Countdown to Christmas 2014

Christmas keeps getting closer and closer, bearing down on us Â like a runaway freight train! Â According to the ever ticking Christmas clock, there are only 43 days, 14 hours and 35 minutes when Santa will slide down that chimney and leave presents. Â Help Santa by buying HANDMADE this year!

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10 mm pale olive green etched lampwork glass beads with fine silver handmade by Charlotte of Covergirlbeads

If you haven't already started your shopping, the Countdown to Christmas 2014 collection will be a great place to start. Â The Countdown is hosted by Julie and Blu on their BluPrint blog for 12 weeks. Â The sharing of handmade and vintage items for week 8 ended this past weekend - 71 items are in the Countdown for your perusing pleasure. Â This would be a great time make those purchases. Â Don't wait until the hectic end to buy those gifts. Â Shop early . . . shop often!

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Embroidered bronco hanging dish towel with hand knit topper and ties handmade by Sharon of HollyKnitterCreations

Shop owners from ArtFire, Zibbet, SupaDupa, Etsy, stand alone websites and the like are welcome to share up to three gift items between Friday at noon (12:00 p.m.) and Monday morning at 12:01 a.m. Â Then a new Countdown to Christmas collection will begin again the next Friday, same time, same place. Â This will continue until the second week of December. Â The items shared need to be G-rated.

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Celtic Tuim knot pendant necklace with Czech glass leaves and gemstones handmade by Mary of PrettyGonzo

The rules for participating in the Countdown are easy: Â if you share items on the Countdown, you MUST promote the collection and EACH item on at least one social network site, preferably Pinterest and/or Wanelo where the items can be easily found and saved again. Â It's only fair to promote the artists who promote you!

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Christmas / winter penguin dog or cat scrunchie neck ruffle handmade by Donna of SewAmazinÂ

In addition to saving each item for the Countdown collection to my Pinterest board and Wanelo collection, I decided to share my favorite item from each of the ArtFire artists who participated. Â Fabulous for backlinks (and we all want and need those!). Â Here are the rest of my picks for Week 8:Â

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Purple lilac wire wrapped and beaded hoop earrings handmade by Kathy of Specialtivity

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"Flight of Fancy" layered and textured dichroic glass pendant handmade by Jo of Umeboshi

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Purple and navy blue swirl polymer clay necklace with acrylic trumpet flowers handmade by Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions

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Snowflake charm and green glass pearl winter Christmas bracelet handmade by Diane of dianesdangles

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Pink, burgundy and gray multi-strand finger crochet ladies infinity scarf handmade by Nancy of jazzitupwithdesignsbynancy

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Amber art glass platter with iridized gold and black accents, 7" x 14", handmade by Kellie of ResetarGlassArt

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Aurora borealis faceted sugilite gemstone earrings with Swarovski crystal handmade by Barbara of SolanaKaiDesigns

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Christmas ornament hors d'oeuvres plate with beaded cheese spreader handmade by Mary Beth of TheTwistedRedhead

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Wild West party theme banner decoration for birthday or baby shower handmade by Nat of adorebynat

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Extra long, hand knit brioche stitch scarf for men handmade by Cathy of CraftingMemories

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Cookie cutter gingerbread men dangle earrings handmade by Eve of EvezBeadz

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Opaque green superduo snakeskin beadwoven and copper bracelet handmade by Kat of KatsAllThat

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Proud rooster table mat or wall hanging in filet crochet fiber art handmade by Ruth of RSSDesignsInFiber

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Gold plated pewter bass fiddle charm necklace with steel chain handmade by Connie of Thesingingbeader

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Little penguin reversible fleece toddler hat with ear flaps handmade by Nancy of Wyverndesigns

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White, red and green frosted lampwork and Swarovski crystal Christmas earrings handmade by Catherine of ShadowDogDesigns

So there you have it, my picks for this week. Â All of the amazing items shared above are just a sampling of the gift ideas that can be found in the Countdown to Christmas 2014 - Week 8 collection hosted by Julie and Blu of BlueMorningExpressions. Â To see all of the shares, please click here: Â Countdown to Christmas. Â I hope at least one . . . and possibly several . . . of these handmade items caught your eye and found their way to your shopping list. Â Shop early - shop often!

MANY, MANY thanks to Julie and Blu for hosting the Countdown to Christmas again for the third year!

If you would love to make my day and the day of the artist's featured, please leave a comment. Â And any promotion that can be done will be greatly appreciated by all. Â Thank you so much!

Here are the links to the other six collections in the 2014 Countdown:

Countdown to Christmas - Week 7

Countdown to Christmas - Week 6Â

Countdown to Christmas - Week 5

Countdown to Christmas - Week 4

Countdown to Christmas - Week 3

Countdown to Christmas - Week 2

Countdown to Christmas - Week 1

My contact information:

Artfire studio: Â ShadowDogDesigns

Blog: Â ShadowDogDesigns' Blog

Facebook: Â ShadowDogDesigns - Jewelry