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Blog entry
Handmade Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
When I was browsing the internet the other day, looking for nothing in particular, I stumbled across this quote:
Something Handmade is So Much More Meaningful
It caught my eye, because, being a handmade jewelry artist myself, I promote buying handmade whenever I can, through my own work or the work of others artist friends. Handmade items ARE more meaningful . . . and are often one of a kind . . . and always have a small piece of the artist’s soul buried in them.
New Artisan Handmade Jewelry at Shadow Dog Designs
I love this quote by J. Donald Walters:
When you buy something handmade by a person, there is something special there, and you do feel it. The consciousness with which the thing is made is often more important than the thing itself.
First - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
It’s been a while since I featured a full Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade post on my blog. The month of April was filled with 2 day shows on the weekends (sales were excellent for two and good for two) and I had to take a couple of unexpected short trips. So last week's post was postponed until this week. It was good to take a short break. Now we are into the second week of May! Where does the time go?
Today’s blog post, First, features ten items from ten handmade artists. The items chosen are the very first one in the shops (as of when this blog was written). I hope you enjoy the varied items from these talented artists.
Spring Colors! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Sitting Bull
With spring definitely here in the Borderlands, I have been thinking about colors quite a bit as the brown of the desert bursts into so many glorious shades of green. The white and pink fruit trees have pretty much quit blooming, so the various shrubs, hardy trees, ocotillo, cactus and poppies will add their beautiful spring colors: yellow, pinks, oranges, reds, purples and others all against the huge dark blue sky. My soul revives!
Happy St Patricks Day! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Due to my mother's side of the family, quite a lot of Scots-Irish blood flows through my veins, being a MacLellan and an O'Birney. I grew up listening to old Irish ballads by John McCormack and others and also to Scottish bagpipe music. I thrilled to the legends of Brian Boru, the Fenian Cycle and others - and also to the lifes of Irish saints (although those weren't quite as exciting). When St. Patrick's Day rolls around, I find myself going though my CDs of Irish folk songs, popping one into my computer and singing along (probably much to the chagrin of Seamus - am surprised he doesn't howl along!). In honor of the upcoming St. Patrick's Day, I also wanted to share handmade items from talented artist friends that use green as all or part if the design.
Christmas Green - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Green and red are colors that have been closely associated with Christmas for centuries.. Last week I shared how red became a Christmas color. You can read that post here: Christmas Red. This week, green, the other Christmas color, is explored mainly through the symbolism of holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees.
Autumn Inspired Handmade Beauties
The cooler temperatures of autumn have arrived here in our area of the Desert Southwest. It still gets into the high 80’s or low 90’s during the day but drops down into the high 60’s at night. The monsoon season has pretty much ended, the horrid humidity mostly gone, and our drier air has been welcomed back by everyone. It is so nice to turn off the air conditioner (at least until early afternoon) and open windows and doors to allow fresh desert air to blow through. While I don’t see any trees changing colors yet, the desert is extremely green after the above average rainfall we received the last two months. Maximillian sunflowers can be found all over, as well as masses of small yellow, purple and terracotta colored wildflowers that I don't know the name of but enjoy immensely nonetheless. My favorite time of the year!
Radiant Rainbows! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The monsoon season is still going on here in the Desert Southwest. Most every afternoon, the sky clouds, the wind starts to howl, thunder can be heard and lightning seen . . . and if we are lucky, rain falls. As happens so often here, our house can get a deluge but a friend just a few block away may only get a few sprinkles. If the rain ends at just the right time, a magical rainbow can be seen towards the east. Sometimes a paler secondary - or even very pale triple - rainbow forms. A colorful, visual gift! The photo above shows part of a double rainbow (that tried to turn into a triple rainbow). At the end of this post is a single rainbow, both taken with my trusty camera.
Circles of Our Lives - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Sometimes the most mundane of things in life suddenly captures my imagination. The other day, when I was outside with Seamus, the very handsome Shadow Dog, I started thinking about circles (yes, my brain does shoot off on a tangent sometimes!). You see circles everywhere: most door knobs, most coins, the sun and moon, the pupil of most animal's eyes and the wheel, just to name a few. Most people don't give them a second thought unless you're a mathematician, an architect or an artist. As a gardener and an avid observer of nature, I daily feel the circle of life all around me on a more cosmological scale: day/night, phases of the moon, seasons, life/death. And then I remembered a Wendell Berry poem, called "Circles of Our Lives", which I will share at the end of this post. This led me to do some reading about circles (inquiring minds want to know!) and copious note taking.
Green for St. Patrick's Day - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
St. Patrick's Day (Irish: Lá Fhéile Pádraig, "the Day of the Festival of Patrick"), is a cultural and religious celebration held on March 17, the traditional date when Saint Patrick died. What began as a religious feast day for the patron saint of Ireland (c. AD 385–461) has become an international festival observed by the Irish and the Irish-at-heart. Irish culture is celebrated with parades, dancing, special food, beer and a tremendous amount of green (including copious amounts of green beer).
