About
OVERVIEW
Founder's story
Hi my name is Claudia. I am from Colombia and currently reside in Mountain View, California. Exotic Handcrafts was born out of the desire to help families who have been displaced by war in the Caribbean costal area of Colombia, where my family lives. Exotic Handcrafts has been bringing eco-friendly, handcrafted products to shoppers for two years and continues to grow with new, unique products every day.
Our mission
Exotic Handcrafts is dedicated to helping a community that makes handcrafts for their livelihood. Our products are made of “canaflecha” or palm leaves and other organic and recycled materials by displaced women that have been forced by urban guerrillas to abandon their families. With the earnings from their work, the producers are able to educate their families and create better living conditions for themselves and their community.
Our philosophy
Buying from Exotic Handcrafts is buying from hard working and creative indigenous people, who turn their ideas every day into beautiful pieces that are sustainable, original, and of superior quality.
The types of products we sell
Exotic Handcrafts sells unique items such as: purses, hats, bracelets, earrings, rings, napkin rings, and much more. These designs are unique pieces of art, all handmade, resistant, and durable. We assure you a unique experience the moment you receive our items, not only because you will get a beautiful piece of art, but also because you will be helping these Colombian woman to support their families.
Where the producers live and work
Colombia is the home of some of the most biologically diverse plant and animal communities in South America. This diversity is reflected in the materials indigenous groups use to create crafts. Cañaflecha, or palm leaf, is grown commercially in a specific lowland ecosystem in the coastal plain of Cordoba, Colombia near the northern Caribbean coast. In this area, like other parts of Colombia, natural areas and their unique indigenous cultures are rapidly disappearing due to poor development policies, government corruption, war, overpopulation, abject poverty, and deforestation. Families in this are severely impacted by the global war on drugs.
Projects we support
Craft development, like our importing of fairly-produced cañaflecha bags and hats, provides some assistance in finding alternative sources of income, while creating incentives to maintain the natural forest from which the fibers are harvested. Of many areas around the world, Colombia may have a greater chance to protect and build sustainable livelihoods because of its large and growing middle-class, its educational system that is one of the best in Latin America, and existing and improving infrastructure for business and development.
How we select what we sell
What makes us unique
More information about us
We'd also like to tell you
Thank you for shopping with Exotic Handcrafts!