Sunday, November 4, 2012

the currency of trade

ok, ok, i know i have been absent from posting for a few weeks - but i'm a grad student now and school has pretty much taken over my life! also, my family and Trevor were in town and i was incredibly busy. ANYWAY...

i recently made a connection via Instagram (only the best social media app out there - photos galore!!) with a sweet chica from California who crochets and makes really awesome things. see, part of the magic of Instagram and other social media outlets is the hashtag. i think i'll have to devote an entire post to hashtags and their capabilities another time. so i found this Neena and mentioned on one of her photos of an item that she made that i would love to trade if she liked any of my own creations. lo and behold, we connected again via Etsy and now the trade is in progress! i make her 2 custom pairs of earrings and she crochets me a super adorable cropped sweater vest.
Neena's custom leather fringe and chain earrings, by bohobetty (me)

now that i've found how easy this can be among artisans, i made a note of it on my etsy page so that if other creative people like my jewelry but are tight on cash, we can both benefit by making a trade for equal value. just like that, we eliminated the need for dollars AND we are supporting one another as artists. this sounds familiar, yet not quite mainstream...more on the co-operative model is to come!


1 comment:

  1. I got my earrings and I love them! The other ones will stay in hiding until christmas but I plan to wear mine as soon as possible! :)
    I love getting the opportunity to support other artists as well and your shop is great. Glad we finally figured out how to trade and count it as a sale!
    I will be starting your top next week! I'm sorry again for the delay but I promise you will get it. I've been making a baby blanket for a friend who is expecting, and the baby shower is on Sunday so after that I will be done and have more time for these other trades that I'm doing.

    Thanks againn! I'll make sure to make a post about our trade soon too!

    xo Neena Noel

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