So, yeah. Wow. The jet lag hit me HARD this time. I apologize for my silence here on the site but I've basically been trying to regroup, get back into a routine, get some sleep, get some more sleep, figure out how long I can actually sidestep the giant pile of laundry I need to do, and readjust to the cooler weather here. I even wore flipflops to work on Friday as a blatant refusal to admit fall is truly here.

So many of you have asked about the trip to France, and everytime I talk about it, I can't help grinning from ear to ear and talking about my favourite parts (pretty much every single day) and all the fantastic food and wine and fun I had with my husband. It was definitely one of the best trips we've taken - no health issues, no major annoyances (except a bit of a delay on our connection flight in Montreal), and the GPS took good care of us. We even completely missed all the strikes that happened in Paris which briefly shut down the city (we left the day before), as well as the terrorist scares. So, yes, we had a great time.

One of the things that struck me the most while we were there is connected to the whole Buy Handmade campagin that has been going on for a while now. There has been an obvious rise in the number of people embracing and selling handmade goods online and in boutique shops in the past few years. Buy Handmade was a campaign to get people to only buy handmade items, and it went so far as asking people to PLEDGE to do this, not just think about it. And to some extent it worked - people were pumped about buying handmade goods. People felt good for supporting artisans. But I think a large number of the people who jumped on the campaign were already converts. People were supporting other artisans they knew, were being introduced to new crafters, and were creating communities within their own creative crafty movement. I don't think for the most part the campaign broke through to people who weren't already marginally involved or interested. Suburban Sally and Lawnmower Larry still bought stuff at the big box store, never having heard of Etsy. I truly don't expect everyone to buy only handmade goods - I certainly don't. I just think that the idea of having to convince people to think about artists and artisans as a source of goods is so incredibly different than the way of thinking elsewhere.

In France, every single day, I saw how Buy Handmade was not simply a campaign but a way of life. Even just on our walk from our apartment to get groceries, we would pass by a furniture repair store and a sculptor's workshop. The tints in the picture above are from the furniture repair shop - they are dyes ready to be mixed and used for the various tasks necessary to fix the furniture. The front door of the workshop was open and you could see the guy whistling away while hand-planing a bit of curved wood. The sculptor's door was open too, and you could watch her at work with her clay. There was a festival going on in Paris celebrating its heritage, and stalls were set up to show the artisans that maintain the art and architecture of Paris at work.

The people easily embrace a handmade attitude that they don't need to think twice about. Instead of buying new furniture, you go and get it fixed. You want some art for your house? You go down the street to Monique, since you've already got to know her on your way to the boulangerie (where the bread is baked on site daily).

I'm not saying that the French don't buy mass-produced goods. Of course they do. The apartment we rented was outfitted in IKEA. The first big box store I ever went into in 1988 was in France. Nor am I saying that North Americans only buy mass-produced goods.

I am, however, suggesting that we could learn a bit about bringing the idea of "handmade" into our everyday. Not have it be simply a campaign that tells us how we should buy. But have it become part of everyday, where it at least becomes one of the options when considering a purchase. So Sally and Larry can think, "I can go to the big box store, or I can buy that awesome item from Manusmade." Some days they'll choose big box, some days they'll choose Manusmade, depending on a variety of factors, not just price or convenience.

What are some ways we can bring in the idea of handmade to our everyday?