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Hmmm....@Ammit mentioned one somewhere...let me see if I can dig it up.

Ammit, do you know of any Ukrainian crafters that you could share info on? I'd love to potentially help out if I can!

Or, how do you find crafters to support? ♡ are there specific sites, search terms, etc? I'm obviously not that knowledgeable when it comes to this sort of thing. I know of a few American sites, but I'm not sure if they would get much traffic in different countries?

Like I said in the newsletter I buy through etsy.com*. You can filter the search on etsy for shops located in Ukraine. There I try to focus on small shops without thousands of sales. At the beginning of the war I ordered a pair of fancy beaded earmuffs from a woman in Kharkiv. When I ordered I included a note letting her know that I knew she may not be able to fulfill this order for a long time, if ever, and that that was ok, and that I just hoped she would be safe. Kharkiv is in the east and was one of the early cities taken by Russia and was only liberated a few weeks ago.

Well, just this week she sent me a package from Estonia, with the ear muffs and a very kind thank you note. She made it to Estonia as a refuge. Which made me cry. It was so amazing to hear an update like that from someone in one of the occupied cities, I really hope she has a home to go back to someday.

If you are going to order from one of these people please remember they are in an active war zone. They may not have power, they may not have mail service, or they may be desperately trying to get supplies for winter. Even if they do send something the mail train might get blown up on the way out. There is a very real chance you will not get what you ordered and you have to be at peace with that. It's not about getting the "thing" it is about sending some money directly to a family.

Etsy also has tons of Ukrainians selling "digital downloads" where you can buy a digital product and it is effectively a donation.



*Etsy, like a lot of corporations, has some problems with how it treats the people on its platform but it is still the best way I have found to directly and reliably reach craftspeople from all over the world. While I would not do Etsy if you can order directly from a website, particularly for US vendors, for little shops where it is just one person trying to feed their family it is often the only platform they sell on.

Yes, I had them set up to deliver straight to their recipients and I took screenshots that I can print and put in Christmas cards since I don’t count on them arriving on time. Everyone that I ordered for will be very understanding if they never arrive at all.

Those earmuffs sound lovely! Do you remember the name of the shop?

I also have ordered:

Weaving from this woman, please note she is in Dnipro which is one of the most dangerous areas right now
https://www.etsy.com/shop/WovenSlavicBelts?ref=yr_purchases

Jewelry from this shop
https://www.etsy.com/shop/GypsyKingArmor?ref=yr_purchases

T-shirts form this shop
https://www.etsy.com/shop/EthnoDreams?ref=yr_purchases

Mandalas from this woman. Her work is BEAUTIFUL and she is donating 50% of her sales to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
https://www.etsy.com/shop/TamerlansMom?ref=yr_purchases

Jewlery from Alena here
https://www.etsy.com/shop/APoverennaya?ref=yr_purchases

This is a larger seller but they have some really neat vintage home stuff.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/SovietHomeStuff?ref=yr_purchases

I ordered finished embroidery from Julia here though it looks like she is 100% digital at the moment.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/OrchardOfDreams?ref=yr_purchases

I have a headband from here
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShinyBeautyStore?ref=yr_purchases

Some of these I purchased before the war, but I wanted to share them as I have been very happy with all of these sellers. Sadly a few of the artists I have ordered from in the past are no longer on the site. :(

@whywishesarehorses I actually ordered my sisters gift from them! I got her a suncatcher with a crow perched on a red eyed skull.