Enjoy

*** FREE SHIPPING ***

(USPS Ground Advantage - U.S. only)

 

Blog entry

Mother's Day Handmade Jewelry Gift Ideas by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

Mother’s Day will soon be here, just a few short weeks from now.  With all the mass produced jewelry gifts out there, wouldn’t Mom REALLY love a handmade jewelry gift better?  Especially if the earrings or necklace are a one of a kind piece that no one else in the universe has!  Handmade items are made from the heart by the artisan who designed and created the piece.  I know I have always loved an artisan piece - they mean so much more to me than something tens of thousands of other people might have.

Powerful Pink - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

To most people, the color pink is a “sweet” color:  charming, playful, cute, feminine, romantic and so on.  But in the past few years, it also represents struggles and the need to warrior on.  Think of all the pink worn, especially ribbons, signifying breast cancer awareness.  And the pink hats, shirts, and other articles of clothing worn by millions during the recent women’s marches.  Thinking on this, pink is not just feminine and sweet, a bubblegum / cotton candy color.  It has come to signify power, rising up and demanding equal rights.  

Happy Easter! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

Modern-day Easter is derived from two ancient traditions: one pagan and the other Judeo-Christian. Both pagans and Christians have celebrated death and resurrection themes following the spring equinox for millennia.  A majority of religious historians believe that many elements of the Christian observance of Easter were derived from earlier pagan celebrations.  The name “Easter” itself originated with the names of an ancient goddess.  The Venerable Bede, (672-735 CE), a Christian scholar, first mentioned in his book De Ratione Temporum that Easter was named after Eostre (a.k.a. Eastre). She was the Great Mother Goddess of the Saxon people in Northern Europe. The "Teutonic dawn goddess of fertility was also known as Ostare, Ostara, Ostern, Eostra, Eostre, Eastra and others.  

Second Page, Second Artisan Item - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

What beautiful artisan handmade items are included in this blog post!  But, then, ALL the items included in my blogs the last two years have been beauties.  This edition of Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade is a melange of items, a random choosing of the second item on the second page of the artist's shop.  I hope you enjoy the items featured.

Easter Perfection! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

Easter will be here before we know it, on Sunday, April 16.  It was a family tradion, a week or so before Easter, that my Mom would take my sister, my brother and me to the local dry goods store to shop for a new Easter outfit to wear to church.  My sister and I always ended up with frilly dresses in pastel shades, new white shoes, lace edged socks (sometimes in colors matching our dress), white gloves and a new mantilla or flower headband.  My brother, always with not much choices, ended up with khakis, a white shirt and new brown shoes (and sometimes a new plastic dinosaur for this extensive collection). Were we ever Easter styling! Hopefully all photos of us kids decked out in our Easter finery have been lost.

Colorful Creations! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

Whether you have had lots of snow this winter or lots of brown (such as can be found in the Desert Southwest), I bet everyone can agree that we are all longing for color!  Colorful flowers, grasses greening, big blue skies, etc.  The list can go on and on.  This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade features a wide range of colorful handmade creations by artist friends.  Any will make a perfect pick-me-up gift for a loved one . . . or for yourself!  Enjoy these “Colorful Creations”:

The Number 3 for Good Fortune - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

From time immemorial, the number 3 has played an important part in everyday human life.  Three is considered the fundamental number, a synthesis of 1 and 2 representing the unity of heaven and earth.  Number 3 points to the intellectual and spiritual order, the divine qualities in the cosmos and in people. It is often viewed as a number of good fortune. In numerology, people with a number 3 personality are optimistic, creative curious, good-natured and helpful.  But they may also be naive and proud, with a tendency to exaggerate and give promises easily.

The Earth Laughs in Flowers - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

The weather has been unusually warm here in the Desert Southwest (sorry about that to my northern friends!).  Winter was only a glancing blow a few times.  Since the days have been warm with plenty of sunshine, the grass in the back yard is beginning to green up and some fruit trees are already blooming, masses of pale pink and white flowers.  One of my geraniums is blooming, the hot fuchsia color is so welcome, and the hardy roses are putting on lovely reddish new growth.  Am sure they will be in full bloom in several weeks. And, happily, the much beloved Spanish lavender is setting buds.  Soon the cacti and other native desert plants will be in full bloom - maybe not the showiest of flowers, but gorgeously sublime nonetheless.

Beautifully Blissful Blues - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

I have always been fascinated with words, especially when it comes to colors.  Just how many different words are there to describe a color?  But one person “blue” is not always another person’s “blue.”  My husband is a good example.  This past weekend we were at Lowe’s looking at paint chips:  yellows, blues and greens.  DH’s definition of any shade or tint of blue, whether it is a pale baby blue or a dark navy blue, is “blue.”  I, myself, am much more exacting most of the time.  So, if I see “cornflower blue,” I will call it that.   

Spirals, Circles and Arcs - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade features artisan design that feature spirals, circles and/or arcs.  All three symbols were used as early as 38.000 BC in Europe, Africa, Australia and South America when ancient man began to carve into stone or paint cave walls in protected areas.  It is possible that earlier hunter/gatherer peoples might have decorated their bodies and clothes or marked trees or features in the landscape but, if they did, evidence of that art has not survived.  

Syndicate content