ny times mag article highlights the handmade

we just had to share this GREAT article in yesterday's New York Times Magazine about the handmade movement, something that openhouse, along with the richmond craft mafia, the bizarre market and other groups are trying to spread in richmond. it's nice to see here's a link to the original article.

and here's a reminder from handmade.org why you should by handmade this holiday season and always! support your local businesses (openhouse as well as all small businesses), support the artists and designers in your community and around the country and the world. let's get back to the basics! enjoy.

Why buy handmade?

Buying Handmade makes for better gift-giving.
The giver of a handmade gift has avoided the parking lots and long lines of the big chain stores in favor of something more meaningful. 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 canbe seen and touched. It is the result of skill and craftsmanship that is absent in the world of large-scale manufacturing.

Buying handmade is better for people.
The ascendancy of chain store culture and global manufacturing has left us dressing, furnishing, and decorating alike. We are encouraged to be consumers, not producers, of our own culture. Our ties to the local and human sources of our goods have been lost. Buying handmade helps us reconnect.

Buying handmade is better for the environment.
The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production.