New on French DaWanda: "les groupes"

So I've been playing with this and gone and started two teams, oops, sorry, "groupes":

The Auld Alliance, to bring together Scottish and French people with a similar taste for the genuine handmade and vintage:

This is meant to use the new "group" function of the French site to allow Scottish and French DaWandians to get together, NOT to keep other British members out, of course...

The group is fully open to all members with a connection to France and Scotland; so that it could be the perfect place to leave "Wanted" ads with a regional / national focus—, for example.

Bord'eau, for all DaWandians who live in / love Aquitaine as well as genuine handmade, OOAK, unique, small series artefacts as well as genuine that is not merely second-/ or third-hand stuff:

For all DaWandians in Bordeaux, Gironde or Aquitaine who wish to come together to create and exchange.

This is a place to make, find, invent, dream, chat, share and recycle— just not other people's ideas, of course.

The group, though "closed", is fully open to all site-members with a connection to Aquitaine, not just sellers; so that it could be the ideal place for you to express your wishes and see them fulfilled by local designers / artists / crafters.

Nouveau : les GROUPES sur DAWANDA

Une nouvelle fonctionalité sociale sur le site européen du fait-main...

J'en ai profité pour en créer deux :

Bord'eau, pour rassembler l'Aquitaine autour de boutiques authentiquement artisanales, créatives et vintage :

Pour ceux et celles qui, à Bordeaux, en Gironde ou en Aquitaine, souhaitent se rassembler dans un esprit de créativité et d'échange.

Ici on fabrique soi-même, on chine, on invente, on rêve, on cause, on partage et on recycle (mais pas les idées des autres, bien sûr !).

Le groupe, quoique "fermé", est bien sûr ouvert à tous les DaWandiens qui ont un lien avec l'Aquitaine : pour celles et ceux qui ne sont (pour l'instant) qu'acheteurs, ce pourrait être un lieu idéal pour contacter des créateurs / designers / artisans de leur région et leur faire les demandes les plus folles...

The Auld Alliance, pour célébrer et entretenir dans le vintage, les arts et l'artisanat ce lien si ancien qui lie France et Ecosse :

J'espère avec ce groupe donner la possibilité aux membres écossais et français de se retrouver grâce à la nouvelle fonctionnalité de la plateforme française : PAS d'exclure les autres membres britanniques !

Le groupe est bien sûr ouvert à tous les DaWandiens qui ont un lien avec l'Ecosse et la France : pour celles et ceux qui ne sont (pour l'instant) qu'acheteurs, ce pourrait être un lieu idéal pour contacter des créateurs / designers / artisans de l'autre pays et leur faire les demandes les plus folles...

Votez pour moi — Vote for me!

Dans le cadre du concours "Ma Région" organisé par DaWanda, j'ai fabriqué cette fantaisie aquitaine qui évoque les fameuse plages océanes. Vous pouvez voter pour moi ici, en cliquant sur "J'adore". Merci d'avance...

Please help me try and win the French DaWanda "Ma Région" competition for which I put together this necklace, in homage to the beaches of Aquitaine. You can vote for me by hearting it here. Thank you all in advance.

FOW Two

My Finding Of this Week is one that I came across a few months ago and bought without knowing how I was going to use it— I just had to have it, because it was "paper thread".
Paper and thread! The best of both my favourite worlds!

And here I am, now, using it to bring together my contribution to the current DaWanda challenge, "Ma Région" for which we have to create an object representing our region. You can see a few loose ends waiting to be tied... Suspense!
Cette semaine, ma trouvaille remonte à quelques mois. A l'époque, je ne savais pas du tout ce que j'allais pouvoir en faire, juste qu'il me fallait ces bobines : du fil de papier. Du fil et du papier : le rêve !

Aujourd'hui, je suis en train de m'en servir pour ce qui sera ma participation au dernier concours créatif de DaWanda en date, pour lequel je cherche à créer un objet qui évoque "Ma Région".

Merry-Go-Round - Take Care!

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

How to take care of your art— information for buyers.

Because of the variety of crafts I dabble in, there cannot be one answer to this, except to point out that anything extreme (temperature, activity, fingering... or even cleansing!) is going to be potentially damaging.

So, first things first.

When you buy jewellery from me, you're going to be aware of the materials used, because I always give as much information as I can in my listings.

If you buy pearls— since I tend to use silver or vermeil with them, but not glue— a little soft soap and warm water once in a while, followed by thorough rinsing and immediately by light-handed dry padding with cotton cloth, is going to revive your pearls for as long as you love them.

My more whimsical jewellery often involves the use of glue. This entails that though you should be able to rinse it (it will survive rain too!), soaking is an absolute No No. My motto for cocktail rings: "No shock, shower, no dish washing!"

Anything that involves several elements shall definitely come apart if you try it...

The good news is that most of my pieces can also be mended.

As for textiles, I like my own possessions to be washable, so most of what I make can be washed. But any handmade accessory, especially embroidered and embellished ones, will have to be hand-washed, just to be on the safe side. I use nearly no synthetics, so, yes, the fabric will age, as we do. Careful storing and moth-repellents work well...

Interview sur DaWanda

Pour trouver les réponses aux questions que vous n'avez sûrement jamais osé vous poser sur Meherio68 et Le Bar du Vent : le blog de DaWanda.fr

For all those answers to questions you never dared to ask about Meherio68 & Le Bar du Vent, look up the blog on DaWanda.fr (so in French).

SUPER SOLDES D'EQUINOXE - MABON SALE!!!

Sur DaWanda, Le Bar du Vent est en soldes pour fêter l'Equinoxe et les Moissons, du 21 au 24 Septembre.
On DaWanda, Le Bar du vent celebrates Mabon, the second harvest, the equinoxe— with a great sale, from 21st to 24th September.
Enjoy!

Alice ?

"High Tea". Bientôt à votre cou.

Soon to be listed— "High Tea"— more dazzling than High Noon, ain't it?

Under the influence.

Pas pu m'empêcher...

Couldn't help myself. *.*

Merry-Go-Round - Networking

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

What do you do to network? In what ways does it work or not work?

These days, I have even less time for networking than for crafting.

Over the past few years, I have tried the usual (myspace, blogging, among others) and the less usual (this Merry-Go-Round, the Thursday Sweet Treat...). I don't believe the networking sites, such as myspace and facebook (which I keep personal) are any good for me.

The only forum I still visit on a daily basis is the DaWanda forum. If only because I find it much more congenial than the Etsy forum where you get a measure of support but also a lot of gratuitous aggression. I have no time for this... Still, the Etsy forum is where I found the Thusrday Sweet Treat, which was a really inspiring 'place', (when I still had time to be part of it...) and it is much faster than the DaWanda one, especially in English, which is a shame.

As I have never done this full time,
I really have no idea what concrete results it has brought about, or what it could have. What I do know, though, is that it has allowed me to learn a lot from fellow crafters. It has also inspired me in a way I couldn't have been if I had only been focusing on making and selling.

It has kept me curious and — relatively— ambitious.

In short, though it sometimes felt like the networking time was stolen from crafting, I suspect I wouldn't be crafting at all anymore, if it wasn't for the virtual ties that have kept me going.

Using my blog address as a signature at the bottom of all my mails has brought me at least two clients among aquaintances who didn't know of that part of my life. I also keep giving away my business cards, though I still don't know what effect it may have had. Who knows...

On the Road Again... Part 2— the Return of the Revenge

Moi, je suis une grande Enquiquineuse toute simple : une petite Jaguar, ou un bon vieux Black Cab, c'est tout ce que je demande. Et puis si je deviens vraiment riche ou entretenue, j'aurai aussi une hybride avec des freins.

Mais figurez-vous qu'il y en a qui exigent une 2CV ou une Coccinelle ! Quand je pense que certains me disent difficile...

Attendez-vous à croiser plus d'Etranges Enquiquineuses Trop Chères : les idées me viennent avec une facilité effrayante !

Merci à Mariana et Mitsi pour m'avoir inspiré ces deux... décapotables.

I am just your basic High-Maintenance gal— a mere Jaguar, or possibly a good old Black Cab is all I'm asking for (my other fantasy car is a hybrid that does brake).

Well, you ought to know that some women will only have a 2CV and others a Beetle.

And I'm supposed to be a snob!

More Strange, Difficult, High-Maintenance Women to come, I'm afraid— I keep getting new ideas!

Thanks to Mariana and Mitsi for inspiring me with these two convertibles ( _‹(•¿•)›_).

On the Road Again...

L'aventure automobile du Bar du Vent se poursuit, dans la bonne humeur et le confort.
Que des anglaises.
D'abord, la Police de l'Elégance, ensuite, la seule version tolérable du camping...





More in the same mood with two English jobs— the Fashion Police and an elegant camping trip. Literally hours of work here... OOAK

Merry-Go-Round - Looking Forward

Jump on our merry go round and join a group of artists/crafts-women from around the world as they link hands and tell you a little bit about their lives in craft.

Do look up the answers from the rest of this band of crafters (links to your left).

If they haven't posted yet, remember we all live in different time zones and check again later...

This month's theme:

What are you planning for the year ahead?

So. First off— I am really, really sorry I am so late posting this.

Got carried away with how short February is and how much there was I wanted / had to cram into it...

The bad news: no photo.

The good news: I am actually looking forward to this year and gradually making out what it is I am going to make of it, craftwise.

Late December-Early January was a difficult time but it was also liberating and brought me peace and clarity of mind the like of which I had not experienced in a long, long time.

The past year was spent, not uselessly but sometimes seeminglingly pointlessly, dabbling around new stuff.

I do intend to go on experimenting (sounds better, does it not?) with textile and metal, and learning, but things are slowly beginning to fall into place and I am beginning to see more clearly how to combine, or not, this and that craft; how this is going to be just for my own pleasure, whereas that is going to be "marketable" in some way.

Recently, I have been going through my stacks in a violent session of pre-Spring cleaning. Order! Order! Yeah, right... Anyway. The mix of contemplation and exertion (panting and resting vs. putting shelves together and up against the wall) allowed me to think and fantasize freely.

A thematic project has been slowly growing and coming together.

So— watch this spot for some statement jewelery— that's all I'm going to say for now!

Inspiration

Hier, en quelques heures, j'ai pu mener à bien une très plaisante transaction avec une cliente qui voulait une de mes bagues fleur, mais avec son propre choix de couleur.

Il y avait longtemps que je n'avais pas pris autant de plaisir à travailler. Ça m'a rappelé à quel point j'adorais fourrager dans mes stocks et chercher l'association harmonieuse...

Yesterday, in just a few hours, I put together this ring for a very pleasant customer who wanted one of my flower rings, but with her own choice of colours.

It had been a long time since I last felt so much pleasure. It reminded me how much I like rummaging through my stuff and looking for just the right mix of pearls and findings.

Elle me plaît beaucoup !

I love it!

Final SALE update / BRADERIE : dernière promo

Bonjour tout le monde ! Hello Everyone.

C'est bientôt la fin de notre Grande Braderie et pour finir en beauté, je propose une double promotion, valable jusqu'au 24 novembre à minuit.
Our Great Sale is going to be over soon, and for a grand finish, I'd like to offer two different discounts (combinable!), both valid until November 24th, midnight.

Les ~☀~ frais d'envoi ~☀~ sont offert sur toute commande, vers le monde entier ET je vous offre ~☀~ 20 % de réduction sur toute commande de 60 euros et plus ~☀~. ATTENTION de bien me contacter AVANT de passer votre commande pour que je puisse créer une fiche article spéciale pour vous indiquant le prix réduit.

C'est ici.

~☀~ Free shipping, worldwide, on all orders ~☀~ AND you get ~☀~ a 20 % dicount on all orders of 60 euros and more ~☀~. ONLY do not fail to contact me BEFORE checkout, so I can put up a special listing for you with the new discounted prices...

Here is my shop.

Plein d'autre réduction dans d'autres boutiques de créateurs ici.

Loads of other great offers and discounts in fabulous shops, here.

Nouvelle Offre / New Discount Offer

Du 13 au 15 novembre inclus, de minuit à minuit : 20 % sur les articles de la catégorie Colliers dans ma boutique DaWanda .

Me contacter avant de passer la commande pour que je modifie le prix...

Dans le cadre de la Grande Braderie des Créateurs Uniques, sur le forum de DaWanda.

From November 13th to 15th inclusive, three days

from midnight to midnight: 20 % discount on all items in the Necklace category of my DaWanda shop.

You'll have to contact me before going through checkout so I can change the price for you.

As part of the OOAK Sellers' Great Sale on the French DaWanda Forum.

GRANDE BRADERIE sur / GREAT SALE on DAWANDA...

Faites Vite ce serait dommage de rater ça : c'est ici que ça se passe.

Do rush in— it would be foolish to miss that: this is where it's at.

New Business cards just in - J'ai reçu mes nouvelles cartes !

Except the colours are nothing like this... Sauf que les couleurs n'ont rien à voir...

A saisir— an opportunity not to be missed.

Jusqu'au 25, 15 % dans les boutiques DaWanda où vous n'avez pas encore fait d'achats !

Until the 25th, you'll get a 15 % discount in shops you have never bought in.

PRO-ACTIVE

Une révolution pacifique se prépare sur DaWanda...

Guettez ces logos, ils devraient apparaître début novembre.

Ne manquez pas de visiter la section "BIENVENUE" du forum.

Vous avez tout à y gagner...

Bonnes courses de fin d'année à tous !

We few, we happy few; a band of sister designers is planning a peaceful coup on DaWanda...

Watch out for these logos in early November.

Do visit the "BIENVENUE" section of the French forum.

You won't regret it.

Happy holiday shopping, Everyone!