Enjoy
*** FREE SHIPPING ***
for MOTHER'S DAY!
(First Class Ground Advantage - U.S. Only)
Blog entry
St. Patricks Day Gift Ideas - Artisan Handmade
Posted February 14, 2019
St. Patrick’s Day will be here before we know it, when all those with Irish heritage (or those that wish they had Irish blood) wear green and wax lyrical about the The Emerald Isles. And, if you have ever visited Éire, you will know the nagging inner yearning to always go back.
It’s with St. Patrick’s Day in mind that I decided to share seven items from seven handmade artists, all featuring the color green in its many shades. Why seven beauties you might ask? I chose that number from two symbols that always show up for St. Patrick’s Day, symbols which are often confused: the shamrock (which has 3 leaves) and the lucky four leaf clover (which, obviously from its name, has 4 leaves). Seven leaves, seven items. The shamrock is a three-leaved clover, a plant was used by Saint Patrick to illustrate the doctrine of the Trinity. It is the national symbol of Ireland, the word coming from seamróg, the Irish name for the plant. The four leaf clover is an aberration of white clover which normally only has three leaves. Occasionally white clover produces an extra leaf, making finding one especially lucky.
» 7 Comments
Handmade Valentines Day Jewelry Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
Posted January 24, 2019
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
-- Maya Angelou
Valentine’s Day will be here before we know - a day filled with pink and red, hearts, candy, cards and other tokens of love. Speaking of tokens of love, I thought I’d pull together some charming artisan handmade jewelry from three different artists in this new post of Three for Thursday. The first two jewelry selections are heart themed, but with a difference. Just in case, however, hearts aren’t your thing or your loved ones “thing,” then I also included a third item that would make a superb gift but that isn’t overtly Valentines-y.
Handmade Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
Posted November 15, 2018
When I was browsing the internet the other day, looking for nothing in particular, I stumbled across this quote:
Something Handmade is So Much More Meaningful
It caught my eye, because, being a handmade jewelry artist myself, I promote buying handmade whenever I can, through my own work or the work of others artist friends. Handmade items ARE more meaningful . . . and are often one of a kind . . . and always have a small piece of the artist’s soul buried in them.
Autumn Artisan Handmade Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
Posted November 8, 2018
According to the calendar, we're about ½ way through autumn, the favorite time of year for many people. I live in the Desert Southwest and most people don’t associate the desert with fall color. But we have it! Granted not as eye catching as the forests in along the East Coast or the aspens in many places in the Rockies. Color is here, nonetheless: glowing yellows and reds and purples of the deciduous trees. And my amazing cosmos are looming up a storm with carmine reds, pale pinks and glowing white. The hummingbirds left about a month ago (always sad to see them go) but new migrant birds are showing up, especially the cheerful little juncos. Am waiting for the beautiful blue scrub jays with their raucous calls and jaunty attitudes to show up under the bird feeders.
Make It an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 1
Posted September 25, 2018
WOW, wasn't last Christmas like . . . last month? Yikes! According to the Christmas clock, there is only 90 days, 22 hours, 30 minutes and those quickly descending seconds (as of 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning) until Christmas is here . . . once again! And it's even closer by the time your read this "Make it an Artisan Handmade Christmas - Week 1" blog post!
Autumn Beauties - Artisan Handmade Three for Thursday
Posted September 13, 2018
“Autumn is a second spring where every leaf is a flower” . . . Albert Camus
Even though it still is getting into the low 90’s here in the Desert Southwest, the mornings have begun to fill with the glorious tentacles of autumn. Everyone I know wants to linger as long as they can outside, sipping their coffee or tea, reading the newspaper, or, like me, just sitting and taking it all in. Not as many hummingbirds are practicing gluttony at the hummingbird feeders. Am assuming many are winging their way further south for the coming winter. I’ll miss them - a bittersweet goodbye. Fall is just around the corner.
School Daze - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted July 24, 2018
When I drive the back way to Spa for Paws, where Seamus goes to romp and play with his doggie friends three days a week, we pass by an elementary school. Today I noticed on the school sign that the first day of school is August 13, with teachers back at school August 3!!! What??? No wonder I have been bombarded with “back to school” brochures and coupons in the mail. I imagine that there a huge amount of ads on regular TV, but since I only watch PBS, NetFlix or the like, I don’t see them. Thank heavens for that! But it sure seems awfully early for school to begin. Where has the summer gone???
The school sign prompted the theme for today’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade, titled School Daze. The artisan handmade items chosen will be welcome “just because” first day of school gifts, to help counteract the daze of school starting up again. The meaningful, unique items chosen span a wide range of ages, from kindergarten/first grade through high school. I hope one of the beauties goes to school that first day!
First in the Shop - Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade
Posted July 10, 2018
I always enjoy browsing through the handmade shops of artist friends. So much talent and such creativity! This week’s Wonderful Handmade Wednesday on Indiemade features the first item in each shop (as of when this blog was being worked on) featured here: First In the Shop. Oftentimes the first item is the newest - sometimes it’s not. Either way, the items are all wonderful and each will fill that need for a gift perfectly.
Remember: SUPPORT INDEPENDENT, HANDMADE ARTISTS
Artisan Handmade Gift Ideas - Three for Thursday
Posted June 28, 2018
“I work to provide symbolic reminders of our connection to the earth and beyond.”
I love this quote from Christine of beadfreaky, one of the artists featured in this week’s Three for Thursday blog. I firmly believe a large majority of handmade artists feel that way since since each piece created has a bit of the maker’s own heart and spirit captured in it. Each handmade piece of art is as meaningful and unique as the person who created it.
4th of July - Celebrate a Handmade Red, White and Blue Holiday!
Posted June 26, 2018
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.
Preamble to the Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson.
The 4th of July, also known as Independence Day or July 4th, has a tradition of celebrations goes back to the American Revolution. When the initial battles of the Revolutionary War broke out in April 1775, very few colonists desired complete independence from Great Britain. But, by the middle of the following year, the idea of independence grew due to the growing hostility against draconian British laws and the spread of revolutionary sentiments, such as the pamphlet published in early 1776 by Thomas Paine, called “Common Sense.”
