Mayu » alpaca

GUINEA PIG, A PERVIAN DELICACY (AT LEAST IT ISN’T ALPACA)

Kati — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 09:00:58 +0000

Click here to view the embedded video.

In addition to once-in-a-blue-moon feasts of alpaca, Mayu’s artisans, friends and family love to indulge on “cuy”, commonly known as that cute little, furry Guinea Pig that you probably had growing up. I’ve been a vegetarian for many years so when cuy is served, I typically cringe and pass my portion along to one of my Peruvian friends who is glad to have an extra slice. During my recent visit back to my Peace Corps community where Mayu’s artisans work, I decided to capture a little bit of cuy preparation. Buen provecho!

To learn more about Mayu’s take on Peruvian food, read on here (lots of delicious things covered).

For more on Mayu, find us on Twitter, see us on Facebook and to hear more stories from the field, subscribe to our e-news and follow our Blog!

PERUVIAN SCARVES THROUGH THE LENSE OF A CHIQUIANO!

Kati — Tue, 28 Sep 2010 10:00:30 +0000

While in Peru last month, I met Jesus, a “Chiquiano”, from the same community as Mayu’s artisans. He now lives in Lima but was visiting Chiquian; we shared great conversation in the town square. He had his camera in hand but I never realized the caliber of his work until he passed along his BLOG. Although in Spanish, I’m eager to share it. The photos and perspectives of Chiquian are beautiful.

Jesus wrote this message to Mayu’s fans:

Chiquián is a beautiful place in the Andean of Perú. “Light in the dark” is the name of my photographic blog that I present trying to recover and show the natural expression of this town, its culture and its people. Come here is a nice experience for your soul, you can feel that can touch the sky … You can see the dark and white mountains at the same time. Chiquián is a paradise to discover!

http://chiquianfotos.blogspot.com/

Algun detalle me comunicas, porfavor!
Cuidese mucho, un abrazo. Hasta pronto!
Jesús Bolarte Ramirez (Jepe)

Jesus is definitely right, Chiquian is a place that is amazing for the soul. Can’t make the visit this year? The soul can still feel good — purchase one of our hand-knit alpaca scarves, hats, wraps, shawls, hoodies or afghans and contribute to the well being of Mayu’s artisans and their families! And, I promise you will feel not only warm and fuzzy inside, but also on the outside, wrapped in luxurious, eco-friendly alpaca yarn.

PHOTOBLOG: CUTE & FUZZY PROVIDERS OF ECO-FRIENDLY ALPACA FIBER

Kati — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 13:00:20 +0000

As a follow-up to Mayu‘s visit to the Victory Alpaca Ranch last week, check out more photos of these adorable and sweet Camelids.

Connect with Mayu’s Twitter, Facebook and blog for more on alpaca, eco-fashion, and fun Fair Trade adventures!

OUR [CHARMING] HANDKNIT ALPACA ACCESSORIES GOTTA COME FROM SOMEWHERE!

Kati — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:00:21 +0000

Visited the Victory Ranch Alpaca Farm in Mora, New Mexico and came across this sign. Sums everything up just about perfectly. Enough said!

Connect with Mayu on Twitter, Facebook and our blog for exciting news about Peru, artisans, sustainability, eco-fashion, fair trade, and hand-knit alpaca.

WEB CLIP: TRADITIONAL WEAVING IN PERU

Kati — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:00:54 +0000

Click Pic for Video Link!

Watch traditional Peruvian weaving in action! The Travel Channel‘s Samantha Brown visits rural Peru to discover the differences between llamas and alpacas, and to witness traditional weaving techniques. Click the photo to follow the link>>

Connect with Mayu on Twitter, Facebook and our blog for exciting news about sustainability, eco-fashion, fair trade, and hand-knit alpaca.

Summer Social Media Intern Opportunity (Part Time)!

Kati — Wed, 12 May 2010 03:47:44 +0000

Sadly, our wonderful intern Katie just finished her time with Mayu. Congrats Katie for finishing your MBA and getting a great job in NYC! The following is a description of Mayu’s part-time summer intern opportunity.

During Mayu’s 3-month intern program, interns are given the opportunity to dive head-first into the field of social media.Mayu encourages creativity and is open to exchanging ideas, suggestions and thoughts with our interns as they relate to potential projects and expansion efforts. When you work for Mayu, you will not be micro-managed, but we do expect that you complete your tasks in a high-quality fashion with close attention to detail. This is an excellent chance for somebody looking to gain valuable small business development, e-commerce and social media experience. Mayu interns have the opportunity to be instrumental in the future growth of Mayu and we look forward to exchanging our respective expertise!

Time Commitment: This is a virtual internship (involving weekly phone calls with Mayu) that will require approximately 15 hours/week.

To Apply:
Please e-mail your resume to info@shopmayu.com. Don’t forget to include a brief description of yourself and your reason for wanting to work for Mayu in the body of the email. Please familiarize yourself with www.shopmayu.com before applying.

Major Responsibilities:
•        ~3x week Mayu blog posts which includes relevant content identification
•        Responding and commenting on industry-related blogs with Mayu’s signature using social media platform as a guide
•        Daily email responses to HARO postings (www.helpareporter.com)
•        Daily Facebook friend and fan page updates and Twitter tweets
•        Consistent recruiting of new fans, friends and followers on social media sites
•        Helping spread Mayu videos throughout the Internet and joining new social media sights
•        Creating Mayu’s e-newsletters and updating Mayu’s customer database
•        Brainstorming, creating and spreading the word about special promotions
•        Assisting in finding and contacting new market outlets for Fall 2010
•        Networking and finding members for Mayu’s Association of Alpaca Apparel
•        Collection of data for country-specific markets
•        Other activities and special projects based upon need and intern’s personal interests

*ALL completed tasks (and time spent) will be recorded and submitted to Mayu each week*

Ideal Candidate:

MBA/Graduate school student with communications, business or sales experience

•        Ability to think critically and analyze current market trends
•        Interested in fashion, social responsible businesses, fair trade, green revolution and Peru
•        Able to work independently and take responsibility for completing tasks in a timely manner
•        Prompt email communicator (most communications with Mayu will take place via email)
•        Excellent writing skills (will ask for writing sample upon contracting)
•        Self-starter, responsible, resourceful, motivated, creative, and confident and anything else you feel necessary to do a good job!

Notes:
Although unpaid, there is chance to be compensated in the form of Alpaca Accessories! Also, our last interns have received school credit so that is a possibility too.

Mayu Product Review: Ruffle Scarf

Kati — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:15:25 +0000

Melanie, the winner of our Ruffle Scarf Giveaway, gave us such a great review, we want to share it with you. We love receiving feedback from our customers, and we hope Melanie’s review encourages you to check out Mayu for fabulous 100% hand-knit alpaca products.

Mayu-Hand Knit Alpaca Clothing Review

I recently won a Mayu ruffle scarf in chocolate brown on Mayu’s blog. I was very excited to win this item and couldn’t wait to see what it looked like in person! I received my scarf very quickly and was blown away by how beautifully knit this scarf was. I’ve never felt real Alpaca wool and let me tell you, it’s amazingly soft.

The color was rich and natural looking. The dye is beautiful and the scarf is really luxurious. Mayu works in conjunction with Peruvian village women to create a wonderful working relationship and friendship. Their business is making sure the women receive fair wages and have the freedom to care for their families while providing an exceptional and original piece of art.

I really love how unique this scarf is. It’s very fashionable and can definitely be a new trend in winter months. The colors come in cream, black, chocolate brown, and red. I definitely will do some more searching on this website come holiday time.

Thanks again Melanie! We love that you LOVE your scarf ♥

Spring Newletter: What’s New at Mayu?

Kati — Fri, 09 Apr 2010 20:03:39 +0000

Happy Spring to everyone! Wow, have we been busy since we spoke last. You won’t believe the exciting news we have to share, not to mention the amazing GIVEAWAY taking place at Mayu. You don’t want to miss this one, we promise!

Mayu’s Ruffle Scarf Giveaway!

Mayu is having our FIRST giveaway contest and we want to make sure you have the chance to win a beautiful chocolate brown ruffle scarf. This ECO-FRIENDLY, FAIRLY-TRADED, ALPACA scarf is our most popular product and retails for $119! There are two easy ways to enter and spread the love for Mayu. Entry only takes 1 minute, so give it a shot! The giveaway closes April 16th at 10AM. Each person is limited to one entry and the winner will be selected randomly and notified immediately. Good luck!

How Likely Are You to Recommend Mayu?

This month we asked to hear from you, our lovely customers and friends! Many of you received our request for feedback on Mayu’s customer service. If you didn’t already respond, please take 20 seconds to fill out the survey . Customer service is so important to us and we want to hear your thoughts and comments. Any ideas or suggestions you have, we are more than happy to listen, so please, keep ‘em coming!

Association of Alpaca Apparel

Last month Mayu launched the Association of Alpaca Apparel, a global network inspired by the cultivation, production and distribution of products made with pure alpaca fiber. The goal is to use AAA as a platform to converse and learn from others involved in the sale of alpaca apparel. With the support of our network, we hope to provide unlimited opportunity for South American alpaca farmers and artisans who produce high quality alpaca apparel. Friends, please visit us on Ning at Association of Alpaca Apparel. We have some fantastic things planned for our community!

Calling All Bloggers: World’s Working Women

Mayu is conducting a blog series through the month of April profiling companies working directly with women artisans or producers. The series, World’s Working Women , focuses on individual female artisans or artisan groups working around the globe. We have heard so many wonderful stories over the past few years and we want to give you the chance to hear them too! This week we profiled Joyce, an amazing paper-beader in Uganda. Please check out her incredible story and stay tuned for next week’s story.

So that about wraps it up for now. Just a few reminders:

We still have a couple long Rayas Hoodies left (at an incredible price of $99) so head over to Mayu and snap one up!
Kate is off to Peru this summer, so stay tuned for some great blogs and news on the upcoming Fall 2010 line and
As always, please pass along the Mayu love to your friends. We love meeting new people and exchanging ideas with them. We are super easy to get a hold of–you can follow us via Twitter@shopmayu, our blog or Facebook!

Have a great week and we look forward to hearing from you!

The Mayu Team

Mayu’s Ruffle Scarf Giveaway!

Kati — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:13:37 +0000

Ruffle Scarf!

Friends, gather ’round, we have some exciting news for you! Mayu is having our FIRST giveaway contest and we want to make sure you have the chance to win a beautiful chocolate brown ruffle scarf. This ECO-FRIENDLY, FAIRLY-TRADED, ALPACA scarf is our most popular product and retails for $119! There are two ways to enter and spread the love for Mayu:

(1) Mention and link to this giveaway on your blog, Facebook page, or twitter (be sure to include @shopmayu in the Tweet). Follow up with a post in the below comment section or an email to info@shopmayu.com to confirm!

(2) Add us to your “blogroll” if you have a blog. Leave a comment below with your site so we can check it out!

The giveaway will close April 16th at 10AM. Each person is limited to one entry. The winner will be selected via random number generator software and notified immediately. Shipping is on Mayu!

Enter today and spread the Mayu love!

*Make sure to add us to your Google Reader so you can stay up-to-date on Mayu and other giveaway opportunities!*

Building Relationships: Association of Alpaca Apparel!

Kati — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:37:19 +0000

We are so excited to tell you about an awesome networking opportunity for those involved in the alpaca apparel business. Whether you are a farmer, distributor, retailer or consumer of alpaca, you should check out this Mayu-sponsored project. The Association of Alpaca Apparel is a platform to converse and learn from others on issues such as fair trade, sustainability and alpaca retailing. Do you have questions, advice or insight to share? We want to hear it! Please join today, we can’t wait to exchange ideas with you!

For more information on the Association of Alpaca Apparel, Mayu, fair trade or eco-fashion, follow us via Twitter@shopmayu, our blog or Facebook!