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Summer Flowers - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday

 

 

Summer will soon be here.  Despite the (expected) triple digit heat that has set in here in the Desert Southwest, the water wise flowers I planted last year and in the cool of this spring are blooming up a storm.  Everyone who knows me really well knows I love to work in my flower beds . . . and am ecstatic at the resulting blooms.  So my beautiful flowers are the inspiration for this week’s Three for Thursday where I feature three items from three artists.  This week the artists are:  Roxanne of watercolorsNmoreJacki of Christie Cottage; and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.  Enjoy the wide range of floral art.  Hopefully one or more of the items will soon be on the way to you!

 

Flaunting Flowers - Artisan Handmade Three for Thursday

 

 

"If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly, our whole life would change" – Buddha


 

Spring is in full swing here in the Desert Southwest.  Since there was more rain than normal during the winter and on into spring, the flowering trees and the wildflowers, especially the poppies in the Franklin Mountains, have been spectacular.  The various cacti and succulents haven’t started blooming yet with all their sometimes garish colors, but they should be extra pretty, as well. This time of the year, my thoughts always turn to working in the flower beds, trying to decide where to put “just one more” plant.  Watching plants reawaken and start their flowering is indeed a miracle . . . and does change my life for the better.

 

With flowers in mind, I decided this week’s Artisan Handmade Three for Thursday would feature flowers.  Three floral inspired handmade pieces, which turned out featuring mostly pink flowers, were chosen from the shops of handmade artisan friends.  The artisans are: Jacki of Christie Cottage; Roxanne of watercolorsNmore; and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. I hope you enjoy the handmade beauties.  And be sure to visit the shops of the artists for even more gift ideas - for someone you love or for yourself.

 

 

 

 

A Melange of Handmade - Three for Thursday - June 20, 2019

 

This weeks's Three for Thursday is a melange of items.  Since I have an addiction to words, I wanted to give a brief etymology of the word melange.  The word, which rolls off the tongue to so beautifully, first is first found in French documents around the comes from the 15th century French word meler, meaning 'to mix, mingle."  Meler, in turn, came from the Old French meslance or meslinges (a set of diverse elements).  So, according to The Free Dictionary, the modern word means “a collection of various things.”  Which is the perfect definition of the variety of handmade items I found from artists and am sharing in this post:  The items featured are from three handmade artists:  beautiful original watercolor paintings from Roxanne of watercolorsNmore; fun and handy to have cards of various types from Jacki of Christie Cottage; and a selection of one of a kind handmade jewelry from me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.

 

I hope you enjoy these picks.  And that you will visit the shops of the artists for more handmade beauties.

Handmade for Mother's Day - Three for Thursday

 

 

Being a handmade artist myself, I have always loved this quote:  

 

 

You can't buy LOVE, but you can buy HANDMADE . . .  and that's kind of the same thing.

 

 

Handmade artists put a great amount of heart and soul and love into their pieces.  So, in my humble opinion, you ARE buying love. Each of the three items from three artists featured below put a LOT of themselves into each piece.  I hope you enjoy these fabulous beauties. And remember: Mother’s Day will be here soon!

COLORS! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

I love this quote by the artist Edvard Munch:  “The colors live a remarkable life of their own after they have been applied to the canvas.”  I can’t imagine life without colors, from the bold and brilliant to the soft and subdued. The magnificence of a field of wildflowers would be lost, along with a blazing sunset and the colors of a hummingbird and a Renoir painting.  I truly feel sorry for people who can only see a small amount of color . . . or none at all.

 

The theme of this week’s Wonderful andmade Wednesday on Indiemade blog is “COLORS!”  The beautiful colors used to create the artisan handmade pieces shown below definitely have a life of their own after they were worked into the design.  Enjoy!

Happy Spring! Happy Easter!

 

 

The celebration of the return of  spring and Easter brings the promise that everything can begin again, of letting go of the old and embracing something new, of renewal of the self and of the earth, and of faith.  Just think of everything associated with spring and Easter: promise, resurrection, birth, new love, romance, nesting birds, butterflies, daffodils, tulips, peach blossoms and so many other cheerful flowers.  

Have a Heart for Valentines Day - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

Valentine’s Day is only a week away.  There is still time to order a perfect handmade gift for your loved one(s).  The theme of today’s blog is Have a Heart for Valentine’s Day.  All of the beauties featured today have hearts as part of their design component.  All are artisan handmade and most are one of a kind items.  Give your sweetie a Valentine’s Day gift that contains a bit of the heart and soul of of the artist who created it.  

 

MAKE IT A HANDMADE VALENTINE’S DAY!

She Comes in Colors Everywhere - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

 

Roses are red and violets are blue and rainbows have seven colors.  Most people live in a colorful world.  As humans, our color vision influences everything from our art and poetry to the colors we paint our homes and the clothing we buy.  But why do we see (or not see) color?  Being of an inquiring mind (and remembering some of what I learned in science), here is the low down in an encapsulated form:

A Sense of Fun - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade blog post is called A Sense of Fun.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the definition of “fun” is “that which provides amusement or enjoyment.”  I am often delighted and amused at the creativity of my artist friends and ALWAYS enjoy browsing their shops.  And since Mother’s Day is almost upon us, any of these picks will make wonderful gifts.  Buy Handmade - buy a gift that was made from the heart.

Valentines Day Gift Ideas! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

 

Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it.  It is a day that started with pagan roots, associated with the Roman festival, Lupercalia. Celebrated at the ides of February (February 13-15), Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders, Romulus and Remus.  Lupercalia survived the initial rise of Christianity but was outlawed around 496 A.D. when Pope Gelasius declared February 14 as St. Valentine’s Day. It is not known, however, which of three St. Valentines (all of whom were martyred) Pope Gelasius was honoring.  In 1381, Geoffrey Chaucer, a famous English poet, first associated St. Valentine's Day with romance in a poem he wrote in honor of the engagement between Richard II and Anne of Bohemia.  The engagement, the mating season of birds, St. Valentine’s Day and true love were all linked . . .  and it’s been a day for lovers ever since.  

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