Happy Friday!

Maria flew back to New York last night after spending a week here in Greensboro, and my house (and Intertwined) already feel a little quieter.

We packed a lot into those seven days. We did two photoshoots (and by “photoshoots,” I mean Maria and me moving furniture around, posing with bags, and taking approximately 700 photos to get the six we wanted). We inventoried piles of new products, brainstormed ideas, and spent a lot of time planning for fall.

And somewhere in the middle of it all, I thought about how much Intertwined has become a family business.

In many ways, it always has been. Chris helps with Intertwined every single day, and Amelia and Alex have both pitched in countless times over the years at markets, with marketing and accounting, packing orders, hauling boxes, and doing whatever else needed to be done. My parents have even helped!

But having Maria join Intertwined full-time this summer has added something new. For the first time, I have another person sitting across the table whose full-time job is to help figure out what this little business can become.

And it has made me think even more about the families behind so many of the things we sell.

In Guatemala, Byron works with his family and other families in Momostenango to make our wool blankets. Tomasa's family works together to embroider our cotton corte blankets. Our pottery comes from family-operated workshops where knowledge and skill pass from one generation to the next.

These aren't enormous factories with anonymous supply chains. They are people working alongside siblings, spouses, parents, children and neighbors to build livelihoods through things they know how to make extraordinarily well.

Lately, those livelihoods have been challenged.

Our friends in Morocco talk about how expensive everyday life has become — food, transportation, materials, all the things that squeeze a household budget and a small business at the same time.

Our partners in Guatemala talk about fuel prices and the way transportation costs ripple through the price of almost everything.

And in Nepal, where our nettle products are made, communities are reeling from the devastating flooding and landslides that followed a glacier collapse in late August. More than a thousand people have died, thousands remain missing, and entire communities have lost homes and livelihoods.

Mala and her family are safe. But it is difficult to hear news like this and not think differently about the people on the other side of a product.

One of the things I've learned through Intertwined is that the world economy can feel enormous and impersonal until you know some of the people inside it.

Then a “supply chain” becomes Byron and his family. A “producer” becomes Tomasa. “Made in Nepal” becomes Mala and the women she works with. And a purchase becomes more than an economic statistic.

When you buy a blanket, a bag, a pillow or a set of placemats from Intertwined, you are buying something beautiful for your own home. That's important. I want you to love these things!

But your purchase also allows us to place another order.

And another order means people keep weaving, sewing, tanning leather, making pottery and passing those skills along.

That feels especially meaningful right now.

Which brings me to something significantly less profound: Christmas. In September. 😂

Our holiday collection is now on the website.

I know. I know. But the big retailers have apparently decided that Christmas begins roughly five minutes after Labor Day, and I don't want all of you spending your holiday decorating money elsewhere before our little family business gets a chance.

You'll find our colorful huipil Christmas trees, handmade ornaments (with more on the way) and Christmas tree skirts. And we have with plenty of new pieces (for gifting) arriving for fall.

So take a peek.

From our family, and from the many families intertwined with ours around the world, thank you for choosing things made by people.

Ginger

P.S. October is going to be a big month! We'll be at the Country Living Fair in Rhinebeck, New York, and The Arbors during the Round Top Antiques & Design Show in Texas. If you're anywhere nearby, please come say hello. We would absolutely love to meet you in person.