Block printing:the journey

Its less than 15 days for the fair now!!Travel with us!!

From the roof of the mansion comes the rhythmic sound of clinking metal. Abshar Husain, fondly known as “Bhaijan” a wood block carver, sits on the stone floor with a small hammer and delicate chisel. With each tap, he carves part of the outline of a flower into a block of teak.

Wood carving is one step in the Indian tradition of hand-block printing, which for centuries has adorned royal robes, religious cloths and flowing skirts. Bhuj is a minefield of artisans and craftsmen. Bhaijan, 50, began learning the craft from his father when he was 8. His grandfather was also a wood block carver. It takes him 10 days to carve a large and intricate floral block.

Photo credit: Craftmark

.

Bhaijan with his son Asif and nephew Aman-creating blocks

And then the process of making pigment paints for block printing process, along with the final version of printing on fabric. Pigment dyes are mixed with kerosene and a The consistency should be just right, for if it is too thick it will give a raised We are lead to this block printing space, with its apricot-colored walls and carved windows, this small workspace creates.

“Bhaijan” talks continuously while working from his rack of colors and blocks. On the upper most shelves are trays of dye, below which are the printing blocks. These blocks are then dipped in dye and imprinted onto the fabric from left to right. A point on the block serves as a guide for the repeat impression. This technique continues in layers if there are multiple colors to complete the design. He showed us a fabric that had 14 layers of block printed paints, a complicated printing and dyeing technique similar to the one used in Ajrakh, in the western Indian state of Gujarat. 

We learnt that in the village of Bhagru, patterns traditionally denoted marital status and caste. For example, gardeners wore cloth patterned with flowers, widows could not wear a dagger pattern and middle-aged women wore marigold patterns. Vaishali, our Craftmark manager tries her hand with Bhagru Black-paint derived by mixing acidic solution of iron - often rusted nails/horse shoes etc. with jaggery (country sugar) allowed to rot for about 10-15 days.The first try gets the approval from Bhaijan to continue!!!!

Upstairs the clinking continued…His sons are learning this tradition…. 

We would like to thank the Craftmark team for all the travels and effort they are making to bring us these wonderful products. If anyone is interested in traveling to see and meet"Bhaijan" at work let us know!

Sneak Peek!

Our first consignment just came in yesterday - Am i excited or what!! Putting up pics of some of the most beautiful/smart scarves, bangles and hairpins i have seen in a while. Well, i am not going reveal too much about the contents right now, just leaving a teaser for y'all :) If you want to touch, feel, see and own - you gotta come to the California Gift Show 2011 - simple! :)

About these products:

Tussar Silk Scarves: As you will notice, these scarves are block printed with geometric patterns on tussar silk in amazingly vibrant color combinations. The specialty is its dual or even three colored shade transitions within a single piece! We carry over 500 shades of these tussar silk scarves in different permutations and combinations with over 100 different geometric patterns, thereby providing our customers with a unique piece almost each time! My favorite is the one you see on the top in blue - can you spot yours?

Wooden Bangles: Again, one design one piece! well almost :) Beautiful print and patterns accentuated by a hint of gold border detail. The best part - they are made from faux or fibre wood. yeah - they are ecofriendly!

Hair pins: These are made along the lines of the bangles using faux wood. I personally adore em! I think they look darn chic n sexy on tied up hair - although i need to see a couple of you-tube videos before i myself can tie a knot with my hair using these :P Well i hope to become a pro very soon - it's summer and ah! i can't wait to use these...

Pretty tempting, isn't it? We are waiting for lot's more to come and hopefully so are you by now :)

We are partnering with AIACA - Craftmark!

The Green Elephant has now joined hands with AIACA-Craftmark and will represent them as wholesale distributors for products in North America and Canada region! We hope all our buyers and producer groups can benefit from this collaboration just the same :)

For those of you who are not aware of Craftmark, here's a brief profile about their work. 

AIACA is a non profit membership based apex body for the handloom and handicrafts sector in India. Its brand Craftmark accredits authenticity and genuinity of Indian handicrafts. AIACA licenses the Craftmark seal for use by craft-based businesses, cooperatives and NGO’s for use on product tickets and labels. An organization has to meet vigorous certification standards to be granted the seal. Craftmark is a Certification Trademark under registration by the Trademarks Authority.

AIACA assists artisan groups by running capacity building and organizational development programs. Their Enterprise Support Program (ESP) partners with producers to expand and professionalize their operations, assisting them to become more sustainable.

We had a little tête à tête with Craftmark's Market Access Manager Vaishali Thapa, who has been the most patient and a wonderful person to talk to. She travels excessively meeting and working with artisan groups in different parts of India to help them organize, improvise and streamline product development and production.

How many organizations is AIACA-Craftmark currently affiliated with?

VT: Currently we have approximately 90 groups.

How does AIACA-Craftmark provide support to these producer groups? What is its main role? 

VT: The main role of AIACA is to provide direct market linkages to the buyers, facilities like merchandising, packaging, quality check and aggregation of the shipment, including all shipping paperwork. Craftmark only certifies that the product is genuinely handcrafted and authentic in terms of region and process.

How do you hunt for new producer groups--do the groups contact you to be certified or you are involved in looking for new products or groups yourselves?

VT: This happens both ways, either people who have heard about Craftmark approach us or we ourselves go and approach producer groups.

What are the main challenges you face?

VT : The major challenge is to convince the producer group as to why they need to apply for Craftmark, what is the USP as this is a membership based structure and groups don’t want to divulge the income. The other problem starts post they become members, time frame in terms of delivery is a major issue, since most producer groups are located in far flung areas internet access is a problem, we don’t get information on time.

What is the criteria for certification? Is it the same as fair trade?

VT:  AIACA-Craftmark works on the ethics of fair trade and the criteria for certification is that the production process would have a minimum of 30% of the process which is hand done, though in most of our products everything is hand done right from the dyeing to finishing.

There are people who would love to travel to remote places and see how the crafts are actually made, experience their lifestyle, the difficulties they face etc. Have you considered conducting such volunteer based tours or involving volunteers in any other way for that matter? how?

VT: We have done so in the past and do look forward to doing so, as you know ours is a funded organization, the tours were funded by Aid to Artisans then. We would appreciate if you can propose something.

Do you emphasize or promote craftsmen towards eco-friendly methods?

VT: We do have producer groups who follow this as a principle, but this is not a pre requisite for us.

Can you tell us a little about your production site visits?

VT: You can find out more in terms of what we record from the website and download the forms, besides this we document the process with pictures of each and every group that we visit, and document the capacity in terms of no of artisans and products, prices etc.

What is the most exciting aspect of being involved with Craftmark for you?

VT : Well it has to be travel and getting to know that at the end of the day you have managed to contribute even in the smallest manner to the welfare/income of an artist or group of artists. I’ve had a lot of humbling experience to see the odds against which some of the producer groups work and the people involved at the grass root level who help them. We sitting in big cities cannot fathom the kind of dedication required to do such things. I was mostly influenced by the enthusiasm of the women in particular who took time out after a day’s work and created something which is so beautiful.

Is AIACA-Craftmark a recognized fair trade entity in itself? If not, how easy or hard is it to convince people about the authenticity of your brand being a fair trade organization?

VT: AIACA-Craftmark is not a fair trade certification agency, though we follow fair trade practices. Fair trade mostly works on the compliances and we are trying to build compliances into our work.  

And, finally when we ask Vaishali to reflect on this affiliation

VT says : It’s always a pleasure to work with partners who envision this sector as we do, we hope that we can take this relation forward to a whole new level and help as many crafts persons as possible. Till now we have been on the same page regarding most of the ideas and hope this works out for both the parties.

We too are very optimistic about this collaboration and hope together we can make a difference! Craftmark certified products are going to be at The Green Elephant booth no. 842 at the California Gift Show, Kentia Hall July 2011! We hope to see you there!
Image Credits : Gaatha

News Part 2!

California - The Golden State. The sunshine state. The good food state! Just the way californians think... it is not as confined by tradition as other parts of the country. And all of this put together makes a perfect mix, for a place where design meets color and traditional products are reinvented with new materials and purposes. That is why you need to come to California and see The Green Elephant's smashing new designs at the California Gift Show, Booth 842. 


Excited, nervous and unceasingly optimistic as we are, The Green Elephant is debuting their collection at the trade show in July this year. Look for our designs used in new ways, as framed art work - on pillows, coasters, bags, scarves and well that's just to name a few.  We are now offering a product range of over 200 products from designer stationary to handmade accessories for you and your home. We now have the ability to take our art work, customize it to your specifications with names or colors and put it on any of over 150 different products! All designed and developed based on fair trade principles. We belive eco-consciousness and responsible consumerism is not "just a fad” but here to stay. Come to the California Gift Show, be a part of the big movement and ask us what we can do for you! We would be happy to help :)

When : July 22nd to 25th 2011

Where : L.A Convention Center, Kentia Hall

              Booth 842 [right across the stage]

Please Please Please call us to set appointments so that we can give our 100% to each one of you !
Leaving you with a glimpse of the excitement we are going to be a part of - hope to see you there!

Truuuuuump!

Dear Friends,

Our own cute little Green Elephant is getting even cuter now :) more fun, more colorful - just like our products! This, even cuter logo is designed by my friend and a graphic designer Prateeksha Khatri [psst! she is single, smart and beautiful too ;)]. She is currently based out of New York and has worked for brands like Steve Madden, Aeropostale, Banana Republic etc. Prateeksha has done her Masters in Fine Arts from the Savannah College of Art and Design with current focus on the web/e-commerce. 

Prats - We love it! Thanks a bunch once again!

  

Truuuuuuuuump!  

 

Leaving you all with some clues to our next piece of news, which we'l break very soon too!

 

The Green Elephant is coming to town, 
To break the ice on the ground.
This time,
Los Angeles they said, the city is called
Beautiful, Stylish as we know it all.

Loads of colorful stories and gifts it’s got 
Sent with love from the Earth & Hands a lot.

The Elephant's dressing up for you all
Getting shiny, new and tidy overall

Hey , hey
Old friends and new, to know more about this clue,
Do come and visit us again soon!