Our country provides an endless variety of nice things to buy to furnish your home, give as gifts, and more. So, WHY should you buy handmade?
Hand-Painted Personalized Note Cards by Linda Lewis
Something made one-at-a-time by an artist who signs his or her name to each piece created makes what you’ve bought SPECIAL.
You won’t find the piece everywhere you go. For example, this baby plaque is a sample of one made by my husband and me in our shop.
We cut out the wooden plaque, (8.5″ x 8.75″) scrolled and sanded the edges until it was smooth all over. Then the plaque was hand painted – first with white all over as a background, and then blue for a boy or pink for a girl, with “gold” added in the pot at the top and the gold ‘coins’ drawn into the gold paint. The pot’s handle is black. My husband put a metal hanger on the back of the plaque. Finally, when the piece was purchased as a gift for new parents, I hand lettered the baby’s name, date of birth, length, and weight onto the front of the plaque. When all was dry, the whole plaque was protected with several coats of polyurethane.
I’m happy to say that the people who purchased the plaque were pleased when they held it in their hands. What was REALLY special was that they emailed me AGAIN – after giving the plaque to the new parents – to tell me that the new parents were thrilled, and had decided to decorate the baby’s room around the “Pot of Gold” theme!
So much in our world now is disposable, cookie-cutter, and boring. I hope to show you how much FUN it is to celebrate a season or a holiday with hand painted glassware, place mats, tote bags, ceramics, handmade wreaths, original art, and more.
Handmade or hand painted pieces are
1) fun
2) SO much more personal
3) allow you to express your unique personality with things that make you smile
4) give you pleasure as you give a gift that has been personalized for the receiver, that they can’t find many other places, or – in some cases – anywhere else!
5) Many things, such as handmade or hand painted cards, are framed and kept as treasures by the recipients.
creativeartworksblog 
http://solemi824.monblogue.branchez-vous.com/ Thanks for that awesome posting. It saved MUCH time 🙂
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I would love to buy that plaque or poster “Your time as a caterpillar”…
Do you know where I can find it?
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Here is a URL for the item on Pinterest. Maybe this lady can help. If not, get back to me and one of my artists can give you a quote on painting it for you.
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Interested to know if the giraffe sea glass art is available for purchase. And if so, how much is it? And do you ship to Hawaii?
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Hi, Toni. I’m assuming that the sea glass giraffe art you were talking about was either the one by Tracy Gardner Beach Sea Glass Art or the one by Gina Olkowski. I tried to find them, but came up empty-handed. Sorry.
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Are you not allowed to post prices on these sites?
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Sorry, I’m not sure which sites you’re talking about. If you’re talking about the products in the article, the plaque was customized and sold. I make new stationery and note card sets all the time and post them on Etsy customizable with name or initials.
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I make a lot of things by hand , I have been at making things by hand most of my life . I have helped build may houses and high rises in my life time. When I was a handyman I built many decks.
The one thing I have done longer then anything else is I continue to make what ever I want in my wood shop. Currently I’m making a check on frame out of cherry lumber for a wedding gift.
Since I retired a few years ago I decided I wanted to paint again , so I’m teaching myself how to paint again. This time one can find so much more help on the World Wide Web. …
I really like seeing the young pick up a skill they can use for a life time and watching them with their ideas and the way they achieve their goals. .
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I couldn’t agree with you more. There is the challenge of trying to learn a new skill, and then trying to create something. Then, if someone decides they like what you’ve made and buy it for themselves or to give to someone else as a gift, you feel joy. I’m glad you’re staying active and trying to learn new things. My newest thing is trying to do pyrography. YouTube videos are priceless, at least in learning what NOT to do. I like seeing that people are still trying to do things by hand, rather than doing laser work or computer work only, though my husband and I have enjoyed creating decorations for our mailbox using a computer-guided torch in our shop and then he makes the supports and I do the painting. Enjoy challenging yourself. :0)
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