Day 21: Try #2 - Our Own Stamp was missing the link. Sorry! Stamping and Painting in Ecuador. Around the World in 80 Days.

332 W. 63rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64113 PH 816-361-2500

www.worldswindowkc.com

Shop On-Line: www.worldswindowkc.store

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"Where the creativity of human mind, spirit and experience is celebrated everyday."

Stories from the global community

Come along on the journey!

Day 21: Stamping and Painting in Ecuador.

Yes, we're traveling today, but first things first! Look at all the places we've visited so far in the first 20 days --

Ok, if you count the stars there are not 20 because we've taken several days to explore music and celebrate World Trade Day and such. AND, if we've gone to 20 places, then it's time for our first drawing. The WINNER of our first $25 gift card is

Karen Sieber

Congratulations! We'll send Karen her online gift card right away. Today the count starts over again, so don't forget to collect those passport stamps!

Now fasten those seat belts as we fly south to. . .

Destination: Ecuador

Ecuador is located in northwestern South America and also includes the Galápagos Islands in the Pacific, about 620 miles west of the mainland. Between the Amazonian rainforest and the breathtaking Andes, Ecuador is a dazzling array of wonders.

Fun Facts: Because Ecuador is on the equator, daytime and nighttime are the same length every day. Mt Chimborazo is the tallest mountain in the world if you measure from the middle of the earth! Ecuador is famous for excellent birding.

Art Form: Batik Stamping and Fabric Painting

Su Placer is a collaboration between Lynn Huntington as lead designer and her husband Dan who takes care of the business side of things. Lynn and Dan work together in upstate New York where the collection is designed. Then, working closely with their friends in northern Ecuador, the fabrics are hand painted, hand stamped, hand cut and then sewn by artisans.

With a goal of creating clothing that is fun and comfortable to wear, the attention to artistic detail also makes each item of clothing wearable art and a labor of love.

The process for creating their clothing often starts in a garden or on a walk in the woods. A photo or sketch is created when that light bulb in Lynn's head goes off. This example started at the Gintner Botanical Garden in Virginia.

With photos and sketches in hand, Rene transfers the idea to make a carved stamp.

From an idea in a garden, a batik stamp is created.

The fabric is painted by hand . . .

. . .stamped with wax and painted again.

Sometimes this process is repeated several times.

The fabric is washed in boiling hot water which not only removes the wax but makes our comfy clothing pre-shrunk and ready to wear, and wear, and wear, and wear.

The final step before cutting in small batches and sewing is to completely dry the material in the Ecuador sun.

The fabrics are then hand-cut and sewn by Monica to create the beautiful, finished tops and jackets we have carried at World's Window for many years.

Su Placer the Company

Lynn and Dan strongly believe in fair trade and incorporate those ideals into their projects in Ecuador. "We enjoy the process, the people, the fair trade aspect of our business. This project benefits seven families in Ecuador and our family too!"

What a fascinating process!

Shopping . . .

Are you ready to explore

what we have in our store?

The Susanne top is Su Placer's most popular top

and is our favorite too.

www.worldswindowkc.store

Don't forget to stamp your Passport!

Click on the "stamp" to add to your "passport."

We keep track of your stamps for you!

"Collect" at least 12 different "country" stamps during the second 20 days of our around-the-world trip to be entered into the drawing for a $25 gift card. At the end of our 80-day Around the World excursion, all eligible travelers (minimum of 48 country stamps) will be entered into a drawing for . . .

a Grand Prize $100 shopping spree gift card!

Thanks for traveling with us today.

Where to next? Stay tuned!

It was great fun this morning to compile all of the passport stamp clicks into one large file and then use a random selection program to choose our winner. Lonnie, Eliot and I were all in our office when Eliot pushed the button on the computer and up came our winner! Now we start our passport stamp collection over for our next 20 days. Thanks to all who are collecting stamps and joining us on this journey.

We are continuing to plan how World's Window will re-open in Brookside and welcome you in. More staff will be joining us on Tuesday as we orient to "life as it is now." We plan to open Friday, May 15th with limited hours. We will post more details in the coming days as to how we will re-open World's Window in a welcoming and safe manner for all.

We THANK YOU for your continued online shopping support. YOU are an important part of what makes World's Window so special!

World's Window

"Nobody can define you like you."

P.S. We are glad to be on this around-the-world virtual journey with you and delighted that you are traveling with us. We hope you are learning some new information as we travel along. If you haven't already done so, invite some friends to come along! There's still room on this journey! Send an invite

P.P.S. We're keeping our trip "log" up to date. If you think you've missed a day or are new to our journey, click here to review where we've visited the last 20 days.

Regular Store Hours:

CLOSED right now as we "Stay At Home"

"Soft" Opening Date: Friday, May 15

SHOP our on-line store:

www.worldswindowkc.store

As always we are "sharing the world" through clothing, jewelry, folk art, textiles and hand-selected gifts -

and

buying locally-owned is a gift to your community!