Artisans & Producers

Global Gifts feels it is important to share about the people behind the products we sell. That is why we are so pleased to have Carlos Guerrero, popular glass jewelry artisan from Chile, demonstrate his craft at Global Gifts tonight and tomorrow. Carlos is co-owner of “Oh What a Moon” workshop which specializes in creating bright, fun jewelry pieces which has been extremely popular in our stores.

Carlos was an iron worker before he began to create handicrafts with his wife Jessica Palacio . Together, they began experimenting with glass work and now produce the beautiful products that we see today. The workshop has expanded and now employees18 other Chileans who all receive fair wages and who report that a great working environment is one of the additional advantages to working with Carlos and Jessica.

“Oh What a Moon” has experienced more stability in their orders since they started selling their products to the fair trade market. Carlos reports this allows them to be more creative and experiment making new designs and pieces. They buy the glass from a Chilean glass producer and then cut it into the desired shapes. The shaped glass is then painted and another piece of glass is laid on top of the design. The piece is then fired at 2000 degrees and fused into one piece. Extra bits of glass get recycled and turned into artistic plates and trays. We are excited to witness this process first hand during his visit here.