NOVICA Hammock Swing Review

NOVICA is an awesome organization that provides fair trade opportunities for artisans around the world. They contacted me a little while ago about doing a review and I have literally spent hours on their website since then--it's addicting because it's so beautiful and supports things that I stand for! NOVICA is associated with National Geographic and is basically a website that brings all sorts of hand made items from around the world to us for purchase (okay, they also do other things FOR the artists like marketing and providing loans).
Here's what they say:

We want to give artists and artisans around the world a global platform to express their true artistic talents and to spur their creativity. And, we want to provide you with access to unique, hard-to-find items at great values that only the Internet infrastructure can allow.

At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.

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.

I was blessed to be able to order up to $75.00 from their website for review, so I chose a cotton hammock swing. Once you visit their website, you'll see how difficult it would be for a person to choose only one thing--they have everything on there from jewelry to furniture! Thankfully, they have broken the selection down by categories (I found the hammock swing after visiting their Corporate Gift section--a very cool place that any business person would love to receive something from!), geographical regions, price, and so on. They also offer a "gift finder" and even a gift registry (I would totally register at NOVICA if I was getting married again) to further aid you in finding the perfect item.

The quality is awesome and I'm so pleased with the swing! It shows excellent craftsmanship, is just like the photo on the website, and came unscathed even though the shipping was so quick. It's made from 100% pure cotton and is hand woven by Maya Artists of the Yucatan. I've been wanting a hammock swing pretty much all of my life and was surprised that NOVICA's price is only $65.99 with a retail value of $128.95! You will need to trust me that this is a really good deal if you haven't priced hand woven hammock swings before. :-)

Something that I noticed while looking through their website is that while it's easy to navigate, it is also very personal. You can learn about the artisans involved, where items are made, and even how in some instances. When I received the hammock swing, it came within days of my ordering and included directions, a gift card, and a card about the artist(s) who made it. I was hoping that I would learn about the exact person who made the swing, but instead it was more of an overview of artists in that area along with some history about them.

Really, you have got to check NOVICA out. Not only will you be giving yourself or someone else a unique and fantastic item if you purchase something, but you'll be supporting the international art community in a fair way! The prices are reasonable (with great sales all of the time, I've noticed), shipping is quick, and the people I've interacted with from NOVICA are really great. There's nothing that I don't like about this organization (except that they could improve by promoting my husband so he can be a self supporting artist, too *wink, wink*).

Visit http://novica.com/ to learn more and to explore beautiful hand crafted things from around the world. Also, be sure to check back here in a few days (or a week) as I'm going to be posting a little Q&A session I had with Ricky from NOVICA. It's a great way to learn more about what they do after you check out their website!

NOVICA provided me with a gift certificate so I could purchase a product for review. No other compensation was received for this post.