Blog

Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 2 - Italy

Carved life size presepe, Santa Maria d'Aracoeli Presepe Christmas Day Rome, 2012; photo by Margot Balboni

Traditionally, Christmas in Italy is celebrated over several weeks, from December 6th, St. Nicholas Day, until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany.  On St. Nicholas Day, children write letters to St Nicholas asking for gifts and they hang up either a sock or put a plate on the table on the eve of Nicholas Day’s.  If the children have been good throughout the last year, they will get some fruits, nuts and sweets from St. Nicholas while the naughty ones will also get a sweet, but one looking like lump of coal. The main gift giving day is January 6 - the day on which the Wise Men brought their gifts to the Christ Child.

Monday Twitter Tree - Handmade and Vintage - September 26, 2016

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

Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 2

Please share you links on the host blog:  The Blu Print

Unique New Handmade Jewelry from Shadow Dog Designs

The past several weeks have been very busy with a huge (and very profitable) show on Labor Day weekend and then a week long trip to beautiful Couer d'Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington.  But unique new handmade jewelry, mostly necklaces and earrings, have been listed in my Indiemade shop.  All of the jewelry is one of a kind, except the very last pair of earrings, the snowmen earrings.  Even though I make them in several different colored collars, the red ones are the most popular.

What a Spooky Halloween! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

With the last days of September rapidly approaching, Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities will arrive before we realize it.  With that in mind, I decided to browse the studios of Indiemade artist friends and pull together a variety of spookily fun handmade items:  some in oranges and black, some with skulls, one with spooky black cats and a set of ever watchful owls.  Any of these mostly one of a kind handmade beauties will be perfect for the other side of life parties.  Enjoy!

Countdown to Christmas 2016 - Week 1 - Norway

Christmas in Trondheim, Norway; photo by PLANET LEW

This past weekend started the fifth annual “Countdown to Christmas 2016” collection hosted each year by Julie and Blu of Blue Morning Expressions.  It is a way for handmade artisan and vintage sellers to share three of their items each week, each one perfect for Christmas gift giving.  I will pick my favorite item each week and share them here in this blog.  

Also, I plan on sharing a bit about how different countries around the world celebrate Christmas.  This week, Norway is highlighted:

Monday Twitter Tree - Handmade and Vintage - September 19, 2016

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

The Lucky Number 3 - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

I am not by nature a superstitious person, but I have a real affinity for the number 3 (even more for 33).  For centuries, it has been revered as a lucky number.  I also knew it had many, many religious connotations, such as the Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) in the Christian faith - St. Patrick used a shamrock to teach about the Holy Trinity.  It also describes the three attributes of God:  omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. In Hinduism, the number 3 represents the three gods:  Brahma, the creator; Vishnu, the preserver; and Shiva, the destroyer.  The number 3 is very important in Buddhism and represents: the Buddha, the  historical Buddha Shakyamuni; the Dharma, the Buddhist body of teachings; and, the Sangha, the people who follow the teaching of the Buddha.

Monday Twitter Tree - Handmade and Vintage - September 12, 2016

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

Spooky Halloween and Day of the Dead Skull Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs

Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities will soon be upon us.  To help you celebrate, I have been stocking my Shadow Dog designs Indiemade shop with spooky handmade skull earrings of various types.  Recently, glass sugar skull beads from the Czech Republic have appeared in a myriad of colors - such fun to work with!  And I'm always on the lookout for new, fun skull designs to make into one of a kind jewelry, perfect to enhance your costume . . . or everyday wear!