My love for vintage jewelry

I always enjoy hunting for vintage findings, brooches, earrings and other jewelry parts to use in my one-of-a-kind necklaces. I have noticed that through the years, the use of existing jewelry in the making of my own jewelry has shaped my creative process. Instead of starting with a clear idea of what I want to do, I look for a piece of jewelry, a stone, a bead or a fabric swatch that will tickle my inspiration. I usually build a necklace around the jewelry piece that I feel inspired by. Sometimes that piece doesn’t even remain in the necklace : that’s ok. It doesn’t have to. It inspired me and maybe that was its only job.

I now buy a lot of vintage jewelry online because it’s easier. I can look for a specific color or shape I wish to use. I used to go to garage sales, flea markets and church sales hoping to find a nice piece of jewelry but I got lazy and now shop from the comfort of my home.

I have collected a nice selection of vintage findings. Some were given to me by generous people. Once, a lady who worked her whole life as a costume designer and had just retired came to my studio and dropped me tons of millinery flowers, vintage earrings, brooches and feathers. I made the Moulin rouge necklace, using a lot of the things she gave me :

Today I thought I would open some of my drawers to show you some of my vintage jewelry findings :

I have recently started to use vintage millinery flowers in my jewelry. I am fascinated by the details and the beauty of these flowers and they remind me of those movies I have seen of Coco Chanel making hats :

Those purple flowers you can see can also be found in the Ana necklace available on my website :

I use those gorgeous vintage flower branches in the Marika necklace :

These days I have been working on a new one-of-a-kind necklace, using a few different vintage findings, along with stones and silk.This necklace has given me a very hard time, made me doubt myself at times and required a lot of patience and stamina. But I think I have finally come to a design I love (I still need to give it a few finishing touches…) :

This little world of mine

When I was a child, a teenager and even a young adult, I was very concerned with getting people’s approval. I spent a lot of time trying to please people. I didn’t have much self confidence and worried people didn’t like me. I was a very anxious kid that often felt unworthy and “not enough”. I could barely spend time on my own : being alone felt painful and scary.

As a young adult, with time (and a lot of therapy) I gradually learned to know and love my true self. I learned to make the difference between what I wanted to do and what I was doing to get people to like me. And on that path, what really helped me heal my wounds and grow a sense of self is jewelry.

Sitting for long hours in my studio, making necklaces, playing with beads and fabrics slowly taught me to spend time on my own. It became fun. It felt good. I didn’t need to be with people all the time anymore. I wasn’t running away from solitude anymore : I was enjoying it. In fact, I often think that I still spend a lot of time alone because I have to make up for all the years I spent running away from myself.

Jewelry showed me intimacy. My studio became this little world of mine, this secret intimate universe where everything was possible. I learned that the journey was more important than the destination as I embraced the long hours it could take me to make a necklace.

Making jewelry taught me hard work and to take pride in what I do. I had never been fully dedicated to anything before. I began to look for inspiration everywhere around me. I would hunt beautiful color combinations and interesting material textures. I spent entire evenings embroidering beads and crystals to fabric to build a necklace, with  “Project Runway” playing on my computer, its young designers giving me a sense of community.

My first big fabric necklaces were kept secret for a while. I loved them so much : not only because of what they looked like but mostly because of the deep joy I felt when I was making them. For a while, they all hung on a coat rack in my studio, hidden under a big sheet. At first, I didn’t want to show them to anyone, not even my flatmate who was a close friend.

I had finally learned to respect myself, my process, my need for intimacy and secrets. I had found my voice, my passion and what would become my work. For the first time in my life I was dedicated to doing something that came from inside and not from an outside pressure or a desire to please.

And that is how making jewelry became a huge part of my life…

Bling it for the ball

Jessica reached out to me some time ago because she had to pick accessories for a Ball she was going to, in France (lucky her). She had chosen the beautiful Flora, a pair of one-of-a-kind vintage earrings and asked me if I could customize the Panaji bracelet and add more elegance to it.

I suggested to add a row of crystals to the bracelet. I was very happy with the result : the crystals make a beautiful addition to the bracelet. Here is the before and after of the Panaji bracelet :

It was just the right amount of bling to make the bracelet more elegant. Aside from the crystals, the Panaji bracelet is made of dark blue freshwater pearls, rhinestones, raw african metal beads, agate and glass. I like its combination of different shades of blue and textures.

I am always happy to customize my jewelry to make it fit your needs : get in touch if you have a project in mind so we can start brainstorming about it xx

How I learned to let my clients inspire my work

Years ago, before I began to make custom-made jewelry for clients, I thought it would be a very uncomfortable and boring thing to do. The idea of having to deal with someone else’s desires and ideas when I make jewelry horrified be : I would perceive it as pressure and dominance. I was very attached to the freedom I experienced in my studio.

My memory is not always reliable but I think the first client who ordered a custom design from me was Carrie. She had this gorgeous family quilt she wanted me to use, as well as some old Scottish medals. I could not say no to such an exciting challenge. And that is exactly what changed my perception of making custom-made jewelry : the challenge and the surprising excitement I felt for it.

What I thought would be uncomfortable pressure actually turned out to be inspiring and exciting constraint. I would have never thought of using a Scottish quilt for a necklace : but Carrie took me there. My work inspired her that idea. And her idea inspired my work. And that’s how I learned that the clients who come to me for a custom design stimulate my creativity and sometimes take me out of my comfort zone. Ever since, every time I get an email or a phone call for a custom design, I get very excited (and a little nervous because let’s face it, a challenge is always a little stressful).

I recently told you about Cateline and the Bagala necklace I made for her. Well in addition to the bagala necklace, she also asked me to design her a necklace inspired by the Kali but with pink, earthy tones, yellow and some neon. She liked the Cesaria necklace for its neon details and the Kali for its shape. She wanted something summery she could wear everyday so I began with showing her different stones, crystals, chains and beads I could use for her necklace.

When brainstorming with a client, I like to throw a selection of different materials on the table and get a feel of how the necklace would look. This is the palette we both liked :

And this is the necklace I made :

Sending a picture of my design to a client always makes me feel vulnerable and a little insecure so when Cateline told me she loved it, I was very happy.  I think I might design a necklace inspired by this one for my collection. I love its fresh colors and all the little details in there. Thank you Cateline for trusting me and allowing me to design this necklace for you 🙂

Have a great week-end xx

 

Making jewelry with braided cord

I changed my business model more then a year ago and I have been wanting to write down some kind of post mortem about it. Until I do that, I can already share with you that without having a store to manage, I obviously have way more time to try out new materials, techniques  and designs. And it is not only a matter of time itself but also of space in my mind to develop and try new things. When I had the store, my main focus was managing the business. Now I am way more focused on the jewelry making itself : I still have so much to learn and I am happy I have the time to do so.

Lately I have been making jewelry with thick braided cord. A lot of designers already use it and I have been inspired to try it myself. What I like about sewing materials directly on thick cord or fabric is that it becomes like a canvas on which you can put things exactly where you want.

The first necklace I made with cord is the Aya necklace, a new limited edition design that will be available on my new website (when my new website is ready, which should be soon) :

I spent hours embroidering chips, beads and swarovski crystals along the cord but it was definitely worth it. I also made the Olivia necklace, a one-of-a-kind piece made with vintage jewelry and freshwater pearls, this time using a black braided cord. All I have for now is a picture I took on instagram (but taking real pictures of it is definitely on my to do list) :

I am pretty happy with the result and can’t wait to design more necklaces around these gorgeous cotton braided cords.

On sunday, I went to the crafts store and got myself some fimo clay and glitter. I had way too much fun playing with fimo and will make sure I show you what I make out of it.

Have a great week xx

 

The making of a necklace

Oh hello, this is my come back on the blog ! I will be writing in english (and soon adding a french version to the blog) as I have more and more english-speaking followers. English is my second language so let me know if you spot any mistakes in my grammar or my spelling : I am always happy to get better at it.

I have thought a lot about what my come back blog post would be about and the answer came naturally earlier today as I was working on a necklace : my job (and my passion) is to design jewelry and accessories, especially necklaces : that’s what I had to talk about. So here I am, sharing with you some behind the scenes stuff about the making of a necklace.

I really love when clients ask me to make them a necklace from a previous collection. If I still have the required materials in inventory, I am always happy to do it. Sometimes, some beads will be missing and I will have to change them but I always find a way to respect the overall design.

When Cateline came to my studio, she had taken the time to browse through all my previous designs on Google image. When she asked me if I could make the Bagala marbré necklace again, I was really happy to hear it. It has been one of my favorite necklaces for a long time. I went through my beads and stones drawers (I will have to show you them one day, they are a well organized mess) to check if I had everything I needed and lucky us, I had almost everything I needed to make one more. I replaced some metal beads and one of the required fabrics and we were good to go.

Making the Bagala necklace is all about precision and detail. Each strand of stones has to be exactly the correct length for the necklace to fit perfectly. I always work with my old foam mannequin to adjust the lengths of a necklace strands. That old mannequin has been with me since 2007 and it has really been useful to get a 3D perception of my necklaces as I was making them.

The final touch : sewing my charlotte hosten tag to the necklace. My own way of “signing” the necklace.

The necklace is now ready to be picked up, patiently waiting to be worn.

Cateline also asked me to design another necklace, inspired by the Kali… but with different colors. I am also very excited about that project. I will make sure to share that with you when it’s done xx

*If you liked the Bagala necklace, make sure to drop by my etsy shop to discover similar statement necklaces.