Oh, if you must!

If You Must Shop -- shop local. Shop independent businesses versus the big chains. And do it AFTER you’ve spent a lovely, peaceful, calm coupla days with your peeps. (I know, I know -- nag, nag, nag)

Better still -- buy from the folks who are actually crafting those lovely objets d'art, functional sculptures, paintings, prints and other beauties which brighten our days.

Some of my big loves:

Jasmine Keane
Lamp-worked glass jewelry, housewares, accessories created by Brenda Morrison of (MY town!) Quincy, MA.

I own a few pair of her exquisite earrings. They’re fun, colorful, filled with joy and, frankly, you can’t have a bad day while wearing them. Serious and for reals. I believe they may well be enchanted.
Perhaps she’s a witch? A good one. Duh.

Go to the Jasmine Keane website to see more of her outrageously fun creations.

Holly Sears -- pottery and sculpture.
I was lucky enough to to share studio space with her for a time and got to watch her work. Each piece is a Chagall-like dream.

She’s amazing.

You can find her work, including her wild, fairytale, gypsy poem-like sculptures, at Feet of Clay Pottery, a collective in Brookline Village, MA.

Their annual holiday sale begins Thursday evening, December 8th and runs until the 22nd.

More tremendous functional pottery by, amongst others, Leah Bearce Guérin, Lisa Knebel, Samantha Wickman, Tilla Rodemann   and Eileen de Rosas can be found at Mudflat Studios in Somerville, MA.

The Mudflat Holiday Open Studio Sale began on Friday and runs through the 11th. Hours at this link.

Have a gander at Paul Norman's crazy, fun handcrafted guitars. The tag line on his website?
'12 String Resonators -- Stringy But Taseteful'
Ya gotta love a guitar maker with a sense of humor.
Forbidden Fruit Guitars is in Cambridge, MA.

Looking for small paintings or prints to grace your or your giftee’s walls? Try Holland Dieringer  and/or Anne Johnstone both located at Somerville’s Vernon Street Studios. I’m wild about both of them -- such dreamy, colorful, lyrical stuff.

Open Studios Weekend at Vernon Street is happening NOW – this weekend!

Farther afield, from me anyway, is:

Shadow May

Jeweler, Bill Butler, of Artisan Hand Gallery in Montpelier Vt. I raved about him after Jen and my Leashless in Vermont Tour.

Cabinets and Other Furniture -- Bill Peberdy of Corinth, Vermont ‘Vermont Handmade Furniture From Reclaimed Lumber‘
LOVE his work! Also carried by Artisans Hand in Montpelier.

Lori Watts

Clay -- pottery, sculpture and functional sculpture -- Even further afield is Shadow May of Chattanooga, TN,

I own two of his mugs and they are tremendous. Strong organic form, warm personalities -- they just feel awesome in my hands.

More pottery -- Lori Watts of A Fine Mess Pottery in Augusta, ME
I also own two of her mugs. I’m just wild about the form, the glazing and the elegantly organic baroque-ish flourishes.

Everyone loves a bijou, a bauble, a bit of art, a new mug for the morning Italian roast, a hand woven scarf, a journal made from handmade paper. Artists are in your communities -- find them and get your honeys something special.