the karen artisans at work

i won't be the least bit surprised if you've never given a moment's thought to what goes on behind-the-scenes in the production of your jewellery pieces. these days, jewellery is most often casted as opposed to being handmade. in this post though, you'll get to see the Karen artisans at work with their metal of choice - 99.9% silver, also known as fine silver:

fine silver has an extremely high silver percentage, though after working with it, there is a slight contamination with the elements which brings the actual silver content down to between 95-97%. In comparison to the international 92.5% sterling silver, fine silver is very much softer and more malleable, and also more tarnish-resistant. the nature of the artisans' handmade work is also such that no two pieces are completely alike.

 

doing this series on raising awareness for the hilltribe community's way of life though, has brought back a long ago memory of my maternal grandfather as a silversmith. on our once to twice-a-year school holiday visits back to the sleepy Malaysian township of Seremban, the curious child that i was would often stand at his side watching him work at his desk, firing up the blow torch, pumping with his feet, and heating and hammering away. then the hiss of cooling metal, and the process repeats. of course, i'd get bored and head off to play, and sometimes, if i was lucky, i'd come back to him again and get to see the finished product : )

the karen hilltribes trust

we are always very encouraged to hear of good that comes out of adversity and troubles in life. it's life-affirming and to us, points upwards to a God who sees, hears and helps. the Karen Hilltribes Trust is one such story, of a UK mother's quest to fulfill her volunteer son's wish to help the Karen people, cut short by his untimely car crash.

8 years on and with over £1.5million raised, the Karen Hilltribes Trust is now working in over 300 villages in a region covering 100 square miles of remote, mountainous country to fulfill three key aims of: improving health, improving education and improving the peoples' ability to generate income for themselves and their families. their projects include the installation of clean water systems and latrines, improving education by providing school buses, dormitories and teaching, building irrigation systems and regenerating land.

the long term vision is to see the Karen people empowered to support themselves in a sustainable way. and the trust continues the son, Richard Worsley's legacy by offering volunteers the opportunity to spend their gap year teaching English in a Karen School. if you'd like to help, visit their website here, and as mentioned in our last post, 100% of the proceeds of this gift set of 10 cleaning kits (S$60/US$43) will also go towards the trust.

happy Monday!

shop update: choo yilin artisan jewellery launches the hilltribe dew drop series

                     
here at cate, we are kicking off a 6-week long hilltribe awareness campaign with our designer and friend, Yilin of Choo Yilin Artisan Jewellery. Yilin has been working closely with hilltribe artisans in Thailand for their beautifully textured silver pieces, which have been a great complement to her design philosophy of individual, handcrafted designs that are very much organic and asymmetrical in nature. with a wider social cause at the forefront of her mind, her commissioned pieces help to preserve the centuries-old cultural art-form of hilltribe silver craftsmanship, supporting the artisans' culture and economy.

                    
the hilltribes dew drop series features the hilltribe artisans’ textured silver work heavily, with Yilin's signature natural, almost-quirky embellishments. expect to see more sophisticated detailing in this collection – stronger textures and unique forms, with something for the ladies and gentlemen alike. her hilltribe pieces are available for sale on cate at 15% off for the duration of the hilltribe awareness campaign, till the end of March. also on sale, this gift set of 10 cleaning kits for S$60 (US$43), with 100% of the proceeds going to The Karen Hilltribes Trust.

                      
we'll be sharing more details on this charity, as well as 'postcards' of the hilltribe artisans as a working community in our next post. stay tuned!

organic clothing series: #1 myths and realities of organic cotton

the rise of stylish, eco-aware customers in Europe and the U.S. has seen the recent, respectable increase in the sale of organic clothing with a 50% growth since 2002. with organic cotton making up only 1% of global cotton production, it is a drop in the ocean in sustainability stakes.

yet, in our continuing quest to be better informed consumers, we nevertheless thought to share some benefits of organic cotton farming vis-à-vis conventional cotton farming: (1) similar yields and quantity, (2) protects farmers’ and their families' health through reduced dependence on pesticides, (3) empowers women as loans to purchase expensive chemicals and equipment (required for conventional cotton farming) are almost exclusively available only to men, and (4) improves farmers’ income and livelihood thereby breaking aid dependency and debt cycle. reason enough? full report and stats via ecochic magazine.