good causes such as PTAs , mission trips, and food banks. We hope to be distributing checks to hundreds if not thousands of small local charities.

Why? Over the last 8 years the sites founders Kevin Ward and Renice Jones have developed a successful Fair Trade business (Global Fair Trade Crafts inc) that last year achieved sales of $1.75 million. The business was featured on CNN Business last year as a small business that achieved $1 million in sales. Having witnessed 3 years of economic strife in the USA, Kevin and Renice decided that now is the time to give back to local causes. The America of 2011, is an America where food banks are essential, where PTAs provide essential support for schools and other charities are critical to rebuilding communities.

Having demonstrated through Fair Trade that a small business can be both ethical and successful, we are excited to be adding a local component. The time seems right both for us as a business and within the context of non profits struggling all over the US to engage with local communities. We know we can never be part of the Buy Local movement, we believe we compliment it by supporting local communities.

One thing we are really looking forward to is the social nature of connecting with local causes, finding out about our customers’ good causes and connecting through social media. We hope, what has been essentially an online business, will make strong connections to small communities all over America.

Initially the site will launch with a few, mainly national causes. We are looking forward to hearing from our customers and learning about what matters to them.

Please distribute freely – for more info contact:
Contact: Kevin Ward
Gifts With Humanity
Ph. 1.866.468.3438
Fax. 1.866.229.3976
office@globalcrafts.org
GiftsWithHumanity.com

Sneak Preview of Site Redesign

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 22:14:56 +0000

This is an early draft of our site redesign for GiftsWithHumanity.com. Among other things you may notice is that we intend to make the Good Cause Program an integral part of who we are. When we relaunch every purchase will directly benefit a US based good cause.

Let us know about your good cause, we will give $250 to one good cause when we hit 1000 facebook fans and you will be in at the launch of our ongoing Good Cause Program.

Fair Trade Handicrafts face increase in Duty !

globalcrafts — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 17:40:48 +0000

Fair Trade Handicrafts face increase in duty, due to a lack of action by congress.

On January 1st 2011 the GSP Duty Free provisions to assist the poorest countries through trade expired. In the last few days of the last congress, an extension was approved by the House but rejected by the Senate, due to the objections of a few Republican senators.

GSP is both a tool to fight poverty overseas and it’s good for business here, if ever political consensus should be possible, this is it.

In the coming week’s congress will need to revisit this. For the sake of artisans worldwide who are working to lift themselves out of poverty and US businesses that need this duty free importing to survive, please encourage your representatives to support the duty free status of handmade items from the poorest nations.

New Year Resolutions – Supporting Your Causes

admin — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 19:53:24 +0000

Every New Year it is a long held tradition to make some changes, whether it’s losing some weight or quitting a bad habit. Our New Year Resolution for 2011 is to help local US communities in addition to communities worldwide. We hope to develop a few initiatives to support this New Year resolution; today we will make a small start. As our Facebook Fan community count closes in on 1000, we have decided how to celebrate this milestone. When we reach 1000 fans we will donate $250 to one of our fans’ favorite causes. It could be a mission trip, a school fundraiser, a national charity or almost any other non-profit you can think of.

So nominate your favorite — nomination information is below. As soon as we reach 1000 fans, we will ask you which of the nominated charities should receive the $250. You may want to get your friends hyped up and ready to vote …

How to Nominate a Good Cause

Nominations can be submitted by email to office|at|globalcrafts.org – please include :

Your Name. The donation will be sent on your behalf if your charity wins
Name & Email address of primary contact at the good cause
Address we should send the donation to if you win
A short description of the good cause
If possible a logo or small image for the good cause we can use in the poll – please ensure that the good cause administrator gives permission for us to use the logo.

Key Dates

Nominations close once we hit 1000 fans.
Poll will take place within 2 weeks of the close of nominations and last 2 weeks
The winner will receive the check within 2 weeks of the close of the poll

Terms of the Event

There is no cost to participate in this competition.
Recommended causes must be located in the United States and must have a legal non-profit status.
No causes that promote any form of hate, violence, harm to others will be considered.
Gifts With Humanity reserves the sole right to deem any nomination unsuitable and or remove it at any stage of the event.
Nominations will be confirmed as received by email. If for any reason you do not receive a reply please resubmit after 48 hours.

And the Winner Is……

admin — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 20:58:25 +0000

Congratulations to Dawn for winning first prize with 208 votes. Her piece was titled The Gardian.

Congratulations to Nikki for winning second prize with 161 votes. Her piece was titled Paper Mache Giraffe.

To see all the entries visit our Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/GiftsWithHumanity.

My Land of Treasures by C. A. Ferrara

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 21:03:37 +0000

I’ve dreamt of a place similar to this… When someone would say, “just go to the quiet place, in your mind” ~ this is similar to where I’d be. My granddaughter & I love butterflies & fairies, so they were always there. The plants in my yard are Florida plants meant to attract butterflies. Almost everything in this piece is recycled; much of it from my yard [or someone else's] that would have been thrown – such as the fairy that was bleached out & broken. The wood is all saved pieces from my trees that were unique. The base, rocks, hills are all paper mache’ made from the rolls of paper sent us. You’ll see in my backup photos how I taught my grandchildren to make paper mache rocks & to utilize otherwise discarded items; such as the packing popcorn in the base and to form some of the rocks & hills out of mache’. The water feature towards the back is not very visible in this photo, but is made with broken pieces of colored glass left over from a mosaic project. It displays a fish tail after the fish has just jumped into the water, making the splash over the banks of the shoreline [the fish's tail broke off a plaster pond fish I had]. The flowers are all from my yard; that I dried, over the last month. Even several of the butterflies are made from those dried flowers. ENJOY!

The Guardian by Dawn

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:09:51 +0000

The piece I have created for Gifts With Humanity is made using a recycled cardboard pylon (used in advertising at grocery stores, primarily), enamel paint and label paper.

The concept is based on Gifts With Humanity itself. The angel represents the message and doctrine behind GWH, the birds represent freedom and giving. The base is painted with my bird chandelier series, which conveys the idea of light, freedom and gracious living.

- Dawn

The Guardian

The Guardian Side

Back of The Guardian

Label Container by Laura

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:05:35 +0000

From Southern California, Laura enjoys working with textile art. She likes the intricacy and detail that can be created with a familiar common object such as cloth.

The project that I have created is a functional hand woven basket.
Title – Label Container
Measurements - 18″ x 24″ x 18″
Materials - label paper
Technique - twining
Laura

Label Container

Label Container 02

Pallet of Parrots by Leah

admin — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 06:04:52 +0000

My process for creating “Pallet of Parrots” -
I did a simple sketch in my sketchbook. I prepped a wooden paint pallet with clear gesso and then drew my sketch on the pallet.

Then I cut and taped strips of the label paper to a foam core sheet to keep them still and painted them the colors I wanted to use for my collage. I tried to incorporate different textures, brush strokes and color blends to make each paper fragment interesting. Then beginning with the background I tore and glued bits of paper to the pallet to create the design.

- Leah

Pallet of Parrots

Creation of Pallet of Parrots