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Make It an Artisans Mothers Day - Week 1 Gifts - 2025
Posted April 8, 2025
Julie and the Handsome Harry Florida Dog of Blue Morning Expressions are again hosting the wildly popular “Mother's Day Countdown.” Last year's Countdown was a resounding success . . . so the 2025 version is up and running. Check out the Mother’s Day Countdown 2025 Week 1 on Julie and Harry's Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it - on May 11 - this is the perfect time to start thinking about buying a gift(s) for your mom, grandmom, aunts and/ or other beloved women. Browse all the wonderful shares, visit the shops of the artists featured in this week's Countdown and buy your mother a beauty that was handmade / designed from the heart. When you do so, you support a small, independent business (which makes us do a happy dance)! #ShopSmall for Mother's Day this year! Here is a favorite from each artist who shared their work on the Countdown this past weekend:
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Artisan Valentines Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 3 - 2025
Posted January 30, 2025
Yikes! Valentine's Day is only 2 weeks away (February 14)!!! For ease of shopping for the big day, Week 3 of the Valentine’s gift blog on Shadow Dog Designs features artisan handmade / designed beauties. Each piece in the collection is perfect for a loved one. There are plenty of Valentine's Day themed items, but gifts that are not so distinctly traditional are also included. Many of the artisan items can be worn / used all year long! If something catches your eye, be sure to click either the photo or the description below the picture to be taken to the artistan's shop. To see all of the gift ideas in one place, here’s a link: Artisan Valentine's Gifts for Loved Ones - Week 1 - 2025. ALL of the gifts shared here were created by small business owners. Please be sure to SHOP SMALL for this Valentine's Day. We will certainly appreciate that!!!
Make It a Handmade Mothers Day - Artisan Gifts - Week 2
Posted March 12, 2024
It's hard to believe that week 2 of the Countdown to Mother's Day 2024, hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog came and went so quickly. A total of 30 unique items were shared from 10 talented artists - each beauty a perfect Mother’s Day gift! Since Mother's Day will be here before you know it - on May 12th, about 8 weeks from now - this is the perfect time to start thinking about and buying a gift(s) for your mom, grandmother, aunties and other loves ones. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 2 of the Countdown, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade / designed from the heart. Many of the items are one of a kind designs. This year, please support small indie shops! When you do so, you make us VERY happy!
Here are my favorites from Week 2:
Gorgeous Gifts - Artisan Handmade for Valentines Day!
Posted January 7, 2024
Valentine’s Day, February 14, will be here before we know it. When you walk into most stores shortly after Christmas (or even 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 (or Valentinus) is shrouded in mystery (there are actually three St. Valentines recognized by the Catholic Church to consider!), February has long been celebrated as a month of romance. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both ancient Roman (Lupercalia) and Christian traditions, with a few other influences thrown in for good measure.
This year for Valentine's Day, don't think abour buying mass produced from large companies. Think, instead of supporting a small, indie business, people who actually make or design the items themselves. Scroll down and you'll see 26 items, many are one of a kind and handmade from the heart! Any of items highlighted will make a wonderful gift for a loved one. Remember: SHOP SMALL and support a small indie artist!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 11, 2023
Posted December 6, 2023
It's hard to believe that Week 11 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come and gone . . . . and there is only ONE more week left of the promotion! When the Countdown starts, the end of the twelve weeks seems a looooong way off. Then - BAM! - here it is! With Christmas just 18 days away, where does the time go? The ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock doesn’t let up - those seconds just keep ticking down until the jolly man in red and white arrives. Since the holiday gift giving season is lurking just around the corner, Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions are once again hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade / designed items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. The Countdown is the place for handmade artists to share three of their beautiful (often one of a kind) creations. This week ten artists shared 30 items, a wide range of beautiful gift ideas: jewelry of all styles, ornaments, gift card holders, sweatshirts gearheads, lampwork glass beads, watercolor art prints and many other unique items. Need a perfect start or end to your holiday shopping? Shop the Countdown to Christmas; browse and purchase that special piece for that special person! An excellent rule of thumb to follow this holiday season: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small, independent artisan shops!
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 - hard to chose! I hope you enjoy these unique items!
Artisan Handmade Gifts - Thank You
Posted July 20, 2023
Recently, I asked several artisan friends to aprticipate in a "Christmas in July - Artisan Handmade Gifts - 2023" blog promotion, involving leaving two items on an InLinkz. Once the InLinkz ended, I pulled together a blog featuring the wonderful items. All items from the InLinkz and the blog were to be promoted on at least two social media sites. That's the usual deal for the many years we have been promoting each others items. Twelve friends participated, making a total of thirteen counting me. To thank the seven artists who took the time to stop by and leave a blog comment (as of writing this, Wednesday morning the 19th), I decided to pull together an "Artisan Handmade Gifts - Thank You" blog. From each shop, I chose an item that immediately caught my eye and shared them here in the order of the comments left. I hope you visit the shops of these wonderful artists. And remember to SHOP SMALL and to SHOP HANDMADE.
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!).
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.
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 8
Posted November 8, 2022
It’s all going so, so fast: week 8 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 has already come and gone, with only four more weeks remaining! The Countdown is a chance for artists to come together and share three of their beautiful gift ideas, each one a perfect gift for a loved one. The ever ticking Christmas clock doesn’t let up - according to it, Santa and his flying reindeer will start their journey in only 46 days! Need a perfect place to start / finish your Christmas shopping? The Countdown is the place to do just that! A good motto to follow: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support hard working indie artists!
Hot Summer Fun - Artisan Handmade Gifts
Posted June 9, 2022
It’s hard to believe that we are already through a good part of the first week of June with most of the scorching summer still ahead of us - even though it’s not yet “officially” summer (June 21 at 3:14 a.m. MDT this year). Up until the last few days, summer here in the Desert Southwest has been relatively mild. BUT the triple digits have finally set in and the AC seems to run continuously. As everyone says: at least it’s a dry heat! June is usually our hottest month. And then the monsoon season sets in where we get most of the 9” of rain that is normal for this part of the desert. Everyone is praying that the rains do start soon on schedule, normally at the end of June. For the past several years, a big storm has shown up on the 4th of July where we can enjoy Mother Nature’s fireworks - and then the scheduled fireworks once the storm blows through, all from the comfort of our upstairs porch. Hope that happens again this year since it’s quite spectacular.
