I'm Marina Flournoy, an artist who used to work in the computer industry. Now I'm using the Internet to help shoppers connect with people who make things by hand.

We're drowning in a sea of mediocre mass-produced stuff that has little value and comes with high costs (e.g., the effect on societies of questionable manufacturing practices and on the environment of high volume mass-production). Most of this stuff is not made to last or even to be all that interesting. It's just made to be sold. But there are lots of people who handcraft things that are useful, beautiful, unique, and made to last, the kind of things we called heirlooms back when we knew what that meant. These people and products are all around us and many of them are on the Internet where I can link to and tell others about them.

I work primarity through these sites:

• Heartful Village - This website (more info)
• Handmadebyartists.com - Heartful Village blog
• 100% Art - Heartful Village Store

I want people to see handcrafted and indie products as viable alternatives to mass-produced ones. Please check out my sites, and tell your friends too, ok?

Thanks.

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