Hilde and Kimberly

Goodness, I had forgotten to report on the Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair at the end of November... It was my first time at this craft fair in the Dunbar neighbourhood and I had a fabulous time making new friends and meeting new customers. I even found myself a pair of fingerless gloves to take home at the end!

I had prepared a pair of black onyx earrings, named Hilde, for the craft fair's own draw, while I held one of my own as usual. The winner of the $25 gift card is Kimberly Baker!

Here is a snapshot of a small section of my table that day:

And here are the Hilde earrings:

Stormy blues

I hope everyone is staying warm and toasty over the holidays! I am taking advantage of the time at home to prep photos for the next batch of jewellery. Below is a look at the custom Yany necklace I made not long ago - the stones are pyrite, grey moonstone, aquamarine, and a large labradorite:

Craft shopping for the holidays

It's almost time! The Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair is almost here! The prep work is almost done and I only need to wash the tablecloth tomorrow night and check things over one more time. I'll be heading over to Dunbar Community Centre at Dunbar Street and West 32nd Avenue early on Saturday morning to set up and come 10:00am, the fair will officially begin!

Here is the event poster:

Save the date!

I'm back from Italy and the next while will involve adding new items to the shop and preparing for an event at the end of November... It's the much anticipated Dunbar Holiday Craft Fair and there will be 140 artisans in various categories like wood and metal, clay, glass, paper and canvas, and of course jewellery! Mark November 30th down on your calendar so you don't forget!

Italian escapade

I'm leaving for Italy in two days, which means I won't be able to ship any orders until my return. However, I have some specials for anyone who is willing to wait for their items. Just pick the code that fits your order best:

2013ROME5
5% off all orders, no minimum purchase

2013MILAN10
10% off orders over $50

2013FLORENCE15
15% off orders over $75

2013VENICE20
20% off orders over $100

The codes expire October 10th and all orders will be shipped by the 12th. Enjoy!

Mamma Mia!

The Mia earrings are really something to behold. The juicy red rubies are faceted into onion shapes, and paired with brilliant orange citrines, deep red garnet, bright red spinel, and brassy pyrite. The combination oozes sophistication, doesn't it?

Hello yellow!

I've been thinking of this lemon quartz teardrop combination for a while and can't decide whether to go with it or not. I have a necklace in mind and the design would be simple in order to show off the giant stone.

Summer deal

Until the end of August, enjoy free shipping on orders over $50! You can use this on a single item or combine several to hit the threshhold. You can also place as many orders as you want and there are no restrictions on delivery locations.

The code is 2013SUMMERFREESHIP50 and it expires on August 31st. Check out the shop now!

A beauty like no other

The Hedy earrings are new to the shop at aileen.etsy.com and eagle eyes will recognize these as the style I wore at the Salmon Festival Craft Fair where it received many compliments. I do enjoy wearing my own pieces, but always change the hooks so that customers will always get unworn hooks. In fact, I wore this style with leverbacks just in case the earrings had a mind of their own - I have never dropped or lost an earring, but the peace of mind can't be beat!

Canada Day round up

The Salmon Festival Craft Fair has come and gone and it couldn't have happened on a more beautiful day! The sun was scorching, but luckily the craft fair was in an air conditioned gymnasium! My table was next to a vendor named Gordana so of course I had to show her the Gordana earrings from my shop!

Over the day, I sold many pieces including the Ashara and Clementine necklaces as well as the not-yet-in-the-shop Patty earrings. And as always, there was a draw box for a $25 gift card and this year's winner is named Heather. I even remember her because I showed her the Heather lariat. Congrats Heather!!

Canada Day celebrations

The 2013 Salmon Festival Craft Fair is tomorrow and I'm about to pack away the last few items. It wlil be an early night tonight so I can be up bright and early for set up at the venue. This year's door prize donation is a pair of red carnelian, amber, and green garnet earrings named Edna and as always, there will be a $25 gift card draw at our table. Entry is free so do fill out a ballot if you stop by!

Date: Monday, July 1st (Canada Day!)
Location: Steveston Community Centre (gymnasium)
Address: 4111 Moncton Street, Richmond
Hours: 10:00am to 5:00pm

Featured!

The Georgia bracelet has been chosen for a fantastically named Etsy treasury called The Red Snail wants to be a Futuristic Car. Thank you Il Mondo di Aracne!

Canada Day festivities

It's already mid-June, which means the Salmon Festival Craft Fair is only a short while away! The displays and takeaways are being prepared for the event and I can't wait to see some familiar and new faces! Here are the details:

Date: Monday, July 1st
Location: Steveston Community Centre (gymnasium)
Address: 4111 Moncton Street, Richmond
Hours: 10:00am to 5:00pm

This is Canada's "biggest little birthday party" and is a great family event so bring the little ones too!

Tea party

The garden tea party held by PINK in the City was an adorable event and all the attendees dressed for the occasion! Here's a quick snapshot of some of the participants:


The ARIA INDUSTRIES original, a necklace named Zosia, was a part of the silent auction and the lucky winner got it at a great price and of course the entire amount went to charity! Now that's what I call a win-win!

Zosia at a tea party

PINK in the City is back and ARIA INDUSTRIES is excited to be a sponsor again! This annual Vancouver event is a fundraiser for women's cancers and always has a fabulous theme. This year's is a garden tea party (I'm thinking Alice in Wonderland) and can't wait to attend on June 15th! Here is the Zosia necklace, with crystal quartz, grey topaz, and rose quartz, and it will only be available as an auction item:

Sweet Sidonie

The Sidonie earrings consist of four ingredients: cloudy white sapphires, apple green apatites, baby blue calcites, and tiny orange sapphires. The combination is like a delectable blast of sweetness!

Faerie good happenstance

Just a little bit of Etsyland news for this blog update... The Maurella earrings, named after a True Blood character, have been featured in a treasury! I particularly like the colour palette that GreenChairPress chose:

Spring sale!

Spring is officially upon us so to celebrate, everything at aileen.etsy.com is 15% off until March 31st - just use the code HELLOSUNSHINE when checking out. Why not use it on the pretty Iolanthe earrings?

Dorallama!

The Dora necklace has just been posted to the shop along with seven other pieces. This lariat imposter looks like the real thing, but there is a spring ring clasp in the back because the center stone does not fit through the twisted hoop. This means the piece will not accidentally fall off!


The pink tourmaline has a peachy-pink colour and looks like a juicy teardrop. Rounding out the stones are a solitary morganite next to the twisted hoop and white topazes connected to the clasp.


This necklace has a silly story behind the name: I was speaking in accents and joked about various prices. "Dollar" somehow turned into "Dora" and that's how this name was born!

Like candy

The brand new Clementine necklace was a real design adventure and this post will describe the stone variations that were considered.

The original plan was to use the chandelier component from the Gia, Cyrilla, and Paige earrings with some red, pink, and brown stones. A number of combinations using garnets, rubies, sapphires, and smoky quartzes were tried:


But then I found some carnelians at my favourite Vancouver bead store and a pink sapphire at a fabulous Victoria bead store and knew I had something special. Here is an in-progress shot of the pendant - an earring hook was used during the production stage so I could hold the piece up to tell whether the stones were evenly balanced:


Rounding out the final design are a single crystal quartz above the center stone, red spinels in between everything, and a pink tourmaline to connect the pendant to the necklace. Don't the colours look like candy?

Treasury: Aura

I am pleased to report that the Aura earrings have been featured in an Etsy treasury called With none among them that ever sings... Here is a screenshot of the collection by Poppy & Purl:

And then there were twenty-eight

Remember when winners were selected for the gift card draws at the Steveston Christmas Craft Fair and the Urban Artisans Craft Fair? Anna Li applied her $25 gift card toward the Della earrings and Liz Hayes-Brown selected the Letitia bracelet!

In other news, 28 (yes, really that many!) pieces are being prepped for the shop. It is taking a while because a different background is going to be used in the photos and a lot of experimenting was involved. Here is a peek at the upcoming Tarina earrings:

Winner! Winner!

Happy new year! Each January, all online customers from the previous year are entered into a draw for a $50 gift card that can be applied toward any regular priced merchandise. A draw was held today and the winner is Patricia Ryan, who purchased the Paige and Cherie earrings in March 2012. Congrats!

The same draw will be held again a year from now and there is only one way to participate so here's the link to the shop: aileen.etsy.com!