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