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Artisan Valentines Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 4 - 2025
Posted February 6, 2025
Just a warning: Valentine's Day is only 1 week away, this coming February 14! In case you still need a gift for the big day, Week 4 of the Valentine’s gift blog on Shadow Dog Designs features artisan handmade / designed beauties. Each piece makes a wonderful gift for your loved one. Traditional and non-traditional Valentine's designs are included. Many of the artisan items can be worn / used all year long! If something catches your eye, be sure to click either the photo or the description below the photo to be taken to the artistan's shop. To see all of the gift ideas in one place, here’s a link: Artisan Valentine's Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 1 - 2025. ALL of the gifts shared here were created by small business owners. Please be sure to SHOP SMALL this Valentine's Day and support an indie artist. We will certainly appreciate that!!!
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Artisan Valentines Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 3 - 2025
Posted January 30, 2025
Yikes! Valentine's Day is only 2 weeks away (February 14)!!! For ease of shopping for the big day, Week 3 of the Valentine’s gift blog on Shadow Dog Designs features artisan handmade / designed beauties. Each piece in the collection is perfect for a loved one. There are plenty of Valentine's Day themed items, but gifts that are not so distinctly traditional are also included. Many of the artisan items can be worn / used all year long! If something catches your eye, be sure to click either the photo or the description below the picture to be taken to the artistan's shop. To see all of the gift ideas in one place, here’s a link: Artisan Valentine's Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 1 - 2025. ALL of the gifts shared here were created by small business owners. Please be sure to SHOP SMALL for this Valentine's Day. We will certainly appreciate that!!!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 4 Favorites - 2024
Posted October 15, 2024
Who would have believed how quickly Week 4 of the Countdown to Christmas 2024 went by . . . but here we are! Left in its wake is a wide variety of wonderful artisan handmade / designed items. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 70 days until St. Nick pays a visit to let you know of you have been naughty or nice. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season, Julie and her faithful sidekick, Handsome Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2024 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. This week, there were 36 shares from 12 artists featuring a wide range of gifts: unique jewelry designs, custom dog portraits, photographic and digital art, home decor, gift tags and stickers, tote bags, t-shirts and a host of other beauties. If you need a perfect start (or ending) to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 4:
Christmas in July 2024 - Artisan Handmade Gifts - Week 2
Posted July 4, 2024
Christmas seems to arrive earlier and earlier each and every year. Because of this, it’s never too early to start shopping for those perfect holiday gifts for a loved one! Believe it or not, the jolly man in red and his reindeer show up in a little over 6 months - actually 173 days (from when this blog was posted) according to the ever ticking CHRISTMAS CLOCK.
Christmas in July has become a big thing in stores on line stores and all over social media, so I decided to host one here on my Shadow Dog Designs blog. I asked artist friends to share three items - one that is “Christmasy” (in design or colors, etc.) and two others that don’t have to be. Each week, one item will be showcased in a new blog, this being the first blog featuring a Christmasy item from each artist. Since many of these beauties are one of a kind, be sure to shop early (and often) so you don’t miss out. And please visit the shops of the artisans featured for even more wonderful creations that are handmade / designed from the heart. Hopefully one or more items featured here, on the next two blogs or in the artisans’ shops will make it into your shopping basket. Buy for a loved one . . . and treat yourself! Remember this year: SHOP SMALL and SHOP HANDMADE!
Hot Fun Under the Summer Sun - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2024
Posted June 6, 2024
The official start of summer will soon be here. It takes place here in El Paso on June 20 at 2:50 p.m, Officially June 20 will have 12 hours, 8 minutes and 59 seconds of sunlight, about 4 hours and 9 minutes longer than on the shortest day in December. To celebrate the hot, hot summer days, I asked artist friends to share two items that represent “hot summer fun” - something with hot colors, a sun, beach or tropical theme, sunflowers and the like. Some items shared are more on the blazing summer side and some represent a more mellow, cool summer. However, ALL are artisan handmade / designed and many are one of a kind pieces. So if something catches your eye on this Hot Fun Under the Summer Sun - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2024 blog, please click the photo or the link below the photo for more information and pictures of the individual item. Hopefully one or more will make it into your shopping basket - treat yourself or someone else to a unique artisan beauty! And remember: SHOP SMALL and SHOP HANDMADE! Small artisan shops will THANK YOU!
Make It a Handmade Mothers Day 2024 - Artisan Gifts - Week 5
Posted April 2, 2024
Another week of the Countdown to Mother's Day 2024 has come and gone. Hard to believe we're over 1/2 way through the promotion! Week 5 of the Countdown, as all the weeks have been and will be, was hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Thirty-three unique handmade / designed items were shared from eleven artists. Many are one of a kind and each will make a memorable gift for Mom on her big day. Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it, on May 12, this is the perfect time to think about and start buying a gift(s) for your Mom, grandmom, aunts . . . and, perhaps, for yourself. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares on the Countdown - Week 5, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beautiful gift that came from the heart. For this year's Mother's Day: PLEASE BUY HANDMADE and help support small, indie businesses!
Gorgeous Gifts - Artisan Handmade for Valentines Day!
Posted January 7, 2024
Valentine’s Day, February 14, will be here before we know it. When you walk into most stores shortly after Christmas (or even sometimes before!), hearts, cupids and other items in pink and red will assail you from every direction. Flowers, candy and gifts are exchanged between loved ones throughout the United States and in many other countries around the world . . . all in the name of St. Valentine. Although the exact history of St. Valentine (or Valentinus) is shrouded in mystery (there are actually three St. Valentines recognized by the Catholic Church to consider!), February has long been celebrated as a month of romance. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both ancient Roman (Lupercalia) and Christian traditions, with a few other influences thrown in for good measure.
This year for Valentine's Day, don't think abour buying mass produced from large companies. Think, instead of supporting a small, indie business, people who actually make or design the items themselves. Scroll down and you'll see 26 items, many are one of a kind and handmade from the heart! Any of items highlighted will make a wonderful gift for a loved one. Remember: SHOP SMALL and support a small indie artist!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 3, 2023
Posted October 11, 2023
It's amazing how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 sped right on by . . . and a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade items have been left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 74 days until jolly Santa Claus and his merry band of reindeer are delivering packages once again. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. This week, there were 33 shares by 11 artists featuring a wide range of truly unique gift ideas: jewelry of all types, party tags, spiral notebooks, photographic and digital art, ornaments, throw blankets and a host of other beauties. If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 3:
Artisan Handmade Gifts - Thank You
Posted July 20, 2023
Recently, I asked several artisan friends to aprticipate in a "Christmas in July - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2023" blog promotion, involving leaving two items on an InLinkz. Once the InLinkz ended, I pulled together a blog featuring the wonderful items. All items from the InLinkz and the blog were to be promoted on at least two social media sites. That's the usual deal for the many years we have been promoting each others items. Twelve friends participated, making a total of thirteen counting me. To thank the seven artists who took the time to stop by and leave a blog comment (as of writing this, Wednesday morning the 19th), I decided to pull together an "Artisan Handmade Gifts - Thank You" blog. From each shop, I chose an item that immediately caught my eye and shared them here in the order of the comments left. I hope you visit the shops of these wonderful artists. And remember to SHOP SMALL and to SHOP HANDMADE.
Buy Artisan Handmade for Mothers Day 2023 - Week 9
Posted May 9, 2023
Watch out! Mother’s Day will be here very, very soon - in fact, this coming Sunday, May 14. It’s still not too late to order a handmade gift (do it now!) from the beauties shared this week on the Countdown to Mother's Day 2023 Week 9. The Countdown was hosted again this year by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Hard to believe this is the last weel of the Countdown - time sure flies by! Despite that, 10 handmade artisans shared a total of 30 wonderfully unique items, some of them one of a kind designs. Browse the wide range of eye catching shares for this week, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom something that was HANDMADE from the heart! By shopping small, you'll also support a small indie business (and for that, we are eternally grateful!).
