Deerwoman Designs Uses Beads from Afghan Tribal Arts

Carnelian, Jade and Turquoise Necklace 

by Deerwoman Designs

Normally, I try to keep this blog's subject matters closely tied to themes that address textiles or fiber art.  But, I have two friends who have small businesses where beads dominate the scene.  Anita Ghaemi of Deerwoman Designs makes the beautiful jewelry shown in this post and Abdul Wardak of Afghan Tribal Arts supplies her and other jewelry makers and bead stores around the country with his hand-carved, natural beads from Afghanistan.  Actually, beads do not really stray far from the textile/fiber art road, as many of us love to incorporate them into our pieces.

Abdul has been my buddy for a long, long time now.  We used to be partners in a Chicago Gallery, Dara Tribal Village.  After I moved to Kentucky, I continued to sell online and he travels around wholesaling his products from Afghan Tribal Arts.  I have been helping him develop an online presence.  Abdul is a wonderful storyteller, but can't spell worth a dime.  He now has a store on Etsy and I have just loaded a bunch of his beads there. 

Flat Oval Jade Beads from Afghan Tribal Arts 

now available on Etsy!

These beads from Afghanistan have been hand-carved from semi-precious stones like jade, carnelian, lapis lazuli and onyx.  Afghanistan has long supplied artisans all over the world with its vast mineral natural resources.  The coveted lapis lazuli, only found there and in Chile, made its way into glass work, inlay, mosaics, and illuminated manuscripts in the Middle Ages.  Today's bead market has changed a great deal since those days as synthetics, dyes and cheap imitations undermine the value of these natural stones.  We decided to list the beads on Etsy as strands instead of selling them as single beads partly because it is easier for me to keep track of his inventory this way.  So, a strand can cost between $10-$100, depending on the value of the stone, the cut and its length.

Deerwoman Designs uses lapis heishi with sterling silver spacers 

and semi-precious stones as focal beads.

The cost of the beads can be quite an investment, yet the beauty of these stones are easily seen when compared to their cheaper competitors.  Unpolished stones like these take on a deep luster as they are worn, absorbing the oils of the skin.  And, to those who also look for the healing properties found in the stones, minerals and fluids have greater exchange values in the raw state.

Jade heishi beads from Afghan Tribal Arts.

The bigger stones usually take center stage over smaller, simpler ones.  Yet, examine Anita's necklaces closely and look at how she uses the tiny heishi beads to emphasize the larger focal ones.  Glass seed beads, a much cheaper option, would also look fine, but don't you think that these natural heishis complement the larger beads perfectly?  Artists like Anita help us see these components in a new way, illustrating how an assortment of stones can be made into wonderful wearable art!

Deerwoman Designs also makes great use of tribal pendants.  I have listed a few, but have several more in line, waiting for their turn.  For example, this Turkman pendant would be quite the eye catcher as the main jewel on a beaded necklace:

Turkman pendant from Afghan Tribal Arts.

A gazelle, once abundant in Afghanistan, carved into turquoise.

 

A Turkman pendant adorns this strand of mixed 

stones by Deerwoman Designs.

Afghan Tribal Arts has a website with samples of beads that are usually in stock.  Go take a look and if you see something you really like, send me a request.  Copy and paste the photo into an email so that I can have a visual.  Abdul makes regular stops by my house and if he has the beads you want on his van, I can add them on to the Etsy selection.  We have decided that instead of adding a shopping cart to his website, we would use Etsy as the retail platform.  If you have a tax id # and want to buy in quantities, you can also send me wholesale requests and I will pass those on to him.  (My email is on the top right hand corner of this blog.)

 

A beautiful lapis lazuli necklace by 

Deerwoman Designs.

 

Deerwoman Designs has a retail store on Artisans Market and on Etsy.  You can also follow her through her blog.

 

Print Your Own Fabric with Karma Kraft!

Have you ever wanted to design your own fabric?  I've thought of many ideas that I would have liked to explore, but never really researched it.  I received this email today, introducing Karma Kraft, just such a printing operation.  There is no minimum yardage requirement and the prices and quality seemed fair.  They also offer a variety of fabrics, including organic cotton and silks.  The only downside that I saw is that they are a North Carolina operation (formerly a center for producing textiles in the United States) operating out of China.  I would have been even more excited if they were a US operation...


The email is reprinted below:

_______________________________

New Website Allows Users To Design Their Own Custom Fabrics and Patterns.

KarmaKraft.com proving popular for novice crafters, professional designers and more.

www.karmakraft.com

(Raleigh, North Carolina) – It’s a unique online service that has been used to create custom fabric for innovative clothing, pillows, wall art, handbags & purses, bedding, table linens and even surfboards. KarmaKraft.com is a design-oriented digital fabric printing company that allows anyone to upload their own fabric design online to create digitally printed 58-inch custom fabrics. 

“You design it, we print it,” says KarmaKraft.com founders Susan Lu and Scott Jeffreys - in three simple steps:

1) Upload the design to www.KarmaKraft.com

2) Select the desired material or product you want

3) Purchase as much or as little of the custom fabric as needed

       

What makes KarmaKraft.com different and unique?

KarmaKraft.com eliminates the costly set-up fees and minimums that are imposed by traditional printing methods. KarmaKraft.com also eliminates the need to understand Photoshop or other advanced computer-aided design (CAD) systems to get a design printed. Upcoming designers, homemakers, small business owners, and graphic artists now have the ability to print their own design with no color limitations, on a wide variety of fabric qualities such as cotton, linen, silk and more.

KarmaKraft.com can help anyone from novice crafters to professional designers create their own signature designs. They even offer custom cut and sew services to make items like pillows, pet beds, scarves, tablecloths or personal apparel and more -- all with custom-designed fabric. KarmaKraft.com even offers a “Designer Gallery” under the “Fab Favs” section of the site where designers can post their fabrics designs: http://karmakraft.com/fabfavs.aspx

KarmaKraft.com uses reactive dyes for their cotton, linen and silk qualities and disperse dyes for the polyester. Most digital printing companies just use textile pigment dyes for their product. Printing with reactive and disperse dyes makes the fabric more vivid in color, washable and softer in hand than other digital printing companies offering pigment dyed fabrics.

The KarmaKraft.com custom fabrics range from $20 - $32 per yard and there is no minimum order requirement. KarmaKraft.com’s professional cutting and sewing services range from $10 - $18.

For more information go to: www.KarmaKraft.com

Toms Shoes: Buy a Pair and They GIVE a Pair!

Need a new pair of shoes?  How about a comfy pair that will also serve a good cause?  Toms Shoes modeled their slippers on traditional alpagartas indigenous to South America.  The story goes like this:


In 2006 an American traveler, Blake Mycoskie, befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by caring TOMS customers.

Since our beginning, TOMS has given over 150,000* pairs of shoes to children in need through the One for One model. Because of your support, TOMS plans to give over 300,000 pairs of shoes to children in need around the world in 2009.
Our ongoing community events and Shoe Drop Tours allow TOMS supporters and enthusiasts to be part of our One for One movement. Join us.

Blake talks about how the idea came to him:

Similar slippers have been standards throughout the world.  We know that they are comfortable.  Our feet like them!  And, not only is Toms helping barefoot people around the world get some basic, comfy shoes, the materials they use also help follow green practices.  They use recycled plastics and natural materials like hemp.

Toms shoes!  Attractive footwear with a social mission!

Visit their website to shop and learn more.

People like Blake give testimony to the difference one person can make when they commit themselves to address basic needs people have.  We cannot all make such a huge impact, yet we can all participate by sharing the good news and encouraging others to join in.  Blake can only make this impact because thousands of others have seen the vision and participated through their purchases, volunteer work and vocal support.  Kudos to all of you at Toms Shoes!

Toms Shoes is all over the place!  Find them on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and YouTube.

Afghan Hands: Fashion Meets Economic Development in Kabul

Afghan Hands, and embroidery project, 

works with women in Kabul and Jalalabad, Afghanistan.

A friend of mine sent me an email about a BBC challenge which will award $20.000 plus publicity to a group that shows innovation and economic development at a grass roots level.  One of the groups nominated for these awards is Afghan Hands, an embroidery project that works with women in Afghanistan:

Afghan Hands was started by Matin Maulawizada, native of Kabul who has found great success in the fashion world as a make-up artist and as a cosmetics science expert for Neutrogena.  As I clicked around the website and blog, I was struck that Matin is one of the rare souls who can gracefully breach this immense divide our world suffers between the rich and the poor, the educated and the illiterate, the wasteful and the hungry.  How many of us can truly walk between these two worlds and both retain a sense of dignity while embracing the humanity of such different social situations?  It appears that Matin has this gift.  His writing is humble and honest and his vision for the women in Afghanistan is both realistic and empathetic.  Here is how he describes the mission of Afghan Hands:

Afghan Hands teaches skills to help Afghan widows gain independence, literacy, and a livable wages. At our centers in and around Kabul, women learn to create embroidered shawls and scarves, and the exquisite embroidery they make connects them to a wider world.

The centers are places to gather, study, and work. We pay the women to attend classes in the morning and embroider in the afternoon. Without this project, they could not educate themselves. Through Afghan Hands, they leave the walls of their compounds and attend seminars on basic human, legal, and religious rights. They prepare for work as free women do elsewhere in the world. This way, no one will ever imprison them in the name of law, honor, or religion.

We are a nonprofit organization. We are also linked to the Mirmon Orphanage. Our mutual efforts keep expenses as low as possible so that the funds we raise go to women and children.

In the future, we hope to establish small parks and playgrounds for children who now live in areas devastated by wars, drought, and environmental damage. We envision green havens where words of encouragement and hope are shared.

For now, Afghan women, by their own hands, are transforming their lives. This is our mission. Thank you for your interest in them and in their one-of-a-kind handmade pieces.

The main product lines produced by these women are stunning embroidered shawls, both cotton and pashmina wool, many of which find inspiration in the Suzani motifs traditional in Uzbekistan.  The embroidery is impeccable.  The shawls range from around $150-$1000.  One of the things I really appreciate about the project is this choice to produce quality pieces instead of churning out chotchkies that might be more easily accessible to the general public, but which would not showcase the expertise these women have with their embroidery skills.  Projects like this do a great service to preserving traditional skills while providing the technical assistance to reach an audience that can support quality, handmade embroidery.  Here are a couple of samples that can be found on their website:

 

Pashmina embroidered shawls, available at Afghan Hands.

 Crinkled cotton shawl by Afghan Hands

Of course, what delighted me the most, was that the women are paid to both study in the morning and embroider in the afternoon.  I am a firm believer that education is the way out of poverty.  Women who can educate themselves have a much greater access to finding their voice in all areas of their life: socially, politically, and as full members of their family and social units.

 Women studying, Afghan Hands.

I often struggle with justifying my years of work in the handicraft field.  With so much hunger in the world, ecological disasters looming, and critical need on so many levels, I sometimes wonder why I spend my time and energy in marketing things that nobody really needs.  Yet, I find redemption over and over again when projects like Afghan Hands give testimony to the healing power these crafts have in the communities where they are made.  I believe that we need the physical beauty these crafts bring into our lives, the connection we can have with the people who made them.  But, the actual process of making things also serves as a therapy which can help rebuild the broken lives in war torn areas like Kabul.  People like Matin are the best peace ambassadors we can ask for.  They open the paths of communication between people who would never have had a connection otherwise.  The women purchasing the shawls learn about the women who made them, and the women who made them likewise expand their world views in learning about markets, design, and value.  Self-esteem grows.  We are no longer strangers to each other.

Visit Afghan Hands, support them in whatever way you can (they also accept donations), and vote for them in the BBC challenge.

All of the photos in this post belong to Afghan Hands and are on their website.

New Banjara Patches Available at 10% Off!!!

New Banjara patches are in!  Get a 10% discount on my website!

These patches are wonderful as you can incorporate them into larger textiles, attach them to bags, jean jackets, hats, and other accessories, or frame them as a small textile sample.  The smaller ones are about 3x4 inches while larger ones can get up to 5x5 inches.  All are hand embroidered by women who were traditionally nomadic in India.  I get them from a supplier there, sight unseen, and she usually includes some newer ones and some older ones.  You can tell by the embroidery thread that was used and by the wear on the back of the patches.

Shishas are low quality glass mirrors that are used in Indian embroidery.  The story goes that they became popular after the Taj Mahal was built.  The Banjara also believe that they have protective powers and protect the wearer against the evil eye.  I have written a couple of articles about the Banjara here before.  They are genetically proven to be the ancestors of the Roma (also known as gypsies).  Click here to see those articles.

Instructions for purchasing the patches are on my website.   Basically, you email me with the ones you want, I check for availability and send you a total and you pay via Pay Pal.  I will start listing them on Etsy next week and once they are in the shop, you will have to go through their shopping cart to purchase them.

 

I apologize for the images.  I have a new camera and am still learning how to use it.  This batch of photos came out a bit muddy and fuzzy, but the colors are very close to the actual piece.  Well, if you like these patches and want some, you better go take a look quickly!  I usually sell about half of them with the first three days of posting them on my site.  Otherwise, you will find what is left in my Etsy store.

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