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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 2, 2023

Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come . . . and gone,  No worries because unique artisan handmade / designed items were left in its wake.  According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here.  With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their of Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop.  The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the ubiquitous Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 30 shares by 10 artists featuring a wide range of gift ideas: unique jewelry, Christmas tags, watercolor art prints, an original book, photographic and digital art for the home, ornaments, key chains and a host of other beauties.  If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that!  An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN.  And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!

Each week during the Countdown, I pick my a favorite items from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog.  These are my favorites for Week 2:   

New Handmade Earrings and Necklaces - Shadow Dog Designs

The heat of summer has set in here in the Desert Southwest.  Which means planting more flowers in the flower beds is pretty much a done deal until the monsoon season sets in shortly (hopefully - we really need some rain!).  More time is being spent inside during the day until the temps cool down when the sun starts to set, so I'm making good use of the extra time inside creating and listing new jewelry.  And I'm looking further down the road to the Labor Day weekend when the Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts is being held - my first big show of the season and my favorite.  Five new pairs of earrings and two new necklaces have been recently added to my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS handmade jewelry shop.  I also added three older pieces to make an even ten.  If something catches your eye and you want to look at more photos or need more information, please either click the picture or the description under the pic to be taken to the item listing.  I hope you enjoy these new necklace sand earrings, all of which are one of a kind designs.

Menagerie - Animal Inspired Handmade Jewelry by Shadow Dog Designs

Menagerie:  a collection of animals, frequently exotic, kept for display.  The term was first used in 17th-century France, in reference to the management of household or domestic stock.

Anyone who knows me knows I love animals in all shapes and sizes - always have, always will.   So I wanted to share a collection of animal jewelry with you that can be found in my Shadow Dog Designs handmade jewelry shop.  Even though these animals found on these earrings and necklaces are not alive, they can definitely be termed a menagerie since there is a wide variety, from exotic animals, such as tigers and giraffes, to domestic animals, like dogs and cats.  If something catches your eye and you want to see more photos and information, please click on the photo or the link below the picture to be taken directly to the item.  I hope you enjoy this menagerie of one of a kind jewelry!

Make It a Handmade Christmas 2020 - Week 12

Tick . . . tick . . . tick.  According to the Christmas clock, there are now only 16 (!!!) days until Christmas!  It’s hard to believe that December is already here and, with it, the last week of the Countdown to Christmas 2020.  The Countdown has been graciously hosted by Julie and Blue of Blue Morning Expressions on their The Blu Print blog. Yes, Week 12 has come and gone and 33 artisan handmade items from 11 artists were left in its wake, any of which will be perfect for a Christmas gift that was carefully created from the heart.  Support handmade artists by helping Santa make it a HANDMADE Christmas this year!