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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.

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.

Happy Halloween and Day of the Dead! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

There is magic in the night

When pumpkins glow by

Moonlight

Anonymous

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 3

Autumn Browns - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

With autumn definitely in the air (at least here in the Borderlands - finally), Mother Nature's natural cycle of life is beginning to slow.  There is a feeling of drawing inward, of self-reflection and, perhaps, as bit of melancholy, as we begin to prepare for the coming colder months of winter.  The colors of fall are everywhere, which reminds me of this a quote from Helen Hunt Jackson, as American author: "The goldenrod is yellow, The corn is turning brown, The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down."  So evocative of my favorite season of the year.  

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 2

Tick, tock, tick, tock . . . the Christmas Clock shows that there are only 89 days left until the Jolly Man in red arrives.

With the approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2017 of artisan handmade items on their BluPrint blog.  The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the Christmas carol "The Twelve Days of Christmas.”  Week 2 has come and gone on Julie and Blu's "Countdown to Christmas 2017." In its wake, a wonderful assortment of handmade items were shared:  from jewelry to crocheted and knitted items; from lampwork glass beads to wooden Christmas ornaments; from photography to original art, and many, many more creative beauties!

First Page, Last Handmade Item - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

I always love to do random type blog posts, posts that don’t have a specific theme, like “flowers, “autumn” or based on a quote.  For this post, I chose “First Page, Last Handmade Item” (as of when this blog was written),” a random pick of artisan handmade creations, the last item on the first page.  Despite not having a specific theme, the handmade items from Indiemade artist friends always showcase a wide range of extraordinary talent.  If an item catches your eye, either click on the photo or the live link beneath the photo to be taken to the item in the shop.  There you will find more information and photos.  I hope you enjoy these last handmade items found on the first page:

Make It a Handmade Christmas - Countdown - Week 1

WOW, wasn't last Christmas like . . . last month? Yikes!  According to the Christmas clock, there is only 96 days, 20 hours, 54 minutes and those rapidly descending seconds until Christmas is here . . . once again!  And it's even closer by the time your read this!

Autumn Inspired Handmade Beauties

The cooler temperatures of autumn have arrived here in our area of the Desert Southwest.  It still gets into the high 80’s or low 90’s during the day but drops down into the high 60’s at night.  The monsoon season has pretty much ended, the horrid humidity mostly gone, and our drier air has been welcomed back by everyone.  It is so nice to turn off the air conditioner (at least until early afternoon) and open windows and doors to allow fresh desert air to blow through.  While I don’t see any trees changing colors yet, the desert is extremely green after the above average rainfall we received the last two months.  Maximillian sunflowers can be found all over, as well as masses of small yellow, purple and terracotta colored wildflowers that I don't know the name of but enjoy immensely nonetheless. My favorite time of the year!