Happy Valentine's Day, Everyone!

In less than two weeks we'll be celebrating Valentine's Day for this year--it falls on Thursday, February 14th--and I've been putting a lot of thought into this day. To me, it means passion. Passion that includes intense emotions that connect us to other people, not only in the romantic sense, or the platonic sense, but in the global sense. How do our emotions connect to people we don't personally know? I believe it is through passion embedded in altruism and our spirit of deep helpfulness, our hard-wired desire to help one another. I believe it is also through compassion.

One of the reasons I founded Shopping for a Change is from this passion I feel in helping others, locally and non-locally. And it is this power of passion that drives me through the day and drives this nonprofit. Love and passion are inherent in all of our products, as captured and expressed by the artisans who craft them across thirteen countries.

As Valentine's Day is a celebration of our love, passion and other finer expressions of devotion, I feel that a continual burning of the fire of passion is a good shopping motif for this day. Among our many products that can be given for Valentine's Day, I've chosen this one for its fire.  This is the Same Sky Glass Beaded Bracelet, made of handblown glass beads. Besides the Fire Red, there are fourteen other colors to choose from.

There are, of course, many other fair trade items to select from for Valentine's Day.
And we are holding a Catch 'Em Before They're Gone! sale that has many handmade fair trade products marked way down. Please visit this sale page. Thank you all and see you in the store.

SPECIAL 10% and 20% Discount Sale

As part of our Holiday Gift-Giving spirit, we're offering a special purchase discount for all items on our Shopping for a Change site. If you spend $50.00 to $99.99 you will receive a 10% discount at checkout for the total of the items bought (not the tax, if applicable, and shipping). If you spend $100 or more you will receive a 20% discount at the checkout for the total of items bought (not the tax or shipping again).

This HOLIDAY SPECIAL is running from today, December 11, through December 31st.

So, please join us for your holiday gift giving, with discounts, or buy something for yourself. Remember, you're also helping third world artisans and U.S. nonprofits. Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Look at the famous fair trade designers we're carrying:

• The Andean Collection
• The Leakey Collection
• Same Sky
• Gone Rural
• Pure Handknit
• Fredd & Basha
• Aid for Trade

Big Sales and Interest at the Ladies Night Out at Domenico Winery

 The Ladies Night Out event was well attended even though it rained fairly hard—but that didn't keep the ladies away. There were about thirty vendors that included goods and services being offered.  We were the only nonprofit organization.  People loved our business model and were excited to choose a U.S. nonprofit organization to receive a portion of the net proceeds from their purchases.  In three hours we sold over $1600 in accessories, home decor and apparel. We were asked not to bring our jewelry this time since there were already several jewelry vendors there, but they will be hosting a spring event prior to Mother's Day, & they want us to make our jewelry the focus for that one.

Biggest sellers of the night were the new Peruvian Embroidered Belts from Jenny Krauss, our Bamboo Fruit Bowls, the Teak Cheese sets, & Horn and Bamboo Salad Servers all from Be Home, our Scarves and Animal Kingdom Coin Purses from Fredd & Basha, and the Small Ceramic and Grass Bowls, trivets, and placemat sets from Gone Rural.

CONTEST! Win a $35 Gift Certificate

We invite you to visit and 'Like' our Shopping for a Change page. The 35th person who Likes our page will receive a $35 gift certificate to use to purchase a gift from our site, or to give to someone else.

There's now twenty shopping days left till Christmas day, in case you're not keeping count. There are a lot of visitors every day to our Shopping for a Change site, looking at our over -110 items to select from, reading about our philosophy and enjoying snapshots into the lives of the artisans who make our gift collections.

So, if you want to avoid parking and lines and bad weather, we suggest you stop by for your shopping needs. We are offering free gift wrapping if you request it in the comments box at checkout.

GIFT CERTIFICATES: It often turns out for that person you want to get a gift for, but know they are choosy—that it is very hard to find the gift they'll really like. And that's why gift certificates exist! To keep everybody happy. The gift recipient and the gift giver. Perfect! Our gift certificates start at $25 and go on up to $250. And, remember, you're not only giving a gift, but giving a gift that gives back to the artisans who are paid fairly and raising themselves from poverty. Your purchase also supports select U.S. nonprofits.

One of our best selling items is the new Zulugrass Trios, a set of three zulugrass and glass bead strands that are so versatile they can be used as bracelets, hair ties, necklaces, chokers, belts and ankle bracelets. These are beautiful items that are great for gifts and come in three color palettes: grasslands green, mother earth natural and pure water blue.

As a winner of the 2012 Top-Rated Nonprofits by the group GreatNonprofits, we continue to work hard to serve our customers and followers.

Current Holiday Activities

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have passed us by, and this gift-giving and celebration-of-our-oneness season is going so fast. Thanksgiving came and went last week. Whew. I truly hope all of you had much to be thankful for and enjoyed the feasting and conversation and hugging that comes with our late November holiday. I've been busy at Shopping for a Change, and I do have much to be thankful for, with much gratitude to all of you who have helped support us in many ways. Today, Thursday, November 29th, I am participating with other venders at the Domenico Winery's Ladies Night and a Night of Giving benefit event. The winery is turned into a giant Annual Holiday Boutique and we'll have our booth set up for greetings visitors and talking about our items and the philosophy of fair trade. Men are welcome too, as long as they shop for their lady. Admission is free. If you're in the San Carlos, California area, come on by. Check out domenicowinery.com for directions.

Our accessories collection has some nice new items added to it. Check out the Chunchu scarves, hats and fingerless gloves—trendy, very warm and perfect for the winter season. Each is sold separately. They'd make great gifts for girls or women.

Another beautiful and multi-functional item to consider for your holiday shopping is the Zulugrass Trio set of three similar-colored necklace strands that can be used as a necklace, choker, bracelet, waist belt or anklet bracelet. Three color sets to choose from: grasslands green, mother earth natural and pure water blue.






And don't forget we do have fifteen items on holiday sale. And we also have gift certificates. Often, the best way to buy for someone is to give them a gift certificate. All they do is come to our site and put in their gift certificate code for an item(s) at the same total value as the gift certificate.