Pre-birthday blues...

I'm not feeling too good today... First, it's my birthday in a few days and I always feel a bit down around that time of the year (but I magically feel fine just after!), second I have a cold that is really taking all my energy away and third, I had a killer toothache 3 days ago that concluded in a root canal this afternoon : (

Not good, not good...

So, I'm searching comfort looking at Alexis Bittar's website and dreaming in front of his beautiful lucite jewelry collection... Yes, I am a big fan of Alexis's art and I am deeply in love with his "Secret Garden" bracelets (and, by the way, each of them costs the same as my root canal!... *sigh*). Look at the glow, look at the details, look at the beauty!




If you want to see more of Alexis Bittar's Spring 2010 collection, check his website : www.alexisbittar.com

More love...

I told you last weekend that it was my older son's birthday (the party went smoothly, the boys really had a blast at laser tag!) but this weekend, my husband and I are celebrating our 11th wedding anniversary.... Incroyable!!! Eleven years!?!? It seems long and short at the same time : long because it's crazy to think that 11 years went by without us noticing, and short because it feels like we've been together forever...

Anyway, as promised last week, here are a few of my newer, sexier and REDer creations to celebrate life and love :

A new version of my "Première" necklace from the Fall, now with a bright red carved cinnabar butterfly, white rabbit jade, onyx and Japanese tensha beads. I kept the original "opera" length - 26.5 inches.


Obviously, this bracelet is NOT red but I find it very sexy : it's called "Mélodie nocturne" and is composed of black onyx, crystal, Murano style lampwork glass and silver rosebuds...


One of my very first designs is back in the shop : "Carmen", my flamenco-inspired lariat necklace, is now featuring a red felt poppy with a French metal button, red glass beads, black and sparkly Czech glass seed beads and two lovely silver tassels.


And last but not least, here's "Carnaval rouge", a bracelet with red, purple and orange Italian resin beads and one copper-coated resin bead mounted on an elastic and finished with a trio of ribbons... This one is guaranteed to make you smile all day long : )

Have a lovely weekend!

Fun Fab Fair : )

Last weekend, it was the Winter Fab Fair... and it was fun! Lots of people came on Saturday, a bit less on Sunday but there were lots of fairs and cultural events happening in Vancouver that weekend.

I thought I would share with you a few pictures of my display and jewelry, for which I received lots of compliments : )


My bird cage with my "Dans les bois" necklaces and earrings are always a big hit!


This "Feuillage d'or" necklace was bought by a lovely daddy for his daughter : )


My collection of "Goutte d'automne" necklaces featuring Brazilian agates attracted lots of compliments...


People always love touching and trying these ebony wood bracelets on! They are sooooo smooth...


And here's myself and my dear friend Andrea who always comes to help me when I have a craft fair : )

Of course, I met some super nice vendors and I could not resist buying a few pieces from them... I am especially fond of my new ring by Spark design but I'll write a special post about it soon...

(Thank you Elvira for these nice pictures of my display : )

September rain...

Rain, rain, rain... and more rain...

This weekend is Labor Day weekend in Canada, we have Monday off and on Tuesday, the kids go back to school... but it's been raining all weekend long : (
So, while the boys are playing video games, I'm cleaning the house and taking pictures of my jewelry...

Here are two bracelets that have fresh autumnal colors :


"Rendez-vous à Hyde Park" bracelet - 35mm tiger ebony wood squares, peridot Swarovski crystals, Liberty of London ribbon bow.

This bracelet can be worn with the bow on top of the wrist or the tiger ebony wood squares...

"Carnaval citron" bracelet - Italian resin beads on elastic string, trio of ribbons.

These sparkles and citrus colors can brighten up any rainy day!

Mini Olala is going solo!

A couple of weeks ago, I decided that I should open another shop on Etsy to separate my Mini Olala jewelry for little girls from my "grown-up" jewelry.

The thought behind this decision was that it might be a little confusing for the viewers and customers of Olala design to find some items for children listed in the same shop. Creating a shop only dedicated to children would also give me the opportunity to list more items like hair clips and small brooches for instance...

So, you are invited to visit my new shop : www.MiniOlala.etsy.com

This mini butterfly bracelet was the 1st sale of my new shop this week : )

Mini Olala's pink and sparkly packaging - of course!

Absolutely Fabulous!

I could not go to France and not go hunting for ideas and supplies... Impossible when you have designer clothes and jewelry in every shop and magazine, and delicious little boutiques just dedicated to crafts!



One of my favorite shops for supplies (buttons, beads, ribbons...) and ideas is a cute shop in the city where my mum lives, Clermont-Ferrand. The shop used to be called "La Droguerie" but it changed its name to "Aniline" a few years ago. The ladies who work there are very nice and helpful, and the shelves of the shop are covered with jars full of the most gorgeous and original beads you can dream of.... My kind of heaven!
http://www.aniline.fr/

Even though I was tempted to buy the whole shop, I had to restrain myself a little and mostly focused on beads... but oh my, I am soooo fond of these beads : they are Italian resin beads, they come in the most amazing colors, some have sparkles, others have a magical glow (I swear, they glow even more when they are worn!) and they are just a concentrate of sheer Happiness!!!

"Carnaval bleu" listed in my Etsy shop - one of a kind

I have made a few bracelets mixing these beads with some other funky beads I had, I added a few ribbons and women around me have been unanimous : FA-BU-LOUS!!!! That's what I thought too : )

A beautiful mix of colors for my coming Fall 2009 collection...

If you ever go to Clermont-Ferrand, you can visit Aniline :
15 rue Terrasse
63000 Clermont-Ferrand (France)