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 : )

Bloom?

Spring is coming.... finally!

The last few weeks of winter have been depressing and tiring, full of rainy days and kids being sick.... But now it's time to think of the new season, sunny days, fresh and happy colors!

I must say that I needed a bit of a kick in the butt to get my creativity going as I had been quite uninspired since January... The fact that I didn't have any sales on my Etsy site in February obviously did not give me a boost but I guess it was partly my fault as I didn't feel like playing the game of the daily listings and frequent Treasury-making anymore...

Anyway, it's always good to take a little break when things get too tedious and repetitive... and, in my case, it looks like it was beneficial as I've been super inspired and productive since last week : )


Oh, and by the way, the "kick is the butt" was the Bloom Art, Craft and Design Market where I'll be on Sunday, March 20th... right on time for Spring!

Coeurs de fleur...

There's something I have been wanting to do for a while : a year and a half ago, at the Fab Fair, I had bought some pretty ceramic buttons handmade by a local artist, Eikcam, who became a good friend of mine soon afterwards...

At first, I thought I would use these flower buttons for necklaces but there was also the option of using them for brooches...

A year and a half later, I finally took my sewing kit out... and I am really happy to introduce my new "Coeurs de fleur" brooches : )



The idea here was to keep the design simple to emphasize the details of the buttons.

I chose to use two layers of felt of the same color to make a flower around the "flower heart" but, as I love to play with colors, I decided to introduce bright colored embroidery threads to sew the button to the felt flower... and then, I let the threads loose to give a poetic touch to the composition : )

Et voilà!

Bientôt l'été!

I almost fell off my chair this morning when I saw the date on my computer : June 1st... June 1st?... It means that the Spring Fab Fair is at the end of this week, summer is just to follow (we NEED sunshine here... badly!) and school is going to be finished soon... so the kids are going to be on holidays... so it's going to be chaos here every day...

After a few minutes of total panic and a cup of strong tea, I decided that everything was fine and I "regrouped " (as hockey players say on TV... yes, I am becoming more and more Canadian!) while taking a few pictures of my newest creations, some long and funky necklaces called "Guirlandes estivales" (summer garlands).



I must say that I am really excited to present these necklaces at the Fair this weekend because I think that they absolutely ROCK! I love the cheerfulness of the bright jade flowers, the warmth of the wood beads, the elegance of the Swarovski crystals, the softness of the silk string around the neck and the whimsicality of the little charms : )



And if I don't sell them this weekend, it's ok, I'll wear them all at the same time this summer and I'll look super cool : )

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!).

The Liberty Revival

Something else that I found shopping around and reading fashion magazines during my holidays in France was that, this Spring, there was a real Liberty Revival in Europe!... to be more precise, when I say "Liberty", I am not talking about "Freedom" but about the classic "Liberty of London Cotton Lawns" fabrics that usually feature multitudes of little flowers and that are an old-time favorite for mums and grandmas when sewing pretty dresses to their well-mannered daughters and grand-daughters ... (I'm sure I have a picture of myself somewhere wearing a Liberty dress when I was 6 or 7 years old!)

Shopping for supplies at Aniline, I couldn't leave the shop without a few meters of Liberty ribbons, they were so fresh and colorful... I still haven't decided what I am going to do with my ribbons but so far, I can tell you that there will be some Liberty bows in my Olala design Fall 2009 collection : )

Mmm, can't wait for the Fall!...

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/

Flowers and Butterflies

My husband makes fun of me : "Let's see your blog! Is there something new?"... and of course, he knows I haven't really posted anything yet : (

I'm actually a little bit intimidated - what should I write about?

Mmmm.... what about posting a nice picture of a bouquet I made the other day to celebrate Spring? I like this picture because I love flowers, I love bright colors and also, I love these paper butterflies I made a few months ago with pretty papers!

Flowers, colors, butterflies, paper : the core inspiration for *olala* design...