Buying HANDMADE Online and where

Since I have started my campaign of BUYING HANDMADE this Season, people keep asking me, " If I was to buy HANDMADE ONLINE where do I go" So I wanted to make a list up for where to go and some of my favorite places.

1. www.etsy.com Etsy is a Online Community of Crafters all over the World.

2. www.shopopensky.com With a 365 Return Policy and a Statement of ANY PRODUCT, ANY REASON, ANY TIME

3. www.artfire.com A Community of Suppliers and Crafters

4.www.smashingdarling.com an Upscale Community of online Handmade Products....very new and making waves on the Handmade Online Scene

5. www.handmadespark.com Is an online Community that is supportive to Sellers and an avenue for shoppers!

I love this Article I found while writing this...check it out

http://www.craftster.org/blog/online-venues-for-selling-handmade-goods/

I hope this Season you make an effort and buy some handmade gifts, if not all your gifts this Holiday Season. Its helping the Environment, your keeping your money local, your doing your part of helping with Global warming by buying local and the product hasn’t been shipped half way around the World. Every item you purchase from a local artist or crafter it strikes a small blow to the mass production factories.

And most importantly the giver of a handmade gift has avoided the dreaded long lines of BIG BOX Retailers, they have dealt with someone who has put forth love and care into an item and they are pleased to help you with your purchases. And that item is something that is meaningful and is one of a kind. If the giver has purchased the gift, s/he feels the satisfaction of supporting an artist or crafter directly. The recipient of the handmade gift receives something that is one-of-a-kind, and made with care and attention that can
be seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is missing in the world of mass production.

I really like the idea of ONE OF A KIND or as the Crafting Community calls it OOAK…..you know for all certainty that when you walk down the street with your newly fashioned Market Bag that has been made with love and care, that not one person on this Earth has the same bag…..how does that make you feel….pretty darn special!

I hope I have inspired you to rethink your Holiday Shopping this Season and enter the World of Handmade and give a gift that is one of a kind. Made with tender loving care, by the hands of an Artisan. I challenge you, to take a pledge….BUY HANDMADE!

Happy Holidays