Irene S., who went to Italy with us, and a friend hosted 3 artists/artisans at a party last night. Suzanne, Louise, and I went together.
One of them makes shoes using hemp fabric. They were fantastic!!! The workmanship and quality of materials was incredible!
(Again, I apologize for not being able to flip the pictures.)
This first boot is a mans boot.
He can make any shoe or boot for you. He takes lots of measurements of your foot and calf. He employs people in a village or villages. The first woman's boot pictured, with the flat heel, costs $120 USD. What a price for a hand made pair of boots with a custom fit!!! I want to bring the guy to the states to sell his shoes and boots.

Another person had paintings to sell. The third person did hand embroidery, painted scarves and traditional dolls. We have booked her to come and teach some adults how to make the dolls.

There was lots of great food at the party and we had a great time.