FairTradeGifts

Christmas Gift Ideas

2008-10-25T13:56:29+02:00

Christmas Gifts from Naturally Simple Ltd

It is that time of year again when we all start thinking of Christmas and what presents to buy everyone. We would all like to buy everyone something different but not having to spend a great deal to achieve this. We all like value for money and if you come to our website www.naturallysimple.co.uk you will find great value, great communication and that personal attention you need when you want to ask questions or need something a bit different. We are an online only gift shop and can give you the full attention you need and expect from a good family run business.

You can avoid the stress of catching the bus or parking the car and then the crowds and having to queue in the High Street shops. You certainly will not have to go out shopping on those cold, windy autumn days if you shop on the internet.

We sell gifts for every member of the family. We have handmade soft toys and ragdolls for babies and younger children, handmade and fair-trade board games and puzzles for dad. For mum and the ladies in your life we have handmade soaps to fair-trade and handmade jewellery.

All of our gifts are one or more of the following:

• Fair trade
• Handmade
• Organic
• Recycled

All our gifts are reasonably priced and every item on the website is packaged and posted out at no cost to you if you live in Mainland UK. If you would like you items recorded you can choose the option at checkout and pay extra (72p) for the parcel. We also offer your items posted day after ordering with the following day delivery before 1pm at a cost of £4.60. This just covers the price of next day delivery – we still pay the post and packing.

If you have not been to the website for a while please have another look as we have many new gift ideas and we have a Christmas section to give you some ideas you may not have thought about.

We have:
• Fair trade and handmade jewellery
• Fair trade and handmade Gift sets
• Fair trade and handmade ragdolls
• Fair trade and handmade soft toys
• Fair trade and handmade leather journals
• Fair trade and handmade elephant dung paper gifts
• Fair trade and handmade greeting cards
• Fair trade and handmade Lokta gift paper
• Fair trade and handmade banana leaf paper
• Fair trade and handmade bags / purses / wallets
• Fair trade and handmade wooden games and puzzles
• Fair trade and handmade secret lock boxes / jewellery boxes
• Fair trade and handmade tealight and candle holders
• Recycled gift ideas
• Handmade soaps
• Fair trade and handmade gift tag

Have a great Christmas and we look forward to giving you that pleasant shopping experience at a great price.

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Imajo Handmade and Fairtrade Ragdolls

2008-09-02T15:16:21+02:00

Naturally Simple has a great new product range for the kids this Christmas – or they could be for the child in you!

Our ragdolls are supplied by Imajo Ltd. Imajo are a UK importer of the handmade soft ragdolls and soft toys made in a factory in Sri Lanka. Each ragdoll has a set of clothes and their own hair colours giving a wide choice for everyone. What is particularly nice is the quality of the hair, which is actually sewn in, as opposed to lots of rag dolls on the market, where the hair is glued.

We have both male and female ragdolls and they are suitable from birth to 102! If you are a child at heart we have a ragdoll for you. Click here to see the full range of our ragdolls.

Imajo fairtrade ragdolls are handmade and this can mean that sometimes the finished items may vary slightly from the photographs on this website. This adds to the charm and unique nature of the products. Each doll is surface washable with removable clothes which can be washed separately. They are handmade entirely from fabric and wool.

All our rag dolls and soft toys are hand made. The factory where the ragdolls are made operates to the principles of fair trade. No children are employed and all the workers are paid fair wages. This supports the local economy is something we strongly believe in. Most of the raw materials including the vibrant handloom fabrics are produced locally. This can mean that sometimes the finished items may vary slightly from the photographs on this website. We think this adds to the charm and unique nature of our ragdolls.

Packaging
Imajo deliberately keep the packaging down to a minimum. Our dolls will arrive in a protective bag, but we do not use any unnecessary additional plastic or cardboard box packaging.

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Fairtrade and Handmade Lokta Paper

2008-07-31T16:39:08+02:00

Naturally Simple Ltd is now stocking some wonderful giftwrap which is handmade and also sourced via Fair trade from Nepal. Have a look at our great range at http://www.naturallysimple.co.uk

Paper making in Nepal dates back to the 11th century and is one of the oldest traditional household industries. Paper making developed in the Orient in about the 6th century and scholars surmise that the technology arrived in Nepal via tradesmen who travelled the trade routes from China to India. Lokta paper has long been renowned for its durability and natural resistance to insects. This paper is renowned for its exceptional durability and for its lively and special texture.
Nepalese handmade paper is made from the bark of the Daphne Cannabina or Papyracea bush and is known locally as Lokta. It is an evergreen shrub that grows in the forests, under the shade of the larger plants, in the foothills of the Himalayas. It grows up to 13 feet (4m) high and has long leathery leaves much like a bay leaf (to which family it belongs), with clusters of fragrant white to pink flowers and small dark rust coloured berries and when harvested will totally regenerate within six to eight years. Many communities in the mountains earn a living from harvesting the bark of the Lokta bush and the fragile forest ecology is preserved. The paper is handmade in the mountains of Nepal from the inner bark of this bush. Popular as the most exquisite and versatile papers on the planet, Lokta handmade paper has four deckled edges and is a very strong fibre.
To begin with, it is necessary to separate the raffia (or rough fibres). For the farmers of the Himalayas, this phase consists of cooking the dry bark in a solution of ash in order to soften it. After the foreign matter is removed The Lokta bark is then cleaned with clear water, chopped finely, and again plunged into the water. The matter obtained from this process is brought to the boil, rinsed again, and then crushed on fist-sized smooth river stones in order to produce a fine white paste. It takes about 4-5 hours to achieve the right consistency.

The next step is to take a frame that is made of thin white cotton stretched on a bamboo frame approximately 20" x 30". The frame is placed in a vat of still water and the paste mixture is poured in it carefully in order to spread it evenly. The frame with the paste is then slowly lifted from the water. The paper paste is set in the sun to dry on the frame. Once dry, the paper is peeled off the frame. It is then used as is with a rough texture, or may be polished with a conch shell or a smooth stone which makes a firmer surface for writing. Every sheet of paper is handmade individually on a muslin screen, making each one unique & giving a natural, uncut edge to the paper. After drying in the sunshine the paper is dyed using a variety of vegetable & chemical dyes.

What makes this handmade paper so eco-friendly? v Lokta paper is handmade and sun dried, so there are no machines putting C02 or other emission into our air.v It is made from a bush that grows quickly and needs to be pruned to the ground every 3- 4 years to grow stronger. Without this pruned it will wither and die. The root base grown during this period of regeneration keeps the soil more stable and helps protect rural Nepalese villages from mudslides during the monsoon season.v The bush grows in the shade, so bushes grown for commercial purposes don’t require that the forests are cut down to farm them. It can be grown in tiers so that the plants will be ready to prune in different years.v It is grown without chemicals and requires no bleaches or other chemical processing.v While only the skin of the Lokta bush is needed to produce the paper. The artisans dry the remaining stalk of the bush in the sun so that they can use it for fuel to cook with. Therefore the entire plant is used and there is no waste.v The paper is colored with either azo free dyes or organic dyes such as indigo, tree barks, flower etc.v The strength of the paper makes it easy to reuse and the beauty of it makes you want to.Using Lokta paper is not only good for the environment, but it helps the rural people of the Nepalese of the Himalayan mountain region. Not only does the root growth help protect their villages, but paper making is their only source of income.

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Elephant Dung Birthday Cards

2008-06-25T20:02:04+02:00

Naturally Simple has been looking for some great handmade cards to stock and we think we have found some of excellent quality. They are great fun, they give employment and also help the elephants. When looking for materials to make our hand made cards, we prioritise using recycled / renewable resources.

The card and envelopes are from 100% post consumer waste materials. The buff coloured cards are 75% post consumer waste paper and 25% elephant poo. This supports a project in Sri Lanka where a 'habitat war' between villagers growing crops and elephants looking for food is an ongoing tension. The decoration on the card also uses recycled materials where possible, although this is not necessarily 100% recycled.
The packaging we use is also sourced with recycled materials in mind and we have tried to find envelopes and boxes that protect the cards in transit, but with reasonable renewable credentials.

We hope you enjoy cards and they bring lasting pleasure to those you send them to, whilst minimising the impact on our world. A natural fibre, it is a renewable resource. The inks and decorative papers are acid free.

How Is Elephant Poo Cards Made?

Elephant dung paper is made using a process that has been used for several years. Elephant dung is collected from conservation parks or from other natural areas and the fibres from that dung are cleaned. Once they have been thoroughly cleaned, they are dyed so that producers can make many different colored elephant dung papers. After the dyeing process is complete, the fibers are mixed with natural materials so that the entire mixture gets thicker and makes it easier for the paper to be produced. Once this thickening happens, the mixture is formed into cakes or patties and put into mesh trays so it can dry. While the cakes are drying, the trays are often put up against trees so that the sun can accelerate the drying process and make sure the fibers are as dry as possible. Once the cakes or patties have dried, sheets of elephant dung paper are pulled off the mesh trays. This is how elephant dung paper is made.

Quality of Elephant Dung Paper

Many people think that being made out of elephant dung makes recycled paper low in quality. This is not the truth at all. In fact, elephant dung paper is just as high in quality as paper produced with raw materials. The high levels of quality make it easier for manufacturers to turn elephant dung paper into other products.

Elephant Dung Paper Products

Once the paper has been made, it can be used to make many other elephant dung paper products. Please click here to see our huge range of Elephant Dung Paper. This kind of paper is often used to make journals that come in a wide variety of styles and colors. These journals can feature very plain covers or have more decorative covers so that many people will like what is being offered.

Since millions of greeting cards are sent each year, (see our range of Elephant Dung Greeting Cards) having an environmentally responsible alternative to cards made with raw materials is a great idea. Elephant dung paper can also be used to make stationery sets that include writing paper, note cards, and envelopes. A wide variety of products are made with elephant dung paper.

Where does the Elephant Poo Come From?

The Millennium Elephant Foundation is situated on a 15 acre estate known as Samaragiri, which has been home to the Samarasinghe family for many generations. The family has owned elephants since the 1960's and in 1979 Mr. Samarasinghe (1939 - 1991) opened the estate to the public as the "Elephant Bath". Currently the MEF is home to 5 cow (female) elephants. The youngest, Pooja was the first captive elephant to be bred in Sri Lanka, born in 1984. It is estimated that the MEF grounds have a total holding capacity of 10-15 female elephants; of course consideration can be given to male elephants if necessary. In an effort to increase awareness and generate the funds needed for the maintenance and care of our elephants, the MEF actively welcomes visitors and encourages one to one interaction with them.

At the turn of the 20th Century, there were more than 12,000 elephants in the jungles of Sri Lanka. Now it is estimated that there are only between 2,500 and 2,800 and 192 elephants living in domesticity. The Millennium Elephant Foundation seeks to promote and improve elephant welfare in Sri Lanka by encouraging the conservation of Sri Lanka's threatened elephant population and compassionate elephant ownership. We hope to do this by raising awareness of the elephant's struggle; offering medical help / assistance and promoting education relating to elephant welfare, not only in Sri Lanka but around the world.

The Millennium Elephant Foundation believes good welfare standards are possible for all captive elephants in Sri Lanka. Our project '2000 and Beyond' aims to promote this through good health, compassionate ownership and education.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at Naturally Simple Ltd on help@naturallysimple.co.uk

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Product of the Week

2008-05-16T23:40:42+02:00

Keep watching this space as we soon be showcasing a Fairtrade product a week.

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Welcome to Fair Trade Gifts

2008-03-06T15:58:18+01:00

Welcome to my first blog in the group section. My name is Wendy and I own an online gift shop that sells Fair Trade gifts which can also be handmade or organic. All our ethically sourced gifts are bought so that we can help others have a better standard of life.

Please feel free to leave comments about anything to do with Fair Trade issues and if you want to comment on my website feel free to do that here also.

Welcome and come on in and have a chat.

Regards
Wendy
www.naturallysimple.co.uk

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