Blog entry

Make It a Handmade Christmas 2020 - Week 10

Wow!  Christmas Eve will be here in 30 days!  And there are only two more weeks left in the Countdown to Christmas 2020!  Where does the time go? The ever ticking Christmas clock doesn’t let up and keeps ticking down those seconds until Santa and his herd of reindeer make a nighttime visit to leave gifts or lumps of coal. The Countdown is the place for handmade artists to share three of their beautiful (often one of a kind) creations. Need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping?  Shop the Countdown to Christmas: browse and purchase that special piece for that special person! An excellent motto to follow this holiday season: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE from small artisan shops! 

Make It a Handmade Christmas 2020 - Week 7

Wow!  We are already more than half-way through the Countdown to Christmas 2020 - only 5 more weeks to go!  It’s hard to imagine that Christmas will soon be here.  According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 51 days (when this bog was posted) until Santa Claus drops down that chimney and either leaves gifts or lumps of coal for deserving or not-so-deserving boys and girls.  Since Christmas is looming, now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place! Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, please PURCHASE HANDMADE from small business owner!

Make It a Handmade Mothers Day - Week 6

Where did Week 6 of the Mother’s Day Countdown 2020 go?  It was here . . . and then was gone.  The Countdown is hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Blu Print blog.  This week, 36 handmade items from 12 artists were shared.  Each unique tem will make a memorable gift for Mom on her day.  Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it, this is the perfect time to start thinking about and buying a gift(s) for your Mom - and, perhaps, for yourself!  These items go quick, and, since many are one of a kind, don't miss out.  Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 6, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beautiful gift that was handmade from the heart.

Shades of Purple - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday

Up until the 1850’s, the color purple was most often associated with nobility.  Cyrus, a Persian king, wore a purple tunic, adopting it as his royal uniform. Some Roman emperors even forbade their citizens from wearing purple clothing - under penalty of death. During the Byzantine Empire, rulers wore long purple robes, used purple ink to sign their orders, and their children were described as being “born in the purple.”  Why? The reason was that a pound of purple wool cost more than most people earned in a year! The color purple was produced from a species of rare sea snail, centered in the ancient Phoenician city of Tyre. It took as many as 250,000 of the snails, which produced a purple staining mucus, to yield just one ounce of usable dye. After the fall of the Byzantine empire in the 15th century, the upper class monopoly of purple fabric waned - but it was still expensive.  It wasn’t until the 1850’s with the creation of the first synthetic dyes that the color purple became more widely available.  

I, for one, am glad that the color purple is now easily attainable.  With that in mind, this week’s edition of the Three for Thursday blog is titled “Shades of Purple.”  Three items from three handmade artists are featured. The artists are: Cathy of Crafting Memories; Roxanne of watercolorsNmore; and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs.  I hope you enjoy all the different shades of purple found in the beauties shared.