Happy May Day!

Wishing everyone a very happy first day of May! I hope you will all find a basket of flowers on your doorstep. :)

Divine Imagery

Bonjour, mes amis! With all the difficulties I've been having with the new Blogger interface and the fact that my sidebar gadgets have shifted to the bottom of the page, I'm going to keep this post short and sweet. Here's what I've been up to in the studio this week. Please visit my Etsy shoppes, The French Circus, for these and other handmade pieces, and The Paris Carousel for vintage jewelry and supplies.


















I hope you all have a divine week! :)

Raspberry and Rhinestone

Before I begin talking about jewelry, I first wanted to apologize to any of you (most likely those with a PC) who cannot see my sidebar gadgets, i.e., my profile, Etsy shoppe link, followers, blog list, etc. One of my faithful readers called this to my attention the other day and I cannot for the life of me figure out how to fix it. Apparently this information all dropped town to the bottom of the page (isn't that convenient?)! I've tried searching for help on Blogger, but nothing I've tried has worked. If anybody has any suggestions for me out there in Blogland, I would be more than happy to hear your ideas. How's everyone liking the new interface, by the way? I, for one, have tried it and am sticking with the old format!

OK, now with the housekeeping out of the way, we can get on to the good stuff... jewelry! As promised, I've been working on pieces with a raspberry (pink, red, berry, garnet, ruby, etc.) and rhinestone (paste, bling, sparkle) theme.


This necklace was a custom order for my friend in Australia who sells beautiful headpieces at Velvet Teacup.

She asked me to use these pink vintage floral links she had seen on another necklace I made a few months ago, and wanted an Art Deco dress clip as the main pendant. I think it came out lovely and hope she will love it once it arrives in her mailbox on the other side of the world!

I lined the interior of this vintage locket, featuring a romantic fragonard scene of an 18th century couple with raspberry velvet and added an old cross.

I'm happy to report that this beauty got snatched up by one of my sweet regular customers in about 15 minutes!

Some shoulder-dusting earrings accented with pink tourmaline and garnet briolettes...

Finally, this piece features a relic pendant, created by another artisan who makes them out of Masonic medals and vintage watch cases. I added more red velvet and a rhinestone bird peeking through the glass window.

Vintage mother of pearl rosary beads and red glass (which I found on my trip to Paris last fall) complement the ornate detailing of the pendant.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a beautiful weekend! :)

Hot House Flowers

As a belated birthday treat, my family visited the Conservatory of Flowers in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park today.

The reason we waited over five weeks to celebrate my special day is that we were waiting for the rainy weather to clear up. After a warm, sunny day yesterday you can see our efforts were in vain since the city's fog was relentless today, casting a cold gloom over the park.

At least my family's spirits remained cheery.

Here is my mom, dad, sister and bro-in-law carrying little Tilly. (Can you see her in the pink outfit and tiny feet hanging below his sweatshirt?)

Once inside, the large white greenhouse is a warm, tropical paradise.

Pathways lead into bright rooms with high glass ceilings.

Statuary and hidden benches peek out among the exotic plants.

The warm, humid air mixed with the cold fog outside conspired to frizz my hair...

but I'll bet this guy always looks dashing.

Different varieties of orchids were a big hit, posing for their photo ops from tourists everywhere.

This pond of lillies reminded me of a miniature Monet's Giverny.

And how cute is this tiny pineapple?

Ah, back outside in the bitter chill...

This week I'll be working on a custom order for my friend in Australia, as well as some new gems featuring raspberry and rhinestones. Please stay tuned! :)