Busy Busy...Waldorf Faires this weekend

December swept upon me. My birthday is the last day of November, yet December always takes me by surprise. Satch & Sol has been happily busy. Tonight, I am preparing for two wonderful local Faires. There will be many beautiful handmade items at both Faires. Come see Satch & Sol for great sample sale prices.

Dec 5 - Bright Water School, Sugar Plum Faire, 11am-3pm, 1501 10th Ave E Seattle, WA 98102
Dec 6 - Seattle Waldorf School, Winter Faire, 10am-3pm, 2728 NE 100th St, Seattle, WA 98125

Seriously, I think I bought all my family's holiday gifts at these two events last year.

Enjoy the weekend!

Video from Mongolia

I wish I had video to share of the artists creating Satch & Sol slippers. I do not. However, I found this video of the making of felted ger walls on youtube. The heavy felted walls are MUCH bigger than slippers, so they are beaten down by dragging on horse back. Horses are not used in the felting of Satch & Sol slippers, hats and mittens, all of which are felted around a mold to be seamless. The similarities in the processes are the lack of electricity to beat the wool into felt, the small group work, and the fact that many of the artists live in gers themselves.

Someday, I'll record a video, if the artists will allow me to. Until then, I noticed several youtube videos about felting process and found them all to be very informative, espcially the ones showing Mongolia specifically.

Ebjoy!

Mongolia on NPR this week

The photography is beautiful. However, the story is about serious struggle in Mongolia. The NPR week long series is titled Global Financial Crisis Hits Mongolia and tells the story of sheep herders. It is more important than ever to support fair trade practices and the entrepreneurs in Mongolia. Listening to today's story has further deepened my commitment to supporting fair trade and earth-friendly practices in Mongolia.

The artists who create felted wool slippers and other items for Satch & Sol include those who herd their own sheep and those who buy wool locally from their neighbors and herders within Mongolia.

The NPR piece today also touches on environmental concerns and the situation caused by overgrazing of cashmere goats. I had heard of this issue, but had not understood its significance until now. I had associated cashmere goats as "bad" and sheep and other types of goats as "good", but now know why. Cashmere goats eat the grass from the root, which contributes to the decline of grasslands to desert. Sheep and non-cashmere goats eat the grass without destroying the roots, thus allowing for sustainable re-growth. Demand for cashmere by Chinese factories has caused many herders to unnaturally offset their herd balance in favor of non-sustainable cashmere goats.

At Satch & Sol, we love felted wool - that's sheep's wool. Occasionally, felted wool includes wool from non-cashmere goats and from camels. Satch & Sol will continue to support sustainable herding in Mongolia through demand for non-cashmere, luxurious, soft felted wool slippers.

Thank you NPR for this great series. Thank you Seattle neighbor Joanne for telling me about the NPR series!

Eco Fashion Show

Last month, Satch & Sol participated in an eco-fashion show with other members of Green America.

The show took place in Deer Lodge, Montana and was accomplished by Anna Hermann of Herman's ECO Inc.

Thank you for including Satch & Sol, Anna!

Felted Purses Return

Back by popular demand, Satch & Sol is offering a limited supply of lovely hand-felted purses in soft pink, deep blue and light burnt orange. All felted purses are handmade in Mongolia by one artist who is located close to the slipper artists.

I am so happy to be able to offer three colors in one style for 2009.

Artisans receive a well-earned grant

I cannot say enough wonderful things about the talented artists who create slippers for Satch & Sol. I love love love their traditional wool felting craft. Even more, I appreciate their willingness to hone their skills to innovate for Satch & Sol and their willingness to incorporate my design input.

Of course, I am certainly not the only person to be so impressed by these fair trade micro and small businesses sprouting successfully in Mongolia. Congratulations to one of the largest felting cooperatives upon receiving a modest funding grant from EBRD (a European Bank) to finance their continued growth through training and innovation.

I am honored to have been asked for input regarding innovation. I am confident that they will surpass even their own expectations as they take on this new challenge. And, I am eager to see their future work.

Happy Birthday to the online boutique

Our online boutique celebrated its one year anniversary several days ago, and I forgot to celebrate until this evening. Happy 1st Birthday!

I will now celebrate by wrapping gifts, writing cards, and printing shipping labels for today's orders. Although first, I need to go put my four year old back to bed, for the third time tonight. This small business owner really knows how to throw a party!

Although we opted for homemade popsicles rather than cake tonight, we selected zucchini from our tiny garden and made a special zucchini pancake dinner. And, there was face paint (applied by the kids). My children loved it, although neither seemed to understand what aspect of our family business we were celebrating.

I am so thankful for this past year of learning, community, successes and trials. I am especially grateful to the artists in Mongolia who have been a pleasure to work with (since long before the online boutique began) and to the customers who have visited us online. For a birthday present, I will send a savings code out to the newsletter list sometime soon. If you want to receive it, please sign up by creating an account and checking the newsletter option.

I look forward to Year Two!

Satch & Sol Approved by Green America. Yippee!

I have been striving to emulate the values of Green America since the very early stages of Satch & Sol. Green America (formerly called Coop America) exudes the eco-friendly and fair trade values that are core to Satch & Sol's vision. Thus, I am jump-up-and-down excited to see Satch & Sol be approved as a member of this wonderful organization. And wow (!), that was quite an application process of in depth questions.

For anyone thinking Green Entrepreneurship, I recommend joining the Green America Business Network (GABN). GABN is an email list that you can join prior to being approved by Green America. Learn how to join by visiting the Green Business network. I asked a lot of questions of established Green Business leaders and received many helpful answers to keep my business growing. Finding Green America early in my business development was a great discovery for me.

For anyone looking to GREEN there lives and business in anyway, bookmark the GreenPages.org. This reference provides a list of all Green America approved members.

I look forward to updating my website soon to show the official Green America Seal of Approval (tm) and to reflect membership.

New New New

I am excited to add new colors, styles and products for Fall and Winter. You will see them appear gradually in the online boutique by September 1.

Some of the lovely new items the artists made have yet to arrive...and perhaps are lost in their travels forever. I hope someone, somewhere will enjoy them and appreciate the handcrafted beauty of each piece. Ahhhhhhh, but I am so happy to have the ones that arrived! My favorite are the natural flowers with their muted burnt orange pedals. They make me pine for toddler feet in our household again. I will happily gift a pair to my newborn niece.

Watch for new felted wool mittens, hats and gloves in baby and toddler sizes!

Calling all Local Crafters

The 2nd annual Fun Fair for Northwest Center Child Development Program (NWC) will be Saturday, October 3, 2009, 2-6pm. If you live in the Seattle area, please join us and definitely bring the kids! This event is for the community. There will be a bake sale, fun for the kids, live music, a silent auction and local craft vendors. Please see the website for directions to the Queen Anne school at 2919 1st Ave N, Seattle, WA 98118.

Satch & Sol will be offering a sample sale, as one of the vendors, with very low prices for discontinued colors and styles of slippers, apparel and animal ornaments.

If you are a crafter or small business looking for a family-focused audience, please email me for a vendor application at susan@satchsol.com. NWC has a modest fundraising goal for the event, so all vendors will be asked to donate a flat dollar amount or a percent of sales made at the event - you decide.

I have been involved with NWC for a few years and absolutely love the place! We all enjoyed attending the inaugural Fun Fair last year. My kids are so excited to go again this year.

Satch & Sol Introduces Fair trade, Eco-friendly Slippers in Adult Sizes

Seattle, WA (April 13, 2009) Satch & Sol announces the addition of adult size slippers to their collection of felted wool slippers handmade by fair trade artisan cooperatives in Mongolia. Using traditional felting skills, artists create eco-friendly Satch & Sol slippers using 100% seamless felted wool, soft suede soles and hand-stitched detail.

The original collection (Fall 2008) includes children’s felted wool slippers, size US 3 infant to 3 youth (EU 18-34), in refreshingly unique and colorful styles, such as ladybugs, puppies, flower petal cuts and moccasins. New adult sizes range upward to US women’s size 11½ (EU 42).

“Mothers of children wearing Satch & Sol slippers contacted us asking for their sizes,“ says Susan Bell, founder of Satch & Sol. “We worked with the Mongolian artists to create a line of felted wool slippers for adults.”

Adult size slippers have an MSRP of $42 - $60. Children’s slippers have an MSRP of $36 - $40. Wholesale information is available upon request. Each pair of slippers ships with an eco-friendly hangtag, attached with repurposed button and thread, stating the fair trade origin of the slippers.

About Satch & Sol

For the love of family and earth, Satch & Sol partners with fair trade artisan cooperatives worldwide to offer a handmade collection. Satch & Sol strives to be eco-friendly through product selection and business practices.

Mom-owned and operated in Seattle, Satch & Sol began business in 2008 with a focus on the family. In addition to slippers, Satch & Sol offers hand knit sweaters, felted wool mittens and hats and a variety of other items handmade by fair trade artisan cooperatives.

Satch & Sol aligns with artisan cooperatives that share their love for fair trade, earth-friendly products and handmade loveliness. Fair trade prohibits child labor and enables adults to live and work in their hometowns, strengthening their families and communities. Following 70+ years of Soviet rule, Mongolian artist entrepreneurs set forth to create their own businesses. Today, Satch & Sol works with artist cooperatives in Mongolia to design and create the Satch & Sol line. In a historically nomadic culture, Mongolian farmers and artists practicing traditional crafts naturally focus on the ethical treatment of animals, natural materials and waste minimization.

Satch & Sol continually works to reduce their environmental footprint and support their local community. The company currently uses only repurposed shipping materials. When shoeboxes are required, Satch & Sol provides recyclable shoeboxes made with 100% recycled materials, including high PCW content. Satch & Sol donates a portion of company profits through monetary and in-kind product donations to local education and family-focused organizations.


CONTACT:
Susan Bell
Satch & Sol LLC
206-232-0999
susan@satchsol.com
www.satchsol.com

Sending Flowers to Mom for Mother's Day?

Flowers. Flowers. Flowers. They are on my mind everyday now. From my home office, I have watched the beautiful slow immersion of our backyard tulips and the new growth of our rose bushes. Spring has finally arrived in Seattle.

Mothers Day is May 10th. Surprise Mom with flowers...for her feet. Join the newsletter here to save on gifts for Mom or anyone you plan to pamper. Please see grown-up sizes here.

more adult size slippers are here!

New slippers for grown-ups are in Seattle. I will add them to the online boutique Wednesday afternoon. Please watch for woolly grey hitch, more raspberry moccasin sizes, missy pinks, and sunshine flowers - all for grown-ups!

Happy Mongolian Lunar New Year Happy Valentines Day....and please listen to me on the radio (yikes!)

This month brings two holidays to celebrate at Satch & Sol…and we will be on the radio tomorrow!

Happy Valentines Day AND Happy Mongolian Lunar New Year!

Tsagaan Sar is the Mongolian lunar New Year's festival. The White Moon holiday is celebrated two months after the first new moon following the winter solstice. After Naadam, Tsagaan Sar is the second-most important Mongolian holiday. Around the New Year people greet each other by saying 'Amar mend uu?' or 'Amar bain uu?', a very formal greeting which one says to one's elders. Mongolians also visit friends and family on this day and exchange gifts.

Many pink and red items have been marked down for Valentine's Day gifts. Newsletter subscribers receive a savings code by email to celebrate the Mongolian Lunar New Year, so please sign up today here, if you would like to receive savings codes. Please check the box to receive the newsletter.

http://onegreener.com will be interviewing Patagonia and Nau tomorrow (Wednesday, February 4) about sustainable clothing at 10am PST. OneGreener plans to add me to the interview at 10:20am to provide my personal small business perspective. I am nervous and excited about this live opportunity tomorrow. Although I am not a public speaker, I am passionate about the topic and hope to contribute well to the discussion. You can listen online, if you like. I would be very grateful for the support.

Happy Valentine’s Day and Happy Mongolian Lunar New Year!

Hooray! CPSIA testing relief. Happy Valentine's Day!

Long live etsy! Long live small businesses! Well, at least for the one year 'stay'. No longer will GCC forms be required with shipment as of February 10, 2009. For children everywhere, I am happy that the CPSC is upholding their stringent lead and phthalates requirements, without burdening small businesses with the huge testing requirements, yet.

Although this news arrives AFTER I have invested significant time and some money, I am happy to see a move by the CPSC that will save the many unique handmade offerings for children in the USA!

Here are the articles:

CPSC Grants One Year Stay of Testing and Certification Requirements for Certain Products

CPSC Clarifies Requirements of New Children’s Product Safety Laws Taking Effect in February
Guidance Intended for Resellers of Children’s Products, Thrift and Consignment Stores

To celebrate, how about a little Valentine's Day sale?! I'll be adding sweaters, slippers and boots throughout the weekend - most will be red or pink! Happy Valentine's Day.

a personal indoor garden

I made these slippers recently for a friend's birthday. She deserves a great pair of warm cozy wool garden slippers to combat the damp cold of London. I know because Seattle's climate is not much different. Happy Big Birthday Whitney!

Does anyone else want a pair? I enjoy special orders. I love adding designs, especially gardens, to the beautiful grown-up slippers handmade in Mongolia. I always seem to sell the adult sized slippers with embellishments before I get a chance to put any in the online boutique. If you would like me to try a pair for you, please contact me at handmade@satchsol.com