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Valentines Day Gift Ideas! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. It is a day that started with pagan roots, associated with the Roman festival, Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February (February 13-15), Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders, Romulus and Remus. Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed around 496 A.D. when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day. It is not known, however, which of three St. Valentines (all of whom were martyred) Pope Gelasius was honoring. In 1381, Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous English poet, first associated St. Valentine's Day with romance in a poem he wrote in honor of the engagement between Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. The engagement, the mating season of birds, St. Valentine’s Day and true love were all linked . . . and it’s been a day for lovers ever since.
Think Green for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Red and green are colors that are closely associated with Christmas. Last week I shared how red became a Christmas color. You can read that post here: Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts. This week, green, the other Christmas color, is explored mainly through the symbolism of holly, mistletoe and evergreen trees.
The color green and its association with the time around Christmas has a pre-Christian origin, more specifically tied to the Winter Solstice. Evergreen plants, like holly, mistletoe and pine, spruce or fir trees have been used for thousands of years to decorate and brighten up buildings during the long, dark, cold winter when life could be very tenuous. Ancient peoples were scared of the short days and freezing nights and mistakenly believed that the Sun might disappear altogether. Evergreens reminded people that spring would come and that winter wouldn't last forever. Historical records show that the Romans wove wreaths of holly to hang on their walls and doors to celebrate the winter solstice / Saturnalia. They also exchanged evergreen branches as a sign of good luck. The ancient Egyptians would bring green date palm branches into their homes during their mid- winter festivals as a symbol of "life triumphant over death." To the ancient people, the color green represented life, nature, peace, eternity and the hope of the future.
Think Red for Artisan Christmas Gifts - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The color combination of red and green is closely associated with Christmas - for example, Santa’s red clothing and green holly with red berries. But how did this come about? From ancient history to modern time, color has been an integral part of cultural awareness and even an understanding of life; it touched all members of society and conveyed deeper messages (such as, only royalty could wear the color purple). Red and green as Christian symbolism can be traced back to Medieval Miracle Plays and rood screen painters. The color combination can be traced to the Mabinogion, a collection of Welsh stories from the 13th century. And these stories were probably based on an oral tradition that dates back to the pre-Christian Celts many centuries before where a half-red, half-green tree figures prominently in one of the tales. In pre-Christian times, red and green represented male (red) and female (green), strength and harmony, desire and fertility.
Earthy Browns Abound - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Despite the grass in our back yard staying an amazing green so far into the year, I can see the slide of winter colors beginning to show up. Pretty soon our back yard, the arroyo behind the house and the desert over all will be clothed in the many varied shades of warm earthy browns with tinges of other subtle colors. Waiting . . . waiting . . . waiting . . . . for the brilliance of spring.
“Earthy Browns Abound” is the theme of this week’s “Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade. I hope you enjoy the beautifully earthy artisan creations featured here. And, please, support handmade artisan this holiday season.
Yellers, Browns and Goldens - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
The other day, as I was pondering the theme of this week’s “Wonderful Handmade Wednesday" blog post, I ran across a very colorful quote from Roy Bean talking about autumn in the desert: “And Fall, with her yeller harvest moon and the hills growin' brown and golden under a sinkin' sun.” Aha, I thought! The handmade theme of earthy yellers, browns and goldens was then set in my mind.
What a Spooky Halloween, Deux! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Halloween is just around the corner. Small goblins, vampires, fairy princesses and superheroes of all sorts will soon be appearing at your doors! In honor of this spooky holiday, I browsed the studios of Indiemade artist friends to find orange and/ or black handmade items that are perfect accessories for your Halloween costume. And there is even something for your best four-footed friend! Enjoy these selections:
"Colours" by Donovan - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Recently, I have become enamored all over again with many of the songs I grew up with from the 60's. One of the artists I have always loved was a Scottish singer / songwriter / poet from Scotland, Donovan Leitch who is better known as simply Donovan. Donovan is widely regarded as one of the most influential songwriters and recording artists - and is still active in music today. Even the Beatles acknowledged that Donovan influenced them greatly on their ground breaking Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band album and the White Album with his finger style guitar playing and many of his unique chord patterns. While I love most of his songs, I have been listening more to his earlier works that have their roots in folk music. One of them, a sweet, simple and beautiful song, Colours, is the inspiration for this week's Wonderful Handmade Wednesday post.
The Autumn Wind is a Pirate - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Since I live in the Desert Southwest, autumn comes creeping slowly in with cooler temperatures. Most of the trees here are evergreen so there isn’t much color change. This time of the year, I always think about the forest we lived in for 10 years in Northern Virginia. Oh, the glorious colors as the leaves on the trees changed.!!! Sometimes almost blinding color combinations. Then sometimes, the wind would hit and the leaves became a carpet of color on the forest floor. I ran across this great quote about autumn wind from Steve Sabol: “The autumn wind is a pirate. Blustering in from sea with a rollicking song he sweeps along swaggering boisterously. His face is weather beaten, he wears a hooded sash with a silver hat about his head . . . The autumn wind is a raider, pillaging just for fun.” A pillaging wind playing with and swirling the colorful leaves!
What a Spooky Halloween! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
With the last days of September rapidly approaching, Halloween and Day of the Dead festivities will arrive before we realize it. With that in mind, I decided to browse the studios of Indiemade artist friends and pull together a variety of spookily fun handmade items: some in oranges and black, some with skulls, one with spooky black cats and a set of ever watchful owls. Any of these mostly one of a kind handmade beauties will be perfect for the other side of life parties. Enjoy!
