Pop up store

Hello folks, I'm happy to announce that I will be part of a Pop-Up store over at the 15th arrondissement tomorrow, the 26th of June.  Its my first time in this location and I hope to meet lots of jewelry loving people!

Here's a sneak peek of some of the lovely pieces I'm bringing...

Here are the details:

Pop-up Store/Boutique Ephemere

17 rue de l'almiral roussin 

75015

Paris

Metro: Cambronne, Emile Zola, Commerce

Nomad's Market report

The day before Nomad's Market, I was feeling apprehensive and worried. The weather did not look promising--all gray sullen skies with a cold wind. How on earth were we going to do for Sunday?

Fortune smiled on us because Sunday dawned clear and sunny. Nothing but blue skies and a brisk wind. I breathed a sigh of relief. Just look how beautiful it was, with the Notre Dame just in front of us.

Peniche Henjo

Peniche Henjo was surprisingly large inside with room for us and the different people who stopped by.  I even lucked out on my spot which was just in front of the entrance.

Setting up a stand is an art of itself and requires lots of planning and thought, something I didn't necessarily know in the beginning. You have to have a large enough selection to give people lots of choices, but not so much that the stand looks crowded and busy.  Here's how mine looked that day. 

A selection of some of my new bracelets--millefiori from the end of the 19th, beginning of the 20th mixed with some vintage french glass

 A close-up look of my sautoirs. Remember this frame? One of the frames I found in the brocantes last year.

And here's a peek out of my window. It was pretty impressive to see the boats passing by and the Seine was pretty busy that day with the cruise boats and private boats like this one..

Of course I couldn't resist checking out other people's wares and there was certainly a good and more importantly varied selection.  I loved this one....a product after my own heart. The artist, seated on the left, works with recovered materials from industrial sites and reworks them into contemporary light fixtures and lamps. Aren't they cool? I bet he spends as much time in brocantes as I do. Luckily we're after different things!

After some time, the jazz band set up and it was real party atmosphere.

There was also a stand on artisanal hand made Moroccan oils and beauty products.  I passed by and it smelled divine!

Cute baby things that I could barely walk away from...

and colorful printed slip on socks and shawls.

Nice change from boring old beige ones you stick under your ballet flats right? These ones are pretty enough to wear with sandals.

And finally, some pretty handmade bookmarks.

A lovely group of people if I do say so myself. I'm sure we made lots of people happy that day! Looking forward to the next edition!

A sort of Demi Parure

As I work with vintage beads that I source through the different flea markets around Paris, I don't often have enough beads to make more than one piece.  On one hand, this makes each piece special as it is only one but on the other, it frustrates me no end when the beads are especially nice as  I cannot make a bracelet or a pair of earrings to go with the necklace. Case in point is this set that I've just finished.

It all started with some beautiful peach colored faceted glass beads that I found at a small brocante not far from where we live. Actually, it was more like a vide grenier (or garage sale) than brocante as most of the stands were manned by people who just wanted to  be rid of their old things.  I was about to go home when I noticed this lady carefully wrapping up her things. Amongst her old china and dusty records were a pile of jewelry including some loose beads. When I asked about them, she was pretty dismissive, saying they were glass beads from the 50s that belonged to her mother. It had been a necklace but somewhere along the way, it broke and so that was the end of the necklace.  She seemed pretty surprised when I said I would take them.  I came home and washed them and they came out luminous and pretty. I was pleased as punch.

Much later I found some old Murano beads, the kind with gold foil inside. The only problem was there were only three.  Hmmm...I bought them nonetheless because I can't resist Murano beads. It was only when I put the two sets together that I realized that they went quite well together.  Eh voila, a necklace was born!

Why then am I calling this post Demi Parure? A demi-parure is a matching set of jewelry, often a necklace and a pair of earrings.  And while with this set, I don't strictly have a demi-parure, these earrings I've just made seem to go quite perfectly with the necklace!   This set will soon be added in the store!

And now for some other news, I've just managed to add to my sidebar, the link to my online store! Hooray! It took some doing but finally its up!!  The site is in French, so for any who are interested in any of the items but can't figure out how it works, don't hesitate to write me!