BIZARRE BAZAAR 2008 Tomorrow!

Well it's that time again. The best show of the year- BizBaz, in Lawrence. I set up tonight and the show is tomorrow from 9am to 5pm. DON'T MISS IT! This is the place to do all of your Christmas shopping. The variety, uniqueness, and quality of the items being sold is outstanding. Here's a link to the BizBaz website. And, here are the details. Hope to see you there! Bizarre Bazaar 2008 Saturday, November 29th 9am to 5pm Lawrence Art Center 940 New Hampshire Street Lawrence, KS

New Work

Sorry folks, I am keeping this one for myself! These delicate copper leaves were made by basket artist Teresa Johnston. She very generously came out to the studio and showed me how to make these leaves, and also flame patina them with a small torch. Very exciting! I made this in the wee hours of the morning. Two other designers and I stayed up all night on a Saturday night and just laughed and had a great time making pieces in a "no pressure zone", just for our own pleasure. I used to be a floral designer, and I think some of that came out in the piece. Fall is my favorite time of year. This piece encompasses so much pleasure and joy, I just can't bear to part with it...at least yet anyway.

Sweet Dreams Beads

Now these are some sweet designs to dream about, that's for sure. Lisa DeCanio began beading in 2003. From her very first necklace, she knew this would fast become her passion and obsession. She lies to create pieces that are big and bold, and make a statement. The inspiration for her color palette and choice of materials is based in the idea of an old treasure chest full of glorious color, richness and discovery. I found these lovely designs on her Etsy store, Sweet Dreams Beads.

Artists/Crafters! Your thoughts about color....

I am putting out a call for your thoughts about color, and an image of your work to share with my readers. I am on a personal quest to find out what inspires and influences to colors we use in our creations. Some questions to consider"

• Do you believe the region of the country you live in, or city vs. country, influences your chosen color palette?
• Does your color palette change because off current color in fashion or media?
• Are you challenged to find a color palette that defines you as an artist?
• Are you challenged to constantly redefine your work with color?
• Are the colors you chose to work with influenced by the type of media you work in?
• How do you choose the colors you work with?
• Is your color palette chosen based on personal taste, or your perception of your own self?
• Do outside forces like music, politics, seasons, job environment, friendships etc. influence your color choices?
• Is your choice of color completely random? A matter of whatever is available to work with at the time a project is begun?
• Are your color choices formulaic, or based on spiritual meaning of color?

I want to know everything. Choose as many or as few of these aspects to talk about. There is no limit on length or brevity of your post. Please include an image of your work, and any links you would like to include. Your name will go into a drawing for a $75.00 custom piece of art jewelry made by me, just for you. The drawing will be February 1st, 2009. This date marks the one year anniversary of making my love and passion for making art jewelry a business. The aim here is to inspire each other, while looking inside ourselves to understand better why we make the choices we make in our art, and seeing more clearly what our own artistic voice is. If we know where we are coming from, we will know where we want to go. Please send your email to cellocarrots@gmail.com To see images of my work on the web, go to http://www.dawnblairjewelry.com/