Enjoy
*** FREE SHIPPING ***
(USPS Ground Advantage - U.S. only)
Blog entry
Shades of Purple - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday
Posted January 2, 2020
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.
» 5 Comments
An Artisan Handmade Christmas - Gift Ideas - Week 11
Posted December 3, 2019
It's hard to believe that Week 11 of the Countdown to Christmas 2019 has come and gone . . . . and there is only one more week left! When the Countdown starts, the end of the twelve weeks seems a looooong way off. The - BAM! - here it is! And Christmas is approximately three weeks away. Where does the time go? The ever ticking Christmas clock doesn’t let up. Those seconds just keep ticking down until the jolly man in red and white leaves wonderful gifts or lumps of coal under the tree. What is the Countdown? It’s a 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!
Pink and Black Miyuki Seed Bead and Leather Boho Cuff Bracelet Handmade by Kathy of KatsAllThat
An Artisan Handmade Christmas - Gift Ideas - Week 9
Posted November 19, 2019
Christmas is barreling down on us - it will soon be here! Week 9 of the Countdown to Christmas has come and gone. The ever ticking Christmas clock doesn’t let up - according to what it says today, Santa will start his journey in only 35 days, just barely a month from now! The Countdown is a 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! An excellent motto to follow this holiday season: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE!
An Artisan Handmade Christmas - Gift Ideas - Week 6
Posted October 29, 2019
It’s hard to imagine that we’re half-way finished with the twelve week Countdown to Christmas 2019! Yikes, that means Christmas is bearing down on us and will soon be here! According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 56 days until Jolly Ol’ Santa and his merry band of reindeer arrive once again. 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, SHOP HANDMADE!
An Artisan Handmade Christmas - Gift Ideas - Week 4
Posted October 15, 2019
'
Week 4 of the Countdown to Christmas quickly came and went . . . and a wide variety of wonderful artisan handmade items were left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there is only 70 days until Christmas is here - once again - too early. Now is the perfect time and this is the perfect place to start your holiday shopping. Follow this motto: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE!
Autumn Artisan Handmade Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
Posted November 8, 2018
According to the calendar, we're about ½ way through autumn, the favorite time of year for many people. I live in the Desert Southwest and most people don’t associate the desert with fall color. But we have it! Granted not as eye catching as the forests in along the East Coast or the aspens in many places in the Rockies. Color is here, nonetheless: glowing yellows and reds and purples of the deciduous trees. And my amazing cosmos are looming up a storm with carmine reds, pale pinks and glowing white. The hummingbirds left about a month ago (always sad to see them go) but new migrant birds are showing up, especially the cheerful little juncos. Am waiting for the beautiful blue scrub jays with their raucous calls and jaunty attitudes to show up under the bird feeders.
Give Me Red! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted June 20, 2018
.jpg)
If I could tell you about Red
I would sing to you of fire
Sweet like cherries
Burning like cinnamon
Smelling like a rose in the sun
Dixie Dawn Miller Goode, from Rainbows Around Us: A Celebration of Color
Spring Colors! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted April 4, 2018
Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love! Sitting Bull
With spring definitely here in the Borderlands, I have been thinking about colors quite a bit as the brown of the desert bursts into so many glorious shades of green. The white and pink fruit trees have pretty much quit blooming, so the various shrubs, hardy trees, ocotillo, cactus and poppies will add their beautiful spring colors: yellow, pinks, oranges, reds, purples and others all against the huge dark blue sky. My soul revives!
Christmas Stocking Stuffer Gift Ideas - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted December 13, 2017
Christmas will soon be here, less than two weeks away. The ever ticking Christmas clock says there are only 11 days left! But fear not! If you have waited to the last minute to buy stocking stuffers and/or gifts, I have pulled together a collection of wonderful artisan handmade ideas, any of which Santa would be proud to deliver. Please browse the items below.
Make it a HANDMADE CHRISTMAS this year!
Eclipse Blues - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday
Posted August 23, 2017
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!
