Twitter

Twitter. Hmm. My own personal jury’s still out on this. But if it’s free and can potentially help promote the business, I’m in!

Find Boutiko here:

Tweets by boutiko

And don’t worry, there won’t be any posts about how I just had a coffee and oh look the sun’s shining; relevant (and of course extremely interesting)  info only!

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Suppliers: Mi Mariposa

This seems a good time to do a supplier information post, as we have just started stocking the delicious Mi Mariposa products!

Mi Mariposa (meaning My Butterfly) was set up by Katherine Thistleton-Smith last year, and is already producing some of the most original and stunning fair trade products I’ve seen. Her main focus is children’s clothes, but as you will see we are starting with some home products that make excellent gifts. Katherine designs and oversees the creation of every piece.  While living in Ecuador, she discovered the skilled embroidery done by the women who now work for her on a trip into the foothills of the Imbabura volcano. Wanting to share their beautiful creations with a wider audience while giving them a fair wage and good working conditions, Katherine started Mi Mariposa. She now works very closely with the women’s co-operative, Nuevo Camino, providing the mothers with a regular living wage, whilst preserving and celebrating an important cultural tradition. Currently, we are stocking the bright and beautiful butterfly embroidered picnic blankets (try saying that very fast!), and the pleated purses, which work equally well as pencil cases or make up bags, complete with tagua (vegetable ivory) keyring. And we are also really pleased to be exclusive stockists of the gorgeous white cotton napkins, with Mi Mariposa’s signature design embroidered carefully on each one. They come in sets of four, and like the picnic blankets, make wonderful wedding gifts.

Click on each image to find it on http://www.boutiko.co.uk.

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Suppliers: Tales From The Earth

I think the people themselves say it better than I could:

“So what’s it all about? Well, it started through travelling. We always loved to travel. A kaleidoscope of cultures, stories and landscapes made it great to get out of the house, even if it was for a year or two at a time. And from this grew Tales From The Earth. We were clear what we wanted from the start – to create silver jewellery, keepsakes and charms that told stories, like those we encountered on our voyages. Twenty years on, we’re still at it. Travelling. Being inspired. Telling Tales. And people still come to us because they want something beautiful and unusual. Fabulously packaged. For any occasion. If your heart still sings, you’ll love what we do.” Jo Culf and John DeCosta

Tales From The Earth make beautiful jewellery for men, women and children, as well as trinket boxes, cufflinks and christening gifts, all crafted in sterling silver and packaged in gorgeous aqua and bronze boxes or velvety pouches.

Each piece tells a story, written on a little card inside the box.

The company also operate a strict fair trading  policy, making sure that working conditions abroad are safe and adequate, that wages are fair, and that no children work for them. They use locally produced raw materials where possible.Back at home, they use minimum packaging, recycle as much as possible, and contribute to a carbon offsetting programme.

Tales from the Earth products are beautifully made and packaged, and any of them make a superb present that will be treasured for a lifetime.

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Our Survey Says…..

Well before I get to that bit, thank you very much to everyone who kindly gave up their to complete the survey, and especially to those who gave extra information and opinions. I am very grateful to you all; it truly does help us to improve our service and product offerings, and that’s really all we want to do here at Boutiko! It actually IS all about you. ;o)

So anyway, the numbers were put into a hat (also known as random.org), and the one drawn out to win the prize of a set of handmade porcelain ‘Home’ tealights is: MARK MADELEY.

Congratulations Mark! We hope you love them as much as we do! At a later date we will produce some stats and responses to all your entries and comments – just have to go through them all first!

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Boutiko’s First Print Ad!

Left hand side, second row down! It’ll be interesting to see the response….

Juno is a family magazine whose ethos is “based on natural parenting, environmental sustainability, social justice, non violence and spiritual awareness.”

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