Thursday, December 23, 2010

Happy Christmas!

Dublin is a fairy tale city these days: so beautiful and inspirational, all covered in snow. We are going to have a white Christmas here after all!

Happy Christmas, everyone!

Here are a few of my festive Flickr favourites:











From top down: Lord V, Paul Keleher
,eleri5

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Pins with Vintage Buttons

Recently I went to visit a friend in Abruzzo, Italy. His grandmother used to have a small haberdashery shop. Since the shop closed many many years ago all its lovely little treasures were stored in dusty boxes waiting to be discovered again. My friend kindly allowed me to rummage and take whatever I liked. I loved everything! Vintage lace, buttons, ribbons, it was a paradise for me!! These pins with the beautiful vintage buttons are the first of many pieces that I will be making over the next few months using the Italian treasures.





Friday, October 15, 2010

New Autumn-Winter Collection is in the Shop!

FABULA autumn-winter collection is finally in my Etsy shop! Take a look at the adorable woolly eco-bling earrings, recycled bib necklaces and more!

fabula recycled jewellery

fabula by anka jewellery

Friday, October 8, 2010

Italian Vintage Treasures

I am always on a look out for imperfect, old, worn and torn things, that I can recycle in my jewellery. But during my last trip to Italy I just couldn't resist and bought loads of beautiful hand-embroidered vintage linens at local markets. I couldn't cut them up and use for making jewellery, they were too perfect! So I decided to share my treasure finds in my destash shop on Etsy. These vintage Italian table toppers and cushion covers are full of charm and character and were made with love in the 60s and 70s.

fabula destash

italian vintage tablecloth

Thursday, September 9, 2010

Autumn-winter Collection is Launched

FABULA is back from Bijorhca, Salon Eclat de Mode in Paris where the new autumn-winter collection was successfully launched.

Bib necklaces, long chains and cuff bracelets for the new season are made from recycled Donegal wool and silk, vintage lace, cascades of brass chains and rhinestones.





Saturday, August 21, 2010

FABULA setting trends

Great news! Two FABULA pieces have been picked for the Trends Section at Salon Eclat de Mode-Bijorhca in Paris. A textile brooch and a bib necklace will be displayed among a selection of headline creations for the forthcoming season.

I am veeeeery excited!


Saturday, August 14, 2010

Paris is waiting

I am back in action after a long and wonderful holiday in Italy. Getting ready for Eclat De Mode Bijorhca in Paris, the hottest jewellery trade show, which will be attended by 15 000 buyers from around the world. FABULA will be featured in the visitor's guide!



For more see Bijorhca website

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

FABULA is a Featured Member on the EcoEtsy Blog

I am very happy to be a featured member on the EcoEtsy Street Team blog today! Yay!

For more go to:

Friday, June 4, 2010

Parisian Paradise

I am just back from a short buying trip to Paris (sounds glamorous till you see me dragging a bag full of findings, chains, stones and fabrics in and out of metro!). Every time I go to the city of fashion I find something special. This time I found a paradise for fabric remnants lovers like me. Les Coupons de St Pierre is a little shop full of improbably beautiful fabric ends. They have synthetic mix fabrics for €5 per 3 metre cuts. But I was after silk and, thank God, I only had a limited amount of money in my wallet. It took me a while to find silk remnants under piles of other fabrics and then I just couldn't stop pulling them out. Priced at €15-30 for 3 metres they were so good I wanted to stuff my bag full of them!

If you don't like digging through mountains of stuff looking for treasures and easily annoyed by fellow shoppers going crazy around you, this little Parisian shop is not your place. Go across the road to it's bigger brother Marche St Pierre (the kingdom of tissues, as they call it on their website) to shop in a civilised manner and pay 3-4 times the price.

As for me, I love the thrill of unexpected finds, no matter how much of a stampede around me or how deep I have to dig.

Les Coupons de St Pierre, 1, Place St Pierre, 75018 Paris, metro: Anvers.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

FABULA Giveaway on Crafting a Green World

Becky at Crafting a Green World wrote up a lovely profile on FABULA and announced a giveaway where one lucky winner will get a piece of jewellery from my Etsy shop. The winner will pick whatever takes her or his fancy.

To enter the giveaway please go to





Sunday, May 30, 2010

Showstoppers Sex and the City style

I went to see Sex and the City 2 last night. Oblviously, not for the sophisticated plot lines or to pay a tribute to the talents of the actors. I went to look at the accessories, why else? And, boy, was I impressed! Big, bold, showstoppers were in every shot (I am not talking about those sporty hunks, no). And I loved it! Now I have a Sex and the City inspired wish list for high impact finds from Etsy. Here it is.

sex and the city 2 accessories

From left to right:
1st row: maslinda leather bib, Tattered elegance silver bib,
2nd row: vividcolors earrings, StudioLeanne's big ring,
3rd row: DolorisPetunia floating bib, blackmarketbaby velvet turban.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

FABULA necklace featured on EcoEtsy

I was doing my habitual browse through my favourite blogs and sites tonight and, hey, what do I see on the EcoEtsy Team blog? It took me a few seconds to realise that it was a photo of my recycled black bow FABULA necklace. It was featured for their weekly theme nomination.

They are pretty fussy over there about the pics quality, so I have to say a huge thank you to the fantastic Julia Kobalz, who took the photo and beautiful Sara Dunn, who modelled the necklace.

Fabula recycled necklace

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Destash Emergency

I got a little greedy the other day. I bought an enormous bag full of exquisite vintage trimmings from the 60s and 70s. The lady who sold it to me said she bought the treasures some years ago from a Dutch lady, who had kept them on her attic in Amsterdam. When I came home dragging the huge sack, sweating and puffing, up the stairs, I realised had more than enough. And not all of them would suit for my delicate recycled jewellery. So I made a wise (I hope) decision and opened a destash shop on Etsy.

Take a look here

And here are a few snaps of the vintage lace and trimmings I'll be using for making my jewellery. Some of them are on bits of Dutch newspapers with the dates on! 1971 and 1975! I think some lace is even older than that.

fabula destash vintage trims

fabula vintage trims

vintage trims

Friday, May 21, 2010

FABULA at the Summer Fair in Marlay

I will be showing and selling my new recycled jewellery collection (as well as some semi-precious stones showstoppers)at the Summer Fair in Marlay Park, June 11-13. Drop in for a browse and a chat!

Summer Fair 2010 Marlay Park

Monday, May 10, 2010

FABULA showcase on cosa verde

I believe in doing my bit for the planet, so I opened a new showcase store on cosa verde and they planted ten trees for me through Trees for the Future. This wonderful online marketplace makes it easy to find great green goods. Now every month as I pay my shop fee cosa verde will donate 10% to Accion charity that provides microloans and business training to poor people who start their own businesses, giving them the tools they need to work their way out of poverty.

See my eco-friendly jewellery on cosa verde

Fabula jewellery recycled textile necklace

Photo by Julia Kobalz

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Sunday Pick

The temperatures are rising, woolly jumpers are stored away, bare-legged girls are out in the streets. So what do you do with your hot water bottle that kept you warm all winter? You turn it into a bag!!! Cool German online shop Abteil sells super-funky bags made from hot water bottles formerly used by the German Army.

abteil hot water water bottle bag

For more Abteil bags click here

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Thrifted Treasures

I am lucky to have a very weighty excuse for my regular thrift shopping: it is for my business! This time I found some beautifully aged silk and cotton scarves, crocheted doilies with some charming imperfections and a bit of metallic yarn. In the next few days I'll be busy tea staining the lace, tattering the scarves and turning them into lovely jewellery.

recycled textiles
vintage lace

Sunday, May 2, 2010

Sunday Pick

Silver with bright recycled plastic jewellery sounds like my kind of bling. I am loving Finnish designer's Alexandra Lindqvist stunning shapes and colours!

Alexandra Lindqvist earrings

Alexandra Lindqvist ring
See more here

Friday, April 30, 2010

Spring Butterflies Bag

The greenest product is often the one that already exists! Restyling is a way of making this planet greener. Here is a new adorable little number for my line of restyled bags.

recycled fabula bag

Sunday, April 25, 2010

Sunday Pick

A lazy Sunday morning, the weather is throwing mood swings (sun-rain-sun-clouds)... Doing my habitual quick trawl through ethical fashion websites I found this fun recycled tote by Korean non-profit design shop, Eco Party Mearry. It is available on Poketo

Eco Party Mearry tote

Eco Party Mearry tote

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day, so I celebrated it by recycling scraps of textiles and making lovely little FABULA brooches with the sun shining through my window. But, hey, every day is a green day for me as I am running an eco-friendly fashion business!


fabula recycled brooch

fabula recycled brooch

recycled textiles brooch

fabula recycled brooch

Monday, April 19, 2010

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

Hooray! I have become a member of EcoEtsy Team, a global team of eco-minded Etsy sellers. My designs are lovingly made from vintage, thrifted, antique, reclaimed and recycled fabrics and materials with a past. As other members of EcoEtsy I am constantly trying to come up with ways to extend the life of objects, postponing the moment when they get discarded and transform scraps into something beautiful.

Here are a few lovely eco-fabulous things from my fellow team members:






From the top: cloth market bag by RosyUndPosy, caffeine necklace by molecularmuse, wallet by cocoandmilkweed.

Thursday, April 8, 2010

New Recycled Jewellery Collection

Oh, I am so excited about my new Autumn-Winter (yes, already!) recycled jewellery collection! I am using a lot of vintage and recycled textiles, tattered handmade lace, brass and copper chains, old lurex threads, rhinestones (many of them recycled) and semi-precious stones. The colours are so decadent and earthy: bronze, copper, dusty plum, reds.

Here is a sneak preview:

recycled lace silk bracelet

recycled textile chain
recycled textiles lace silk

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Happy Easter!

Here is my selection of eco-fabulous lovely things for this sunny (but cold!)day:









From left clockwise: celery green bag by eveldasneverland, industrial necklace by crayonmonster21, Easter necklace by eveldasneverland, vintage glass earrings by [metamorphosis].

Thursday, April 1, 2010

Pile them up!

I have just launched my new line of recycled jewellery. Funky and cheerful bangles and necklaces are made from upcycled cotton/rayon cord, reclaimed silk and lace. Pile them up and wait for the spring to arrive!

See more in my Etsy shop here