Shop Handmade!

lindy grueger hanson

kopah

happyKATT

This week's prizes!

A rainy weekend in store here, so maybe it's a good time to start thinking about your gift lists for Christmas. Anyone who stops by here regularly probably knows I recommend shopping handmade. After all, there's a lot of good reasons to buy things directly from an artist, artisan and craftsman (or woman.) A few of my favorite reasons are 1.) an opportunity to find things that are truly original and unique, 2.) a way to support small scale entrepreneurs instead of the "made in China" brand, 3.) and quite possibly, a way to obtain objects that have been made with a more ecological influence, especially when compared to mass production. I trust my readers here can add many more excellent reasons to shop handmade, whenever possible....

I will put a plug in here for the show now on at I Heart Handmade, an offshoot of American Craft Guide. If you're comfortable shopping the larger handmade venues such as Etsy or Artfire--then welcome to the club!! If you're new to this approach to shopping, consider visiting one of these smaller venues, such as this, to get a feel for the kinds of wonderful, creative things that are available. There are currently about 31 artists showing here, so perhaps it won't be quite as overwhelming as some of the larger sites.

And if you'd like a bit of inspiration to further your "treasure hunt," do check into the prizes offered here, which change weekly. Yes, you need to work a bit to enter (see local instructions) but hey, that's the price of "free!"

I tend to keep my eyes on artists' who make paintings, prints and photographs, as you may have noticed. But by using categories, including but not limited to, children's clothes, home wares, wearable art, jewelry, fashion, beauty products, etc. a full range of works for nearly any need and taste, is just waiting to be discovered. Go ahead--poke around a little. Bookmark pieces that catch your eye, in case you decide you want to backtrack later. Consider it some very comfortable "window shopping" without driving or getting rained on. Go ahead and feed your soul with beautiful things...even if you're just looking. Have a lovely weekend, even if you are having cold, rainy weather like we are!

(I forgot to mention-just click on an image for link to the page...and on their page, you can find links to their shops, including a selection of a few items of the many that are available.)