More Nancy Dunitz Drawings Featuring Dunitz Fair Trade Jewelry

Time for new installment of Nancy Dunitz drawings featuring Dunitz fair trade jewelry. It's been several months since I share some of my drawings here. I love showing off my works after I've used Photoshop to add Dunitz & Company jewelry. It started with a class I took in 2019 with a talented artist, Isis Rodriquez in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. If you're looking for a teacher I highly recommend her. She actually teaches via Zoom now as well. (I know, because I have another talented artist friend who has studied with Isis remotely.)

Take a look! (These are posted below in no particular order.) You might find a pair of earrings, a bracelet or a necklace perfect for you or for a gift.

 

These drawings of mine are all created using charcoal and pastels. I'm ready to take commissions if you'd want an original drawing by me! What do you think? If you're inspired to own a new piece of Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry, that's ok with me too. Looking for your retailer near you? Check out our store locator. And if you want to restock your store shelves, place your order soon on our wholesale site.  I appreciate all of you! - ND

Listening. The Best Way To Come Up with New Ideas!

It's such a challenge to come up with new ideas and designs that our customers will have success with. If you listen and register the tidbits that people share, it might just prompt something wonderful. This often happens with me when I'm trying to mastermind some fun new things for Dunitz & Company.

A light bulb went off when one of my nieces was drooling over my (knockoff) Wassily Chairs which are now in her living room, and another niece was crazy for my collection of Los Angeles Pottery. It seems the now 30-somethings are ONLY hunting for Mid Century Modern cast offs on Facebook Marketplace. Is there any interest in my grandmother's Wedgwood? Absolutely Not. Franciscan Atomic Starburst dinnerware? Heck yes! Translation? I had to explore some jewelry designs that although new, screamed Mid Century Modern.

Sassy Cat Earrings

These interactions brought me to design our newest Mid Century Modern earrings and pins. And for fun, I doubled down with cats. Atomic Cats. Do you carry any of these designs in your retail store? If you haven't given them a try yet, please do. These have a built in target market. You'll be reordering. Or buying a second pair for you. Or adding them to you Christmas list. Trust me.

 

 

 

We often introduce new "fashion" designs. But, it seems over time our collection is more gift. With "gifts" it seems successful designs have legs, as they say. Once we find a success, it works season after season and year after year. When we were more fashion focused, we had to create oodles of new designs twice a year in many new colors. Coming up with a "gift" winner sounds simple, but it really is not that easy. Trust me. We keep listening and as I mentioned the Mid-Century inspired designs earlier, we're always seeking themes that will inspire sales and lots of happy customers.

 

Over the last few years, we've developed and have been expanding our collection of ceramic jewelry. It's been really fun.  We've introduced what many would perceive as 'standard' shapes.  Round hoops, hearts and always, flowers. All good.  Some of our customers told us they want earrings that reflect water and their beachy locations. Hmmmm. Others want kitsch. A couple of museums told us dinosaurs are their most popular category. (That was news to me!) Such comments and conversations have resulted in a few new designs this season. I have high hopes for our Sea Shells, Seahorses and Dinosaurs! Maybe these newest designs from Dunitz & Company will be perfect for your customers.

 

 

Have you honed in on any sleeper trends lately? Bring it on. I'd love to hear what you're thinking. Maybe Dunitz can come up with some new best sellers for next season. I always want to listen to your feedback. - ND

My Choices for this Fair Trade Holiday Season - Edibles & Consumables

I love receiving gifts. After living so many years (oy!) I have so much stuff.  What does that mean? My favorite gifts are edibles and consumables. Here are some fantastic gifts for Holiday 2023 that are just that. My choices support fair trade and many of my Fair Trade Federation colleagues.

Dean's Beans for Coffee: My choice of course comes from Guatemala where Dunitz & Company has worked with artisans since 1989.  Not only do I adore Guatemalan coffee, my choice is always medium roast. Enjoy a good cup of coffee and know workers were treated fairly. 1lb for $14.89

Ten Thousand Villages Rose Soap: A repeat performance on this one! I bought several types of TTV soaps from Global Gifts Fair Trade a couple of years ago for gifts for Mr. Postman, Mr. DHL, Mr. Fedex and a bunch of other friends. I have a few friends still talking about the Rose Soap and how much they loved the smell. How could I not put this on the list for 2023? One Bar, $5.99. 

 

African Bronze Honey: I eat a lot of honey. I love honey. Typically I buy local at the Hollywood Farmer's Market on Sundays.  I've been eying my Fair Trade Federation colleague's honey for a long time. Maybe you want to treat me to a jar? A 12.35oz jar of their Organic Wild Honeydew Forest Honey is $15.50 - it might be gone in one week!

Quinoa Cookies: I love cookies. I love baking cookies. And I love eating cookies. When I learned that my FTF Colleague, Andean Dreams offers cookies, you know this had to go on my holiday list. I'm not vegan or gluten intolerant, but their cookies are perfect for those that are. Wanna surprise me with their Quinoa Cookies Variety Pack? I'm sure you have friends that would love these. $18.99

Rumi Olive Oil: From Canaan Palestine Fair Trade. This small business works with farmer to bring us fair trade oil and other yummy edibles that I know you will enjoy eating. Whether you like to cook or prefer do drench your bread in tasty olive oil, this might be the perfect gift for you. Or yes, give it to the cook in your life. It's on my list. A 500ml bottle is $35.00 

Chocolate Bar Collection: Equal Exchange is known for their chocolate. In my book, the darker the better. They're offering this assortment this season which would definitely please me. That means it will please a lot of your friends and family members who have a sweet tooth. Since I'm nuts about coconut, I can't wait to dig my chops into the Coconut Milk variety. That's if someone sends me some! $30.00

Cardamon & Clove Candle: Our FTF retail partner and colleague, Humankind offers an amazing collection of candles that come from Bright Endeavors, a Chicago based social enterprise that trains and helps young mothers facing economic hardship in the inner-city. These women make wonderful scented and soy candles. My choice is the Cardamon & Clove. Burning at home, the exotic smells remind me of my travels to Asia. A 4oz candle will last 20 hours and is only $15.00

 

Umzimbubu Chili Ginger Pepper: ships from Latitudes Fair Trade and is made by Serv. I confess, this one is probably not perfect for me, and better suited for the cooks in your circles. I used be cook a lot and was quite good at it. In recent years I really haven't spent much time with a stove top or over.  When I look at the collection of spices Latitudes offers, it certainly inspires me to bring out the pots and pans.  One bottle of spices is only $7.75 which means a few together would make an amazing presentation.

There you have it! If these gift suggestions work for me, you know they work for lots of other. When you support fair trade you really are making a positive difference in the lives of producers and supporters. Dunitz & Company (that's me) certainly knows that first hand. Happy Holidays! -ND

Christmas Windows We Adore - Now & Then

We love discovering Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry in our client's retail stores. And this time of year, we adore seeing their Christmas windows. Here are some of our Christmas favorites. Most are from 2021. Some are from years past.

 

Eyes Gallery, Philadelphia PA

 

HumanKind fair trade, San Luis Obispo CA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Myers Fashion etc., Alpena MI

 

 

 

 

 

 

Winter Sun, Rhinebeck NY

 

Bead Wear, Towson MD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

World's Window, Kansas City MO

 

LuzLuna Imports, Half Moon Bay CA

 

 

 

 

 

Flavours of Life, New London CT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Sterling Butterfly, Martinsville IN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Fort Davis TX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bohemian Rose, Bath ME 

Bay Gift Vault, Crisfield MD 

Creative Women of the World, Ft Wayne IN

Have seasonal windows we've missed? Please send me a pic and I'll gladly share your display in this post. And I'll add your website or facebook link as well. It is our pleasure to share info on our clients who support us by selling Dunitz & Company fair trade jewelry. We love you and appreciate you. -ND

November is for Thanks. Our Small Fair Trade Business Thanks You.

And like that, it's November. And November is for thanks. It's been a tough time for so many small fair trade businesses like ours. The trials and tribulations presented by Covid did not fall lightly on Dunitz & Company. And I know it's been a tough go for so many others. I thought this was the perfect time to prove the glass is always half full, not half empty. In no particular order, and on behalf of Dunitz & Company, here is a bunch of thanks. [And if you want to know why this pic to the right is so special, you'll need to read to the end!]

 

 

We're thankful for our customers, many who keep coming back time and time again. Clearly they wouldn't be reordering if our fair trade jewelry didn't sell. We also know there are so many choices out there. And we're thankful they do keep coming back. When brick & mortar stores began opening up again earlier this year, we were overjoyed that so many of our existing customers restocked with our designs. (This collage was made in 2015. It certain shows how much we appreciate you all!.)

 

We're thankful for our clients who have collaborated with us to create custom designs for their stores. There are too many to name. We did write a blog post not too long ago, where we singled out many projects. Click to check it out here. You might get some good ideas for your store! The earrings featured to the right are offered by ZeeBee Market in Saint Louis.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our artisan colleagues in Guatemala who continue to produce high quality jewelry that our customers want. Even with Covid, we've managed to keep things going and people working. (You can see I put together this collage before I stopped coloring my hair.) These are some of the folks I work with in Guatemala. We make a difference for them. They make a difference for us.

 

 

 

We're thankful for the Small Business Administration and the loans and in some cases forgiveness they provided for some of that loan money during Covid times. The extra slush has helped Dunitz & Company as we say "keep our head above water."

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our supportive fair trade colleagues. There are those that share ideas instead of hiding them. Ones that give you shout-outs from time to time, just because. This year we've collaborated on several projects with HoonArts, Sevya and Baskets of Africa. Our most recent collaboration was a joint gift to Fair Trade Federation for their virtual auction fundraiser.

 

 

 

We're thankful for our newest company mascot that brings love and humor to our office daily. We're speaking of Bella the weimaraner. She joined us in March from the Los Angeles Shelter.

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our often messy office, which allows us to get our work done in a safe place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our office landlord who reduced our monthly rent during these crazy times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for our neighbors who pawn off their used boxes and packing materials on us. We love not spending money on packing materials when we don't have to. And we also like knowing by recycling, we are saving our planet just a little bit. Our neighbors run a small vegan grocery.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful for the support organizations we're part of that continue to educate the masses about the merits of fair trade. Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Los Angeles, Green America.

 

 

 

We're thankful for our museum store clients and our membership at Museum Store Association. (My love of fine art, my art history studies and my new found love as a portrait artist feed my love of working with museum stores even more.)

 

 

We're thankful for the new "wholesale rep" websites (in the absence of trade shows,) that have sprung up and grown in recent times. FAIRE and ABOUND have allowed us to find and connect with new retail stores. This new way of connecting with retailers may mean we won't have to travel to trade shows as they now become available again.

 

We're thankful that some of our customers are now selling Dunitz & Company jewelry online. We always knew they'd have success. I think the downtime from Covid allowed many of our clients to grease up their websites. Did you know we have a store locator function on our websites? If we don't have a retailer in any given area, these websites will pop up as options to purchase our designs. [Note: To be listed on our store locator, you need to have purchased from us within 6 months.]

 

We're thankful for Etsy. Our sales on Etsy wouldn't support us. However, the retail business we've garnered during Covid lock down on this site has allowed us to cover some of those bills that never stopped coming in. If you have an Etsy shop and you're looking for expert help on how to boost your sales, we highly recommend Dave DeNard. Watch his YouTube videos and consider some of his virtual classes. Thank you, Dave.

 

 

 

 

We're thankful that more buyers are finding our retail site we fondly call Shop Dunitz. Seriously, we don't drive that much traffic to our retail site. And when we do, it makes us dance a little happy dance.

 

 

We're thankful for the colleagues and friends that allowed us to interview them during these crazy Covid times for our blog. It's hard to believe just how long this pandemic has been going on. It was way back in June 2020 that I interviewed Lindsay Woodruff of Pachamama Market. In February 2021 I featured designers that work in Guatemala including Anne Kelly (Mayan Hands), Caryn Maxim and Jennifer Webster (Mayamam Weavers) and Alison Havens (Yabal.) Yes, I shared my own stories too. In June 2021, I interviewed Elisha Chan, Executive Director of Fair Trade LA. Please check out these posts. Everyone had something worthwhile to say. If you think I should interview you, let me know know.

We're thankful for our fans and followers on Facebook and Instagram. We don't always know if you're watching.We definitely appreciate your likes and comments. Keep them coming. And post pics wearing your jewelry. We love being featured in Stories. We do have a few super fans. So to all of you, thank you.

 

Did I say November is for thank yous? I'm sure Dunitz & Company owes a bunch more thanks to a bunch more people than what I've shared above. In any case this is definitely a good start. These definitely have been tough times. And, I'm thankful for all the good I've shared and encountered during them. Stay well my friends and Thank You! 

The morning after completing this post, I was driving to meet a friend for breakfast. The car in front had the perfect license plate. It was as if the universe was speaking back at me. The light changed. I got stuck behind the red light as the perfect plate sped ahead. Phew, I was catching up again. And then a car scooted in front of me. Needless to say I was disappointed I didn't capture a photo. A bit later down the road, I was caught by another light. And there in the left turn lane was the car, with the perfect plate. Snap. Snap. It gets better. The reason I sometimes snap plates is because my niece posts a lot of "good ones" on her Instagram. You know, It's a way to connect with her. I didn't realize until I was actually texting her a pic of this plate later in the day, that the car ended up being under the sign "Rocco's." And then I knew the universe was also speaking to her. Rocco was her much beloved pit pull who passed away very recently. He was sending Thank yous from heaven. -ND