Crafts for a Cause Bazaar

G&G will be at the Crafts for a Cause bazaar from December 6 to 8 at the 3rd level of SM Aura Premier. We hope you do your Christmas shopping with us!

 

G&G Founder Sandy Romualdez shops at the Crafts for a Cause bazaar at SM Aura

 

 

 

Happy Fair Trade Tuesday!

Why Buy Fair Trade? Let us count the reasons why.

There are many reasons why we love fair trade. We buy fair trade because among other things, we value respect, fairness, and empowerment. And of course G&G's fair trade products are also fashionable and handcrafted.

Thank you to all who support Fair Trade. Happy Fair Trade Tuesday!

The T'boli Craft of Brass Casting

Gifts and Graces is proud to be supporting the T'bolis of Lake Sebu, South Cotabato. G&G Executive Director Greg Perez first met one of the tribe's leaders Nadeth Ofong at the Social Enterprise Management Training Program of Fundacion Codespa and University of Asia and the Pacific where she and Nadeth were fellow scholars.

We are happy to be part of the effort to share their story, contribute to their livelihood and share their heritage. Last month, Nadeth shared with us their special method of brass casting. While we don't divulge all the details here, we wanted to share part of the story behind the making of the T'boli's beautiful brass items.

1. Prepare the materials

• Yellow brass from scrap material sourced from junk shops
• Beeswax
• Charcoal
• Clay soil with rice hulls
• Cooking/melting pot

2. Prepare the beeswax by melting it, rolling it, and designing it. Note that this is where the intricate designs come in.

3. Prepare the mold by pounding the clay soil with rice hulls, covering the mold with this mixture, melting the wax, leaving the mold out to dry in the sun, and drying it over fire

4. Next, melt the brass in a traditional blower, pour the melted brass into the mold, then allow to cool in a water bath.

5. Break the mold and voila you have your brass bell!

6. Cut and clean the bells. The final stage is cleaning the bells with calamansi

Here are some of the beautiful items made from brass. A brass man, brass bells in regular design and man and women designs, the brass bell with beads from The Learning Center to make our bell charm, and brass pendants which we use with woven retaso for a special line of clutches

Not in the collage is a set of four brass napkin rings in an elegant T'nalak box, bangles, and jewelry made from braided cloth strips and a brass ring. But we can share these in another blog post. 

Here's a photo of Nadeth with her daughter Bon with Fernando Regalado and Jhun Jhun Gementiza of G&G and Mike Panghilason of Heidi's Crafts (weavers of the clutch in the photo) at our Partner's Dinner this year held at the Herald Suites.

Finally, here is a link to further reading on the T'bolis and a link to an online article on loqal.ph

http://lakesebuphilippines.blogspot.com/p/tiboli-tribe.html

http://loqal.ph/home-and-living/2010/08/09/t%E2%80%99boli-women-weave-history-culture-in-t%E2%80%99nalak-cloth/

If you'd like more information or you'd like to order and support this cause, we'd love to hear from you. Please email us at info@giftsandgraces.com or marketing@giftsandgraces.com

G&G in Metro Society November Issue

This month, G&G is featured in Metro Society in an article aptly titled "Shopping for the Soul"

G&G Executive Director Greg Perez says "I think the time of thinking of only ourselves is up. We are now more responsible and accountable for each other. We can't just say 'I don't care if this (product) comes from a sweatshop.' That's not the way to live anymore. Being discerning consumers benefits all of us."

The article features great shots of our best-selling newspaper bags, T'boli bell charm, bags from the Retazo Collection made from scrap upholstery fabric, a black chest from Potrero, one of our retaso teddy bears, this one in fatigue-colored brocade, and a sneak preview of our elegant day-to-night necklaces made from scrap fabric embellished with an etched brass ring.

To read the full article, pick up a copy of Metro Society's November issue today. We're on page 225.

Millennials as Social Entrepreneurs

When it comes to millennials, we hear complaints about how hard they are to manage. This is in part due to the different circumstances they grew up in - the computer, internet, social networks, and many other things we didn't have just twenty, even ten years ago. Some of the things I've heard are that the millennial generation has a sense of entitlement, has no of abstraction, and is impatient.

As I prepared to talk to the fourth year high school students of Assumption San Lorenzo, I started thinking about the PEACE program and its goal of encouraging these young students to become social entrepreneurs.  I began to see that millenials and the negative traits attributed to them are the very traits that make millenials great social entrepreneurs.

1. Sense of Entitlement - Millenials recognize that the world can be a better place and that they are entitled to it. There are a lot of young people I know who care passionately about a cause - be it ending cruelty to animals or education or the environment. What's great about the youth is that they don't expect this better world to be handed to them on a silver platter; they understand that they have a role in creating the better world they feel entitled to. What's more, they work to get other people to care for what they care about because they believe that everyone should care.

2. No Sense of Abstraction - With different media bombarding their senses every minute, the abstract is spelled out. But this turns into a positive because the youth spring into action. They don't bother with motherhood statements - nationalism, feminism, environmentalism and yet remaining in the sidelines. The youth act on what they believe in by volunteering, by starting innovative programs, by donating.

3. Impatient - The youth want change and they want it now. I think this is admirable. I knew I wanted to work somehow in social development but I thought that I should be financially stable first before I did so. To see young entrepreneurs in high school and college putting their ideas and ideals into action now and not twenty years from now is cause for celebration.

The photos here were taken during the visit of the Assumption students to PAMANA Cooperative, our partner, and the G&G office. The exuberance and enthusiasm they displayed was contagious and uplifting.

As they enter Phase 2 of the PEACE program where they start to work on the product prototypes, I can't wait to see what their creative minds will come up with and I can't wait to see the impact it will have on the livelihood of our partners. Truly, these Assumption students are living their faith in action.

Cheers!

Greg

Students take a photo of our poster of the 10 Fair Trade Principles

Students pose with the G&G logo, G&G Project Officer Jeremy Callegher, and G&G Executive Director Ms. Greg Perez

P.S. I was inspired by the writing and thinking of Angela Maiers and Deb Mills-Scofield on the subject. Here are two great posts: Angela Maiers' An Open Letter to Millenials, and Deb Mills-Scofield's Benefits of Being a Young Entrepreneur.