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| Fair Trade Resource Network |
soooo..THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU....for stopping by and reading my featured articles the past 14 days and extra special thanks to those who left comments during the Feature telling me about your experience or letting me know you were learning and sharing. Thank you for all the lovely comments and for gettting me excited. If you'll remember...14 days ago, I said, "great things could happen if Dee gets excited"..well I did and I'm about to tell you what those great things are after I share some exciting news!
Exciting Fair Trade News: Chicago became the largest Fair Trade Town in the US and the second largest in the world this month. Way to go Chicago!! Your diligence the past two years brought you great success!! If you don't know...the US is lagging behind other countries in regards to Fair Trade awareness and sales, but we have been gaining strength over the past few years and with cities like Chicago leading the way, we will soon give the UK a run for their money, as they have lead the way in record sales and awareness of Fair Trade for years.
Yeah...I had to plug that last bit of knowledge before closing things down for the year.
Drawing and Winners
Linda currently uses Kazuri Beads in her jewelry designs, which are a Fair Trade item from Kenya. Linda makes beautiful jewelry. Please visit her blog where you learn of her creative abilities..she's always busy making something.
Okay...what you've been waiting for, but not expecting until I told you right? Well, here's where I may get a little sappy, so I apologize and intend to offend no one. I truly truly appreciate all of the hits I 've received for this feature, and wish more had left comments to say hello and let me know who you were. If you've been following me for a while, you know that I'm passionate about a few things and Fair Trade just happens to be one of them. I didn't announce a drawing mainly because (1) I was writing and sharing about something that I love, to support a movement that I believe in and (2) I really wanted people to take something away from the posts and not just stop by to leave comments to win something. I guess what I'm trying to say is the feature was more personal for me, and not about the hits or gaining followers this time.
Sooo, for everyone who left comments since May 1 on one of my Fair Trade posts, your names were entered into a drawing tonight. Yeaaahhh you!! Just like the Grammy's there are a couple of special categories (smile) and a general drawing. The items I purchased from Ten Thousand Villages for this give-a-way are small in nature, but were selected with a purpose in mind...CONVERSATION. I hope those who win tonight will display their gift from me where others will see and ask about them, giving you the opportunity to share the story of Fair Trade...so now, here we go...........
Most Engaged
Lisa followed and commented through the entire series. Her engagement and enthusiasm over learning about Fair Trade touched me in a very special way. If you follow Lisa over at her blog, you'll soon learn for yourself that she is full of life and loves meeting new people. I'm honored to have connected with Lisa along this journey! Thank you Lisa!
She will be receiving a set of Terra Cotta handcrafted elephants from Bangladesh. These elephants were crafted by primarly female artisans who work under the name CORR. CORR stands for Christian Organization for Relief and Rehabilitation. Their work strives to empower rural women through handcraft production, and small job creation projects and provide job training, leaderhip skills and generates awareness of women's plight.
Fair Trade Designer
Two names were entered into this drawing for their use of Fair Trade Beads in their jewelry and the winner is....
Linda currently uses Kazuri Beads in her jewelry designs, which are a Fair Trade item from Kenya. Linda makes beautiful jewelry. Please visit her blog where you learn of her creative abilities..she's always busy making something. The runner up for this category was Jean from Pretty Kitty Dog Moon Jewelry. Jean is a jewelry designer, columnist and author. She makes gorgeous jewelry and collects strange looking dolls (smile). She also recently one the 7000 bracelets for hope bracelet. Follow Jean on her blog to find out more about this designer who also dabbles in using Fair Trade components. Thank You ladies for your continued support!
Linda will be recieving a Dancing Girl pin. This handcrafted pin, using discarded materals, is a long standing Fair Trade handicraft product from Kenya by a group named KICK. Residents of Kisumu learned to make items such as the Dancing Girl through a workshop. They were also taught to make jewelry, paper and home decor, leading to a workforce of craftspeople and artisans. The Dancing Girl is a novel to the traditioanl kenya crafts made from wood and soapstone. She can be worn on your lapel, backpack, purse or hat, and she'll definitely promote conversation. Congratulations Linda!
Lucky Ducks
All other names including Jean were entered into the Lucky Duck drawing and the winners are.....
a chef, a great blogger and a jewelry designer!! Please visit their blogs to see what Ma'Michele is cooking up, what Kayla is up to and what beautiful new things Regina is creating. Thank you ladies and congratulations!
The lucky ducks will be recieving Stone Paperweights handcrafted in India. These stone paper weights bring peace, wisdom and strength.
They were created through the TARA Project, which stands for "Trade Alternative Reform Action". It is a program for community development and business. It enables hundreds of artisans from North India to sell their products internationally. It is one of the pioneering Indian organizations in the field of fair wages, non formal education programs for children and women, and health and environmental awareness.
If all winners would please email me with your contact information, I will put your winnings in the mail this week.
Congratulations to all, thanks for stopping by and continue spreading the word about Fair Trade!! If you're just following you can read all the articles from this series by clicking on the Fair Trade Coffee Break link on the right side of my home page.
Unveiling until Fair Trade Coffee Break 2012,
Dee
12 comments:
Oh wow! You know what's funny-I had no clue that there was a drawing at the end of the series. LOL So needless to say, this is a complete surprise, but I'm SO excited!
I know I missed a lot of the series due to health issues, but I can't wait to go back and read the past posts-Honestly, this is probably one of the best series/events I've seen put together in my 2+ years of blogging. Thank you for bringing fair trade to light :)
I'm off to email you!
Oh, and of course congratulations to all the other winners xD
Wow, thank you Dee. Thank you for the education and creating awareness in Fair Trade. I have to catch up with all my reading. But I promised myself I would, so I will be back. Your passion for the subject can be contagious, and thats a good thing. Have a great week and thank you again.
You're both very welcome. Hope you're feeling better Kayla, glad to see you posting again!
Dee,
What a thoughtful caring person you are! I learned so much from this series...and I shared the information with my daughter and her friend. I will continue to share this information and I look forward to learning more. I gained alot through this series...A friend.
Thank you for thinking of me..I will treasure this gift and all that it means!
Lisa
I am nothing but blessed by you Dee, this series has taught me so so much. I visited 10 thousand villiage recently and it has such an impact on me. Thank you for your thoughtfulness, your insight, your passion!!!!! I just shed a tear...lol...I am so crazy!!!! love and laughter. Thank you Dee for everything!
@Lisa, so glad you're taking something away and love your sharing of the informaiton. Congrats again! @MaMichelle, you're very welcoming, we'll get your gift to you this week. So glad you're supporting Ten Thousand Villages...love that store!
Dee, I've enjoyed catching up on your blog and really getting more educated about Fair Trade. Thank you for sharing your passion with us in the beading community.
What an amazing amount of work! Congrats - those elephants are too cute AND fair trade make sthem even sweeter!
Thank you Patty! didn't really feel like work :)
Hi Cindy, I'm glad you stopped by and are enjoying the feature.
What a wonderful giveaway. You are so thoughtful. : ) The gifts you chose have such a special meaning and a story behind them. Congratulations to the winners!
Thanks Brandi!
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