We’re offering something new and very special. We will be offering a variety of woven baskets from Africa (especially Ghana), Bangaladesh, Madagascar, and many other villages of weavers from around the world.

What’s special about these baskets:

• All the weavers are paid a Prosperity Wage. (What’s that?) A Prosperity wage is more than Fair Trade. Our weavers are paid enough so that they can afford more than just the essentials of food, clothing, and housing, - they can also afford such things as medical care and education for their children.
• All our baskets pass rigorous quality control. We pay Prosperity Wages - you get a valuable product worth the price and that you will enjoy for years.
• All of our baskets are one-of-a-kind. We photograph each one separately, and you get the exact item with the colors, look, and features that you order. There is no extra charge added for the listing of unique items.

One caveat: Since each of the items is unique, we will have similar, but not exact copies of any basket you order. Please keep in mind that once a basket is sold, that unique item will no longer be available. Also, this is true for categories as well. We anticipate that some of our basket categories will sell out and will not be available again for a year or more, or may no longer be available.

Please enjoy looking through our gorgeous baskets. We will be updating and adding more frequently. If you see one you love, please purchase before it attracts another buyer.

Salem Design (Sharon Shea) has granted the Jimmy Fund use of a copyrighted holiday image, ‘Floral Shop Snowman’, for use in their 2007 fundraising. The Jimmy Fund will be using the image to produce a holiday card, and proceeds will go directly to the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute charitable fund.

Floral Shop Snowman by Sharon Shea

‘Tis the season - to think of others. This year Salem Design is contributing to he Salem Mission. The Salem Mission has set a goal to eliminate homelessness in Salem by providing affordable, subsidized housing.

So far the Salem Mission has been doing an admirable job of providing food, shelter, clothing, and jobs to those in need. But although the Mission provides shelter, it wants to provide more - a real home for every homeless person in Salem - not just occasional shelter. These homelike units the Salem Mission are creating will have bedrooms, bathrooms, and shared cooking facilities.

We are donating to the Salem Mission to help in its effort to provide real housing for the homeless citizens of our small city. This will be a significant step in uplifting individuals and our community.  Salem Mission in the press

The Salem Design Team

We have an early season, printer’s overstock of our new Nantucket Lightship card. Boxed sets of 15 cards are reduced from $16.95/box to $10/box. These cards show the historic Nantucket Lightship, decorated with holiday lights, moored at Boston Rowes Wharf.

The historic note on the back of the card: “Built in 1950, the Nantucket Lightship was the last Lightship station in use before being replaced by unmanned buoys. From 1975 to 1983, the Nantucket was stationed off Nantucket Island. Refurbished by her new owners in 2000, she is decorated for Christmas and spends the month of December moored in Boston Harbor.”

Order online in the Gift Shop

This season we have added 3 new images to our already large collection of Boston and New England holiday cards. Covered Bridge, CCCNESS 1079, is one of our newcomers. A sunny winter afternoon highlights this lovely bridge in Charlotte, VT. A frozen cove of Lake Champlain shows in the background of this peaceful country setting.

Order online in the Gift Shop

A reminder of Christmas past and present is a colonial Christmas tree next to a historically decorated fireplace (Colonial Christmas Tree CCNESS 1078). The tree is trimmed with cornucopias and nut shells in the fashion of New England’s first Christmas celebrations.

For 2 or more boxes: Email sshea@salemdesign.com

“The Boston Public Library, in conjunction with Emporia State University, Emporia, Kansas, will have on display sketches and production material that led to the publication of Robert McCloskey’s “Make Way for Ducklings.” The exhibition will take place from September 6 - October 13th in the Northwest Gallery of the Boston Public Library. The exhibit tells the story of the development of “Make Way for Ducklings” from life sketch, to published book and then to public art. The exhibit will display two holiday greeting cards featuring the ducklings statues in winter, produced by Salem Design, in one of the display cases.”

The Make Way for Ducklings sculpture, beloved by Boston residents and visitors alike, is a much photographed favorite. We are pleased that our images will be included in the exhibition and hope that those in the Boston area will visit this display. Both of the card images are available for holiday custom imprint corporate cards, or boxed for personal use.

For custom imprint holiday corporate cards, email: sshea@salemdesign.com or call 978-740-5940. View our complete line of cards at: cards.salemdesign.com

For boxed holiday card orders, visit our Gift Shop at: gifts.salemdesign.com

Mrs. Mallard and her Ducklings
Make Way for Ducklings

Salem Design is pleased to be a contributor to a raffle to benefit CAH, Citizens for Adequate Housing, Inc. Homelessness is everyone’s problem, and unfortunately it is increasing as public supports are shrinking. The National Coalition of Homelessness identifies four main causes of homelessness:

* poverty
* eroding work opportunities
* decline in public assistance
* shortage of affordable housing

We feel that lack of medical care and addiction services are also contributors.

Thanks to SEAMS of Beverly, there is going to be a raffle to benefit CAH, Citizens for Adequate Housing, in conjunction with the One Year Anniversary of the SEAMS Beverly shop. Salem Design is contributing 3 boxes of our holiday cards to the raffle to benefit CAH.

SEAMS the shop: www.seamstheshop.com

CAH Citizens for Adequate Housing: www.shelterandhousing.org

Salem Design Holiday Cards: cards.salemdesign.com

Salem Design Gifts at: salemdesign.com/GiftShop.html