Blog entry

It's an Artisan Handmade Christmas in July!

I always thought Christmas in July was a very modern “holiday,” a marketing ploy since there are no holidays between July 4 and Labor Day (in the U.S.).  But much to my amazement, the first mention of Christmas in July was in Werther, an 1892 French opera with libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet, and Georges Hartmann.  In the opera, a group of children rehearse a Christmas song in July, to which a character responds: "When you sing Christmas in July, you rush the season."

4th of July - Celebrate a Handmade Red, White and Blue Holiday!

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.

The 4th of July, also known as Independence Day or July 4th, has a tradition of celebrations goes back to the American Revolution.  When the initial battles of the Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, very few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain.  But, by the middle of the following year, the idea of independence grew due to the growing hostility against draconian British laws and the spread of revolutionary sentiments, such as the pamphlet published in early 1776 by Thomas Paine, called “Common Sense.”

Summer Fun - Artisan Handmade

Even though summer has not officially arrived - the Summer Solstice will show up on Thursday, June 21 at 4:07 a.m. Mountain Time here in the Borderlands - thermometers tell another story.  June is the month for triple digits here with a high UV index. Then the temperatures cool down when the monsoon season arrives with its amazing lightning displays and much needed rain.  Despite the June heat, we go about our daily lives enjoying the out of doors, albeit in the mornings and evenings mostly: gardening, cooking on the grill, hiking, star gazing, birding, etc. With an altitude of 3740’, we still have gloriously cool mornings and evenings to enjoy being outside.

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.