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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:
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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:
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 12
Posted December 6, 2022
Tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick . . . tick. According to the Christmas clock, there is now less than 3 weeks (18 days!!!) until Christmas is here! It’s hard to believe that almost a week has already gone by here in December, and, with it, the last week of the Countdown to Christmas 2022. The Countdown has been graciously hosted all these 12 weeks (and many years) by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. Yes, Week 12 has come and gone and 30 artisan handmade items from ten artists were left in its wake. Any of the beauties will be perfect for a Christmas gift, one that was carefully created from the heart. Support handmade independent artists by helping Santa make it a HANDMADE CHRISTMAS this year!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 9
Posted November 15, 2022
Christmas is barreling down on us like a runaway freight train! It will soon be here. Week 9 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 has come and gone and the ever ticking Christmas clock doesn’t let up. According to what it says today, Santa and his traveling buddies will start their journey in only 39 days, just a bit over five 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. Need a perfect start / end to your Christmas shopping? Shop the Countdown to Christmas to browse and purchase that special piece! 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!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 6
Posted October 25, 2022
It’s hard to believe that we’re already half-way finished with the twelve week Countdown to Christmas 2022! Yikes! That means Christmas is bearing down on us and will soon be here - two months away! According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 60 days until the jolly ho-ho-ho-ing Santa and his merry band of clattering reindeer arrive once again. Now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place to buy unique beauties! Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP ARTISAN HANDMADE to support a small indie business!
Oldies But Goodies - Unique Artisan Handmade Gifts
Posted July 5, 2022
Whenever someone says “Oldies But Goodies,” most people think of old songs (especially from a jukebox - remember those?), vintage cars, lots of items on the Antiques Roadshow or, possibly, themselves (after . . . *ahem* . . . a certain age). However the term, “Oldies But Goodies,” also refers to items in our artisan handmade shops that have been around for longer than the artist who made it would like. Whenever something is created and then listed in our shops, we always think it will sell right away. Some do. But, for whatever reason, some beauties sit there . . . and sit there . . . and sit there some more. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that particular item - not at all!!! It just hasn’t found that forever person to give it a forever home.
I asked artisan friends to share two items from their handmade shops that they considered “oldies but goodies.” Many of the items are one of a kind creations and would make a perfect gift for a birthday, an anniversary, for Christmas, or just because . . . I hope something catches your eye and that you visit the shops of the artists below. And that many of the “oldie” items find a loving home.
Hot Summer Fun - Artisan Handmade Gifts
Posted June 9, 2022
It’s hard to believe that we are already through a good part of the first week of June with most of the scorching summer still ahead of us - even though it’s not yet “officially” summer (June 21 at 3:14 a.m. MDT this year). Up until the last few days, summer here in the Desert Southwest has been relatively mild. BUT the triple digits have finally set in and the AC seems to run continuously. As everyone says: at least it’s a dry heat! June is usually our hottest month. And then the monsoon season sets in where we get most of the 9” of rain that is normal for this part of the desert. Everyone is praying that the rains do start soon on schedule, normally at the end of June. For the past several years, a big storm has shown up on the 4th of July where we can enjoy Mother Nature’s fireworks - and then the scheduled fireworks once the storm blows through, all from the comfort of our upstairs porch. Hope that happens again this year since it’s quite spectacular.
Make It a Handmade Christmas 2021 - Week 5
Posted October 19, 2021
Week 5 of the Countdown to Christmas rushed right on by (the time goes quicker and quicker each week, it seems!), and a huge variety of fabulous artisan handmade items were left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 66 days, barely over 2 months, before Jolly Ol’ Santa and his reindeer arrive once again. Now is the perfect time to start your holiday shopping and the Countdown is the perfect place! Remember this motto: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses.
Miracle of a Single Flower - Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday
Posted May 20, 2021
If we could see the miracle of a single flower clearly our whole life would change. – Siddhartha Gautama Buddha
Flowers are one of my favorite things. I wander the yard several times each day, visiting all the flowers I’ve planted and feel at peace and happy (even when I see the leafcutter bee has been at work). The types of flowers are varied. Knockout roses, verbena, gold columbine, geraniums, hollyhocks, sunflowers, zinnias, larkspur and more have all been planted (some from seed, some from bought plants) and are in various stages of growing / blooming. I'm also enjoying the mimosa tree which has just started to bloom with it's wispy pink flowers that are visited by countless pollinators and hummingbirds. And the bottlebrush tree survived the deep freeze we had here this winter, and even though it lost some limbs, there are a few blooms on it! Flowers are definiey miracles.
So, with all this blooming beauty (or blooms to be anticipated), I decided this week’s Artisan Handmade - Three for Thursday would be about flowers. I’ve chosen three floral items from three handmade artists: notecards, baby items and jewelry. The artists are: Roxanne of watercolorsNmore; Pamela of MagdaleneKnits; and, me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. I hope you find joy in these picks!
Florence, Italy, Baby Clothes and Flower Earrings - Three for Thursday - February 18, 2021
Posted February 18, 2021
How do all of the diverse items in the title of this week's Three for Thursday blog come together? The answer: three artisans are featured with three totally different artistic styles! That’s exactly what you’re getting: gigitally enhanced original photos of Florence, Italy; hand crocheted baby clothes; and, handmade flower earrings. The artists included today are Giacomo of JagoDesigns2, Pamela of MagdaleneKnits, and me, Catherine of Shadow Dog Designs. If one of these gorgeous item catches your eye and you want more information and photos, please click the photo or the live link to be taken to the item in the artist’s shop. I hope you enjoy these picks for this week. And, remember, SUPPORT HANDMADE ARTISTS.
