Novica and Novica Live

I was recently asked by a representative of Novica, in association with National Geographic, to share their amazing world market with my readers. My pleasure! (You know I love sharing new places for us creatives to shop!) Novica is one of the leading fair trade artisan websites working to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market.

The Novica Mission:

We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow. At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe. We want you to know about who you’re buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it.

Novica has so many beautiful accessories like women’s scarves – even men’s accessories like cufflinks, and walking sticks. Novica has clothing, such as ponchos which are so popular right now. Even NATE featured a Novica Alpaca throw on his show! Here is a montage of a few of my favorite things from the Novica website.I was given a spending allowance to purchase an item and experience Novica for myself, and this is what I chose- the Jute & Leather Shoulder Bag made by Alfonso Velasquez of the Sololá region of Guatemala. It bears the the printed section of a coffee bag and is trimmed in dark brown nobuck leather with buckle hardware handles. Perfect for a lover of typography, jute, leather and coffee, like me! It is a gorgeous lined bag with an inside zipper pocket and full zipper top closure and is perfectly sized for toting my MacBook laptop, iPad (both in their 12 South BookBook covers,) and accessories.

Every artisan has a story to share and there are wonderful videos of some creating their wonderful pieces. If there is a particular artist’s work you’re drawn to, you can shop their other products as well. Here is another gorgeous bag by Alfonso Velasquez.

My package arrived with a handwritten note from Alfonso, gift wrapped and finished with a sweet little worry doll.Besides the vast array of beautiful handmade products, and the support Novica gives to it’s artisans, there is also Novica Artisan Loans for any who would like to help finance these artists through 0% interest loans. It’s quite a wonderful thing they have devised, I encourage you to read about it.

Another really fun thing about Novica is their gift and jewelry home party division, Novica Live! I just love to shop home parties and have done so quite a bit over the years for jewelry, clothing, dishware, candles and home accessories. There’s a few great things to love about Novica Live is that you get the same quality products from artisans around the world, each with a unique story, but if you’re interested in becoming a Novica Live Consultant, now is seriously the time. If you know anything about Home Party Consulting, you know that the earning potential from getting in with a company early is a HUGE opportunity. The starter kits are only $199 and have over $400 worth of samples and $150 in business materials.  They have a lot of promotions going on for their early consultants, including anyone that becomes a Director this year will go to Bali next year.Wow!

I hope you’re all having a great week-after-Christmas. I’m sure looking forward to a wonderful 2012!