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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 8, 2023
Posted November 15, 2023
It’s all going so, so fast! Week 8 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come and gone, with only four more weeks remaining! The ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock doesn’t let up - according to it, Santa and his flying reindeer will start their journey in only 39 days! Yikes!!!! Need a perfect place to start / finish your Christmas shopping? The Countdown - a chance for artists to come together and share three of their unique gift ideas - is the just the place to do that holiday shopping! Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting the twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog (where you can also see the first seven Countdowns). This week, 39 items, many which are one of a kind designs, from 13 artists are featured. The artists shared a wide range of handmade gift ideas: jewelry of all sorts, Christmas gift tags, sweatshirts, limited edition prints, photographic prints, lampwork beads, coffee mugs and much, much more. A wonderful motto to follow: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support hard working indie artists!
In addition to promoting each handmade item from the Countdown collection to my "Countdown to a Handmade Christmas 2023" Pinterest board and on my Twitter feed, I decided to share one item from each of the artists who participated this week. Here are my "favorites" picks of the items, in an order determined by drawing numbers from my trusty numbers bowl. I hope you enjoy these unique items!
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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 7, 2023
Posted November 8, 2023
It is so very hard to believe (at least to me - how about you?) that we are already a week into November . . . and that there are only 5 more weeks of the Countdown to Christmas 2023! It’s also hard to believe that Christmas will be here before we know it. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 46 days (as of today) until Santa drops down the chimney once again with his bag of goodies . . . or coal. With Christmas rapidly approaching, Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions continue hosting the twelve-week Countdown to Christmas of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Start or finish your holiday shopping now on the Countdown - Week 7 - a perfect place to buy unique handmade / designed gifts! This week, 33 items from 11 artisans were shared in the wide-ranging gift collection: jewelry of many different styles, Christmas ornaments, gearhead sweatshirts, keychains, lampwork glass beads, baby gifts and more. A wonderful motto to follow: SHOP EARLY and SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses.
In addition to saving each handmade item from the Countdown to Christmas 2023 Week 7 collection to my handmade Christmas Pinterest board and Twitter feed, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. Here are my favorites for Week 7:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 5, 2023
Posted October 25, 2023
Time seems to go by more and more quickly each week - week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas has already come and gone! According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 60 days (2 months!!!) before the ho-ho-ho'ing, reindeer driving man clothes in red and white arrives once again. With the rapidly approaching holiday season in mind, Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions comtimue to host a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place to begin that! This week, 36 handmade/designed items from 12 artists were shared in the wide-ranging gift collection: jewelry of different styles, Christmas ornaments, throw pillows,nurse hoodie, a wire kippah. lampwork beadsand more. Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY and 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 5:
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:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 2, 2023
Posted October 4, 2023
Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come . . . and gone, No worries because unique artisan handmade / designed items were left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here. 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 of Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the ubiquitous Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 30 shares by 10 artists featuring a wide range of gift ideas: unique jewelry, Christmas tags, watercolor art prints, an original book, photographic and digital art for the home, ornaments, key chains 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 Countdown, I pick my a favorite items from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 2:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 1, 2023
Posted September 26, 2023
Amazing!!! It seems like Christmas was here just a few months ago . . . especially when the Christmas Countdown Clock says there are only 88 days (as of today) before Christmas is here! With that in mind, it's definitely not too early to start thinking about all those people on your Christmas shopping list. Where to start???? What should you get them??? A perfect place to shop (and hopefully buy)) is the 12 week Countdown to Christmas 2023 collections. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, the collections will be filled with a wide variety of artisan handmade / designed gifts. A new collection will be added each Friday through the second weekend of December. On week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas, there were 36 shares from 12 handmade artists: unique jewelry, Halloween gifts, lampwork beads, party invitations / stickers / kits, tote bags, baby gifts, Christmas ornaments, home decor and more. A good motto to follow through these weeks leading up to Christmas is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie sellers!
Here are favorites from Week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas:
Happy Halloween - Spooky Artisan Handmade Goodies - 2023
Posted September 17, 2023
Halloween will soon be here, only about five weeks away! Halloween is a favorite day / evening / night for many, with a steady stream of trick or treaters in a variety of cute or creepy costumes. Decorations are aplenty: Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins, grinning skulls, eerie ghosts and other infamous creaturess. 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 / Day of the Dead / Autumn-inspired items - whether symbolic or filled with traditional colors or both. You’ll see a wide variety of spine-tingling jewelry, eye-catching photography, fun baby gifts, 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 spine-tingling and some not!
Christmas in July - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2023
Posted July 13, 2023
Since it seems Christmas arrives earlier and earlier each and every year, it’s never too early to start shopping for those perfect holiday gifts for a loved one! Believe it or not Christmas with the jolly man in red and his reindeer show up in about 6 months - actually 164 days (from when this blog is posted) according to the ever ticking CHRISTMAS CLOCK. I’ve noticed quite a few “Christmas in July” promos and such at stores and on social media, so I decided to host one here on my Shadow Dog Designs blog. I asked artist friends to share two items - one that is “Christmasy” (in design or colors, etc.) and one that doesn’t have to be. 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 from the heart. Hopefully one or more items featured in the Christmas in July - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2023 (or in the artists' shops) will make it into your shopping basket - treat yourself or someone else! And remember this year: SHOP SMALL and SHOP HANDMADE!
Christmas in July 2023
Posted July 10, 2023
If you would like to participate in the “Christmas in July” promotion, share two of your items to the InLinkz below. Please make one “Christmasy” either in design, colors, etc. The other doesn’t have to be a Christmas design . . . but it can be if you want. If you do participate, please promote all items on at least two social media sites. And do the same for the blog I'll pull together featuring your items by the end of next week. Please tag with #ChristmasInJuly if you tweet out the items so they can be easily found and RTd. The InLinkz ends this Wednesday, July 12, at 5:00 MDST. I hope to have the blog finished for Friday’s Twitter Tree. I look forward to seeing your wonderful items!
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!).
