Beautiful Blues - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday

 

 

Blue is a much beloved, favorite color of many, many people worldwide, especially in Europe and the United States.  But, if you look back at the history of blue, it was an ignored color for quite some time.  The Greek and Romans had no word for the color - it was never mentioned in any of the many texts produced at that time.  The color itself was barely distinguished from neutral shades. In the Odyssey, for example, Homer mentioned white and black hundreds of times, rarely mentioned red and yellow and used the term “wine-dark” to describe blue items, such as the sky or the sea.  What we think of as blue was associated with the Celts who were said to have painted their bodies blue before going into battle, women with blue eyes were believed to have loose morals and descriptions of rainbows omitted the color blue altogether!

 

 

 

Blue Swarovski Pearls and Red Wood Summer Bracelet Handmade by Sharon of BlondePeachJewelry

 

 

Humans began to develop blue colorants about 6,000 years ago.  Lapis lazuli, a rare, deep blue gemstone mined in Afghanistan, became highly prized among the Egyptians. They combined lapis with other ingredients, such as calcium and limestone, to create saturated blue pigments. An Egyptian word for "blue" emerged.  As Egyptian blue dyes were traded to other areas of the world - the dyes were outrageosuly expensive so only royalty could afford them - the color became popular enough that “blue” earned its own name in various languages.  Whew!!!  Glad “blue” came into being.

 

With that early history in mind, I decided this week’s Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday, would deal with the color blue.  Titled Beautiful Blues, I chose three items from three handmade artists where varous shades of blue figured prominently in the designs.  The three artists are:  Sharon of BlondePeachJewelry; Jacki of Christie Cottage; and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.  I hope you enjoy these finds of Beautiful Blues.

 

 

 

Teal Blue, Green and Cream Crocheted Butterfly Applique Handmade by Jacki of Christie Cottage

 

 

 

Blue Lampwork Spikes Boho Earrings with Swarovski Crystals Handmade by Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

 

Copper Elephant and Blue Artisan Lampwork Glass Bead Necklace Handmade by Sharon of BlondePeachJewelry

 

 

 

Hand Crocheted Blue Boho Bib Necklace with Flower Feathers and Blue Agate Handmade by Jacki of Christie Cottage

 

 

 

Chunky Turquoise Blue Gemstones and Silver Southwest Necklace Handmade by Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

 

Cobalt Blue Boho Dangle Earrings Handmade by Sharon of BlondePeachJewelry

 

 

 

Set of 15 Butterfly and Blue Ribbon Mini Thank You Cards Handmade by Jacki of Christie Cottage

 

 

 

Blue Lampwork Glass and Swarovski Crystal Earrings Handmade by Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

I hope you enjoyed each and every one of these unique handmade creations with the color blue!  If you would like to make my day and the day of the talented artists featured, please leave a blog comment.  And any promotion you can do will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

My contact information:

 

Indiemade shop:  Shadow Dog Designs

Indiemade blog:  Shadow Dog Designs’ Blog

Blogger Blog:  Shadow Dog Design’s Blogger

On Fire for Handmade shop:  Shadow Dog Designs

Artfire studio:  ShadowDogDesigns

Facebook:  Catherine’s Personal Page

Facebook:  ShadowDogDesigns - Jewelry

Twitter:  ShadowDogDesign

Pinterest:  Shadow Dog Designs

Flickr:  Shadow Dog Designs' Photostream

 

SHADOW DOG DESIGNS

Beautifully Unique Handmade Jewelry

for the Discerning Woman