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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 4 Favorites - 2024

Who would have believed how quickly Week 4 of the Countdown to Christmas 2024 went by . . . but here we are!  Left in its wake is a wide variety of wonderful artisan handmade / designed items.  According to the ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock, there are only 70 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, Julie and her faithful sidekick, Handsome Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2024 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog, part of their Blue Morning Expressions Shopify shop.  This week, there were 36 shares from 12 artists featuring a wide range of gifts:  unique jewelry designs, custom dog portraits, photographic and digital art, home decor, gift tags and stickers, tote bags, t-shirts 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:  

Make It a Handmade Mothers Day 2024 - Artisan Gifts - Week 9

Watch out!  Mother’s Day will be here very, very soon - in fact, in less than 2 weeks, on Sunday, May 12.  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 2024 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 week of the Countdown - time sure flies by!  Despite that, 11 handmade artisans shared a total of 33 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, Grandmother, aunties (or yourself!) 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!).  Featured below are my favorites from the Countdown:

Gorgeous Gifts - Artisan Handmade for Valentines Day!

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 8, 2023

It’s all going so, so fast!  Week 8 of the Countdown to Christmas 2023 has already come and gone, with only four more weeks remaining!  The ever ticking Your Christmas Countdown Clock doesn’t let up - according to it, Santa and his flying reindeer will start their journey in only 39 days!  Yikes!!!!  Need a perfect place to start / finish your Christmas shopping? The Countdown - a chance for artists to come together and share three of their unique gift ideas - is the just the place to do that holiday shopping!  Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting the twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2023 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog (where you can also see the first seven Countdowns).  This week, 39 items, many which are one of a kind designs, from 13 artists are featured.  The artists shared a wide range of handmade gift ideas: jewelry of all sorts, Christmas gift tags, sweatshirts, limited edition prints, photographic prints, lampwork beads, coffee mugs and much, much more.  A wonderful motto to follow: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN!  And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support hard working indie artists! 

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!