Hello Kitty

Be warned the first part of this blog post is a bit of a rant, so skip the first paragraph if you aren't in the mood to listen to me venting.

I am soooooooo sick of seeing handmade sites smothered in Sanrio's "Hello Kitty" goods. Firstly Sanrio is very protective of their rights to these images and have threatened to sue people in the past for using Hello Kitty images in their works without first obtaining rights from Sanrio to do that. Secondly isn't there enough of these goods out there in the market place without them having to show up all over the handmade sites, which are places I go to find unique handmade pieces, not replicas of goods I can find on the majority of high street in the world. I cannot understand why the handmade market place sites don't weed out these goods. My feeling is that having these goods on the site water down the handmade message. The argument that usually gets put forwards is that it is up to the person selling the goods to protect themselves against being sued by getting rights to sell the images and that it is not up to them to do anything until the person owning the rights to the image complain to them before they can do anything. Legally this maybe so, but there is nothing stopping them from asking the seller to show they have rights to sell these goods and if they can't remove them from the site. It's not just Hello Kitty... but that is the one that is bugging me today. There are so many others as well, like Disney images and the Twilight series... the list is long.

Anyway, less of my moaning. I will show you the Kitties I go to handmade websites to find as an alternative to the mass produced Hello Kitty items.

The Other Mousie has created this super cute kitty who most definitely wears her heart on her sleeve. All she needs is love, could you be the one to give her that?

Nesting kitty crayons from Kitty Baby Love are adorable. The rainbow of colours and their little pointy ears just made me smile. How much more fun would colouring be with these kittens rather than your average crayon sticks?

Do you need a colourful cuddle? Well this vintage 1960's fabric kitty cat would love to give you a snuggle. Fabric Nation's love of Love of 50's and 60's designs is very evident in all her work and this little kitten is a perfect example of that.

Wow! These kitties are not only beautiful, but I am very impressed with how they are made. Origami is something I and not very good at, unlike Windtwirler who is obviously VERY skilled in the art. Hello little shiny eyed, whiskered beauties!

Now if there ever was a cat that wants a giant squeezable hug it is this hansom kitty from Sockem. Jasper is made from socks, gloves, felt and love and that love is what you get when buying handmade goods. Mass produced high street goods just don't have that at all. I know which I'd rather purchase.

Written by Lynne of PiratePixieCrew and Hyperloop Hoops