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Floral Fantasies - Artisan Handmade Gifts

 

 

 

Spring will be here soon (yay!) and cheerful flowers will be blooming en masse.  I thought it would be fun to pull together a colorful flower blog featuring unique artisan handmade / designed gifts.  If you want to participate, please share two items with a floral design.  The link up is open now and closes this Monday at 12:00 noon MST.  I plan to have the blog ready to be promoted on Wednesday’s Twitter Tree.  If you do participate, you know the drill . . . please promote each item and the blog on at least 2 social media sites.  It will be great if you promote the items from BOTH the link up AND the blog (that’s what I’ll be doing).  I look forward to seeing what you share!

Pick a Bouquet of Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade Floral Gifts

 

 

Spring unlocks the flowers to paint the laughing soil.

 

Bishop Reginald Heber ~

 

 

I have always loved the quote shared above.  Bishop Reginald Heber (1783-1826), well known for his poetry, describes in just a few words the joyousness of spring on the return of flowers.  I, myself, can’t wait to finish the new flower bed I started digging last fall and filling it with native plants chosen specifically for pollinators of all types.  Let the flowers paint the laughing soil!  And let the colorful flowers be an important food source for bees of all types, flower flies, butterflies, moths, wasps and hummingbirds.  

 

With all-things-flower in mind, I invited artist friends to share two of their floral designs.  As you will see in the beautiful items below, there is a wide range of flowers to be had, from note cards to jewelry, from lampwork beads to photography, from photography to digital art and many, many more!  Be sure to pick a bouquet of floral beauties and support small handmade businesses!

 

For Twitter, please use the hashtag #SpringFlowers.

 

 

 

Spring Flowers - Artisan Handmade

 

 

Spring will be here before we know it.  Hurray!!!  Since I have majorly itchy fingers to start planting flowers other than violas and pansies, I thought a blog featuring floral items would be cheerful.  If you would like to participate, please share two items that have a flower theme.  The link up closes this Saturday, February 18, at 12:00 noon MST.  I plan to have the blog ready to be promoted on Monday’s Twitter Tree.  If you do participate, you know the drill . . . please promote each item and the blog on at least 2 social media sites.  It would be wonderful if you promote from both the link up AND the blog (that’s what I’ll be doing).  But if you are only going to promote once, please wait for the actual blog to come out.  I look forward to seeing what you share!

One of a Kind Handmade Earrings and Necklaces by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

Here it is already a week into the month of April, with Easter being celebrated soon (on April 17) and Mother's Day shortly afterwards (May 8).  With that in mind, I want to share eleven of the newest earrings and necklaces in my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS jewelry shop.  Each piece is designed and handmade by me mainly using components from individual artists located all over the world - making these beauties all one of a kind designs.  Why wear mass produced when you can wear something that only you have!?!   So, please, take a look.  You'll find styles for the woman with a boho flair, a wide variety of earrings for the animal lover, yoga jewelry and more.  If something catches your eye and you want more information or to look at more pictures, click on the photo or the description beneath the picture and you'll be taken to the item in my shop.  I also want to point out that for anything in my shop, there is now free shipping (U.S. only) running through Mother's Day.  I hope you truly enjoy the unique necklaces and earrings featured.  

 

 

 

Make It A Handmade Mothers Day 2022 - Week 3

 

 

Week 3 of the Mother’s Day Countdown 2022 seemed to blow right on by (where do the days go???).  Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their the Blu Print blog, 27 unique handmade items  from 9 artists were shared on the Countdown - each one a wonderful gift for Mother’s Day.  Since the big day will be here before you know it - about 7 weeks from now - this is the perfect time to start thinking about and buying a gift(s) for your Mom.  Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 3, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a unique beauty that was artisan handmade from the heart.  Be sure to buy handmade this Mother's Day and support a small indie business!

 

 

 

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!

Flowers are Food for the Soul - Artisan Handmade

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul.

Luther Burbank


 

I love this quote from Luther Burbank because it’s true!  For those who are not familiar with Luther Burbank, he was an American botanist, horticulturist and pioneer in agricultural science, developing more than 800 strains and varieties of plants during his lifetime, including the tasy plumcot (fruit trees being a special passion of his, it seems).  One of my favorite things to do doing the winter months was to constantly browse through Stark Bro's and Burpee Seed Co catalogues (both companies sold quite a few of Burbanks’ seeds and plants after his death), planning my flower beds and vegetable gardens. Looking at the brilliant pictures and dreaming of all the flowers and veggies spring, summer and fall would bring made those winters quite a bit easier to bear.  Even now, living in the Desert Southwest where the winters are mild in comparison, I still dream of the promise of flowers.

Original Art - Three for Thursday

 

 

 

“The paint is simply an extension of my hand, my mind.” ~ Antonio Masi, Watercolor Artist

 

 

Having never been a painter - although I did dabble in watercolors for a bit and realized very quickly I had no talent for it besides “abstract blobs” - I am always astounded at the beauty that artists reveal on their canvas of choice.  I think you will also be amazed at the wide variety of techniques and styles of the three painters featured in this new Three for Thursday blog. The artists are: Sharon of RavensBendFolkArtRoxanne of watercolorsNmore; and Jacki of Christie Cottage.  I hope you enjoy these choices and that you will visit their shops to see more art.

Spring Colors! - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade

 

 

Behold, my friends, the spring is come; the earth has gladly received the embraces of the sun, and we shall soon see the results of their love!   Sitting Bull

 

 

With spring definitely here in the Borderlands, I have been thinking about colors quite a bit as the brown of the desert bursts into so many glorious shades of green.  The white and pink fruit trees have pretty much quit blooming, so the various shrubs, hardy trees, ocotillo, cactus and poppies will add their beautiful spring colors: yellow, pinks, oranges, reds, purples and others all against the huge dark blue sky.  My soul revives!

Happy Spring! Happy Easter!

 

 

The celebration of the return of  spring and Easter brings the promise that everything can begin again, of letting go of the old and embracing something new, of renewal of the self and of the earth, and of faith.  Just think of everything associated with spring and Easter: promise, resurrection, birth, new love, romance, nesting birds, butterflies, daffodils, tulips, peach blossoms and so many other cheerful flowers.  

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