Spice Market

Already the end of October... The kids are decorating the house for Halloween tomorrow and I am preparing for Portobello West Market that will also be tomorrow... Yes, it sucks, I'll have to pack up and rush back home at the end of the day to be there for "trick or treat"... Can't miss that!

Here's a little sneak peek at what I'll be having on my table at the Market : some new "One thousand and One Nights" necklaces and earrings in spicy colors : paprika, saffron, cinnamon, curry and thyme...


"Mille et une nuits" necklaces and earrings - Swarovski crystal baroque pendants, Moroccan silk beads in paprika, saffron, cinnamon, curry and thyme

Eikcam

Last weekend was super busy, there was the Greek Festival on Sunday (10 hours of selling my stuff on the street, no thank you, I don't think I will ever do it again!) and the "Studio warming" of my friend Grace, aka Eikcam, on Saturday. Grace's work is so beautiful and colorful that it makes her white studio look like the coziest place in town!

Grace and me, wearing my freshly acquired "Baroque" pendant by Eikcam : )

I'm busy!

Two big shows in the same month is a lot of work! I didn't realize that when I said "yes!" to the Greek Festival that is taking place this Sunday (June 27th) in Vancouver, hardly 3 weeks after the two-day Fab Fair... I'm a bit freaked out because the organizers of the Festival are expecting 90,000 visitors during the day!!! Is it possible? That sounds like a lot... I will never have enough jewelry, I should make moooooore..... Au secours!!!

Greek Day, Sunday June 27th, West Broadway Street (@McDonald) in Vancouver, from 11.00am to 9.00pm.

Olympic fever!

Ok, I'm one year older and I'm fine with it! I had a nice birthday week and some lovely girlfriends who spoiled me (yes, the spoiling part is always coming from my friends, not my sons and my husband...) and I really enjoyed the fact that I am on holidays : )

Unfortunately, all my fabulous plans of making some new jewelry, repainting my bathroom and purging the main floor closet that scares me each time I open it (!) kind of fell apart as we all caught the Olympic fever! Yes, Vancouver is hosting the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and I must say that the vibe in the city is amazing! I have never seen so many cheerful people in Vancouver and I love the fact that there are so many signs of culture all over the place.

So here are a few pictures from my personal Olympic Games album :

The Olympic Cauldron is lightening up the bay and the mountains... unfortunately, we can only see it behind fences...

The boys and I in front of the fence in front of the Cauldron...

A giant Canadian flag on Georgia street... Go Canada!



My son trying to build a inukshuk at the Northern House...

This is my all-time favorite : the Vancouver Art Gallery is hosting the BC Pavilion and has been beautifully "dressed" by Michael Lin...

A lot of fun on Robson Square with an outdoors ice rink and a ziptrek! Of course, my son wanted to try to zip above the street but the line-up was huuuuuge... Anyway, I'm not sure I would have let him go!

The weather has been wonderful so far and we went to Granville Island the other day where we enjoyed the smell of melted cheese and the nice "view" of the Alps in front of the House of Switzerland.

One more week to go... Yippee!!!

Early Spring?

Isn't it ironic? We are just 6 days away from the Opening Ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the olympic torch is getting closer and closer to my house (coming by on Thursday at noon... the kids are excited!), the city center is buzzing with tourists, journalists and policemen (lots of them!), I am receiving emails from my friends in France telling me that they are stuck in the snow and I say : snow? what snow???

Yes, here in Vancouver, it's SPRING!


As you can see, the lilac tree in front of my house is already budding... The weather and temperature have been really mild lately and we haven't seen any snowflakes since December : ) What sucks for the Vancouver Olympic Committee is actually great for me as I hate snow and I am always much happier when I have flowers around me...

So here's a new version of my "Papillon" bracelets to celebrate an early Spring : this one features a purple felt butterfly with a pink and copper lampwork glass bead, purple crazy lace agate coin beads mounted on an elastic and finished with a burgundy picot satin ribbon.

And here's a nice bouquet of felt flower brooches that I bought from one of my favorite Etsy sellers : Vaivanat. I absolutely adore these flower brooches and I could have them in all the colors of the rainbow! I actually bought another two but I intend to give them as presents to some of my friends so I don't want to show them here ; )

Vaiva is from Lithuania and she is the sweetest Etsy seller I have "met" so far.... You can visit her shop at : www.vaivanat.etsy.com

(but be careful, these flower brooches are addictive!).

Festival of Lights

I remember that the first year I spent Christmas in Canada, I was amazed at discovering how much people loved to decorate their houses and front yards with Christmas lights! Entire houses shining with hundreds of lights, front yards visited by inflatable Santas and flashing reindeers... Even if it's not always of the best taste, it is fun and quite magical!

In Vancouver, every year for Christmas, the beautiful Van Dusen botanical garden transforms into a world of sugar plum fairies and ginger bread men during the "Festival of Lights" :


Blue trees and pink flowers in the middle of winter...

One of the many magical sights at the "Festival of Lights"...

After some hot chocolate and a bag of sweet and salty popcorn (it's good, I tried!), my two "angels" were becoming quite silly...

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 : )

Eclektica : art for everyone

I mentioned in a previous post that I met two special ladies at the Spring Fab Fair : one was Grace/Eikcam and the other one was... Kim.

Kim is the owner of Eclektica, an art gallery located in a small terracotta-faced heritage building on Seymour Street, in downtown Vancouver. In this unique and friendly store, you can find an eclectic collection of paintings, prints, ceramics and jewellery by local artists and designers.

And guess what?... Kim has asked me to carry some of my creations in her gallery : )

So, I am really proud to announce that Olala design is now sold at Eclektica!


Here's Kim wearing my Madama Butterfly necklace

Some of Olala creations sold at Eclektica

http://www.eclektica.ca/

568 Seymour Street, Vancouver, B.C.

778 330 6610

So...? How was the Fab Fair?... How did it go?...

I received a few emails from my friends last Monday : "So...? How was the Fab Fair?... How did it go?..."

Well...

Quite frankly, it wasn't as good as in November : it was probably due to the hot weather we had had all week, and certainly because we are all being very careful with our money lately but there were not a lot of people, and not too many sales...

There were a few moments when it was actually quite boring so I was really happy to chit-chat with my fellow vendors like Josee Glass Art who is from Montreal but lives in Maple Ridge, B.C...

I also had the time to sew three brooches that I'm very happy with : )

They are composed of 3 layers of felt leaves which all have different shapes and colors, and gorgeous poppy buttons that come from France... Aren't they amazing?

Of course, I had a few friends who came to support me, help me, and feed me (!) and I love them all because they are so nice and supportive (thanks guys!).

I had also two encounters which definitely made this weekend very special but wait, these two ladies deserve a full post each...

Preparing for the Spring Fab Fair

I am pretty excited to announce that *Olala* design will be back at the Fab Fair for the Spring Show on June 6th and 7th in the Heritage Hall on Main Street in Vancouver.

I participated in the Winter Fab Fair last November and I really enjoyed the experience : the Fab Fair is a pretty hip and cool craft fair gathering local jewelry and fashion accessory designers... that's why it's also called "the Bags & Bling Show"!

Imagine, a room full of jewelry and accessory!!!! Mmmmmmm.....

http://www.fabfair.ca/

Rockin' at the Children's Festival

Vancouver is a really nice city for kids, there's always a place to discover, a show to see, a class to take... and every year, there's the Children's Festival! The Festival is a week of fun and activities in Vanier Park, in beautiful Kitsilano. There are lots of artists coming from different parts of the world to sing, play or dance in front of cheerful audiences aged 3 and up...

http://www.childrensfestival.ca/

This year, we went on Thursday which was a Francophone Day (with francophone shows from France and Quebec). My little guy and his cousin had a blast making drums out of aluminium plates and cardboard, having their face painted and taking a lesson of African "flee dance" in the storytelling tent...

So lovely...

Yesterday, it was sunny in Vancouver. I met for brunch with a friend I had not seen in a long time; she took me to an art gallery that serves brunch on the weekends... it was lovely!http://www.autumnbrook.ca/

As this gallery is just a few steps away from my favorite place in Vancouver, Granville Island, I went there to buy some fish at the market, look at the flower displays, enjoy a short stroll along the water, the artisans'studios and the charming shops... it's always so inspiring! http://www.granvilleisland.com/