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Happy Halloween - Spooky Artisan Handmade Goodies - 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!

 

 

 

Roses in the Desert - Julia's Beauties!

 

 

 

My good friend, Julia, has spent many years creating the most amazing rose garden in her backyard.  Before she bought her house, someone had planted a rose garden along the back rock wall.  But when she bought the house, only a few sad bushes had survived.  Over the course of the next several years, Julia replanted the roses . . . . and what beauties they are when they bloom!  The roses are her “babies” and she spends many enjoyable hours working in the garden, talking to the roses and inhaling their heady scents when they are blooming.  She also communes with the wondrous animals that come to visit, especially with the Gambel's Quail and the Greater Roadrunner, her favorites

Valentines Gifts: Handmade Jewelry by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

Valentine’s Day is rapidly approaching, less than a month away!  Now is the time to start thinking about / purchasing Valentine’s gifts for the ones you love.  How about giving a one of a kind, handmade piece of jewelry this year? My Shadow Dog Designs shop is filled with unique necklaces and earrings, each one carefully handmade with quality artisan components and other top notch items, such as gemstones and Swarovski crystals.  Some of these designs are brand new and some have been in the shop for a bit.  You’ll find many hearts featured in the designs, but each one can be worn year round and can’t be pegged just as “Valentine’s jewelry.” If something catches your eye and you want more information, please click the picture or the link to be taken to the listing. Enjoy!

Radiant Roses for Julia

 

 

My good friend, Julia, LOVES roses.  She has planted the most amazing rose garden in her backyard, mostly lining the rock wall separating her yard from the large arroyo on the other side of the wall.  Each year, Julia spends three months in Bolivia visiting with family and friends.  Unfortunately, that is also when her roses are at the peak of their bloom.  Because I hate that she misses the showy display from her rose babies, I went to her house to take photos of the roses so I could share them on a blog post and then email her the link.  Looking at the photos is not the same, of course, but at least Julia can see how much beauty her roses are bringing to me and to her neighbors who water her plants.  It's just too bad there's not the ability to attach a scratch and sniff thingy for each photo so she can enjoy the heavenly perfume!  Happily, some of the roses rebloom in late summer, so she gets to enjoy some of the beauty then.

Make it an Artisan Handmade Mothers Day - Week 4

 

 

Here we are already at week 4 of the Countdown to Mother’s Day.  Hosted by Julie and Harry of Blue Morning Expressions on their The Blu Print blog, this is the perfect time to start buying a unique, handmade gift(s) for Mom!  This week, a total of 42 artisan items were shared on the Countdown - each one a delight for Mom - from 14 handmade artists. Browse all the wonderful handmade shares for Week 3, visit the shops of the artists featured and buy your Mom a beauty that was handmade from the heart.

 

Flower Earrings - Artisan Handmade by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it's your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower.  I want them to see it whether they want to or not. Georgia O'Keeffe

 

 

One of my all time favorite artists is Georgia O’Keeffe.  Whenever I’m in Santa Fe, I'm always drawn to the museum named after her.  While there, I almost go into a meditative state while contemplating her paintings.  Her flower paintings are dear to my heart.

 

All through my life, I have had flower gardens, some rather grand and some on a much smaller scale, such as the one here in the Desert Southwest.  I cannot imagine life without the beauty and cheerfulness of flowers (or dogs, for that matter!). Life would be so bland with out them.  Because of that, flowers designs can always be found in my handmade jewelry, especially the earrings.  For this blog post, I chose 10 pairs of earrings, some new and some that have been in my shop a while, to feature. There are many others in my SHADOW DOG DESIGNS shop.  I hope you will stop by and take a look . . . and maybe buy a pair for yourself or a loved one.

Valentines Day Jewelry, Earrings and Necklaces Handmade by Shadow Dog Designs

 

 

If I had a flower for every time I thought of you . . .

I could walk through my garden forever.

Alfred Lord Tennyson

 

 

Valentines is just a bit over two weeks away, on February 14.  It is a day a day filled with pink and red hearts, flowers, cards, candy, and other tokens of love and devotion.  With that in mind, I wanted to share a collection of handmade Valentine’s Day jewelry, mostly earrings but two necklaces are also included.  Some of the jewelry from my Shadow Dog Designs handmade shop are traditional Valentine’s Day designs; others are not and can definitely be worn all year long.  There are even a couple for a dog lover.  I hope you enjoy this beautful collection . . . and maybe one or more of the one of a kind designs will end up with your sweetheart!  

Roses in the Desert (with an Iris)

 

 

When we moved to the Desert Southwest, I was amazed to see how well roses thrive here, pretty much pest free.  Most of the roses I have dealt with were when my husband and I lived on the east coast. There the roses were constantly having to be sprayed to try to ward off all sorts of pests and diseases:  black spot, powdery mildew, hordes of aphids, armies of Japanese beetles, etc. etc.. Since I try to go organic whenever possible, I did grow roses, but they were the very hardy “nearly wilds” and rugosas.  I did occasionally have to spray them but always with an earth friendly solution.  So it has been a real pleasure to see all the roses grown here.  I, myself, have three in large pots that are blooming up a storm right now.

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