A Super Soft Alpaca Bear is the Perfect Valentines Gift!
Valentines
day reminds us to take a few moments out of our busy lives to reflect
and remember someone special. Along with a card and some heartfelt
words we often will bestow a gift to show our love and appreciation.
When
I look back on the gifts that have meant the most over the years they
were often unique handmade “From the heart” gifts or gifts that showed a
deep understanding of the recipient. A few years ago, my husband
bought me a Stihl BR420 backpack leaf blower for Valentines day...and I
was thrilled! With 7 acres and 50 animals to care for, that blower
saved me hundreds of hours and allowed me more time with my family, our
horses and our alpacas.
This
year I’m making my husband a special hat from our warm and soft Alpaca
Yarn and I’m sure he will love wearing it on our evening walks down to
Hayden lake. Are you looking for something unique for your special
person? Many of our local customers know us for our huge selection of
luxury yarns and super warm alpaca socks, however we also have wonderful
Alpaca fur gifts we hope you will come by and see.
Super Cuddly Alpaca Bears
For
the man in your life, we have super warm Alpaca Socks that will keep
his feet toasty warm while hunting or camping. Somehow the truckers
running the northern route up Highway 95 discovered us and are now
pulling into our little store with their big rigs to stock up on socks
before heading into Canada.
Our Super Warm Alpacor Winter Alpaca Socks
Our
stuffed toy alpaca bears and stuffed alpacas are also a Valentines
favorites. They are of course made with super soft Alpaca fur and are
very cuddly and available in a variety of sizes. As with many of our
products there is a story to share with you about these stuffed toys.
Each one is unique and handmade for us by a family in Southern Peru.
We first met this family a few years ago during a trade conference in
Lima Peru. Each year the Peruvian government holds a lottery and a few
artisans are allowed to travel to Lima and show their products at the
international trade show. At the show we met Marco and his wife and
were very impressed with their handmade alpaca products. Through a
translator we were able to establish a relationship and now are the
primary source of income for them and their growing micro-business in
Alpaca fur products. The beauty of this is that the money goes directly
to Marco and his family instead of going through several layers of
distributors, wholesalers, etc.
Two
years ago we were back in Lima Peru at the trade fair and this time we
brought our daughter Lauren. She was thrilled to be sitting up front
during the high fashion runway shows hosted by Vogue seeing and meeting
all our commercial suppliers but the true life lesson was still ahead.
Lauren and me at the Fashion Show in Peru
Lauren and me in front of our Hotel in Lima Peru
After a long week at the show I had an email from Marco requesting to
meet us on a Sunday morning before we departed from Peru. He didn’t of
course win the lottery that year so was not able to be at the trade
show. We were tired and ready to go home, but I knew how hard Marco had
worked for us and told him we would be happy to meet him at our hotel in
Lima. Upon arrival Marco looked very tired as he mentioned that he and his wife
had travelled 15 hours by bus to meet with us that morning. At that
moment we experienced the importance our business relationship and the
commitment they had to work with us to create quality products.
In
reflecting back on this experience, it was great that our daughter
Lauren was there to experience first hand how true commitment and
partnership in business translated into the products we sell in our
store and on our website.
If
you come visit our store and hold one of our stuffed toy alpacas or
slip into our hand made alpaca slippers, you can rest assured that your
purchase will help support a wonderful family in southern Peru.
We visited Marco's family workshop in Arequipa last year
In
case you have not heard about us, Alpaca Direct is a direct merchant of
high quality yarn, apparel,gifts and socks. We stock a full line of
fiber art accessories, including needles and thousands of yarns. Our
unique selection of products also includes Peruvian alpaca sweaters,
hand-loomed lace scarves, performance alpaca socks, cuddly alpaca teddy
bears & unique international jewelry.
Our
building is handicap accessible, with ample parking and is easy to
find. We are located on Hayden Avenue, just two blocks west of Hwy 95 at
1016 W Hayden Ave. in Hayden.
Our
Alpaca fiber experts are on call 11am – 6pm Tuesday through Friday, and
10am – 3pm Saturday. Visit us at 1016 W. Hayden Avenue or online at
www.AlpacaDirect.com– your local destination for luxury yarn, apparel
& gifts. “Like” us on Facebook and Yelp for exclusive coupons,
product spotlights & news!
