It's been almost half a year!

Time sure does fly by... I didn't realize that my last post was almost six months ago. I've been busy with re-bulilding and re-branding Trizanh. Making a new website with amazing photos from Rodel Studios, working on catalogs to take Trizanh into the wholesale industry and setting up a studio space to have a photo area to take pictures of my online store.

Holiday season is creeping up and custom orders are starting to come in for personalized, one of a kind handbags as gifts. I love making personal handbags because they are more special and have a story behind it. I haven't been sewing as much due to all the "admin" work but I plan to jump back on the machine in my new work space. The bags have also evolved... to higher quality production and into different styles. Excited to see what will happen after these new and big changes!

Starbucks Farmer's Market

During August and September, in the plaza of Starbucks' head quarters, a weekly Farmer's Market hosted by the famous Seattle based coffee company provides excitement in the SoDo area. Every Friday from 11-2, vendors of all sorts come out to set up shop. Although it is not as big as the surrounding neighborhood Farmer's Markets, the second annual market hosted by Starbucks is a great way for the company to support other small businesses. Flowers, food, and crafts can all be found in front of the Siren's eye.

In addition to hosting a weekly market during the summer, Starbucks is putting on a holiday show in December. Unlike the summer market, vendors do pay a fee to participate in the holiday show but proceeds to to the CUP fund for Starbucks employees. As a partner of the company, the CUP fund is reserved for emergencies that come up for partners in a financial bind when accidents occur.

Come on down on Fridays in September to check out the Farmer's Market and more details to come about the holiday show.

Shopping local versus made in China

When I first saw this at the store, I thought it was a new trend of selling locally made goods. Upon further inspection, I thought maybe it was handmade in the USA, which would have been sad because there are so many talented artists that make these items locally. When I saw that it was hand made in CHINA, I was speechless.

I went home to see how many I could find on Etsy that were in the local area. A search for "knitted headbands" in Seattle, WA came up with 7,114 results. The prices ranged higher and lower than the $16 price tag listed in the photo but I estimated that an average locally made headband costs around $20. For about $4 more, a purchase of a locally made one supports a Seattle artist and it was made with care. Paying for the $16 handmade headband from China just fuels the market of outsourced goods and all the politics and issues surrounded that.

There are some headbands on the Etsy listing that I saw that were double the price of the one pictured above and for some, it might not be worth spending that much. However, consider what the materials were used for the item and the work. Maybe the yarn used is higher quality wool or an even softer fiber. Maybe the design of the headband is eccentric and time consuming or an original or unique design. Maybe the headband is adorned with beautiful embellishments.

With that said, don't be so quick to assume that anything handmaid is going to be expensive. One might find a beautiful locally made headband for $16 instead of a handmade one from China.