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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!
Flora and Fauna - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
I have always admired Walter Cronkite on so many levels, but mostly as an intelligent and reliable newsman and as a vital, moral human being. Even though he died in 2009, I still remember his plain spoken grace in delivering the news, from moonwalks to war, assassinations to peace treaties and thusands of other topics. A favorite quote of his, made 2005 (but still oh so relevant today), is this one:
“I am joining the hundreds of thousands who shall be marching in the Virtual March on Washington to Stop Global Warming in order to demonstrate the concern that we all hold for the future of our planet and all the living things — flora, fauna, human and animal — that exist upon it. The governments of the world have tarried long enough, and the United States is scarcely without doubt the greatest culprit among them. We the people have the strength to bring our country from our weak-kneed stumbling gait in the last ranks of reason to the leadership of the great march to environmental victory.”
Second Category, Third Item - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts at the Holy Cross Retreat Center is this Labor Day weekend, Saturday and Sunday. The Retreat Center has been operational for 60 years. However, some of the buildings in the compound are over 100 years old. It's so peaceful there and feels like you step back in time, especially when you see Father Tom walking around in his full cassock with a large, wooden rosary tied around his waist, chatting with as many people as he can. The juried festival itself has been held yearly for almost 20 years and is a “go to” festival for local people and the many who might drive from Tucson, Albuquerque or beyond to buy beautiful artisan handcrafted items. If you are in the Las Cruces, NM or El Paso, TX area, please stop by - I will be selling my jewelry there. For more information, here is a link: Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts.
New, One of a Kind Handmade Jewelry by Shadow Dog Designs
It has just been over a month since I shared the newest handmade jewelry in my Indiemade shop. I usually try to share once every two weeks. But between traveling and getting ready for my first big show of the season (Labor Day weekend), I finally found time today to share my newest earrings and necklaces, all handmade, many with a boho flair and all one of a kind creations. If something catches your eye, please click the photo or the link below for more information and pictures. I hope you enjoy each and every one as much as I enjoyed creating them.
Eclipse Blues - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday
Yesterday, I was flying back home from Dallas right as the eclipse was happening in far West Texas. Unfortunately, the sun was right above the plane, so I couldn’t see any of it. But I was able to see the ground (something like 40,000 feet below) slowly growing darker. Although since the eclipse was only about 65% in my area of the world, it didn’t get anywhere as dark as a full eclipse. But what was interesting was watching the sky as the sun dimmed and then grew brighter - what beautiful shades of deep, rich blues showed up and then slowly dissolved into the more normal paler sky blues. The colors looked almost velvety if you could just reach out and touch them!
The photo above is the one and only photo I took yesterday towards the end of the eclipse. I just pointed my old iPhone at the sun and clicked, hoping the sun wouldn't fry the lense. Not a great photo by any means - the sun doesn't even look like it is eclipsing with all the "light leakage." It wasn't until I downoaded the photo on the computer that I noticed the lense flare with a clear eclipse shape in it, which is what the sun actually looked like at that time. Yay! But look at the sky . . . what an amazing color!
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.
First Artisan Item, Second Page - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The week since my last Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade blog post just flew by. Here is is Tuesday evening and I suddenly realized I hadn’t even thought about the post for tomorrow. Heck, I forgot it was even Tuesday! Not to fear though . . . there are so many beautiful handmade items in the shops of Indiemade artist friends, that I have a wide range of beauties to choose from. I decided this week’s post would feature the First Artisan Item, Second Page (as of my typing this). Even though the picks are widely diverse in style and materials, they all fit beautifully together since they all are handmade from the heart.
Captivating Copper - A Short History with Artisan Handmade Beauties
Throughout the history of man, copper has been one of the most important metals, having been in use for at least 10,000 years, probably more. Since it could be found in great quantities near the Earth's surface, copper was the first metal mined. Tools, weapons, household objects, jewelry and many other items were all crafted from copper.
The Charismatic Color of Copper - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The first recorded use of copper as a color name in English was in 1594. It is a charismatic reddish brown color that resembles the color of polished copper. According to Wikipedia, however, there are about 25 different shades of “copper,” from a verdigris green (copper green) to a dark brown (dark copper). It is a trendy color, found in everything from jewelry to clothing to household decoration and accents. Beautiful with shades of green and blue (mint, teals, turquoise, navy), it actually works well with almost any color as this article in Lushome shows: 30 Modern Interior Designs.
Make it a Handmade Summer! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Do you love unique handmade items such as jewelry, dog bandanas, hand painted tags, copper components and hand knitted tops? You can find a wide variety of of artisan beauties, imaginative pieces that were created from the heart, in this new blog. Browse the items and then browse the shops of the artists featured here. Believe me, you won’t be disappointed. Let’s make it a handmade summer!!!
