Blog entry

Autumn Browns - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

With autumn definitely in the air (at least here in the Borderlands - finally), Mother Nature's natural cycle of life is beginning to slow.  There is a feeling of drawing inward, of self-reflection and, perhaps, as bit of melancholy, as we begin to prepare for the coming colder months of winter.  The colors of fall are everywhere, which reminds me of this a quote from Helen Hunt Jackson, as American author: "The goldenrod is yellow, The corn is turning brown, The trees in apple orchards With fruit are bending down."  So evocative of my favorite season of the year.  

First Page, Last Handmade Item - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

I always love to do random type blog posts, posts that don’t have a specific theme, like “flowers, “autumn” or based on a quote.  For this post, I chose “First Page, Last Handmade Item” (as of when this blog was written),” a random pick of artisan handmade creations, the last item on the first page.  Despite not having a specific theme, the handmade items from Indiemade artist friends always showcase a wide range of extraordinary talent.  If an item catches your eye, either click on the photo or the live link beneath the photo to be taken to the item in the shop.  There you will find more information and photos.  I hope you enjoy these last handmade items found on the first page:

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!

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!