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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 2 Favorites - 2024

 

 

Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2024 has already come . . . and gone!  No worries, however, because unique artisan handmade / designed items were left in its wake.  According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clockthere are only 84 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 2024 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blogpart 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 39 shares by 13 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 item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog.  These are my favorites for Week 2:   

 

 

 

New Handmade Jewelry by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

 

The summer heat has settled on the land here in the Desert Southwest with lots of sun and a big blue sky with rarely any clouds.   That means there is more creative time in my jewelry studio as opposed to creative time outside in the flower beds.  So I wanted to share with you eleven of my newest creations, four necklaces and seven pairs of earrings, found in my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS jewelry shop  The handmade necklaces and earrings are one of a kind designs and will make unique gifts for a loved one . . . or, of course, yourself!  If something catches your eye and you want to see more photos and details, please click either on the photo or on the short description under the photo.  Thanks for looking.  And remember to SHOP SMALL  and to SHOP HANDMADE!

 

 

New Jewelry - Handmade Earrings and Necklaces by Shadow Dog Designs

 

It has been quite a while since I shared new, one of a kind necklace and earrings designs.  The autumn show season has started and it seems I’m making new items, setting up at shows, selling at shows and packing up from shows.  So my Shadow Dog Designs online shop hasn’t seen a whole lot of new handmade items posted lately - and many that were posted have sold. But I wanted to share the five newest pieces, plus three that are fairly new and one Halloween and one Christmas design.  To see more information about individual items, either click on the photograph or the link under the photo - both will take you to the item in the shop. I hope you enjoy looking . . . and maybe buying!

A Melange of Handmade - Three for Thursday - June 20, 2019

 

This weeks's Three for Thursday is a melange of items.  Since I have an addiction to words, I wanted to give a brief etymology of the word melange.  The word, which rolls off the tongue to so beautifully, first is first found in French documents around the comes from the 15th century French word meler, meaning 'to mix, mingle."  Meler, in turn, came from the Old French meslance or meslinges (a set of diverse elements).  So, according to The Free Dictionary, the modern word means “a collection of various things.”  Which is the perfect definition of the variety of handmade items I found from artists and am sharing in this post:  The items featured are from three handmade artists:  beautiful original watercolor paintings from Roxanne of watercolorsNmore; fun and handy to have cards of various types from Jacki of Christie Cottage; and a selection of one of a kind handmade jewelry from me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.

 

I hope you enjoy these picks.  And that you will visit the shops of the artists for more handmade beauties.

Flowers for Your Ears - Handmade Floral Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

“I must have flowers, always, and always.”

Claude Monet

 

 

I totally agree with Monet.  There are a lot of things I can give up in life, but flowers are not one of them.  To plant a seed or seedlings into the ground . . . and then a miracle happens. Sometimes slowly and sometimes quickly, the plant grows and flowers emerge.  I have been redesigning flower beds here at our house using a wide range of water wise plants: knipofia (called “mango popsicle’ - truly well named), several salvias in several colors, a fabulous penstemon; Russian sage, Texas red yucca, gauras and many colors of the workhorse of the desert garden, the glorious lantana.  Every plant I chose has to benefit bees, butterflies and/or hummingbirds. I have seen bees and butterflies on the flowers, but the hummingbirds seems to prefer the feeder and the mimosa tree, which is blooming right now. Several times a day, I go out and just look, and am always filled with a sense of wonder and awe at the sheer beauty at what is happening.

Handmade Jewelry - New Necklaces and Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

Spring is pretty much behind us here in the Desert Southwest.  Although it has been a very mild spring (YAY!) with below average heat with morning still cool enough that a light jacket is sometimes needed.  But all of us who live here know that summer is just around the corner bringing some triple digit temperatures in June. The the summer monsoons arrive (hopefully) in July, August and September bringing cooler temperatures again (but also the dreaded humidity) and a sense of rejuvenation.  

 

So many of my new jewelry designs deal with summer-y type things, whether the designs feature flowers, summer colors, the sun or other beauties.  And don’t forget your dogs or cats! I hope you enjoy the newest earrings (and one necklace) designs that can be found in my Shadow Dog Designs jewelry shop:

Make it an Artisan Handmade Mothers Day - Week 7

 

 

Week 7 of the Mother’s Day Countdown - 2019 has come and gone like a flash.  Since Mother’s Day will be here before you know it (here in a flash), now is the time to start shopping for that perfect handmade gift for Mom.  Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their The Blu Print blog, the Countdown to Mother’s Day is a perfect place to start your shopping!  Each week, handmade artists share up to three of their unique items, each one a perfect gift for even the hardest to please Mom. This week, a total of 36 artisan items were shared on the Countdown from 12 handmade artists.  Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 7, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a unique beauty that was handmade from the heart.

Make it an Artisan Handmade Mothers Day - Week 6

 

 

Since Mother’s Day will be here before you know it, now is the time to start shopping for that perfect handmade gift for Mom.  The Countdown to Mother’s Day 2019 is a great place to start! The Countdown is hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their The Blu Print blog.  Each week, handmade artists share up to three of their unique items, each one a perfect gift for even the most hard to please Mom. This week, a total of 32 artisan items were shared from 11 handmade artists.  Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 6, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade from the heart.

Make it an Artisan Handmade Mothers Day - Week 1

 

Julie and Hurricane Harry of Blue Morning Expressions is once again hosting the wildly popular Mother's Day Countdown on their The Blu Print blog.  Last year's Mother's Day Countdown 2018 was a resounding success . . . so the 2019 version is up and running. Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it - about 10 weeks from now - this is the perfect time to start thinking about and buying a gift(s) for your Mom.  Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for this week, visit the shops of the artists featured in this week's Countdown and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade from the heart.

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