Blog entry

Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday

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.

Delicate Easter Colors - Artisan Handmade Three for Thursday

Easter is a symbol of hope, renewal, and new life. 

Janine di Giovanni

Since yesterday was Ash Wednesday - and Easter is approximately six weeks away - I started thinking about Easters past, always large gatherings of family and friends.  But, before everyone showed up at our house, we went to Easter Sunrise mass, the only time my father was ever cajoled into going to church. As a child, I always remember getting a new Easter dress, usually with a matching headband, socks and gloves(!) to wear to church on Easter Sunday.  And if my sister and I were lucky, a small purse would be included. Very stylish, indeed, and usually VERY itchy! The clothes were always spring pastel in color: pinks, pale yellows, pale greens, pale blues and such. A preview of all the pastel colored Easter eggs that were waiting to be found!

This week’s Three for Thursday features three items from three handmade artists that definitely are filled with the renewal of Easter springtime colors.  The artists are: jewelry artist Mary of PrettyGonzo; crochet artist Pamela of MagdaleneKnits; and, me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs, also a jewelry artist.  I hope you enjoy my choices. And be sure to visit the artists’ shops for more splendiferous designs!

Artisan Handmade for a Spooky Halloween!

Halloween - the day of trick or treaters in creepy (or cute) costumes, grinning skulls, Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins, spooky ghosts and other notorious beast - will soon be here.  But even weeks before October 31, it’s fun to wear spooky accessories or decorate the home for Halloween. With that in mind, I decided to pull together some spine-tingling jewelry and other items from handmade artists, each one 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, shuddersome or not!

4th of July - Celebrate a Handmade Red, White and Blue Holiday!

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.

The 4th of July, also known as Independence Day or July 4th, has a tradition of celebrations goes back to the American Revolution.  When the initial battles of the Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, very few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain.  But, by the middle of the following year, the idea of independence grew due to the growing hostility against draconian British laws and the spread of revolutionary sentiments, such as the pamphlet published in early 1776 by Thomas Paine, called “Common Sense.”