Looking Back...Thinking Forward

Thank you for allowing SHIVHON carpets to work on your projects. From selecting the perfect rug to creating a one of a kind carpet that meets your budget. We've enjoyed the challenge and we're looking forward to getting even more creative in 2010.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

The Shivhon Staff

The Gratitude Challenge

As we embark on this season of giving thanks SHIVHON carpets would like to take a moment to shower you with our gratitude and invite you to join us in our gratitude challenge.

At SHIVHON, we believe that sharing gratitude for everyday experience can revitalize our commitment to living life with Aloha. As a result, we invite you to spend a few minutes each day to count all of life’s little blessings. Our gratitude challenge is a 26 day challenge to help us take note of the brighter side of life. Each day we will set aside a few moments to list at least 5 things that we are grateful for. We invite you to do the same.

Day 1

Today we are grateful for the following…

1. Our loyal customers who trust us with their business.
2. The beautiful women who weave each and every one of our rugs.
3. The public’s growing awareness of how evertday choices impact our health and our planet.
4. Roberta Landman, Senior Editor, at Phoenix Home & Garden Magazine for featuring our rugs in our Living Green section (November 09 issue).
5. A beautiful day of waves and caressing tradewinds on the North Shore of Oahu.

We hope you decide to join us in this challenge. There is no better time to say thank you than during this early holiday season.

Aloha nui loa

Natural wool delivers, year after year after year

Americans of all ages spend an average of 90% of their time indoors, where the level of pollutants is often two to five times higher than it is outdoors and can be considerably higher. The air in most homes, schools and offices is already not what it should be, and as air quality worsens, so does health. Building air quality is certain to get worse if we keep making our buildings more air-tight without making sure that we maintain a healthful flow of fresh air and are very careful about what we put into our buildings.

While children are the most at risk (childhood asthma has increased 140% in the past 10 years), good air is important for everyone. Improved indoor environmental quality has been linked to improved productivity, higher test scores and even patient recovery rates.

There are two reasons that our indoor air quality is so bad:
• We don’t introduce enough fresh air from outdoors.
• We fill our spaces with toxic mixes of chemicals, organic matter and dust.


Natural hand knotted carpets are one simple way to improve the air quality in our homes.

Natural wool carpet is a healthy non-toxic alternative to standard nylon, olefin or other synthetic carpets that off-gass toxic chemicals, don't last very long and are not biodegradable. Wool carpets are: odor-free, renewable, longer lasting, fire-resistant, air purifying, softer, and biodegradable.

Natural wool ages gracefully, continually renewing itself and developing a rich patina as years pass. While synthetic fibers will become scratched, scarred and dull over time, wool carpets and rugs remain vibrant to the eye and supple to the touch.

Your style demands high design and high performance; natural wool delivers, year after year after year.

What makes SHIVHON carpets unique

Offering the highest levels of responsible design and craftsmanship, SHIVHON strives to preserve Tibet ’s centuries old carpet making traditions and art form without compromising quality or social responsibility.

CONSTRUCTION

Unlike most rugs now coming from Nepal , SHIVHON carpets continue the age-old traditions of true Tibetan weaving-- no shortcuts, no compromises

KNOT COUNT

The knot count states how many individual knots of wool are found in one square inch of a handmade rug. In essence, the knot count defines the rugs fineness. A higher knot count allows for more detail in the design while also providing a finer rug texture than that of a lower knot count. You can physically feel the fineness of a rug when you grab it and try to bend it. A rug with a very high knot count will bend quite easily. You can actually grab a section of a finer rug and crumple into one hand much like you would with a towel. You can be confident that the knot count of a SHIVHON carpet is accurate. Unlike many others, we do not exaggerate the number of knots so you can be certain that you will find 100 knots per square inch in one of our 100 knot rugs.

TIBETAN WOOL

SHIVHON carpets are made with the highest quality of Tibetan wool available. This wool comes from the sheep of the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of 16,000 ft. Long fibers, high lanolin content and the unique physical structure of Tibetan wool makes it the ideal choice for rug weaving.

DENSITY OF PACKING

After the weavers finish weaving a row of knots, the alternate warp shed is pulled forward and the weft is passed through, then pounded down hard on the row of knots. This takes time and is hard work but it is essential for strengthening the foundation of the rug. SHIVHONweavers pack each rug very tightly in order to strengthen the rug and offer the durability necessary for it to last generations.

NO STRONG CHEMICAL WASHES

Strong chemical washes strip the wool of its natural lanolin. The wash creates an immediate shine but only at the expense of the wool, which has been stripped of its natural lanolin and weakened by the strong chemicals. SHIVHON carpets are not washed with harsh chemicals. Rather, their beautiful shine naturally reveals itself after being polished through the exposure to light, air and, of course, passing feet!

NUMBER OF COLORS

SHIVHON offers an unprecedented number of colors to select from in our carpets.

A Healthy Alternative

Its just there. All the time. You walk on it, you vacuum it. you make sure your curtains match the color and the texture of it. You move your furniture around on it. When you spill something on it, you wish you had invested more to have gotten the kind that cleans easier. It gives your baby a soft and warm place to play. When the friends you'd like to impress come over it speaks volumes about your status in your social circles, without ever having made a sound. Its just there. Underneath it all. All the time. For years.

Few people imagine that carpet could be their best friend. Some know. They are the ones who have done everything they could to remedy some unexplainable physical symptom that started showing up out of the blue, more often than it should have. The few who have gone so far as to have ripped out their synthetic carpet, and gone to the expense of paying for an all natural wool carpet, that doesn't have all kinds of things in it that synthetic carpets do.

It is the people who have seen an improvement in their own health or the health of someone close to them when they changed their carpet. It is those people who know the value of natural carpet. They are the ones who know how much they spent to keep themselves healthy until they discovered that their carpet was contributing to their symptoms.
We specialize in providing natural carpets to people who are aware of the impact that chemicals have on their health. The green carpets we offer are a healthy alternative to commercial carpet

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

In honor of Breast Cancer awareness month 10% of all proceeds from the month of October will be donated to LIVING BEYOND BREAST CANCER, a national, non-profit organization dedicated to empowering all women affected by breast cancer to live as long as possible with the best quality of life.

To learn more about LIVING BEYOND BREAST CANCER call
(610)645-4567 or visit www.lbbc.org

Why FAIR TRADE

What is buying fair-trade? Fair-trade is a system of trade based on a direct relationship and partnership between buyers and producing community. It is a social movement and approach that helps producers in developing countries and promotes sustainability. Fair Trade makes sure that artisans receive a fair price for their products, have direct involvement in the marketplace, and uphold environmental and labor rights standards. This system builds real and last relationships between producers in developing countries and businesses and consumer.

Fair trade is based on dialogue, transparency and respect in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, producers and workers. So the next time you are selecting a product produced overseas take a moment to think about how its made, who its made by, and what kind of impact its making on the environment.

Creating opportunities for disadvantaged producers
Fair trade is an effective strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for artisans who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.

Transparency and accountability
Fair trade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with partners.

Environment
Fair trade actively encourages better environmental practices and the application of responsible and sustainable methods of production.

Capacity building
Fair trade is a means to develop producers’ independence. Fair trade relationships provide continuity, during which producers and their marketing organizations can improve their management skills and their access to new markets.

Payment of a fair price
A fair price in the regional or local context is one that has been agreed through dialogue and participation. It covers not only the costs of production but enables production which is socially just and environmentally sound. It provides fair pay to the producers and takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men. Fair traders ensure prompt payment to their partners.

Gender equity
Fair trade means that women’s work is properly valued and rewarded. Women are always paid for their contribution to the production process and are empowered in their organizations.

Working conditions
Fair trade means a safe and healthy working environment for producer