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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 3
Posted October 4, 2022
It's amazing how quickly Week 3 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 flew right on by. In its wake, a wide variety of gorgeous artisan handmade / designed gifts were shared. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 81 days until Christmas is here . . . once again.
With the rapidly approaching gift giving season, Julie of Blue Morning Expressions along with her handsome sidekick, Hurricane Harry, are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2022 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog. The twelve week time period was chosen to correspond with the pervasive holiday carol, "The Twelve Days of Christmas''. This week, there were 36 shares by 12 artists. The shared gifts include: jewelry of all sorts, polymer clay beads, lampwork beads, party stickers / tags, christmas ornaments, photographic art and digital art. Shopping the Countdown to Christmas is the perfect place to start your holiday gift gathering! An excellent motto to follow is: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN. And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
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Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 2
Posted September 27, 2022
Week 2 of the Countdown to Christmas 2022 has already come and gone . . . and unique artisan handmade / designed items have been left in its wake. According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 88 days until Christmas is here . . . once again! With the rapidly approaching gift giving season in mind, Julie and her wonderful sidekick, Harry, of Blue Morning Expressions are hosting a twelve-week Countdown to Christmas 2022 of artisan handmade items on their Buy Handmade from Makers blog in their 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 38 shares by 13 artists with a wide range of gift ideas: jewelry of all sorts, lampwork beads, party stickers and tags, hand crocheted baby gifts, holiday keychains, photographic art and digital art. 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!
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - 2022 - Week 1
Posted September 20, 2022
Wow! It seems like Christmas was just a few months ago. It’s very hard to believe that Christmas is only 95 days away according to the ever ticking Christmas clock. With that in mind, it's definitely not too early to start thinking about all those people on your Christmas shopping list. What should you get them??? A perfect place to start looking (and buying!) is the 12 week Countdown to Christmas 2022 collections. Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their Shopify blog, the collections will be filled with a wide variety of artisan handmade / designed gifts. A new collection will be added each week through the first full week of December. This week, there were 27 shares from 9 handmade artists: unique jewelry of all types (earrings, bracelets and necklaces), baby gifts, party stickers / gift tags, fun thumbtacks / magnets, Halloween gifts and more. A good motto to follow through these weeks leading up to Christmas: SHOP EARLY, SHOP OFTEN! And, most of all, SHOP HANDMADE to support small indie businesses!
New Handmade Earrings and Necklaces - Shadow Dog Designs
Posted June 16, 2022
The heat of summer has set in here in the Desert Southwest. Which means planting more flowers in the flower beds is pretty much a done deal until the monsoon season sets in shortly (hopefully - we really need some rain!). More time is being spent inside during the day until the temps cool down when the sun starts to set, so I'm making good use of the extra time inside creating and listing new jewelry. And I'm looking further down the road to the Labor Day weekend when the Franciscan Festival of Fine Arts is being held - my first big show of the season and my favorite. Five new pairs of earrings and two new necklaces have been recently added to my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS handmade jewelry shop. I also added three older pieces to make an even ten. If something catches your eye and you want to look at more photos or need more information, please either click the picture or the description under the pic to be taken to the item listing. I hope you enjoy these new necklace sand earrings, all of which are one of a kind designs.
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.
Heavenly Hollyhocks in the Desert Southwest
Posted May 26, 2022
Hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) have always been a flower dear to my heart. Can't explain why besides they have such a beautifully majestic look to them (at least to me) as they sway in the wind. According to information I've read, they are biennials, taking two years to bloom (although you can't always believe what's written since these seeded last summer and are blooming now). Hollyhocks are originally from Asia, grown in ancient China by wealthy people. They spread to the Middle East through trade routes and then were carried to western Europe by returning Crusaders from the Holy Land. The Latin name of the hollyhock plant, Alcea, is derived from altho the Greek word for healer. In Greek Mythology, Althea is a beautiful goddess of healing and compassion, family, marriage and protection. The flowers were used as a diuretic, a laxative, an emollient and in anti-inflammatory treatments. Rosea is Latin for for rose, rosy or pink. The common name, hollyhock, is a combination of two words — holy and hock. Holy refers to the healing powers of the plant and that it was brought to Europe from the Holy Land. Hock is an Old English word which means mallow. Hollyhocks made their way to the United States in colonial times in seed packets carried by immigrants. They symbolize the circle of life and abundance and were traditionally planted near the front door to welcome prosperity.
Unique Handmade Necklaces and Earrings by Shadow Dog Designs - Jewelry
Posted May 18, 2022
"Jewelry is a very personal thing . . . it should tell a story about the person who’s wearing it"
Garance Daré
I love the quote above by Garance Daré since it is so true. Jewelry IS a very personal thing. It can range from very traditional jewelry to jewelry that is uniquely boho; from mass produced to individually handmade pieces. I LOVE making unique jewelry! Necklaces and earrings, as you can see in this post, that definitely lean to the fun, boho side and are mostly one of a kind (with the excepton of a few pairs of Christmas earrings). Featured here are ten pieces of the newest jewelry in my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS, six pairs of earrings and four pendant necklaces. If something catches your eye and you want more information and more photos, be sure to click the photo or short description to be taken to the item in my shop. Enjoy!
One of a Kind Handmade Earrings and Necklaces by Shadow Dog Designs
Posted April 7, 2022
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 4
Posted March 29, 2022
It's hard to believe that week 4 of the Mother’s Day Countdown 2022 has come and gone and it's almost April and Easter will be here in three weeks. The Mother's Day Countdown 2022, hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their the Blu Print blog, is a place artistsans come together and share three of their unique items. This week 9 handmade artists shared a total of 27 lovely items - each one a wonderful gift for Mother’s Day. Since the big day will be here before you know it - about 6 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 4, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a unique beauty that was artisan handmade from the heart. This year, Make it a Handmade Mother's Day!
Happy Valentines Day - Artisan Handmade Gifts!
Posted January 13, 2022
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it. Walk into a store shortly after Christmas and 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 is shrouded in mystery, February has long been celebrated as a month of romance. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman traditions.
