Blog entry

New Jewelry at Shadow Dog Designs - Handmade Beauties

Seven new handmade jewelry creations have been listed in my Shadow Dog Designs shop:  four new necklaces and three new pairs of earrings.  All are very different in design, ranging from fun and funky boho to classic meditative designs.  The seven new beauties, perfect gift ideas for women who love one of a kind, artisan jewelry, are featured below.  To round out the count to an even ten pieces, two pairs of earrings and one necklace that are still looking for a new home are also included.  If a piece of jewelry catches your eye, either click on the photo or the live link below the photo to be taken to the item for more information and photographs.

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.  

Great Blue Dome - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

My husband, Seamus (our sweet, goofus Moose of a dog) and I are fortunate to live in the Desert Southwest, a part of the country where the sky is immense and an ever changing blue most of the year.  In fact, a cloudy day (like today!) is actually a treat!  I was gazing out the window in my studio the other day when a Thomas Carlyle quote came to me:  "The old cathedrals are good, but the great blue dome that hangs over everything is better."  And I have to agree!  Even though I love visiting old cathedrals with a sense of wonderment, spirituality and awe - Canterbury Cathedral, Koln Cathedral, Notre Dame, National Cathedral, St, Paul's to name a few - I absolutely revel in the everchanging "great blue dome" that is above my head almost every day. The colors can range from the palest blue to a deep, mystical, velvety blue that occurs 45 minutes or so after the sun has dipped below the horizon and the sunset has faded.

Fiery Red and Orange - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade - May 18, 2016

The temperatures are beginning to heat up here in the Desert Borderlands (although I can’t complain since this has been an unusually cool spring).  With the higher temperatures, it seems the sunsets become more fiery in all their blazing yellows red, and oranges.  A sunset a couple of nights ago gave me the inspiration for this blog post:  Fiery Red and Orange.  I browsed through the studios of Indiemade handmade artists and featured a fiery red or orange (or both) creation from each.  I hope you enjoy these richly colored selections.