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Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 10

Can you believe that there are only two (!!!) more weeks left of the Countdown to Christmas 2017?  Week 10 quickly came and went.  It seems the closer we get to Christmas, the quicker the week seem to speed on by.  According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 33 days left until the jolly man in red and white shows up with gifts or lumps of coal.  Let’s hope the gifts are all artisan handmade!  Help Santa make it a HANDMADE Christmas this year!

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 9

Already Week 9 of the Countdown to Christmas has come and gone . . . leaving only 3 more weeks left!  YIKES!  This means, of course, that Christmas is looming even closer.  According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 40 days left until the ever jolly Santa Claus shows up.  Let’s help Santa make it a HANDMADE Christmas this year by shopping the artisan beauties shared in the Countdown!

Bohemian Rhapsody - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

It’s amazing how often my blogs are inspired by music.  As you have probably noticed, music is, and always has been, a huge part of my life.  For some reason, I have been listening quite a bit to the complete soundtrack to the Lord of the Rings movies.  Heroic music for an awesome trilogy!  It ended (for the umpteenth time) and I switched to my Pandora station.  And . . . Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen started the mix of music.  The song, which was released in 1975, instantly took me back to a time at university when several friends and I developed a Bohemian Rhapsody skit . . . and performed it at a university talent show!  Am sure the skit was absolutely, undeniably horrible.  But whenever I hear the song, it takes me back to all the hard work and laughter as we pulled the antics of the skit together.  Am sure there is a photo or two around, but I have no idea where they are.  

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 8

It seems the weeks for the Countdown to Christmas seem to speed by quicker and quicker.  Only 4 more weeks of sharing handmade beauties and promoting our friends are left!  This means, of course, that Christmas is getting even closer.  According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 47 days left until jolly Santa Claus shows up behind his team of reindeer.  Let’s help Santa make it a HANDMADE Christmas this year!

Early Christmas Shopping - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

Now that November is officially here, Christmas can’t lag far behind.  The ever ticking Christmas Clock says there are only 53 more days until Christmas . . . and those days will fly by.  It’s time to start making those Christmas gift lists and start shopping early!  Every handmade item featured here was created by a very talented artist - a bit of their heart and soul are in each.  Don’t buy mass produced this year - BUY HANDMADE!

Happy Halloween!

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 7

Week 7 of the Countdown to Christmas 2017 has sped on by.  Can you believe we only have 5 more weeks left of sharing beautiful handmade gift ideas?!?  Which means Christmas is getting ever closer.  According to the relentless Christmas clock now says there is only 54 days left until jolly Santa Claus shows up.  Let’s help Santa make it a HANDMADE Christmas this year!

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!  

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