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A Spooky Halloween / Samhain! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Halloween will soon be here, a time for pumpkin carvings, dressing in costumes, trick or treating and parties  Halloween has been around for over 200 years - how did it evolve?  To answer those questions (and refresh my memory), I decided to share a short history of Halloween, dealing more with its ancient traditions.

Halloween dates back to the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced sow-in). The Celts lived about 2,000 years ago in the area that is now Ireland, the United Kingdom and northern France and celebrated their new year on November 1.  This day marked the end of summer and the harvest.  It also marked the beginning of the dark, cold winter, the time of year that was most associated with death. Celts believed that on the night before the new year, the boundary between the worlds of the living and the dead became blurred. On the night of October 31, Samhain was celebrated when it was believed that the ghosts of the dead returned to earth.

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 6

Time is flying by!  The ever ticking Christmas clock now says there is ONLY 61 days until jolly Santa Claus, pulled in his gift packed sleigh by his merry band of reindeer, lands on rooftops and slides down chimneys to deliver fun presents or bags of coal.  Week 6 of the Countdown to Christmas has sped rapidly by, as well.  It's hard to believe that we're officially half way through with the Countdown - only 6 more weeks to go.  A lovely gathering of handmade items was left in the Countdown's wake, beauties created by talented artist friends.  Let’s all make this a HANDMADE Christmas this year!  

Monday Twitter Tree - Handmade - October 23, 2017

Please share your tweets and links on the host blog:  CHRISTIE COTTAGE

It's a Handmade Countdown to Christmas 2017 - Week 6

Please share your links on the host blog:  THE BLU PRINT

Caribbean Blue - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Usually when I’m working on a blog post or listing an item in my Indiemade shop, my Pandora station is palying on my computer.  My stream has a great blend (at least to me) of classic rock, some more modern rock, some folk music and a big dose of Celtic inspired music - that's the Scots-Irish coming out in me.  Yesterday, as I was finishing up another blog, the song “Caribbean Blue” by Eithne Pádraigín Ní Bhraonáin (better known as Enya) came on.  Even though Enya sings many Celtic folk songs, some in Gaelic, with her usually heavily synthesized backdrops and multiple layers of her own voice, she is more of a New Age musician, in my humble opinion.  "Caribbean Blue" was a mega-hit for her, and rightly so.  I find her music very relaxing and always pause and enjoy the minutes when songs of hers show up in the Pandora rotation.  Sometimes I'll even plug in one of her CDs and totally bliss out.  To see the amazingly beautiful video of the song click here: CARIBBEAN BLUE 

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 5

Week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas has come and gone.  A plethora of handmade beauties by talented artist friends were shared.  Christmas will be here before we know it.  According to the ever ticking Christmas Clock, there are only 68 days until the merry gentleman in red leaves gifts (or chunks of coal).  Hopefully Santa (and you!) will make it a handmade gift giving Christmas this year!  

With the quickly approaching gift buying and gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 featuring artisan handmade items on their The Blu Print blog.  The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  This week, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared in the Countdown.  Included are all styles of beautiful jewelry, lovely crocheted and knitted items for many members of the family, breathtaking photography, eye catching original art, glowing lampwork glass beads, art glass plates, dog owner accessories, cute holiday tags, collectible thimbles and Christmas ornaments . . . all these, and more, perfect Christmas gift ideas were shared.

Monday Twitter Tree - Handmade - October 16, 2017

Please share you tweets and links with the host blog:  CHRISTIE COTTAGE

It's a Handmade Countdown to Christmas 2017 - Week 5

Please share your links on the host blog:  THE BLU PRINT

The Sky is Already Purple - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

"The sky is already purple; the first few stars have appeared, suddenly, as if someone had thrown a handful of silver across the edge of the world."

I have always loved this quote from Alice Hoffman’s novel, Here on Earth.  It is so very evocative of watching the sky turn dark here in the Desert Southwest during this glorious time of the year.  When the sky is transformed for a few minutes into a magical velvety bluish-purple color, a multitude of stars come out to to play, twinkling away.  Then the sky will finally slip into a depthless black and even more stars will appear . . . and, hopefully, a shooting star will streak across the sky.  Another reason autumn is my favorite time of the year.

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 4

Do you hear the tick, tick, tick of the Christmas clock?  As we are all probably aware, Christmas will be here before we know it.  According to the ever ticking clock, there are only 75 days (when this blog was posted) until the day of gift giving and merry making. 

With the approaching gift buying and gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 of artisan handmade items on their The Blu Print blog.  The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Week 4 has come and gone on Julie and Blu's "Countdown to Christmas 2017." In its wake, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared.  They included all styles of beautiful jewelry, lovely crocheted and knitted items for many members of the family, breathtaking photography, eye catching original art, glowing lampwork glass beads, dog bandanas, cute holiday stickers . . . all these and more creative beauties were shared.