New things to see

I've been spending most of my day waiting for downloads of my pictures to my various pages. oh the joy of dial up. But, it's dark, dreary, wet and cold, a perfect day to spend in front of the computer or fire.

Here is a pair of flower earrings I made for this week to celebrate the start of Spring. I should have made some snowflakes, too. ;)



I been having a ton of fun making oodles of flower earrings. The combinations are so much fun to put together. New beads and charms are coming next week for more Earrings 365! Whoopee!

Happy Vernal Equinox!

Here is the pair of earrings I made today for my challenge and for Spring! I think I will make flower earrings all this week to celebrate the Spring season. It's been so grey and gloomy up here in the woods. I think it might be a loooong time until the flowers come out to greet the day.



I found these great little matte resin flowers at Artbeads.com, they come in about five or seven different kinds of flowers. Just layer them over a small flower bead like this or a Swarovski crystal and you've got a great pair of earrings for Spring, Easter or Mother's Day.

Week 37

I started to gather materials for these earrings yesterday, (mottled brown beads surrounded by peridot-colored crystals) and then the power went out. Earlier, I had been working on balancing the checkbook and taxes (whoopie). I waited until later to make my daily pair as a treat for doing the drudgery work and then...ZAP. Actually it wasn't so much of a zap as it was a whoosh. We had one heck of a wind storm come through mid-afternoon and power was killed by a tree taking out the major powerlines on Hwy. 26. The weather system was a weird one. It came in, did its damages and then within an hour was gone.

We got out the oil lamps and fired up the little Ben Franklin stove. The light from the lamps is not to good for beading, so we sat and listened to the radio until we got the lights back on about 6 hours later. Immediately went to the bead desk and got these pair done. There were occasional blinks from the lights throughout the night, but today things are much better.

We lost one of our big hemlock trees. It fell away from the driveway and took out a number of little trees in its wake. There were also a couple of tree tops that broke off and a number of alders that broke in half. Nothing fell on the house, shop or barn and no blocked driveway. Another weather system is coming later tonight with more wind. Not really looking forward to that.

The thing I hate the most....changing the clocks AGAIN after this episode.

I completely forgot....

...about uploading my pictures of the current past two weeks of earrings. Sheesh! I love this getting older stuff...NOT! So...here are a couple of examples from Week 35 and Week 36.

President's Day

I hope those of you who had the day off had a nice day. For the rest of us, yeah...it was a Monday. One good thing, the weather was fairly nice for February in Oregon. The sun shone, the clouds were high and fluffy and we had hardly any wind. A nice Spring-like day. Now here comes the snow. Again. Just about every day for the rest of the week. oh boy, oh boy. i am really excited. i can hardly contain myself.

But enough of that, on to better things...this is a pair of earrings I made today. I love these little beads. Check out this page at Goody Beads for lots of cool stuff to make the new large hole bead charm bracelets.

It has come to my attention....

To view each week of earrings, at the Earrings 365 page, click on the picture of the week you wish to see and it will expand larger. Each pair has the date underneath and if you have a question about a certain pair, please email me at zannesbazaar at yahoo dot com.

Thank you!

A Heart-y Week

This week is all about red hearts. Except Monday, it's just Red and I wanted to use those fabulous beads. I used different beads and different metals with these really cool rubberized acrylic hearts. The beads feeeeellll as soft as silk and are very light on the lobes. You can find them at Fire Mountain Gems and Beads under Acrylic and then scroll down to Rubber.

I wish everyone a Loving and Lovely Valentine's Day!

Green is the color for Week 32

Here is a pair of malachite earrings from last weeks group. I decided to use jump rings instead of wrapping with wire. They will be able to move and sway easier on the jump rings.

This is one of three pair of green earrings I made this week. I don't know why. Maybe I'm really wanting Spring to come. We have no snow here and can see green all around in the trees and grass. *shrugs* Perhaps my Muse likes green this week.

Another Week Done...

...only 20 more to go. This is one pair of earrings from last week. A bunch of berries for your lobes.

Week 30 !

Wow...that's 207 pairs of earrings! Am I insane for doing this? Or just extremely addicted to the beads?

Here is a pic of today's pair. I got some new beads in the mail yesterday and I LOVE these. Handmade lampworked beads in ten different colors and two different designs. I'll have to be very creative so I can get all of the colors into the earrings.

January 23

Oops & Roller Girl

I have completely forgotten to get my earrings up for last week. It's been a busy week this week. The puppy went in to the vet for dew claw removal and to snip his "buds". I've been playing nurse and babysitter. Also, my sweet little mother in law was not feeling very well, so HB got her to the doctor. It turns out she has shingles. She will be fine with medication. At 91, we do worry.

Life is going to be busy this year. Wy'east Artisans Guild has tapped me to be Treasurer for this year and Portland Art Collective has asked me to step into the Finance Committee chair for our annual Open Doors Show. And I thought I'd just sail through this year and work on bead competition pieces. Yeah, right, maybe next year.

I did get a chance to make one of my Roller Girl dolls for a doll show at our local library. Each doll starts out with a paint roller body, tennis ball head, sisal rope neck and light switch cover for feet. This is a fun doll to make because everything to create her is from the hardware store. I shop our local Ace Hardware and have a great time confusing the sales people. "A doll from hardware?" teeheehee

Her head is covered by cheese cloth and I also use it to make her shawl. Untwisted mason line is her hair. Wire is wrapped around her body to make her arms. Rags from t-shirt material was wrapped around her bodice and arms to fill her out and an emergency blanket was cut up to make her pleated skirt. She stands on a large electrical box cover which is on a smaller electrical box. RG's crown is a PVC drain filter wrapped with Duck Brand duct tape, on top is an acrylic night light part and small tile spacers, which are also on her shawl. Everything is held together by hot glue. Lots and lots of hot glue.

Roller Girl - Before


Roller Girl - After

I had the greatest time playing with all my hardware to create this doll. I will be making more of these Roller Girls later this year. Next time, instead of leaving parts in their original form, I will use paints and other colorants I find at the hardware store to add some color for more personality.

New Online Auction Shop Open

I've finally gotten my shop open with just a few auctions ready, (still filling up the pages). I'm selling all those earrings that I've been making. Each auction will be a week in the challenge. That's seven pair of earrings per auction. I decided to start off with a minimum price of $3.50 and hope that the prices go up.

Actually, I'm hoping the prices will go way up because I'm taking all the proceeds of the sales and dividing them between two charities. A Place to Bark and Cat Adoption Team are no-kill shelters for cats and dogs who need loving homes. I've grown up with cats and dogs all my life and having just lost our sweet Bear in September, I wanted to help these great places.

To see what I have up for auction, click here - Z'annes Bazaar take a look around and have some fun spending some money. Valentine's Day IS coming up soon. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)

Please pass this along to all the animal lovers you know, after the holidays is always a hard time.

NOTE: I am not in any way affiliated with either organization.

YOWZA ! ! !

Half way through the year! Week 26 is now on the page and I'm feeling rather accomplished. This has been a real challenge to make a pair of earrings every day and not duplicate. I may be using the same style over and over, but not the same beads. I've also learned that I have a WHOLE lot of beads I've forgotten about. I have purchased beads for this particular project, but most of the beads I've used are from years of collecting because I was going to use them in another project. So, this is a good way to use them up and start over again. (wink, wink, buy, buy)

I'm starting a new store at OnLine Auction so I can offer these earrings up to the public to help a couple of very needy charities. More on them coming later. Still working on getting the store up and running. I'm trying to get it open next weekend. Wish me luck!

I was a bad girl

With all the fatigue and chaos that goes with putting on our show, I forgot to make my earrings every day last weekend. I did, however, make three pair on Sunday to make up for Friday and Saturday. I think it will be the only time in this year-long project that this will happen. I hope. One never knows what may come.

I did finally get my pictures up on the Earrings 365 page tonight. My entire schedule is all messed up. I have a Christmas party to go to tomorrow, a board meeting on Friday, Saturday holds family stuff and a partridge in a pear tree.

...and so starts the season. Merry Christmas!

The Show....

...turned out great last weekend and all of us had a FABULOUS time! I'd like to thank the PAC member who took pictures of all of our booths, because I completely forgot my camera.

My Booth

The weather turned out cold, but mostly clear and we got a lot of people coming in to see us. Portland Art Collective has pictures of all the booths from the sale on the blog. Check out the coolness that is PAC. If you couldn't make it this year, we missed you, get your calendar marked for next year. The first Friday and Saturday in December is when we will be at the Multnomah Art Center. Christmas is so much more special when presents are handcrafted.

We are already planning new artful goodness for next year. Come early, stay late and take home the best in original art, direct from the artist's hands.

Open Doors

This coming Friday and Saturday I will be part of a fantastic art show. There will be 24 of us crazy artists, from Portland Art Collective, selling our art at the Multnomah Art Center, 7688 SW Capitol Hwy. Portland. This is the fourth year we've done this. As we continue these shows, our customers turn into collectors and then our friends. It's great to see familiar faces returning to support our local artists.

If you can make it, come by to say "Hi!" and stroll through the doors to see what's new.

Phew!

I have been VERY busy getting ready for the Portland Art Collective Open Doors show. It opens this next Friday, December 3rd and goes through the next day, Saturday, December 4th. Check the link to see more info on the show and the great artists that are involved.

Anyway...I just spent the last few days organizing and pricing each and every piece of art I am bringing. Next comes the set up. I have a place in the barn that I have traced out and will figure out how to get the "bones" set up for the display. This is the most important part of any show, how to display the wares to the best advantage. Sigh..busy, busy, busy.

This is always exciting and very tiring for me, but I enjoy each and every moment!

Don't forget to check out my latest on my Earrings 365 page. I've been having fun with my beads this last week!

Oh My Goodness!

I can't believe this month is over! The last four weeks went whizzing by. At the first of the month I attended Art & Soul classes. Had The Best Time and learned some new techniques. (If you ever get the chance to take a class with Keith Lo Bue or Richard Salley, take it! They are some of the best teachers and fun guys, too!) Went on another art retreat with my other art group, Portland Art Collective, meetings for business, art, family and then...there was Andy.

Getting Bigger By The Day

He takes so much of our time, just like any baby/toddler. He is learning not to bite so much and my bruises are slowly going away. He is just too fun and too busy!

During all this crazy month I have been making my earrings. Every day, one pair a day, minimum. Here is my pair for today...I hope you all had a Happy Halloween!

14 Weeks

Wow! That's a long time to make a pair of earrings a day and I'm having a blast doing it. There have been some flashy ones, crazy ones, plain ones, fishy ones and all sorts of others. This morning I tried to think of a new pair without duplicating. This is going to be the challenge in this project. I guess that means I have to buy a bunch of new beads to avoid that. Oh, the sacrifices I make for my art. ;)

Here is a pair I made on September 30th. I wanted to change things up and play around with wire and wood. As the leaves fall, I will be out looking for small pieces of woodland to incorporate into more of my earrings.



38 more weeks to go! Stay tuned and check out the new weekly postings at Earrings 365

New Diet and Exercise Program

New Puppy is the first ever interactive diet and exercise program!

This little guy has both of us running and playing and so tired out that we don't even want to eat, let alone cook anything. I forgot how much a new "baby" can take up all your time and energy. *YAWN* It hasn't even been a full two weeks yet, either!

You can't tell by this picture, but he has grown longer and lankier in that short time period, too. The best part is, he didn't take very long to make himself at home. He knows his name now and comes when we call, most of the time. Andy discovered the cat. She hisses, he barks...it's funny from my point of view. The cat on the other hand is NOT pleased. Lucky for her, Andy is not allowed in the house yet. He is happy in the shop and that's where he'll be until he is fully potty trained.

Keeping an eye out for that overly-hyper fuzzy "Thing".