A Very Special Christmas

Awhile ago I posted on Facebook  http://www.facebook.com/barbzinkhanthat we had made 20 ovarian cancer angels to a lady who was gifting them to cancer patients she works with. Tonight I got the following email and I have to say, it was truly the icing on the cake for a fabulous Christmas. I had one small present today that didn't cost much at all and it was by far one of the best Christmas Days I have ever had in my life for so many other reasons - all of them the right reasons.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Barb and Dave,

I just had to let you know how much the patients have loved the angel ornaments. Every one that has received one of these has just gone on about how beautiful their gift is. No one has seen anything like them before. One of the patients called me the day after she received hers to let me know her daughters had already hung it in the window for her.
Thank you so much for your hard work in getting these too me in time for Christmas.

Also, the packaging was beautiful.

Hope you have had a blessed Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Lincoln Center - 2011 Booth

 It's been too long since I've been here.  Shows are done for the year, December proved to be our best month of the year on Etsy, and I have all the Christmas custom orders done.  I thought perhaps I should post a picture of our booth this last year as promised. 

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!  Thank you for our best year ever and looking forward to 2012 being another record breaker. 

Getting Ready for Shows

I am in the process of getting ready for shows we are doing this fall.  It's a rainy, dismal day, so a good day to stay inside and work.  I have not forgotten about my Etsian friends though!  Sales have been so good on both Odyssey Creations and BZ Originals that I have had to quit posting new items or I won't have anything left for shows!  Love you guys!  If you are in the area, shows are:

October 15/16 - Mollie McGees, Boulder County Fairgrounds, Longmont, CO
November 4/5/6 - newly remodeled Lincoln Center at Magnolia and Meldrum, Fort Collins, CO
November 19/29 - - Mollie McGees, Boulder County Fairgrounds, Longmont, CO

See you there if you are local!

Barb Z

New ornaments are coming!

I will be listing some new ornaments soon. I feel like I am SO far behind on these!  Where is the summer going!  I have some more pink ones coming and a gorgeous red and gold one that you can get a preview of on the Odyssey Cache Blog Spot.   Here is the smallest of the pink ones that will be listed Lil Lady

Three websites, that are continually growing, while still doing a full time job can be a little overwhelming at times, but I love it!  I just can't (and won't) stop making things.  Besides, what ever would do with ALL of the supplies in my work shop!  love all my pretties - to make prettier things yet.  Gotta go - got a custom jewelry order to work through still tonight!  Ohh, - check the BZ Originals site for new stuff soon as I have a Bali bead order coming in tomorrow!  Good, good stuff to work with! 

Separate Blogs are working now

I now have separate blogs for each shop working.  You will see some of the jewelry overlaps into this site and some other things overlap in the others, but please see my links to the right for all our shops and blog spots!  Moving forward!  Yay!  Plus, FINALLY got a new banner on Odyssey Creations both here and on Etsy!  Looks so much better.  Do you think I should change my Odyssey Creations icon to a picture?  I actually have a couple that aren't too bad right now.  Thoughts?   Meet my husband, Dave.  He's truly my support system, my shipping manager, and he also does all the stained glass, builds me whatever I need for my craft room, built and put together our show display, and I couldn't do the shows without him!  We just had our 7th anniversary!

Custom Order Wedding Pics

It's always nice to see pictures of the actual wedding when I have done the flowers or custom bouquets.  I got these this morning and Shan just looks beautiful.  This was a simple back yard wedding in Texas, but I am so honored to have been a part of it with all my silk creations.  Not shown are the boutonniere and toss bouquet. 

Sale!

5% off all long beaded fringe on Odyssey Cache through July 5, 2011.  Enter 5POFF discount code on checkout! 

New Swarovski Designs

I just ordered Swarovski pearls in almost every color they have, plus got some of the new Swarovski heart designs.  I plan on expanding on the bridal and formal jewelry in the BZ Originals Etsy site (see Favorite Sites) even more.  This was a design I recently did with Swarovski new Devoted 2 U hearts in Golden Shadow and Sterling Silver with freshwater pearls.  Tell me what you think.  http://www.etsy.com/listing/76152558/swarovski-devoted-2-u-bridal-necklace 

My Other Blogs

I am having trouble getting into and editing my BZ Originals Blog, so I am just going to do everything out of the Odyssey Creations Blog. After all, it is all me.

I love summer, love gardening and watching things grow, love the longer days. We live in Fort Collins, Colorado, a town voted several times to be the #1 place in America to live, and I have to say I do love it here, especially in the summer. Our downtown, we call Old Town, and part of Disneyland was actually fashioned after the architecture and flavor of it. There is free music and theater going on nightly in several locations, partially, because we are fortunate to have a local billionaire that loves music and supports the arts, keeping the town alive with the constant music in the summer. The biggest event is New West Fest which features over 50 bands, mostly local, sometimes more famous (Earth Wind & Fire last year - yeah!).

We were downtown last night, ate at the Beach House, a restaurant with Caribean style food and awesome 7 layer jumbo shrimp enchiladas (a great Hawaiian Torta too). They hand out buckets of things to do for the kids and we had my 8 year old granddaughter with us. From there, went to Oak Street Plaza with a live blues band playing and the kids playing in the water fountains there - so much fun to watch! Truly what small town America is all about - just love it!

Easter and White Sands and Ocean Breeze

I had a wonderful Easter and hope all reading this did as well. My grandson is such a cutie and loved his singing Easter bunny! I loved the bunny so much my husband got me a pink one too. The ears fly up in the air and flop and wiggle and it's just adorable!

This set just got listed on Etsy and I just love it. It is inspired by the white sands of Carmel, California set next to the blue ocean. It is close to Monterey Bay and just one of our most favorite places in the world. It's a very dog friendly little town set on the side of steep hill on the coast in a quiet bay with just the most wonderful dining and great places to shop! Hopefully we will get back there again - or win lottery and move there! I call this set White Sands and Ocean - not very original, but what it makes me think of. Oh, I can almost smell it and feel the breeze and the warmth of the sand talking about it!

Bridal Order

This is a bridal bouquet I just completed and shipped out last week. I love the colors - periwinkle and blues with ivory roses and calla lilies. I did 2 teardrops too for her gazebo in which she is getting married. The trim on the bows of these were just fabulous with some 6 inch pearl beaded fringe, some of which I now have listed on our Odyssey Cache site. I just love the romance of beads and think it is perfect for weddings. I got the venice lace from Mary, Not Martha on Etsy. Went back and got 2 more yards of 4 more colors. Don't know what I'll use it on, but I'm sure I'll find something!

One of my next projects is wedding flowers for my future daughter-in-law as my son is getting married July 2 this year! Fun, fun!

Anyhow, back to gardening. Can't make stuff and stay online all the time!

New Creation

This is one of my newer creations. I haven't posted it yet. It needs a name I think. The beaded fringe on this is fabulous and it is topped with an incredible large ivory pearl trim. Anyone have any ideas for a befitting name? Burst of Spring? Orchids in Renaissance?

I did post it and ended up calling it Victorian Rhapsody.

Starting to Blog.... Finally!!!!

I started this blog years ago and have not done anything. So I think I will start. There is just so much to do and so little time! I'm still trying to juggle full-time employment and 3 Etsy sites. But you know, no matter how hard we work, what is really important is probably not things at all, but family, friends, and dogs, yes, dogs. Mine is named Savannah. She's a 3 year old English Springer Spaniel, black and white, and just as sweet as can be. I love to come home as she is so excited to see me! She's a rescue dog, but in a sense she rescued us as it had been 2 years since we lost our last dog, and we were really in need of a dog in our life again. Such unconditional love and they remind you every single day, that just the simple things in life are what really matters, love, basic needs, and big hugs. Anyhow, time to get some new shell beads listed on my Odyssey Cache site and then I have some custom orders to work. That's later news... And, Happy St. Patrick's Day to anyone that's paying attention!