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Make It A Handmade Mothers Day - Week 5
Posted April 6, 2021
Another week of the Countdown to Mother's Day 2021 has come and gone. Week 5 is here already!!! Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Blu Print blog, Thirty-three unique handmade items were shared from 11 artists. Many are one of a kind and each 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). Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 5, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beautiful gift that was handmade from the heart. For this year's Mother's Day: BUY HANDMADE!
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A Mixed Bag - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday
Posted August 13, 2020
This week’s Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday is a mixed bag of fun items, three items from three artists. I checked my thesaurus for synonyms for “mixed bag” and picked out some of my favorites words, some I’ve never seen before : admixture, anthology, collectanea, farrago, gallimaufry, medley, mingle-mangle, potpourri, salmagundi and smorgasbord. What a fun selection of words! And you’ll find this week’s Three for Thursday an equally fun mélange of artisan handmade beauties. The three artists featured are Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions; Jacki of Christie Cottage; and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. Enjoy this mixed bag of handmade gifts for a loved one or for yourself.
Make it an Artisans Handmade Valentines Day!
Posted January 14, 2020
Valentine’s Day, February 14th, will be here before we know it with cupids, hearts, pink and red found everywhere. Across the United States and in many other countries around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. While there was a St. Valentine (the Catholic Church actually recognizes three saints named Valentine or Valentinus), the “day of love” was declared the day before the pagan celebration of Lupercalia, celebrated at the ides of February or February 15. Lupercalia was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus. Valentines Day was officially declared on February 14th by Pope Gelasius at the end of the 5th century in an effort to Christianize the Roman celebration, declaring Lupercalia as “un-Christian.”
Colours by Donovan - Three for Thursday
Posted July 25, 2019
A couple of days ago, while I was picking up some veggies and fruit from our local Whole Foods, I keyed in on a song that was playing in the background - a song I loved waaaaay back when. When I got home, I looked it up on YouTube, played the video and then let the mix of music from the mid-60’s to early 70’s continue playing. Brought back to many happy, and some sad, memories. One of the songs that played was Donovan Leitch’s “Colours,” a song I adored then and still adore now. I get lost in the peaceful lyrics, the lovely simplicity of the folk guitar accompaniment and Donovan's hauntingly beautiful voice. The song was released in 1965 and, 54 years later, is still a classic. I have played it over and over since “rediscovering” it. The lyrics are shared near the end of the post.
Here’s a link to the YouTube video (version without harmonica):
And here’s an incredible live version of the song with Pete Seeger sitting in on banjo:
A Melange of Handmade - Three for Thursday - June 20, 2019
Posted 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.
Summer Fun - Artisan Handmade Gifts
Posted June 13, 2019
The first day of summer will be here before we know it. This year, the first day of summer starts here in the Borderlands at 9:54 a.m. MDT on Friday, June 21. Although, by that time, we’ll surely have had several days near triple digits or some 100+ degrees. But it’s a dry heat and doesn’t keep me from doing much outside as long as I have a wide brimmed hat on my head and plenty of water with me.
Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday
Posted May 16, 2019
Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower . . . John Harrigan
If you are a flower gardener (like I am) and grow many flowers from seeds, you truly understand the above statement. So much beauty is bound up in a single flower seed which, like magic, can transform into a breathtaking flower. I find happiness in just holding flower seeds and dreaming of the infinite possibility of what they will become. And when that magic happens - a seedling appears, a plant grows, a bud unfurls and a flower faces the sun - I am truly happy, awe struck and humbled. And if I can share those flowers with family and friends, so much the better.
Make it an Artisan Handmade Mothers Day - Week 4
Posted April 2, 2019
Here we are already at week 4 of the Countdown to Mother’s Day. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their The Blu Print blog, this is the perfect time to start buying a unique, handmade gift(s) for Mom! This week, a total of 42 artisan items were shared on the Countdown - each one a delight for Mom - from 14 handmade artists. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 3, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade from the heart.
Summer Fun - Artisan Handmade
Posted June 7, 2018
Even though summer has not officially arrived - the Summer Solstice will show up on Thursday, June 21 at 4:07 a.m. Mountain Time here in the Borderlands - thermometers tell another story. June is the month for triple digits here with a high UV index. Then the temperatures cool down when the monsoon season arrives with its amazing lightning displays and much needed rain. Despite the June heat, we go about our daily lives enjoying the out of doors, albeit in the mornings and evenings mostly: gardening, cooking on the grill, hiking, star gazing, birding, etc. With an altitude of 3740’, we still have gloriously cool mornings and evenings to enjoy being outside.
It's A Beach Wedding - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted June 14, 2016
June is the traditional month to get married. But how did that tradition start? Inquiring minds want to know! I found two major thoughts on the start of the tradition of June weddings:
