Market Fruits

Bonjour, mes amis! I hope everyone has enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day weekend! I attended my favourite monthly flea market, and wanted to share the 'fruits of my labor' with you. (Please excuse the bad pun.)


I just love the brass heart locket in the photo above!

And I got lots of supplies for making earrings!


How sweet is this hand-painted brooch from England?


And check out this cool brass watch chain!




I've already been busy in the studio dreaming up assemblage ideas with these pieces and new items will be listed on The French Circus in a few days. Until then, have a lovely week! :)

Spring Cleaning

I took a day off last week from my usual jewelry endeavors to do a bit of spring cleaning. Every so often (especially as the weather warms and brightens) I feel the need to freshen my home, change some things around, and just generally re-group. The Goodwill is in for a very nice donation since I cleared out a lot of clothes from my closet that I no longer want to wear, and I also organized my shipping supplies to make for more efficient package delivery!


Finally back in the studio with a clean house and conscience, I created some new spring-like designs coming to The French Circus tonight.




Flowers and butterflies signify the promise of a new season...





as do light, bright colours like kelly green, candy apple red, aqua and citrine.








I also managed to do a fair share of flea marketing yesterday, in gorgeous 71 degree weather! Yes, I know we are really spoiled in the bay area. In fact, yesterday's show broke the venue's all-time record with over 13,000 shoppers! (Don't ask about the traffic driving home, though.)

So, here's a preview of what I'll be listing in The Paris Carousel over the next week...





See anything that inspires you to welcome spring?

Abundance

Bonjour, mes amis et heureux anee nouveau! (I'm not sure if that's grammatically correct in French, but you get the idea.)

My 2012 is off to a bang, with a large wholesale order and a gorgeous day spent at the flea market yesterday. As you will see from these photos, there was not a cloud in the northern California January sky, and a balmy 68 degrees.


It got me to thinking how lucky we are to live in among such abundance.


There is beauty all around if we just take a moment to notice and appreciate it. Whether in the form of grandma's fine silver...


or a tattered old prop once used for function,


why not be grateful for all that we have?




Perhaps I'm most grateful this week for this really beautiful antique brooch I got. I'm a nut for all things Marie Antoinette and this lovely piece is actually painted on ivory behind glass. It doesn't get much better than this!


Here are some other things I've made in the studio this week. Most of these have gone to the local retail market, but please keep checking my Etsy shoppe regularly since I will continue listing new items there as well. :)













What plans do you have for 2012? I'd love to hear about them! Thank you for stopping by! :)

Garden Antiques

With summer in full swing, I was recently inspired to snap photos of some pretty garden-style displays at our local flea market. Whether you're an avid gardener or - like me - someone who just enjoys a seasonal prop or two indoors, I hope you'll find something here that makes you smile.

Before getting started, I just wanted to apologize for not responding to those of you who have been leaving such sweet comments. For some reason, I have not been able to leave comments on my own blog the past few weeks! Blogger doesn't seem to recognize my user name and takes me into an endless loop of trying to re-identify myself. Has anyone else ever had this challenge and do you know how to resolve it?








Not exactly for the garden, but how delicious is this pile of old linens? Juxtaposed with the ornate painting and chair, it is perfect faded grandeur.



Here's a snapshot of the canvas tote my good friend Carole gave me a while back. It has lots of room to pack my lunch and treasures I find along the way.


Luscious hotel silver and seashells glisten in the summer sunshine.



Other than flea marketing during my vacation week, I've been soaking up art inspiration and working busily in my studio creating jewelry. I'll show you what I've been up to next time! Thank you for stopping by. :)