Let's Say Thanks to Our Troops

Here's a way to say thanks to our deployed troops...Go to Let's Say Thanks. This website is sponsored by Xerox and allows you send a postcard to a serviceman or woman. You choose from artwork created by school kids, add a message (choose a pre-written one or write your own) and submit it to Xerox. They print the submissions as postcards and distribute them in care packages to deployed troops. It costs you nothing and is so greatly appreciated by the recipients! I hope you will join me in letting our troops know we appreciate them.

I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Toni

Sunday Shopping on the Handmade Highway, November 15

Recently I’ve been checking out various on-line shops featuring handmade items, especially looking for shops that haven’t “broken out” yet. Speaking from personal experience, it’s hard to get visibility and sales when you are trying to start an on-line business. This is the second in a series of shop reviews. Today I am featuring shops selling artwork of some sort. All these Etsy shops have relatively small sales but have beautiful items for sale. I found all these shops among the Hitchhikers on the Handmade Highway.

The first shop I want to show you is CLine Creations.
This beautiful shop features Chinese arts; there are Chinese brush paintings and hand painted cards, as well as Chinese knottings, made from satin cords and used to create hair accessories, jewelry and key chains. I love the knottings, but since I'm going with an artwork theme, I chose this lovely painting from CLine's shop.
Pink Rose and Butterfly Original Painting




Next up is Candara Design Photography. This shop is run by Georgia in Chester, England. She offers fine art photos, shipped unmatted and unframed. Prices are very reasonable. I just love this photo...and the title! I can almost imagine the thoughts this tree would sing.
Large Melodious Thoughts



Diig has some ready-to-ship art prints, but what I like best in Heidi's shop are the made-to-order listings. You send in a few photos and she creates a custom acrylic painting, pastel or charcoal drawing from them. And, Heidi donates a portion of her profits to charity. In November, for example, she is donating 25% of all profits to Kiva, an organization that provides micro loans to entrepreneurs. Just look at these smiling faces - I can imagine the pastel with my kids in it.
Custom Pastel Portrait



Phofun (love the name!) is a small subsideary of Glassetc. This shop carries kaleidoscopic mandela and OOAK silk screened greeting cards. The mandela images are created by manipulation of everyday photos. Since I love kaleidoscopes, these really appeal to me. For instance, the images in this card mix were made from photos of flowers, a water polo game and at the mall.
Mandala Greeting Cards - Get Well and Birthday Mix



The last shop for today is Celtic Cat Photos. Celtic Cat Photos features a wide varity of matted photos, with lots of different subjects from Ireland, Scotland and rural America. The great thing about this shop is that it includes a lot of photos that will appeal to the man in your life. I know someone who would love this one...
Mail Pouch Barn Fine Art Photograph




Well, that's all for today. I had lots of fun looking for and checking out these little known shops. I still have quite a list of Handmade Highway Hitchhikers to share with you, so check back next week. Please support these and other handmade artists. Have a creative and handmade day!

Toni