Summertime in Paris...

Well, well, well.... long time no see...

I must say this year has been pretty slow Olala-wise, I've had a lot of work to do and I had to put my jewelry-making aside... I miss it but at the same time, I had reached a point where I didn't really enjoy it anymore, I was getting nowhere and I was wondering if I was doing this for the pleasure or just because I had started something and I didn't want to quit... I didn't enjoy going to craft fairs anymore, I didn't enjoy spending hours on Etsy and seeing the same items over and over again, and I was getting overwhelmed with all the materials I had and all the ideas I had and all the stock I had and all the time and money I spent and... it was too much!

So, I'm taking a break... and instead of jewelry, I'll show you a few pictures from my summer vacation in Paris : )

               

                               I've always loved the flower shops in France...

                               ... and the colorful Chupa Chups!



I've discovered a fabulous design shop near Hôtel de Ville, it's called Fleux and they had these great pieces from an Italian design company, Miho - unexpected things. They are made of wood and they come in a flat sheet, the pieces are cut outs that you put together like a 3D puzzle.... I.L.O.V.E.

I had to bring back home 2 birdhouses and 1 deer head but now, I regret not buying more : (

                               Some funky plates at Fleux



                               A Maillol statue in les Tuileries....

                               Macarons....

                               .... and macarons again!

PS : You might have noticed - I love my Vintique Iphone app ; )

Hibernation...

I wish...

The art of wrapping...

anthropologie.com

I don't know about you but for me, wrapping a present is a special moment and I always enjoy being creative.... So here is some inspiration if you are getting short of ideas!

With yarn :
MarthaStewart.com

With a branch :
Gennine's Art Blog

With lots of ribbons :
Marie-Claire Idées

Joyeux Noël!

It's that time again!?!

Anthropologie Christmas ornaments

Wow, I told you it was going to be fast... and here we are, Christmas is just a few weeks away and the "Christmas spirit" is everywhere!

I thought it would be fun to do a little game like last year so... my "Advent Calendar Sale" is on again! The rule is simple : every day, I will post on my Facebook page one item from my shop that will be 15% off for one day only... and this, until December 24th!

Let's play : )

Quick, it's almost over!

How gorgeous it is to walk back from school with my kids on a sunny day and look at these autumnal colors! Of course, they are more into playing in the dead leaves and picking up branches to make "swords" and "lightsabers" but well... that's another way to enjoy Fall ; )

Inspired by the beauty around me : "L comme Libellule" earrings featuring golden copper Swarovski crystal dragonfly wings and golden chains...With their iridescent finish and asymmetrical facets, these crystal wings reflect the light in a beautiful golden rainbow of sparkles. They are absolutely stunning in real life : )

And here is a little something I am completely smitten with : my "Cubes" pendant necklace... This necklace features a gorgeous 20mm Klimt style Venetian cube with an opaque red base and a layer of 24kt gold foil. Pressed onto the bead, a mosaic of millefiori glass creates texture and an abstract pattern. This technique makes every bead absolutely unique in color and shape! I.LOVE.IT.

October

September went by without notice...

Suddenly, the days are getting shorter and leaves are turning yellow, sweaters and scarves are out, and it's time for pumpkin pies! I love Fall!

Here's to celebrate Fall : "Petite Noisette" (little hazelnut) bracelet and earrings mixing picasso jasper stones with tiger ebony wood, fireopal Swarovski crystals and copper.

And my "Couleurs d'automne" (autumn colors) necklace, also with picasso jasper, tiger ebony wood, fireopal Swarovski crystals and copper.

Happy Fall : )

Blanc d'ivoire

Something I have had in mind for a while was to make a version of my "Macadam" necklace all in white... First, because I love all-white accessories, especially in summer, and second, because I fell in love with these off-white wool felt balls : )

Now, the question was to find what combination of white beads could work with my off-white felt balls... I thought about it, looked around, tried a few combinations and finally decided to work with... porcelain!


So, let me introduce you to my "Blanc d'ivoire" collection : wool felt balls, porcelain and magnesite beads for the necklace and wool felt balls, magnesite and sterling silver for the earrings... I am thinking of making a matching bracelet but I am concerned the white wool felt balls might get dirty if worn on the wrist...


(that's me modelling my "Blanc d'ivoire" necklace and showing off my super cool All Saints Spitafields bleached zebra shirt! Note to myself : next time, wear a touch of make-up before taking pictures...)

Feria

"Feria", Japanese raw silk carnation brooches

It all started last year with a collection of colorful Japanese raw silk ribbons... then I had the idea of making pompons and sew them on a pin to make brooches.... then it literally took me a year to put my idea into practice... and then, my pompons looked like carnations! So I started having fun with the colors and bought more ribbons....


And, as my colorful collection of carnation brooches was getting bigger, it made me think of a name : "feria"... because carnations remind me of the South of France, the cities of Nîmes or Arles, where ladies would wear red carnations in their hair, where people would throw carnations into the arena during bullfights...


And the man who used carnations as his signature was Christian Lacroix, one of my favorite French designers (we're talking Haute Couture here... ) who was actually born in Arles and who used his "provençal" roots as an inspiration. His creations were always bold, bright, theatrical, feminine, adorned with flowers (lots of them!) and gold embroidery...

just like this :


and this :


and, at the end of a "défilé", the audience would applaude and throw red carnations on the catwalk... of course : )

Il m'aime un peu, beaucoup....

If there's a flower that really epitomizes summer for me, it's the daisy or la marguerite as we say in French....

This white and yellow flower is like a drop of sunshine in the garden, bright, warm, happy... and romantic : "il m'aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie... pas du tout!" (Yes, in French, it's a bit more complex than the English "he loves me, he loves me not"...)

So, here's to my favorite summer flower :

"Marguerite" , earrings composed of mother of pearl, copper, teal blue Czech glass and topaz Swarovski crystals


PS : he loves me, of course!....

Voilà l'été!

Ok, ok, it finally did stop raining a couple of weeks ago - actually, just on the Spring Fab Fair weekend and consequently, all of Vancouver was on the beach, not at the Fab Fair!... and then, things went fast : end of the school year, school fair, school shows, gifts for the teachers and suddenly, that was it, the summer holidays!!!

So, it's official, summer is here... kind of... still not that warm and sunny in Vancouver... but it's ok, at least it stopped raining!


But, just in case, I thought that it would be nice to add a bit of sunshine to our uncertain summer, so here's my contribution : "Au soleil", a bracelet composed of 20mm magnesite oval beads (sometimes known as “white turquoise”), light topaz Swarovski crystals and red branch coral nuggets. The sun rays come from a precious 15mm golden bead made of Venetian glass. This style of Venetian glass is called “Klimt” and you can see here a few pieces I had already done with these wonderful beads.

And this is the matching necklace, "Renaissance", with a lovely red cinnabar carved cherry blossom blooming among the white magnesite...

Now, put your sunglasses and your flip-flops on and enjoy the sun : )

Rain, rain, rain ...

This is the worst Spring ever!!! It's cold, and it rains and it rains and it rains... and when I talk on the phone to my family in France, they tell me it's 27 degrees there and they are too hot!?!

What's wrong??? Yes, I know, there's a scientific explanation called La Nina but I don't care, I want some sun and enough heat to take my winter jacket off!

"Deluge" by Golly Bard

At least, all this rain gives us our beautiful rainforest which inspired me to work with moss agate and tiger ebony wood and create this set called "Mousse" :


"Mousse" (moss) necklace and bracelet - moss agate squares, tiger ebony wood, Swarovski crystals and "Tout simplement" earrings - tiger ebony flat circles, AB Swarovski crystals

Mother's Day : )

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there! I hope you had a nice day : )

Mine was filled with hugs and kisses, good food and flowers, friends and family... and a little "surprise" that I got for myself and wrapped up nicely... just in case ; )

PS : this adorable gift box comes from my favorite stationary shop in Vancouver, Paper-Ya, on Granville Island. Definitely a place to check out if you visit our beautiful city!

Spring cleaning and Tea Party...

Clothespins by Quotes & Notes

I am happy to announce that I am finally done with my classes, exams and marking! Yesssss : )

Now it's time to do a bit of Spring cleaning (actually, "a lot" would be more appropriate...) hoping that Spring will eventually come to our part of the globe as we've been under grey and rainy skies for weeks now while I heard that Europe is enjoying sunny days and temperatures over 20 degrees : (

This time of the year is also when I usually throw my "Olala Tea and Jewelry Party" at my house, a little private gathering with friends, friends of friends, daughters of friends and occasionally, mothers of friends (but very rarely husbands of friends as they tend to avoid these kinds of parties...) to celebrate Mother's Day and the arrival of Spring.

As a gift for those of you who won't be with us, I am offering FREE shipping worldwide in my shop until May 8th for orders over $40, and I have put a few items on sale in order to do a bit of "Spring cleaning".... Enjoy : )

"Napolitain" , a necklace composed of delicious multicolor quartz nuggets, a golden Venetian bead, purple lepidolite round beads and lilac Swarovski crystals.

Pompon-mania!

I've always liked things that dangle and move with the wind, like kites with long tails, wind chimes, flags, banners, lanterns... I've always liked long earrings too, and scarves, and fringes and tassels (or pompons as we call them in French..) that seem to dance with your every step...

So you can imagine how happy I was when, one day, a friend of mine gave me a bag full of colorful tassels he had brought back from Morrocco for me! A bag full of pompons... How exciting! So I put a little pompon here, a little pompon there... and then, I forgot about my bag of pompons...

...until I started making these new pieces with turquoise and branch coral and a Japanese tensha bead with pink cherry blossoms... suddenly, I remembered my pompons and it was obvious that I needed to add pompons to my "Folklore" collection! Aren't these pretty?

Mmmm, I can predict more pompons to come in the near future......

And just because, I'll leave you with this gorgeous picture of a Odd Molly shirt from the new Spring/Summer collection... Oh, how much I love this Swedish brand, where every piece of clothing is embroidered, crocheted, adorned with fringes and tassels and ribbons and lace and.... I love it : )