Mother’s Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May in many countries. It’s happening this coming weekend and this edition of our newsletter is all about the big day! 

Mother’s Day is that important day, where once a year you take time and care to show wonderful women in your world, that you appreciate their love and support.  It is a day to celebrate these wonderful humans who hold that mother energy! 

Below is one of my favourite photos, of my beautiful mom and I enjoying the sunshine at Spanish Banks in Vancouver.

For many, Mother’s Day is a time to reflect and show gratitude to those who have been mentors and caregivers and helped shape us into who we are. There are many kinds of moms – step-moms, god-mothers, adoptive mothers, mothers-in-law, aunts, teachers, cat and dog moms, a dear friend or another person who has gone out of their way to help and care for you at an important time in your life when you really needed that mother energy. 

Above are some of my friends and their moms who modelled our Marigold Vietnam scarves early on. I just love these photos and the feeling and energy contained within.

When I Googled “mother energy” and here is what I found:

"It's a presence, a cosmic feminine energy that surrounds us, residing in even the smallest cracks and crevices of the earth. She is the very earth that holds us our entire lives, supporting our every move, nurturing us as we grow. She feeds us, hydrates us, she lives in us every day, and we live because of her."

I’m pretty sure they were describing Mother Earth – but it felt right on for me in terms of describing “mother energy”.  Let’s celebrate all women who give this “mother energy”!  (Photo of my daughter Sophie’s graduation below – and one very proud mama)

How do we show our care and gratitude for our birth and other mothers for all that they do? 

With flowers, making special meals; creating and participating in a special event; gift giving etc.  Keep reading: we've got some ideas when it comes to gifting!

On Mother’s Day this year - why not celebrate with a gift that gives back!  Our fair trade gifts provide women and mothers working at the cooperatives with whom we directly work with, the opportunity to support their families.  It has been well documented by UN Women that women working in these kinds of environments, bring their earnings back to their families and communities.  This gives their children a chance to go to school, have access to medical care and medicine needed, so they can be healthy and grow to lead a prosperous life.  Let your mom or special “mom energy” person know how much you care, love and respect them by shopping fair and purchasing a gift made by a woman!

Mother’s Day Basket

Our Mother’s Day Gift Baskets are full of awesome gifts: a beautiful Vietnam silk blend scarf; a cotton Kantha Tote bag from Bangladesh; a nice plump package of uniquely blended tea by the Sunshine Coast’s Davis Bay Tea, all nestled into a round jute basket, handwoven in Bangladesh.  All for $85 – you receive the wholesale price on all items for this special Mother’s Day offer.  We make up 10 baskets only and last year we sold out! 

Since they are available in-store only,  we are going to be open this coming Saturday, May 13th 11:00am until 4:00pm – specially for Mother’s Day Shopping!  We have lots of other awesome handcrafted items that would be perfect for gift giving – we look forward to seeing you then!

Manali Shawls

For a super special gift for mom or that super special person – our Manali shawls are our premium product.  These are quality wool shawls that can be worn to keep warm in the winter as a shawl or wrap as a scarf and can also be worn on those cool summer evenings to keep the chill away.  They are really quite timeless in design, quality and wearability. 

Shawls from our Manali Wool Shawl Collection are uniquely hand-loomed by a women-led cooperative based in the Western Himalayan area of India. Working mainly with Tibetan refugees in remote areas, they use traditional hand-looming techniques specific to this region. This helps preserve heritage craft tradition as you will see by the tribal motifs.  Hand-spun threads are woven together on a tradition loom, to produce these high quality, organic and eco-friendly shawls using natural fibre and often vegetable dyes.

Cambodian Bombshell Casing Brass Jewelry

Celebrate your Mom or special person this Mother’s Day with a unique piece of jewellery that has deep meaning and is as special as she is!  Our Bombshell Brass collection has neckpieces, bracelets, and earrings.  My personal favorite is the narrow band bracelet with a Khmer design (model wearing below) and I love the brass earring combined with silk.  The simple shapes are expertly handcrafted into a unique pair of earrings with a combination of the brass and colorful Cambodian Silk.  There is something for everyone – small to statement pieces.

Our Cambodian Brass Bombshell Jewelry Collection features beautifully designed jewelry made from repurposed brass, originally used as bomb casings. They are then made into wearable symbols of peace and hope.  Young women and men learn, design, and craft these unique pieces, while earning a sustainable income for themselves and their families.

Tenth & Proper Mother's Day Event:

Tenth & Proper was the very first store that we wholesaled our beautiful fair-trade products to.  We started with selling our Vietnam, silk blend scarves (our first coop partnership) and we have grown from there.  I would like to personally thank Marion Fudge for the opportunity she gave us at the beginning of Marigold Collective to show and sell our collections in full at her beautiful boutique.  Women supporting women!  Tenth & Proper has been our biggest retail cheerleader and supporter for the past 10 years and we are grateful for her unwavering support.

Each Mother’s Day for the past number of years, Tenth & Proper holds their Mother’s Day Pomo Event as detailed below.  If you have not been to her shop and are looking for some smart and stylish spring/summer clothing – now is the time to get in there and perhaps get yourself a colorful Marigold Vietnam silk blend scarf to go with that new wardrobe.

Pt Village Mother's Day Week Shopping Event:

Shopping Event for a chance to win 1 of 4 gift cards worth $250!Four lucky winners will receive a $250 gift card from any business on West 10th!

There are multiple ways to enter:

1. Simply post a selfie while you're here and tag our Point Grey Village BIA Facebook page.

2. Make a purchase at any business in #PointGreyVillage and submit your receipt at https://pointgreyvillage.ca/receipts/

Don't miss out on this contest! The winner will selected on May 15th.

We invite you to share this newsletter with your friends and family and anyone you think may enjoy our work. 

The bigger our reach, the more we can share the story of all the women artisans we work with.