THE JUST TRADE TEAM INTRODUCING : Cinthia Cinthia has been working for the Zoe Project for 3 years and is studying to become a primary school teacher - which she loves! Cinthia makes the brass ribbon collection and our silver animal pendants.  She is an incredibly fast worker and VERY creative…  She designed the Alibu and short brass ribbon necklaces. The flexibility of this type of work means that it doesn’t affect her studies.  She can make jewellery in the evenings/ weekends and most often.. during school holidays.  She lives with her Mum, Grandparents, Brother and her Auntie.  The money she earns helps pay for her studies and for family living expenses. It’s Cinthia’s birthday on Sunday (15th April) and she will be turning 20!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINTHIA!!! Check out more of the ladies work on our website
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THE JUST TRADE TEAM

INTRODUCING : Cinthia

Cinthia has been working for the Zoe Project for 3 years and is studying to become a primary school teacher - which she loves!

Cinthia makes the brass ribbon collection and our silver animal pendants.  She is an incredibly fast worker and VERY creative…  She designed the Alibu and short brass ribbon necklaces.

The flexibility of this type of work means that it doesn’t affect her studies.  She can make jewellery in the evenings/ weekends and most often.. during school holidays. 

She lives with her Mum, Grandparents, Brother and her Auntie.  The money she earns helps pay for her studies and for family living expenses.

It’s Cinthia’s birthday on Sunday (15th April) and she will be turning 20! 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CINTHIA!!!

Check out more of the ladies work on our website

THE JUST TRADE TEAM INTRODUCING : Primi & Bryan This is Primi, one of our fantastic ladies working in the Zoe Project in Lima, Peru, she has been working for us for 4 years and is INCREDIBLE at crochet.  Products that she makes includes ladybirds, forget-me-nots, the new tulips (coming soon) and IWM’s poppies. She is always keen to try out new designs, learn new skills and teach others. Primi has 3 little boys, the youngest being 18 month old Bryan who has down syndrome and requires physiotherapy 3 times a week.  The hospital is a 2 hour bus journey away from home.  The costs of Bryan’s treatment and travel are quite overwhelming for Primi, so the rest of the ladies in the project always give Primi work first, Bryan’s health is always considered a priority. “This work is like a blessing from the heavens” - Primi Check out more of the ladies work on our website
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THE JUST TRADE TEAM

INTRODUCING : Primi & Bryan

This is Primi, one of our fantastic ladies working in the Zoe Project in Lima, Peru, she has been working for us for 4 years and is INCREDIBLE at crochet.  Products that she makes includes ladybirds, forget-me-nots, the new tulips (coming soon) and IWM’s poppies. She is always keen to try out new designs, learn new skills and teach others.

Primi has 3 little boys, the youngest being 18 month old Bryan who has down syndrome and requires physiotherapy 3 times a week.  The hospital is a 2 hour bus journey away from home.  The costs of Bryan’s treatment and travel are quite overwhelming for Primi, so the rest of the ladies in the project always give Primi work first, Bryan’s health is always considered a priority.

“This work is like a blessing from the heavens” - Primi

Check out more of the ladies work on our website

LINKS: email facebook twitter
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LINKS: email facebook twitter

With our upcoming Tagua Animal pendants soon to be released we thought it would be a good idea to do a little blog post about the nut that they are made from, so here we go : “Tagua (”tah-gwa”) nut, also called ‘ivory nut’, ‘vegetable ivory’ or ‘Corozo’ is the dried seedpod of the Tagua Palm tree (Phytelephas Macrocarpa) which grows in the tropical rainforests of South America.” (via) Chemically Tagua nuts are made of pure cellulose.  Before nuts mature they contain a milky liquid in the centre which is completely edible. Seemingly in one episode of Man vs. Wild (Discovery Channel, 2008), the great Bear Grylls demonstrated how to eat tagua when surviving in rainforests…  Let me know if any of you find a clip, it would be really interesting to watch! Due to it’s ivory look and feel, Tagua is often used in the production of beads, buttons, jewellery and little trinkets.. and more recently has been used to make bagpipes! (via) Tagua nuts are gathered from the rainforest floor after they have fallen naturally (or with a little help from some friendly local animals) from the tree – no harm is done to the tree whatsoever. Not only is using Tagua friendly to the rainforest, but it helps the fight against ivory poaching, saving elephants, walruses, and other ivory bearing animals. In one year, one tagua palm can produce as much ivory as an average African elephant in her lifetime (via) - Each year, a typical tree bears approximately 15-20 kilograms of nuts. The Amazonian Indians believes that the Tagua nut brings prosperity, happiness, love and abundance… and Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, and natives of South and Central America used Tagua for emotional and spiritual health and well-being. To them, Tagua is sacred. (via) So all in all, an amazing nut!
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With our upcoming Tagua Animal pendants soon to be released we thought it would be a good idea to do a little blog post about the nut that they are made from, so here we go :

“Tagua (”tah-gwa”) nut, also called ‘ivory nut’, ‘vegetable ivory’ or ‘Corozo’ is the dried seedpod of the Tagua Palm tree (Phytelephas Macrocarpa) which grows in the tropical rainforests of South America.” (via)

Chemically Tagua nuts are made of pure cellulose.  Before nuts mature they contain a milky liquid in the centre which is completely edible. Seemingly in one episode of Man vs. Wild (Discovery Channel, 2008), the great Bear Grylls demonstrated how to eat tagua when surviving in rainforests…  Let me know if any of you find a clip, it would be really interesting to watch!

Due to it’s ivory look and feel, Tagua is often used in the production of beads, buttons, jewellery and little trinkets.. and more recently has been used to make bagpipes! (via)

Tagua nuts are gathered from the rainforest floor after they have fallen naturally (or with a little help from some friendly local animals) from the tree – no harm is done to the tree whatsoever. Not only is using Tagua friendly to the rainforest, but it helps the fight against ivory poaching, saving elephants, walruses, and other ivory bearing animals.

In one year, one tagua palm can produce as much ivory as an average African elephant in her lifetime (via) - Each year, a typical tree bears approximately 15-20 kilograms of nuts.

The Amazonian Indians believes that the Tagua nut brings prosperity, happiness, love and abundance… and Mayans, Incas, Aztecs, and natives of South and Central America used Tagua for emotional and spiritual health and well-being. To them, Tagua is sacred. (via)

So all in all, an amazing nut!


We had an ACE time in Brighton! We ventured down to Brighton last week for the Association for Cultural Enterprises Convention 2012. We were all blown away by the venue.  Brighton Pavilion is such a beautiful building with a wealth of history, we felt incredibly lucky to be based there for the entire 2 day event, and being so close to the sea was a great added bonus. The event itself was organised incredibly well by the ACE team and the staff at the Pavilion. There were some fantastic seminars to attend and the tradeshow was coordinated very well to coincide with this. All in all, a great event! We got to showcase our new friendly little Tagua Animal Pendants (photo), which went down very well and will be hitting the shops asap.  Be sure to follow us on twitter for updates
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We had an ACE time in Brighton!

We ventured down to Brighton last week for the Association for Cultural Enterprises Convention 2012.

We were all blown away by the venue.  Brighton Pavilion is such a beautiful building with a wealth of history, we felt incredibly lucky to be based there for the entire 2 day event, and being so close to the sea was a great added bonus.

The event itself was organised incredibly well by the ACE team and the staff at the Pavilion. There were some fantastic seminars to attend and the tradeshow was coordinated very well to coincide with this.

All in all, a great event!

We got to showcase our new friendly little Tagua Animal Pendants (photo), which went down very well and will be hitting the shops asap. 

Be sure to follow us on twitter for updates


Exciting news! We’ve been spotted on WGSN - the fashion forecast website. The Beautiful Sophie Greenstreet (@SoGreenstreet - WEBSITE) has been photographed wearing our Laurita Necklace.
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Exciting news!

We’ve been spotted on WGSN - the fashion forecast website.

The Beautiful Sophie Greenstreet (@SoGreenstreet - WEBSITE) has been photographed wearing our Laurita Necklace.

A film about Turner Contemporary and Margate by Sky Arts (by Turner Contemporary)

Check us out from 5:03.

Source: vimeo.com

ANOTHER SNEAK PREVIEW! We’ve been sent a sneak preview of a new little family of crocheted characters. Here is a photo of Dorila putting the finishing touches on a happy little elephant. So what do you think?
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ANOTHER SNEAK PREVIEW!

We’ve been sent a sneak preview of a new little family of crocheted characters. Here is a photo of Dorila putting the finishing touches on a happy little elephant.

So what do you think?

AND THE WINNER IS! We set the ladies in Lima a design competition.  Their aim was to crochet the cutest little bunny rabbits, and they did so well we couldn’t pick between 4 of the designs. The winning bunny is a combination of Neri’s body, Dorila’s face, Antonia’s ears and Beatriz’s tail!!!  Here they are with their winning prizes.
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AND THE WINNER IS!

We set the ladies in Lima a design competition.  Their aim was to crochet the cutest little bunny rabbits, and they did so well we couldn’t pick between 4 of the designs.

The winning bunny is a combination of Neri’s body, Dorila’s face, Antonia’s ears and Beatriz’s tail!!! 

Here they are with their winning prizes.

SAMPLES FROM PERU! Here is a photo we have received from Laura of a few samples of rabbits and daffodils the ladies over in Lima are trying out right now. Which ones do you prefer?
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SAMPLES FROM PERU!

Here is a photo we have received from Laura of a few samples of rabbits and daffodils the ladies over in Lima are trying out right now.

Which ones do you prefer?