Well, here it is, the last week of the Countdown to Christmas 2013. I don't know about you, but I find it hard to believe that it's over. Seems like we just started Week 1 of the Countdown but just a few short weeks ago. Where does the time go . . . ?
This week, over 100 items were shared again - 113 to be exact. There was a wide variety of items shared, some of which were: antique postcards and vintage items; dichroic glass beauties; handmade party and gift tags; jewelry and jewelry supplies; watercolor print; lampwork beads; sewn, quilted, crocheted and knitted items; handmade cards, vinyl decals; household accessories; and, many more items all made their appearances this weekend. There is something here in the Countdown for each and every person on your Christmas gift list, even the hard-to-buy-for person we all seem have on our list! Many, many thanks to Julie and Blu for planning and hosting the Countdown and for the fascinating Around the World blog post! What fun it all was! Please be sure to visit Julie's ArtFire studio, BlueMorningExpressions, for polymer clay and other goodies.
Shop owners of ArtFire, Zibbet, Etsy, SupaDupa, a stand alone website and the like were welcome to share up to three gift items between Friday night at 12:01 a.m. and Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. Then a new collection of gift items began again the following Friday. This continued until now, the second week in December. The items shared had to be G-rated.
If you shared items, you SHOULD have promoted the collection and EACH item on at least one social network site, preferably Wanelo or Pinterest where the items could be more easily seen and then saved again. It's only fair to promote EACH of the participants who have promoted YOU.
In addition to saving items from the countdown collection to Pinterest and Wanelo, I decided to share one item from each of the ArtFire artists who participated each week of the Countdown. Since so many participated again this week, the Countdown blog has been divided into two parts. Part 1 can be found here: Countdown, Part 1. Here are the items for Part 2:
"Dream Fairy" Rummikub game piece collage pendant on a beaded necklace handmade by Kathy of Readesigns
Zebra stripe crown tiara favor tags for a girl's birthday party handmade by Nat of adorebynat
Festive red, green and white wreath motif Poly Ceramica beaded necklace handmade by Anna of CraftsofthePast
Copper wire wrapped bronzite pendant necklace with copper chain handmade by Nancy of jazzitupwithdesignsbynancy
Handmade purple lampwork glass heart beads with fine silver dots by Charlotte of Covergirlbeads
Hand knitted blue and white super bulky winter scarf handmade by Cathy of CraftingMemories
"Be Merry" Christmas vinyl decal decoration with snowflakes by Cathryn and Scott of LilBitOLove
Fuchsia Swarovski crystal faceted bicone and sterling silver chandelier earrings handmade by Diane of DianesDangles
Hand knit dark golf green washcloth or dishcloth handmade by Sharon of HollyKnitterCreations
Vintage style handmade die cut Christmas gift tags by Colleen of ButterflyintheAttic
St. Jude chaplet bracelet with green aventurine and white pearls, adjustable, handmade by Mary of PrettyGonzo
Silver embroidered and rhinestone applique for bridal sash / wedding dress by folkstrokesupplies
Beaded chopsticks with copper wire and rows of silver and gold metallic glass beads handmade by Mary Beth of TheTwistedRedhead
Custom Native woven and hand beaded "Orange Sunset" jewelry set by William of Dreamcatcherman
I hope you have enjoyed this last sampling of some of the handmade and vintage gift items that can be found in the Countdown to Christmas collection hosted by Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions. To see all the items in the collection, please click here: Countdown to Christmas 2013, Week 12. I hope that at least one, maybe more, items piqued your interest and made its way to your shopping list.
It has certainly been fun and been a pleasure to write this blog post each week. Soooooo much talent on ArtFire, as the Countdown has shown each week. I am going to miss the Countdown but also look forward to getting some of the time spent on it back again (:
Thank you to everyone who made the Countdown a success!
If you are so inclined, please make my day and leave a comment (: Also any promotion will be greatly appreciated by everyone featured in this post. Thank you!
My contact information:
Artfire studio: ShadowDogDesigns
Blog: ShadowDogDesigns' Blog
Facebook: ShadowDogDesigns - Jewelry
Twitter: ShadowDogDesign
Pinterest: Shadow Dog Designs
Wanelo: ShadowDog
SocialBliss: Catherine Waterhouse
Rebelmouse: ShadowDogDesigns
Google+: Catherine W
Zibbet: ShadowDogDesigns
SupaDupa: Shadow Dog Designs
Flickr: Shadow Dog Designs' Photostream