Fair Tade display items

jazzactivist · 24-02-2010, 02:43 PM

I have been looking for some nice, wooden items on which to display my jewellery on my craft stall. After asking a local woodturner how much it would cost to make some (a bit too steep for my needs!), I came across some nice ones that are handmade in Bali from sustainable rainwood, and Fair Traded with a British company. They arrived today and are really nice quality, with very secure packaging and free postage too. The company is www.siiren.co.uk and worth a look as they sell all sorts of things not just for display.

Crocus · 24-02-2010, 05:54 PM

I quite like those wooden animals Jazz, especially the birds and ducks. xx

Hedgehog · 24-02-2010, 06:49 PM

At the end of the day they are bought in goods and most quality shows would not let you in. It says sustainable rainwood but how do you know and what about the distance these things have had to travel with a huge carbon footprint. Did you try negotiating with the woodworker or ask any other British wood turners. You can find very competitively priced things like earrings display stands and necklace stands etc made in the UK. But by getting in bought in goods you are not only helping to kill off the British craft industry but losing your own credibility as well. Sorry to sound harsh but if we supported our own craft workers we wouldn't be in the mess we are in.

sheddie · 24-02-2010, 09:23 PM

Hear hear Hedgehog!!! X

Ivy · 25-02-2010, 05:49 AM

Hedgehog I am sure the carbon footprint isn't as big as you think, as I am sure that this kind of goods is not flown into the country, but sent by ship just as your morning coffee or tea.

Jazz at one of our local craft fairs I have seen old tree roots being used as jewellery displays. Maybe that woks for you too? probably not ideal for rings but they displayed necklaces and earrings on them.

jazzactivist · 25-02-2010, 08:04 AM

I am not planning to sell them, Hedgehog, just keep them for ever to display the jewellery that I make on my craft stall. I attend a lot of quality craft shows and galleries and am a keen crafts buyer, and as far as I can see they do not decide who to accept with regard to what is used to display your items. If they did, then all those acrylic moulded stands wouldn't be allowed. I did first enquire of a couple of local woodturners, but one didn't understand what I wanted and the other suggested prices of around £200 per large display item, which is beyond my means at the moment as a small craftsperson just setting up. Having worked all over the world, I am in two minds about only buying British items - yes, on the one hand I want to support craftspeople and businesses in the UK, but on the other I want to see people in poorer countries receive fair payment for their own skills and items. Siiren seems to be a sensible small company and if they care about their suppliers as much as their customers then this was a happy compromise for me.

I have seen jewellery displayed on driftwood tree-roots too, Ivy, and it does look good. As well as the wooden stands I am also going to make some 'petals' out of felt to lie on the table with an item of jewelley on each. Hopefully the wood, wool and silver will look nice and natural together.

sheddie · 25-02-2010, 09:17 PM

Jazz I always like to support the small local business but if as you say they are so expensive then it just isn't viable.Point taken. X

annie fenbug · 26-02-2010, 10:59 AM

They look really good, Jazz, and you've done well to find such attractive displays that are tailored for showing off jewellery. I understand Hedgehog's concerns about sourcing British, but even if you did find someone doing the kind of thing you wanted you'd be likley to pay far more.

My mother is a woodcarver (among other things) and although she's not very businesslike and tends to charge stupidly low prices if she likes the project she still despairs of the prices people expect to pay. She's just been asked to quote for a carving for a local church, for which their outline budget won't even cover the cost of the wood - it will have to be a nice bit, properly seasoned and so on and that comes at a price. When she pointed this out, they produced a brochure and said they were basing their expectations on that. She didn't feel up to explaining the obvious - overheads and the cost of living are quite different here to in the Far East (where these carvings almost certainly came from, she could tell by the wood).

Driftwood would be great, too, but good bits are big business! A friend (another carver) in Suffolk regularly goes to the coast after high tides to see what she can get hold of. She found one huge chunk which was too heavy to get into her pick-up on her own, so she rang her boyfriend for help, managed to get it halfway into the vehicle, and went to get a sandwich while she was waiting for the muscles to arrive. She was away from the vehicle for about 20 minutes at most, but when they came back the wood had gone! A lot of the locals pick up the decent bits and dry them, then sell them on for a fortune to garden centres