I'm back!

Wow, I'm exhausted!!! I haven't done anything for the last 2 weeks apart from watching TV, cheering for short-track speed skaters and hockey players, crying on my sofa watching the figure skating (Gosh, that Swiss guy skating on Jacques Brel's "Ne me quitte pas" almost made me sob!!!) and faithfully counting every day the number of medals Canada had won (yes, I also checked the results for the French team...).

I'm glad this is over so we can go back to our daily lives because I was getting headaches and watery eyes...


In the mist of the Olympic frenzy, I still managed to do a few things for Olala, the most important one being to figure out whether or not I should order another 200 Olala engraved charms... Yes, I had already run out of the first 200 charms I had ordered last year and it made me realize how many necklaces and bracelets I had actually made in 12 months! Did it make sense to order another 200???

Well, I guess it did because I did place the order and I am now committed to make another 200 necklaces and bracelets...

Here are my little silver and brass charms with a few handmade tags that I use to put earrings on or to write the composition of my necklaces and bracelets before shipping.

One of my latest creations : "Guirlande d'azur", a necklace composed of lovely honey jade flowers, topaz Swarovski crystals and dreamy larimar blue crazy lace agate.

This asymmetrical design is one of my favorites and I have already made a few versions of this necklace : with ebony wood, bayong wood or sponge coral...

The bracelet version of "Guirlande d'azur"...

With love...

While I am getting ready to spend my Saturday afternoon with a bunch of 9-year-old boys who are going to chase each other in the dark with laser guns (that's called "laser tag" and it's apparently really cool...!?) for my older son's birthday, my head is full of red hearts and flowers as everybody on Etsy is thinking about Valentine's Day...

Red is one of my favorite colors! I love red because it's warm, it's bright and cheerful, full of life and possibilities... it's also very elegant, powerful, sexy, mysterious... Rouge... Oh, I love it!!! It's definitely a color that inspires me...

So, for now, here's a sample of my cute-bright-and-cheerful collection of jewelry for little girls *Mini Olala* and I'll show you later the feminine-elegant-mysterious part of my collection for women...


"Bouquet de coquelicots", a necklace with red felt flowers, lovely glass beads and green frosted Czech glass beads


"Bouquet de douceur", a necklace with ivory cream felt flowers, mother of pearl beads and cherry red frosted Czech glass beads


And something new in the shop, some earrings called "Petites fleurs" with cute cherry red enamel daisy charms on Bali silver earstuds... I am personnally really fond of these : )

You'll find my Mini Olala shop there : www.MiniOlala.etsy.com

Behind the scene

The problem when you have a shop on Etsy is that you have to be good at multitasking (is that a word???). First, there is your handmade product of course but then, you have to take beautiful pictures that can attract potential buyers and, considering that there are thousands of sellers who make jewelry on Etsy, it is not an easy thing to be noticed...

What I find difficult when I photograph my jewelry is that I want to show the details and textures of the materials I used, try to capture the actual colors and also give an idea of the product when it is worn... I usually ask my friend Anne to model for me (she has a beautiful long neck that is perfect for modelling necklaces!) but lately, it has been impossible for us to organize a photo session so I have been compelled to model my necklaces myself... which is not an easy task when you are also the photographer!!!

So, the other day, I asked my 8-year-old son to help me.... and I absolutely love this picture he took of me - even though this is not the one I eventually used in my listing. I love it because I like the colors of the picture but also, the angle is sooo cute : you can definitely see that he is smaller than me : )

Première (Opening night) necklace - carved white cinnabar flower, onyx, coral, Japanese tensha beads

This necklace is part of my "Opera collection" because it measures 26.5 inches and this length for a necklace is called "opera". I like the fact that this necklace can easily and elegantly transform from day to evening wear...

Jars of Cute

Look what I've found on the internet : a design blog called "Jars of Cute" that featured my Carmen and Madama Butterfly necklaces in January under the title "sexy necklaces".... oh, I'm soooo flattered!!!

http://www.jarsofcute.com/

Madama Butterfly was also featured in March in Lillyella's blog in the category "Sunday splurges". Lillyella is a successful Etsy seller who makes lovely jewelry. Her blog is in my favorites, check it out at the bottom of the page.

I knew it!

I knew it! I told you Betsy3's Treasury was worth being on the Front Page and sure enough, "Primavera" was proudly showing its lovely colors this afternoon on Etsy's Front Page! Thank you Betsy and Etsy : )

Now, here is my latest list : it's called "Naturally" and I'm pretty happy with it...

Here's also a sneak peak of a necklace I'll be listing this weekend. I've named it "Ma douce" because it has very soft colors. This gorgeous button comes from France, it was part of another "treasury" : one that I received through the mail and that had been curated by my aunt who lives in Paris... She had gone shopping for me in a few of these wonderful craft shops where I would spend all my savings - if I had any!