Hand Made Soap that is Perfect

There is a lot of soap out there on the market. You'll see it everywhere, the traditional locations of course, health food stores, bath and body stores, specialty stores even boutiques are carrying their own personal line of some type of handmade soap. Craft stores sell all the makings and mold so even the most novice can make a bar of soap. BUT nobody makes a bar of soap like Sweet Harvest Homes. Cynthia the owner, produces huge luxurious bars of soap that smell so..... good. The recipe is old over a hundred years old and has been perfected by many trial and error batches.

Sweet Harvest Homes has therapeutic soap bars for acne, eczema and other skin aliments. The bars like I said are large and last a very long time. There are many scents to choose from and it holds to your skin making you smell fresh and clean all day long. If your one of those individuals who are totally in to organics then you won't want to miss out on the products made by Sweet Harvest Homes. Check out their gallery at ArtisansMarket.com

Handcrafted Wood Boxes

Bob Dickey has done it again. Producing wonderful handcrafted boxes for all to enjoy. the two samples shown are some of his newest work. A Honduran Rosewood box and a Spalted Maple box. Don't know anything about Honduras, its wood or what Spalting is then please go to Bob Dickey's ArtisansMarket.com Gallery and check it out. Each box has a detailed description of the box, what it is made of and how it is made. There are no nails, staples or elmers glue in these creations! Each box is fitted and the lines are smooth creating a fantastic Keepsake Box that will last a life time. The boxes come in different shapes, sizes and can be used for a multitude of objects, Jewelry, stationary, or whatever treasures you want to keep safe. I urge all wood lovers to check out Bob Dickeys' wonderful wood creations.

Rocks! display them like Gems They Are

Rocks, they are everywhere, literally so what makes them so special. Well let us count the ways. For one, each rock is unique with patterns and colors galore. It has only really been in the last 20 years that the general public has really taken an interest in all stones. Traditionally diamonds, ruby's emeralds and other precious stones have always been the focus for the majority of the public. But now the sky is the limit.

All sorts of jaspers, natural colored quartz, agates, and a diversity of other stones grace the market in their entire colorful splendor. They are made into rings, necklaces, broaches, earrings, sculptures and more.

There is a favorite for everyone. Of course displaying your semi-precious stone as jewelry and making it stand out has become an art form. We found one such artist who has that unique talent and we were just amazed!

Verda Brown takes polished stones and wire-wraps them with precious Gold and Silver wire. Creating pendants that are eye catching and quit stunning.

The intricate nature of the wire wrap draws the eye to the encased stone. We have admired her versatility and stone choices. Turquoise, Jasper, Serephinite, Lepidolite Tourmaline, opal, pearl the list of stones Verda works with is limitless.

One of my favorites the carved Baltic amber pendant featured above is just stunning and so Victorian.

The nice thing about these unique pendants is that you can add a gold or silver chain or you can incorporate your own bead style and bead a chain for your favorite piece.

Its An Egg!!

Sue Ziegler an ArtisansMarket.com artist has brought an intriguing and unique craft to our marketplace.
Sue carves wonderful pictures into the shell of Emu Eggs creating a wonderful work of art that is just incredible.

Are you a horse person? love flowers? what about a humming bird in flight all can be seen in the delicate work of Sue Ziegler. Her gallery is features a number of wonderful designs carved into the Emu egg.

If your looking for a really unique gift give Sue's gallery a try

Romance and/or Spiritual contentment

Candlelight, it transforms the room, creates the mood and brings literally to light emotional responses that are deep and sincere.
I think the two most intense emotions that are brought to my mind are spiritual and romantic in nature.
Both enhanced by the created subdued light of a flickering flame.

Myrna Johnson an ArtisansMarket.com gives to us the most unique everlasting candle. Her Ikebana lamps made of natures wondrous stone formations are incredible. Each comes with wicks that will literally last your lifetime.

Mediate in quiet as your lamp spreads soft luminous light or create a romantic mood for you and your lover as time together is enjoyed by the warm glow of light emanating from earths natural wonderful stone. The symbol of a relationship, strong, everlasting, forever...

This is only two of many ways to enjoy Myrna's great lamps. Think of the interesting and unique effect the Ikebana lamps will create if you spread them around your back patio for the next get-together that you have. The lights flickering and creating a mellow atmosphere for visiting friends and family.
Create a comfy, warm and inviting quiet time for the whole family as you gather before bed with your children and drink a cup of sleepy time tea and quietly share the events of the past day.

So many wonderful and lasting memories can be created with the simple touch of candle light.

I would recommend everyone own one of these natural wonders.... Myrna also makes vases that can be combined with your lamp or separately if you prefer.
Go check out Myrna's gallery at ArtisansMarket.com. Truly they are handmade wonders.

Candlelight combined with natures wondrous natural formations

Where do I put all that jewelry?

OK, I have gone on and on about what a woman wants and we all know that jewelry is a big gal pleaser but where does she put all those wonderful treasures that are given with so much love.

ArtisansMarket.com has the answer, Bob Dickey! Bob is a wonderful wood box artist, yes that's right wood boxes he creates the most incredible boxes from many different types of exotic wood.

Never fear if your not a woman with a lot of jewelry to store Bob has many different kinds of collectible Wood boxes. From Men's personal boxes to stationary boxes there is a wide variety that will please the most simple tastes to the most complex. Each box is painstakingly measured and put together by fitting the pieces of wood precisely. There are no nails or staples in any of these boxes.

So, there you go need a wonderful jewelry box, stash box, heart box, stationary box or a photograph memory box come to our marketplace and check out Bob Dickey's Wooden it be nice gallery

So Much Jewelry, So Little Time

OK so I am headed back down the jewelry road and how important adornment is to women well OK now days its important to all of us. It Does not matter what country your in what group of people might be present adornment is common ground.

In America, well lets just say we are definitely “ate up with it” “just cannot get enough of it” and “don’t leave home with out it”.
That’s why ArtisansMarket.com enjoys each and every jewelry artists that joins our marketplace.
I am going to take the next few days and blog about our jewelry artists. Each artist has a unique and different style some create intense seed beaded pieces and other concentrate on color with simple one strand pieces that can be worn every day.

We have Sydnee Elliot who creates wonderful pieces with old African trade beads some dating a hundred years old! (Picture 1). Sydnee lived on an Island in Greece for many years and not only creates fine jewelry but paints and sews wonderful travel bags.

There is Nonny Breiter who has a passion for tourmaline and creates wonderful delicately done earrings, necklaces and bracelets using only the finest quality stones. Nonny resides on the west coast and spends many hours finding just the right stones for her jewelry creations.(Picture 2)

Deerwoman a long time gallery owner in our marketplace adds color and silver to her creations that are imported all the way from Afghanistan. The deep rich colorful stones add a lot of spice to any girls wardrobe. Deerwoman hides out in the great lakes region but travels extensively throughout the Midwest and Southwest adding joy to all she meets with her mixed style of jewelry.

These three artist come from totally different parts of the country but share the love of creating fine beaded jewelry that can be worn casually or for an event that requires dress attire.

I would urge everyone one that reads this blog to go to ArtisansMarket.com and view Sydnee, Nonny and Deerwomans galleries Each gallery holds over 20-30 items and the styles are diverse. There literally is something for everyone.

We all find it hard to come up with that unusual and different gift to give our parents, grandparents, uncles’ aunts etc., the people who raised us and made sure that we grew up to be good people. What do you get for a person who seems content and has everything including shelves of books and every nick-knack you ever gave to them? Well here is an idea that might just solve all your problems. Paul Tuminno an ArtisansMarket.com artist specializes in lettering and is very talented.

His technique is very simple yet elegant and unique in that you can customize your piece to fit your needs. Paul takes unique flat pieces of stone and embellishes them with traditional symbols, religious symbols, and family crests. He hand gilds them with 23kt gold leaf outlined in enamel.

Why is this so special? Every family in America has a history their family tree branching back hundreds of years and branching into many countries throughout the world. Paul brings a touch of history and pride of heritage to you with his customized stone pieces. Their uses are numerous, they can be a conversational piece, paperweight, and patio napkin weight, lay on a table or framed in a shadow box for easy hanging. Don’t want to use a box, then use a plate hanger and hang it in the study. Imagine the pride in your fathers voice as he joyously explains the family crest to his guests. Or, what about your mother describing the unique cross that symbolizes the spiritual guidance that has been your family stay for hundreds of years.

Don’t want your symbol done on stone. Paul also paints wonderful wood signs as the example above shows. Have one made for your patio, the garage or how about a good luck blessing for the barn.

What about a symbol that promotes conversation on your heritage such as an ancient symbol of your people dating hundreds of years back into time? Each of us has such a symbol and all of us are proud of our heritage.

I think Paul has a wonderful sense of what it takes to make a special and customized gift for your family member or friend. Check him out in his Artisansmarket.com gallery

Beaded Jewelry

Gift Giving Idea’s

I am back again today contemplating the holiday season and trying to give you as many gift giving ideas that I can. For all you guys out there that will be buying for mothers, wives, daughter, sisters, friends etc. I have a very good suggestion for you.

Jewelry specifically handcrafted beaded jewelry. Beads are in my friends and all girls of all ages love the beads, earrings, bracelets, and necklaces anything that is considered adornment. At ArtisansMarket.com you can purchase jewelry that is extremely unique and handcrafted with the highest quality materials

Semi-precious stones mixed with silver or gold, crystals, handmade glass beads, Bali silver beads, antique beads and so much more.

Our list of jewelry artists is extensive and with so many wonderful artists the variety is endless. There is something for every special person on your Christmas list.

The pictures above are only a sample of the awesome jewelry you’ll find in our marketplace and for Christmas we are offering a 10% Discount!

Christmas Cards

Christmas is approaching and many of you are scrambling to find the perfect Christmas card / Holiday card to send to your friends and relatives. With a little work and a lot of help from some very innovative websites you can create a very memorable card.

Photographers Edge a website that sells card stock with a place to put your favorite photo is one of my favorites. I ordered the card stock and this year was even able to have my company name imprinted in the inside with a very nice salutation.

I then went to ArtisansMarket.com and scrolled through the stunning photographs that were done by some of the artists. This year I choose a very wintry picture taken by Billy Rhoades. Billy who resides in Alaska. Billy is a wonderful wood artist who moved to Alaska and fell in love with the scenery prompting him to take up an additional hobby. Yes you got it, photography.

The picture as you see in this blog is very much the picture of winter and unique. It suits me as I am from Alaska also and this photo was taken in Alaska near the area where I grew up.

I think this year my cards will be well received especially with the extra effort on my part to make them uniquely mine.

This won't be the first time that I have taken advantage of Billy's great photographers eye. Last year I bought handmade wood boxes from Bob Dickey who also is an Artisansmarket.com artist.

I then selected several wonderful photographs from Billy Rhoades Artisansmarket.com gallery. I bought my card stock from Photographers Edge, I made 10 stationary cards for each box using ten different landscape and wildlife photographs. I gave them away as gifts. They were a huge hit.