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Pick a Bouquet of Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade Floral Gifts
Posted February 19, 2023
Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.
~ Bishop Reginald Heber ~
I have always loved the quote shared above. Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826), well known for his poetry, describes in just a few words the joyousness of spring on the return of flowers. I, myself, can’t wait to finish the new flower bed I started digging last fall and filling it with native plants chosen specifically for pollinators of all types. Let the flowers paint the laughing soil! And let the colorful flowers be an important food source for bees of all types, flower flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and hummingbirds.
With all-things-flower in mind, I invited artist friends to share two of their floral designs. As you will see in the beautiful items below, there is a wide range of flowers to be had, from note cards to jewelry, from lampwork beads to photography, from photography to digital art and many, many more! Be sure to pick a bouquet of floral beauties and support small handmade businesses!
For Twitter, please use the hashtag #SpringFlowers.
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Unique Valentines Day Jewelry Gifts - Artisan Handmade
Posted January 24, 2023
Since Valentine's Day will soon be hear, I decided to pull together some of my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS handmade jewelry, any of which will make a wonderful gift for a loved one. Featured are unique designs that have hearts and / or have pink as a main color . . . or both. Eight pairs of earrings and three necklace are included. Even though each will make a perfect Valentine's gift, each piece design can also be worn all year long. As with most of my designs, the jewelry spotlighted here are one of a kind designs. Doesn't your sweetie deserve jewelry that was handmade from the heart???
Gorgeous Gifts for Valentines Day - Artisan Handmade
Posted January 5, 2023
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. When you walk into most stores shortly after Christmas (or 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 is shrouded in mystery, February has long been celebrated as a month of romance. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both ancient Roman and Christian traditions, with other traditions thrown in for good measure.
Valentines Day Gifts - Artisan Handmade
Posted January 2, 2023
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it so it’s time to do a blog featuring wonderful gifts for a loved one. If you would like to participate, please share two items that will make a perfect gift. The items don’t necessarily have to be hearts and roses and pink and red such . . . just something that you think someone will love. The link up closes this Thursday at 12:00 noon MST. I plan to have the blog ready to be promoted on Friday’s Twitter Tree. If you do participate, you know the drill . . . please promote each item and the blog on at least 2 social media sites. I prefer you wait and promote when the blog is ready. But even better . . . promote from both the link up AND the blog (that’s what I’ll be doing). I look forward to seeing what you share!
P.S. If you tweet, please use the hashtag #Valentines2023 so the items can be easily found and RT'd. Thanks
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 6
Posted October 25, 2022
It’s hard to believe that we’re already half-way finished with the twelve week Countdown to Christmas 2022! Yikes! That means Christmas is bearing down on us and will soon be here - two months away! According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 60 days until the jolly ho-ho-ho-ing Santa and his merry band of clattering reindeer arrive once again. Now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place to buy unique beauties! Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP ARTISAN HANDMADE to support a small indie business!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 3
Posted October 4, 2022
It's amazing how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 flew right on by. In its wake, a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade / designed gifts were shared. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here . . . once again.
With the rapidly approaching gift giving season, Julie of Blue Morning Expressions along with her handsome sidekick, Hurricane Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2022 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the pervasive holiday carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 36 shares by 12 artists. The shared gifts include: jewelry of all sorts, polymer clay beads, lampwork beads, party stickers / tags, christmas ornaments, photographic art and digital art. Shopping the Countdown to Christmas is the perfect place to start your holiday gift gathering! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 1
Posted September 20, 2022
Wow! It seems like Christmas was just a few months ago. It’s very hard to believe that Christmas is only 95 days away according to the ever ticking Christmas clock. With that in mind, it's definitely not too early to start thinking about all those people on your Christmas shopping list. What should you get them??? A perfect place to start looking (and buying!) is the 12 week Countdown to Christmas 2022 collections. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Shopify blog, the collections will be filled with a wide variety of artisan handmade / designed gifts. A new collection will be added each week through the first full week of December. This week, there were 27 shares from 9 handmade artists: unique jewelry of all types (earrings, bracelets and necklaces), baby gifts, party stickers / gift tags, fun thumbtacks / magnets, Halloween gifts and more. A good motto to follow through these weeks leading up to Christmas: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Halloween - Spooky Artisan Handmade Goodies - 2022
Posted September 11, 2022
Halloween will soon be here, a little more than six weeks away! It’s a favorite day / evening for many with a steady stream of trick or treaters in creepy or cute costumes, grinning skulls, Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins, spooky ghosts and other notorious beasts. During the weeks before October 31, it’s fun to wear spooky accessories or decorate the home for Halloween. With that in mind, handmade artist friends were invited to share two Halloween-type items - whether symbolic or filled with the traditional colors or both. You’ll see a wide variety of spine-tingling jewelry, eye-catching photography, fun party items, a cute baby gift set, an orange cat print, unique lampwork glass beads and your choice of sugar skull pincushions. Each one of these handmade beauties, many of which are one of a kind pieces, are perfect to help celebrate that supernatural day of the year. I hope you enjoy these choices and will visit the shops of the talented artists featured for more amazing handmade beauties, some shuddersome and some not!
Oldies But Goodies - Unique Artisan Handmade Gifts
Posted July 5, 2022
Whenever someone says “Oldies But Goodies,” most people think of old songs (especially from a jukebox - remember those?), vintage cars, lots of items on the Antiques Roadshow or, possibly, themselves (after . . . *ahem* . . . a certain age). However the term, “Oldies But Goodies,” also refers to items in our artisan handmade shops that have been around for longer than the artist who made it would like. Whenever something is created and then listed in our shops, we always think it will sell right away. Some do. But, for whatever reason, some beauties sit there . . . and sit there . . . and sit there some more. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that particular item - not at all!!! It just hasn’t found that forever person to give it a forever home.
I asked artisan friends to share two items from their handmade shops that they considered “oldies but goodies.” Many of the items are one of a kind creations and would make a perfect gift for a birthday, an anniversary, for Christmas, or just because . . . I hope something catches your eye and that you visit the shops of the artists below. And that many of the “oldie” items find a loving home.
New Handmade Earrings and Necklaces - Shadow Dog Designs
Posted June 16, 2022
The heat of summer has set in here in the Desert Southwest. Which means planting more flowers in the flower beds is pretty much a done deal until the monsoon season sets in shortly (hopefully - we really need some rain!). More time is being spent inside during the day until the temps cool down when the sun starts to set, so I'm making good use of the extra time inside creating and listing new jewelry. And I'm looking further down the road to the Labor Day weekend when the Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts is being held - my first big show of the season and my favorite. Five new pairs of earrings and two new necklaces have been recently added to my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS handmade jewelry shop. I also added three older pieces to make an even ten. If something catches your eye and you want to look at more photos or need more information, please either click the picture or the description under the pic to be taken to the item listing. I hope you enjoy these new necklace sand earrings, all of which are one of a kind designs.
