The Latest Additions

FABULA Christmas collection is almost ready. It was a crisp sunny day, so I decided to take a few photos out on the terrace. Gogol, my dog was impatiently waiting for his walk in the mountains.

All necklaces and earrings are made using semi-precious stones, recycled and new chains, vintage metal elements and found objects such as a link from an old chandelier.

Colour Inspiration

Autumn treasures that I bring from my walks in the mountains and local markets. I love this time of the year!

The Ultimate Recycling

Forget about jewellery made from plastic bottles, bags from car tyres and purses from beer cans. Talk about the ultimate recycling: beautiful houses built with all the above trash!

I have just watched a fantastic documentary called 'Garbage Warrior' about Michael Reynolds, an eco-architect who can free people from landfills, utility bills and mortgage payment. Far from a hippy or utopist, Reynolds is a down-to-earth passionate hard-working man who provides a practical solution for easing the burden that we humans put on the environment. I am not into the idea of happy community living but I would certainly love to live in one of the houses built by Reynolds!

Watch the documentary here

Brazilian Jungle Tamed

Who said that Brazilian tree seeds are only for tribal looking jewellery? Look at my new creation: the seed is set on a vintage golden chain with rhinestones, a bow hat pin and a pea-shaped green turquoise bead finish it off and, voilà, the jungle is tamed!

New Goodies

I have listed new designs in my shop. Vintage Murano glass beads, vintage chains, reclaimed metal and textiles all feature in the FABULA autumn collection. I am finally using the treasures that I have had for a while now: vintage beads that I bought on my flea market hunts, vintage Murano glass beads that were given to me a by a kind stranger who was retiring from his once thriving jewellery making business few years ago, old bangles that I rescued from a friend who was putting them in the bin.

New Treasures

I went on a treasure hunt around old shops in the area a few days ago. And here is what I found: funky vintage belt buckles from the 70s and 80s and unwanted colourful bangles. They will be all turned into eco-fabulous jewellery in the next few weeks. Watch this space!

The Magic of Red Cabbage

More experiments with natural dying. Such prosaic vegetable as red cabbage can help to create amazing shades of blue on vintage lace and textile!

Colours of Marrakesh

I am just back from a weekend in Marrakesh where I found endless colour inspirations. Sparkles of blue, terracota, red and pink were peeking through the dirt and dust of the city, waiting to be discovered. I fell in love with that saffran yellow of the leather and terracota-pinks of the city walls.

Borlotti Beauties

I just have shelled borlotti beans that I bought at a local market and realised how beautiful they are! Beetroot-red speckles on smooth shiny white... I would love to make a necklace from them one day! But for now, I will just cook a lovely vegetable bean stew. Yummmm...

Bracelets Made from Damadged Fishing Nets

What a great idea for fundraising and recycling! A group of women from Japanese town of Sanriku that was badly hit by the tsunami are making wonderful misanga bracelets from the fishing nets damaged by the tsunami. Not sure if it is possible to buy them outside of Japan but I would certainly love to have a few of those!


The Project's Website

Natural Dyeing Rocks!

I am soooooo excited about my experiments with dyeing vintage lace and reclaimed fabrics using only natural dyes. Everyting I can think of goes into the pot with my textiles: berries, onion skins, wine, malt drinks. The results are absolutely fabulous!!! I am using the dyed textiles for making jewellery and DIY kits.

On the photos below textiles are dyed using (from the top): barley drink, onion skins, wine (a quick boil), wine (long simmering).

DIY kits from FABULA

Just listed a new product in my FABULA Destash shop - DIY kits for making textile cuffs.

Each kit has silk scraps, pieces of antique and vintage trims and lace, some of them are hand-dyed by me using only natural dyes (fruit, berries, vegetables and various plants!). I also put in reclaimed and vintage beads and buttons with some surplus semi-precious stones beads.

Let me know what you think!

I am back with cocktail napkins!

Gosh, I really have been ignoring my blog for a while. The summer is over, so no excuse now.

I am a big advocate of re-using vintage and salvaged textiles in any possible way to save them from going to landfills. I use a lot of them in my jewellery and is thrilled to see great ideas on the internet. Here is one of them: vintage sheets cocktail napkins. Throw a cocktail garden party before cold days arrive!

Design*Sponge

Black and White

After the trade show in Paris I managed to squeeze in a visit to the gallery Jeu de Paume at Place de la Concorde where an exhibition of phtotgrapher André Kertész was on. I love black and white photographs and this was an absolute treat.

Eclat de Mode - success for FABULA

I am just back from Eclat de Mode - the international jewellery event for professionals in Paris. On my desk is a big heavy golden Sheriff star, which I am thrilled with. It came with a title of a Fashion Sheriff, which signifies that FABULA is at the cutting edge of jewellery design. It calls for a bottle of champagne to be cracked!

The Brighter the Better!

I am absolutely in love with the jazzy colours of my new Spring-Summer collection! Putting last finishing touches before showing it at Eclat de Mode - Bijorhca in Paris in a few days. The new season promises to be bursting with colours.

See below: brass cuffs from The Bubblegum collection by FABULA, Gucci SS2011, Vogue Italia 2007 (source COLOURlovers.com), cocoricooo

Colour Inspiration

It is grey and drizzly outside. I am supposed to be working on my spring-summer 2011 collection where the colours will be screaming happy and loud. But where do I find the heart-warming rainbow-coloured inspiration for that? In these Jonathan Zawada's bursting with colour landscapes. They brighten my day!

Source: Trendland

Adorable Moths

I am absolutely loving these recycled cashmere moth appliques by Stella Neptune from Los Angeles! They are iron-ons, so you can cover up those nasty holes or stains on your favourite sweaters. But I have a better idea: I want to put them on a chain and, voilà, an eco-fabulous necklace is ready in an instant!

New collection: chunky and bold!

I am so excited about my new season collection!! It will be launched at Eclat de Mode - Bijorhca in Paris later this month, so I am getting ready for a lot of stress and last minute running around! This time I decided to take a step aside from the delicate romantic mood of my previous collection and have some fun. The new collection is full of bold colours, chunky shapes and character. I am using repurposed cords, recycled and vintage buttons, silk scraps and jersey remnants. Here is a cuff bracelet from one of the lines in the new collection.