Blog entry
Eclipse Blues - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday
Yesterday, I was flying back home from Dallas right as the eclipse was happening in far West Texas. Unfortunately, the sun was right above the plane, so I couldn’t see any of it. But I was able to see the ground (something like 40,000 feet below) slowly growing darker. Although since the eclipse was only about 65% in my area of the world, it didn’t get anywhere as dark as a full eclipse. But what was interesting was watching the sky as the sun dimmed and then grew brighter - what beautiful shades of deep, rich blues showed up and then slowly dissolved into the more normal paler sky blues. The colors looked almost velvety if you could just reach out and touch them!
The photo above is the one and only photo I took yesterday towards the end of the eclipse. I just pointed my old iPhone at the sun and clicked, hoping the sun wouldn't fry the lense. Not a great photo by any means - the sun doesn't even look like it is eclipsing with all the "light leakage." It wasn't until I downoaded the photo on the computer that I noticed the lense flare with a clear eclipse shape in it, which is what the sun actually looked like at that time. Yay! But look at the sky . . . what an amazing color!
Relaxing Blues and Teals - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Blues and teals are relaxing colors, both mentally and physically. In color psychology, the colors control and heal the emotions, creating emotional balance and stability. Worldwide, the color blue is the favorite color, a color that is seen as reliable and responsible. Teal, a hue that is halfway between blue and green, is seen as happy and friendly, and is the most common color requested by photographers for logo designs.
A Sense of Fun - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade blog post is called A Sense of Fun. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of “fun” is “that which provides amusement or enjoyment.” I am often delighted and amused at the creativity of my artist friends and ALWAYS enjoy browsing their shops. And since Mother’s Day is almost upon us, any of these picks will make wonderful gifts. Buy Handmade - buy a gift that was made from the heart.
Easter Perfection! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Easter will be here before we know it, on Sunday, April 16. It was a family tradion, a week or so before Easter, that my Mom would take my sister, my brother and me to the local dry goods store to shop for a new Easter outfit to wear to church. My sister and I always ended up with frilly dresses in pastel shades, new white shoes, lace edged socks (sometimes in colors matching our dress), white gloves and a new mantilla or flower headband. My brother, always with not much choices, ended up with khakis, a white shirt and new brown shoes (and sometimes a new plastic dinosaur for this extensive collection). Were we ever Easter styling! Hopefully all photos of us kids decked out in our Easter finery have been lost.
Beautifully Blissful Blues - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
I have always been fascinated with words, especially when it comes to colors. Just how many different words are there to describe a color? But one person “blue” is not always another person’s “blue.” My husband is a good example. This past weekend we were at Lowe’s looking at paint chips: yellows, blues and greens. DH’s definition of any shade or tint of blue, whether it is a pale baby blue or a dark navy blue, is “blue.” I, myself, am much more exacting most of the time. So, if I see “cornflower blue,” I will call it that.
Perfectly Pink for Valentines Day! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Last week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday blog focused on artisan made creations using the color red. This week the focus is on the color pink. Pink is another color that has deep associations with Valentine’s Day, often paired with the more emotionally intense red on cards and candies and other Valentine’s items. Although both red and pink represent love, the color red represents heat and passion, while the color pink represents romance and charm. Hot pink is used to communicate playfulness, while light pink is used to communicate tenderness. It is the color of universal love, of others and of oneself. It symbolizes friendship, affection, harmony, inner peace, and approachability (which is why I often will wear a pink top when selling my jewelry at an arts festival).
Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The color combination of red and green is closely associated with Christmas - for example, Santa’s red clothing and green holly with red berries. But how did this come about? From ancient history to modern time, color has been an integral part of cultural awareness and even an understanding of life; it touched all members of society and conveyed deeper messages (such as, only royalty could wear the color purple). Red and green as Christian symbolism can be traced back to Medieval Miracle Plays and rood screen painters. The color combination can be traced to the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories from the 13th century. And these stories were probably based on an oral tradition that dates back to the pre-Christian Celts many centuries before where a half-red, half-green tree figures prominently in one of the tales. In pre-Christian times, red and green represented male (red) and female (green), strength and harmony, desire and fertility.
Great Blue Dome - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
My husband, Seamus (our sweet, goofus Moose of a dog) and I are fortunate to live in the Desert Southwest, a part of the country where the sky is immense and an ever changing blue most of the year. In fact, a cloudy day (like today!) is actually a treat! I was gazing out the window in my studio the other day when a Thomas Carlyle quote came to me: "The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better." And I have to agree! Even though I love visiting old cathedrals with a sense of wonderment, spirituality and awe - Canterbury Cathedral, Koln Cathedral, Notre Dame, National Cathedral, St, Paul's to name a few - I absolutely revel in the everchanging "great blue dome" that is above my head almost every day. The colors can range from the palest blue to a deep, mystical, velvety blue that occurs 45 minutes or so after the sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunset has faded.
HOT, HOT, HOT!!! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
If you have been keeping up with the weather lately, you know that a huge section of the United States has been dealing with unusually high heat. Here in the Desert Southwest, we are used to triple digit numbers (but it’s a dry heat!). People who are live in other parts of the U.S. are not used to the high heat and may not even have air conditioning to remediate. Let’s hope the high that had stalled above the U.S. moves on out and normal temperatures return . . . and our monsoon rains start here in the Borderlands.
Bewitching Blues! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade - June 23, 2015
World wide, the color blue is the most popular color, chosen by over half of the population in the United States and Europe. A study conducted by Joe Hallock, polling people in 22 countries across a wide demographic profile, showed that 57% of men and 35% of women preferred blue. For men, the next favorite color was green (14%); for women, it was purple (23%).
