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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 9, 2023
Posted November 22, 2023
Christmas is barreling down on us like a runaway freight train! It will be here very soon. Week 9 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has come and gone and the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock doesn’t let up. According to what the clock says today, Santa and his traveling buddies will start their journey in only 32 days, just a bit over four weeks from now! The Countdown is a place for handmade artists to come together and share three of their beautiful (often one of a kind) creations and then promote each other. This week, eleven artists shared a total of 33 unique items. The twelve week Countdown to Christmas, hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, is the perfect place to start / end to your Christmas shopping - find those special gifts for a loved one! An excellent motto to follow this holiday season is : SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support hardworking indie shop owners!
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, in an order determined by drawing numbers from my trusty numbers bowl. I hope you enjoy these unique items!
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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 7, 2023
Posted November 8, 2023
It is so very hard to believe (at least to me - how about you?) that we are already a week into November . . . and that there are only 5 more weeks of the Countdown to Christmas 2023! It’s also hard to believe that Christmas will be here before we know it. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 46 days (as of today) until Santa drops down the chimney once again with his bag of goodies . . . or coal. With Christmas rapidly approaching, Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions continue hosting the twelve-week Countdown to Christmas of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Start or finish your holiday shopping now on the Countdown - Week 7 - a perfect place to buy unique handmade / designed gifts! This week, 33 items from 11 artisans were shared in the wide-ranging gift collection: jewelry of many different styles, Christmas ornaments, gearhead sweatshirts, keychains, lampwork glass beads, baby gifts and more. A wonderful motto to follow: SHOP EARLY and SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses.
In addition to saving each handmade item from the Countdown to Christmas 2023 Week 7 collection to my handmade Christmas Pinterest board and Twitter feed, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. Here are my favorites for Week 7:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 5, 2023
Posted October 25, 2023
Time seems to go by more and more quickly each week - week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas has already come and gone! According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 60 days (2 months!!!) before the ho-ho-ho'ing, reindeer driving man clothes in red and white arrives once again. With the rapidly approaching holiday season in mind, Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions comtimue to host a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place to begin that! This week, 36 handmade/designed items from 12 artists were shared in the wide-ranging gift collection: jewelry of different styles, Christmas ornaments, throw pillows,nurse hoodie, a wire kippah. lampwork beadsand more. Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY and SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses.
Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 5:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 4, 2023
Posted October 18, 2023
Who would have believed how quickly Week 4 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 went by . . . but here we are! Left in its wake is a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade items. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 67 days until St. Nick pays a visit to let you know of you have been naughty or nice. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her faithful sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. This week, there were 33 shares by 11 artists featuring a wide range of gifts: unique jewelry designs, photographic and digital art, home decor, note cards, Christmas stickers,lampwork beads, crocheted gifts, coffee mugs and a host of other beauties. If you need a perfect start (or ending) to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 4:
Western Hills UMC Autumn Bazaar - Saturday, October 21, 2023
Posted October 15, 2023
The Western Hills UMC Autumn Bazaar is back this coming Saturday, October 21, 2023! Hosted by the ladies of the church (for many, many years now!), 40+ booths of local El Paso artists and other vendors will be there, including Nina Eaton of Nina Eaton Photography and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. Admission is free. AND, as you can see from the information below, there are many more things going on besides shopping at the vendors booths (my personal favorites are the book sale and Grandma's Attic). Plus there's a silent auction, door prizes and many other fun things. All proceeds go towards UMW charities / mission projects. Please stop by my booth and say "Hi!" Look forward to seeing you there!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 3, 2023
Posted October 11, 2023
It's amazing how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 sped right on by . . . and a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade items have been left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 74 days until jolly Santa Claus and his merry band of reindeer are delivering packages once again. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. This week, there were 33 shares by 11 artists featuring a wide range of truly unique gift ideas: jewelry of all types, party tags, spiral notebooks, photographic and digital art, ornaments, throw blankets and a host of other beauties. If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Each week during the 12 week Countdown, I pick a favorite item from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 3:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 2, 2023
Posted October 4, 2023
Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come . . . and gone, No worries because unique artisan handmade / designed items were left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here. With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful four-footed sidekick, Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their of Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the ubiquitous Christmas carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 30 shares by 10 artists featuring a wide range of gift ideas: unique jewelry, Christmas tags, watercolor art prints, an original book, photographic and digital art for the home, ornaments, key chains and a host of other beauties. If you need a perfect start to your Christmas shopping, the Countdown is the place to do just that! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
Each week during the Countdown, I pick my a favorite items from each artist (hard to do!) and feature them here on my blog. These are my favorites for Week 2:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Favorites - Week 1, 2023
Posted September 26, 2023
Amazing!!! It seems like Christmas was here just a few months ago . . . especially when the Christmas Countdown Clock says there are only 88 days (as of today) before Christmas is here! With that in mind, it's definitely not too early to start thinking about all those people on your Christmas shopping list. Where to start???? What should you get them??? A perfect place to shop (and hopefully buy)) is the 12 week Countdown to Christmas 2023 collections. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, the collections will be filled with a wide variety of artisan handmade / designed gifts. A new collection will be added each Friday through the second weekend of December. On week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas, there were 36 shares from 12 handmade artists: unique jewelry, Halloween gifts, lampwork beads, party invitations / stickers / kits, tote bags, baby gifts, Christmas ornaments, home decor and more. A good motto to follow through these weeks leading up to Christmas is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie sellers!
Here are favorites from Week 1 of the Countdown to Christmas:
Happy Halloween - Spooky Artisan Handmade Goodies - 2023
Posted September 17, 2023
Halloween will soon be here, only about five weeks away! Halloween is a favorite day / evening / night for many, with a steady stream of trick or treaters in a variety of cute or creepy costumes. Decorations are aplenty: Jack O’ Lantern pumpkins, grinning skulls, eerie ghosts and other infamous creaturess. During the weeks before October 31, it’s fun to wear spooky accessories or decorate the home for Halloween. With that in mind, handmade artist friends were invited to share two Halloween / Day of the Dead / Autumn-inspired items - whether symbolic or filled with traditional colors or both. You’ll see a wide variety of spine-tingling jewelry, eye-catching photography, fun baby gifts, unique lampwork glass beads and your choice of sugar skull pincushions. Each one of these handmade beauties, many of which are one of a kind pieces, are 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, some spine-tingling and some not!
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.
