"My name is Thanradee Mankhong. My family and friends like to call me 'Nok.' My designs and products are exclusively Thai. I talk with craft experts and learn from them, and this has made me understand and love Thai handicrafts more and more." In this particular instance, this purse at $50 USD, is made from 75% hemp, 20% rayon, and 5% cotton. The handles are made from rain tree, a.k.a. Samanea saman, an introduced species from northern South America. Nok is but one of 1700 artists, selling 8,500 handcrafted works from countries like El Salvador, Ghana, and Indonesia, through Novica, who operate in association with the National Geographic. As Novica put it, “We want you to know about who you're buying from. We want you to feel that attachment to the product and to the hands that created it.” This web based fair trade style operation was created by Armenia Nercessian de Oliveira, who had previously served for many years as a United Nations officer. She says, “Novica provides a way for me to continue helping people. But this time, instead of solving problems, I am able to offer opportunities.” Read below the fold for more on her new mission. ::Novica

“The purpose of NOVICA is to create a revolutionary system through which the artists and artisans of the world can display their fine works to a global audience of prospective customers. NOVICA does not charge artists any fees for listing their items on the website. Furthermore, artists remain fully independent--they are free to raise their prices, lower their prices, or remove their items from our website. By cutting out the long strings of middlemen, NOVICA allows both consumers and artisans to get the most out of each and every transaction.”

We have previously mentioned other product from Novica here.

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