Some Great Handmade Finds in Rich Fall Colors - Including One of Mine!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Fall Orange Flower Meadow Lace Oval by RSS Designs In Fiber

"On Fire For Handmade" is actually 2 things:  1. A phrase stating how some feel about HANDMADE! - and - 2. The name of a website with a participating group that Makes and Sells their HANDMADE - onfireforhandmade.com .

Well -- anyone who has read my blog here for any period of time knows how I feel about HANDMADE - and yes I am ON FIRE for it - Passionate may also be the word - for a number of reasons!!!

Anne Hopfer, the creator of onfireforhandmade.com, has a number of Events and ongoing promotions - solely of HANDMADE!

Every week she does an Event, "GREAT FINDS" - on a theme - and she presents a number of HANDMADE items with a Vote for Your Favorite.

Personally, I think the Vote is nice -- it gets the people involved and some just think it is fun to express their choices by Voting - but, really now - I think it is great that someone puts out there that these GREAT FINDS in HANDMADE are there - it is one more way to PROMOTE HANDMADE - and what is actually available out there.

This is a photo of this week's OCTOBER GREAT FINDS in some very Rich Fall Colors!

My Fall Orange Flower Meadow Lace Oval is there - 4th down on the right!

I love these Fall Colors -- Do You???!!!

Go take a look - and, if you choose, Vote Your Favorite at the bottom!!!

If you are one of my "Thread Crochet Friends"  - it is nice to see our Specialized Craft represented!!

An Artfire Collection in Greens to Blues For The Holidays

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Artfire Collection:  "Greens To Blues For The Holidays"

Doing the Weekly Blog Hop with Julie Cleveland of Blue Morning Expressions has really turned out to be an experience!!!

This co-ordinated event has resulted in a lot of attention to my RSS Designs In Fiber Artfire Studio!!

I am still adding items to my "2013 Fall and Winter Gift Ideas" Pinterest Board during the third week of it -- but I have been noticing all the COLORS in all of the items!  But then I love COLORS -- and I tend to think in certain "Ranges of Color" - or the Spectrum of Colors or the Color Wheel.

"Greens to Blues" are some of my favorite COLORS -- and I noticed a whole selection of items in those Analogous COLORS!  Analogous COLORS?  Well -- they are COLORS adjacent to each other on the Color Wheel, which are made up of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary COLORS in the same section or quarter of the Color Wheel!

In this case - BLUE is the Primary COLOR, GREEN is the Secondary COLOR -- and all the variations including the "BLUE-GREENS" (Turquoise, Peacock, Teal) are Tertiary COLORS!

So-o-o, I decided to choose some of the items in those colors from my Pinterest Board for the Countdown -- and make the Artfire Collection, which you can see in the Photo above!!!

Click on the Caption to get to the actual Collection and get to each individual item in it!!

Maybe You or People you know might find some Gifts through it!!!

Making Known Handmade, Art, Vintage You Can Find For Gifts - Or Yourself!

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Pinterest Board:  2013 Fall and Winter Gift Ideas

There's a group of us who have decided to join together and from now until mid-December, we will post some of our own items we sell online, that we think will make good Gifts this Fall and Winter Holiday Season -- and then we will cross-promote them all!!

Obviously, we feel have something valuable to offer the world!

Many of these items are Brand New Handmade -- and some are so Unique as to be One-Of-A-Kind -- in other words you won't find duplicates of some of these items elsewhere!!

If you like having things that are somewhat Unique - well take a look at what we have!!

We have a weekly Blog Hop, set up by Julie Cleveland of Blue Morning Expressions, where we each post our items for the week.  I'm doing the Blog Hop here on my blog.

For instance, my items for this current week are:

Crocheted Earthy Choker with Carved Wood Pendant and Wood Beads

Fall Orange Flower Meadow Lace Oval

Folk Art Orange Green Tan Woven Crochet Basket - 10 Inch

I'm promoting through December on Pinterest - the Pinterest Board pictured at the top.  I update it regularly with new items from the group.  So far, as of the second week, I think we have had 196 items to show off and I am working on posting them all -- and by mid-December, you may find that there are over 1,000 items -- and quite a variety, too!!

From Jewelry, some of which is pretty much "art to wear" - to special Holiday Cards, Tags, Bags - to all kinds of Decor and Housewares.

Here are just a few of the items in different categories!!!

JEWELRY

Black and White Beaded Ladies Watch by Blue Morning Expressions

Handmade Dichroic Glass Pendant with embedded shapes and colors by Umeboshi

Handmade Multi Strand Pearl Necklace by Shadow Dog Designs

HOLIDAY CARDS, TAGS, BAGS

Merry Christmas Card by Cards by Libe

Handmade Holiday Gift Tags by Adore by Nat

Handmade Penguin Gift Bag by Christie Cottage

DECOR AND HOUSEWARES

Handmade Glass Plate Inspired by the Leaves of Autumn by Resetar Glass Art

Handmade Quilted Gingerbread Boy Table Runner by Putnam Lake Designs

Handcrafted Wood Dream Catcher of Bear Scene Inside Paw Print by Kevs Krafts

Fall Harvest Apron and Pot Holder by Quilt Tops

It's Autumn Garden Scenes - Me and Some Friends on Artfire

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE


Some Artfire Friends and I tend to do things SEASONALLY .... I guess it is just the way we think???!!!

Well, some of my customers think and buy SEASONALLY, though some just are buying my Decor items because they match a Color Theme in their home.

Well - it is FALL or AUTUMN now -- and out come the Oranges and Golds and Browns and Beiges and Coppers - along with some others!

This is an Artfire Collection made by a fellow-seller on Artfire, Crafts of the Past -- and I like this one particularly:  "Autumn Garden Scenes" --

-- and my own crocheted Pumpkin Coaster Set is included!!

But that is not all -- I like the whole Collection - from Paintings to Embroidery to Artistic Jewelry!!

Take a look at all the items on Artfire by clicking on "Autumn Garden Scenes"!!

Art in Handmade I've Found on Artfire

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Artfire Collection curated by RSS Designs In Fiber - Pink To Burgundy


I spent a fair amount of time putting together this Artfire Collection.

I like the Color Combination or Theme of what I call "Pink To Burgundy" - encompassing all shades in that Color Range from a Pale Pink to a Deep Burgundy Red.

I had read online that even though this is not the Color Theme of the year - according to the authority, Pantone -- it has it's own niche both in DECOR and FASHION -- I have seen discussions of this online.

So, I went hunting on Artfire for Handmade and Fine Art (a specialized type of Handmade) with these colors featured in them -- and found the Collection pictured above.

Everything in this Collection is made by the person who has the Studio the item is in - some are in the top category FINE ART and some are in the top category HANDMADE.

Every single piece in this collection, to me, has some ARTISTIC QUALITY that sets it apart - showing the Care (and Talent?) of the Artisan who created it.

I hope All ENJOY it!!

(Note:  Click on the Caption of the Photo of the Collection to go to the Collection on Artfire itself -- and then to each of the featured items in it.)

Sharing more about Wildlife - from Pinterest

Ruth Sandra Sperling
RSS Designs In Fiber - My Handmade Designs on ARTFIRE

Image from Pinterest - Momma Bear with Cubs

I just love Wildlife!!!

I saw this on Pinterest and had to Pin It to my Environmental Interests Board in my Pinterest!  I was re-pinning it from NRDC BIOGEMS.

It has been re-pinned a bunch of times.

I have actually seen Bears in the Wild - including with Bear Cubs!  Just be sure not to get between Momma Bear and her Cubs -- Momma Bears are very protective!!

An additional Note:  Bears need large areas for roaming and getting food -- we need large Wildlife Corridors in areas that are Bear Habitat!  You wonder why you see News Reports about Bears in Communities around California Forests -- those Communities are part of those Bears' Wildlife Corridors!!  It is their home!!

And California has lots of Forests, which are all part of the California Floristic Province, a Globally Significant Biodiversity Hotspot -- and protecting Bear Habitat and Wildlife Corridors is part of Global Biodiversity!!!

Pinterest is great for sharing lots of Images -- but it is also great for Environmental Education, after all, a Picture is worth a 1000 words!!!

Seeing this photograph of a Momma Bear with her Cubs -- did you learn something?????