Enjoy
*** FREE SHIPPING ***
for the Holiday Season!
(First Class Ground Advantage - U.S. Only)
Blog entry
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 2, 2023
Posted October 4, 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:
» 12 Comments
Happy Halloween - Spooky Artisan Handmade Goodies - 2023
Posted September 17, 2023
Halloween will soon be here, only about five weeks away! Halloween is a favorite day / evening / night for many, with a steady stream of trick or treaters in a variety of cute or creepy costumes. Decorations are aplenty: Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins, grinning skulls, eerie ghosts and other infamous creaturess. During the weeks before October 31, it’s fun to wear spooky accessories or decorate the home for Halloween. With that in mind, handmade artist friends were invited to share two Halloween / Day of the Dead / Autumn-inspired items - whether symbolic or filled with traditional colors or both. You’ll see a wide variety of spine-tingling jewelry, eye-catching photography, fun baby gifts, unique lampwork glass beads and your choice of sugar skull pincushions. Each one of these handmade beauties, many of which are one of a kind pieces, are perfect to help celebrate that supernatural day of the year. I hope you enjoy these choices and will visit the shops of the talented artists featured for more amazing handmade beauties, some spine-tingling and some not!
Buy Artisan Handmade for Mothers Day 2023 - Week 9
Posted May 9, 2023
Watch out! Mother’s Day will be here very, very soon - in fact, this coming Sunday, May 14. It’s still not too late to order a handmade gift (do it now!) from the beauties shared this week on the Countdown to Mother's Day 2023 Week 9. The Countdown was hosted again this year by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Hard to believe this is the last weel of the Countdown - time sure flies by! Despite that, 10 handmade artisans shared a total of 30 wonderfully unique items, some of them one of a kind designs. Browse the wide range of eye catching shares for this week, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom something that was HANDMADE from the heart! By shopping small, you'll also support a small indie business (and for that, we are eternally grateful!).
Buy Artisan Handmade for Mothers Day 2023 - Week 8
Posted May 2, 2023
If you haven't started shopping for Mother's Day gifts, you are quickly running out of time!!! Just a little less than two weeks from now and the big day for Mom will be here. To help you in your search for the perfect item, check out the Mother's Day Countdown 2023 - Week 8. It is a collection filled with unique artisan items, all handmade from the heart and most one of a kind. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, each of the unique items, 29 beauties from 10 artists, will make a memorable gift for Mom on her day. This is the perfect time to start buying a gift(s) for your Mom - and, perhaps, for yourself! Items on the Countdown go quick so don't miss out. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 8, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beautiful gift that was HANDMADE. Also you'll be supporting a small indie artist!
Buy Artisan Handmade for Mothers Day 2023 - Week 5
Posted April 11, 2023
Another week of the Countdown to Mother's Day 2023 has come and gone. Week 5, as all the weeks have been and will be, was hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Thirty-three unique handmade / designed items were shared from eleven artists. Many are one of a kind and each will make a memorable gift for Mom on her big day. Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it, on May 14, this is the perfect time to thinking about and start buying a gift(s) for your Mom (and, perhaps, for yourself). Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 5, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beautiful gift that was handmade from the heart. For this year's Mother's Day: PLEASE BUY HANDMADE and support small, indie businesses!
Buy Artisan Handmade for Mothers Day 2023 - Week 2
Posted March 21, 2023
It's hard to believe that week 2 of the Mother's Day Countdown 2023, hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog came and went so quickly! A total of 39 unique items were shared from 13 talented artists - each beauty a perfect Mother’s Day gift. Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it - on May 14th, less than 2 months from now - this is the perfect time to start thinking about and buying a gift(s) for your mom, grandmother, aunties and other loves ones. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 2, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade from the heart, many of which are one of a kind designs. This year, please support small artisan handmade shops!
Pick a Bouquet of Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade Floral Gifts
Posted February 19, 2023
Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
~ Bishop Reginald Heber ~
I have always loved the quote shared above. Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826), well known for his poetry, describes in just a few words the joyousness of spring on the return of flowers. I, myself, can’t wait to finish the new flower bed I started digging last fall and filling it with native plants chosen specifically for pollinators of all types. Let the flowers paint the laughing soil! And let the colorful flowers be an important food source for bees of all types, flower flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and hummingbirds.
With all-things-flower in mind, I invited artist friends to share two of their floral designs. As you will see in the beautiful items below, there is a wide range of flowers to be had, from note cards to jewelry, from lampwork beads to photography, from photography to digital art and many, many more! Be sure to pick a bouquet of floral beauties and support small handmade businesses!
For Twitter, please use the hashtag #SpringFlowers.
Gorgeous Gifts for Valentines Day - Artisan Handmade
Posted January 5, 2023
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. Walk into most stores shortly after Christmas (or sometimes before!) and hearts, cupids and other items in pink and red will assail you from every direction. Flowers, candy and gifts are exchanged between loved ones throughout the United States and in many other countries around the world . . . all in the name of St. Valentine. Although the exact history of St. Valentine is shrouded in mystery, February has long been celebrated as a month of romance. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both ancient Roman and Christian traditions, with some other thrown in for good measure.
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 3
Posted October 4, 2022
It's amazing how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 flew right on by. In its wake, a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade / designed gifts were shared. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here . . . once again.
With the rapidly approaching gift giving season, Julie of Blue Morning Expressions along with her handsome sidekick, Hurricane Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2022 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the pervasive holiday carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 36 shares by 12 artists. The shared gifts include: jewelry of all sorts, polymer clay beads, lampwork beads, party stickers / tags, christmas ornaments, photographic art and digital art. Shopping the Countdown to Christmas is the perfect place to start your holiday gift gathering! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
New Handmade Earrings and Necklaces - Shadow Dog Designs
Posted June 16, 2022
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.
