Project countdown - October

Hi everyone! :)

I haven't been as active on my blog as I usually am, and as you can imagine it was because I was working on some new stuff for Kirameku! Are you curious on what has kept me far away? :) Here, let me tell you all about it!

La Grande Bijouterie Craft Show : my objective for this year was to make at least three craft shows and I'm happy to say I'm going to end my year with a bang! :)  I had confirmation last weekend that I was selected for La Grande Bijouterie Craft show, I am so excited! I had been working on some exclusive pieces for this craft show so that if ever you attended my three craft shows this year and you will always see something new. I also have to work on little holiday twist for my booth as it is my first holiday craft show. It will be my first show in Sherbrooke, yay I love Sherbrooke! :) I'll post a specific article with some more craft show tips and what new to expect for Kirameku at La Grande Bijouterie.  Mark your calendars for Saturday November 22nd and stay posted! :)

Adding Berry gift sets for the Holidays : maybe you have noticed the news section at Kirameku Etsy shop. I have created a new category for this upcoming holiday season, a gift section. I will be uploading some new gift sets that will suit all your needs, may it be your sister, your friend, your wife, your daughter, or simply as a gift from you to you, you will find some exclusive and exciting new colors in the section! :) Here's a little sneak peak of the next item to be listed there. Can you guess what it will be?

This gorgeous Iced Raspberry will become a cute necklace and matching earrings set! :) Want it now? Convo me to pre-order it!

Working on an exciting Holiday promotion : maybe you think it's a bit early for me to talk about the Holidays since Halloween is not here yet (and I agree), but with the shipping delays for online orders, it is best too early then too late. As you all know the holidays are a very busy for posts around the world. Make sure you check out our updated holiday policies to make sure your gift gets to you on time. Holidays also means many expenses, so I'll be launching a special holiday promotion so you can treat everyone on your list without having to break your budget. What what's best than handmade gift? :) You can also have custom orders made especially for those on your list if ever you can find exactly what you are looking for.

* ~** HOLIDAY SHIPPING DEADLINES **~ *
Here are the shipping deadlines for 2014 as provided by Canada Post for REGULAR shipping.
CANADA : December 11
USA : December 8
INTERNATIONAL : December 1

More wedding necklaces : I've had many ideas for wedding necklaces over the past few weeks and I barely had enough time to get to my atelier to work on those ideas. I find the most difficult part - beside finding enough time in my day to do everything I want to do - is to find a delicate and elegant way to link the chain and berry together so that your wedding necklace stands out with elegance. I found on the Etsy blog that white and cobalt blue are popular colors for this years weddings. I found the color mix so amazing and beautiful,  I had to have the berries in those shades! I was able to find some amazing cobalt beads at on one of my suppliers and I can't wait for my order to get to me so I can start this amazing piece with Swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls!  I'll be posting some pictures of this necklace on my Facebook page once I'll be able to work on this amazing piece! :)

Here's a sneak peak of the new colours that will be soon available in the Dangle & Drop Earrings Collection! :) Want it now? Convo me to pre-order it!

Etsy Canada - belated review

Hi everyone!
It has been a while since my last post and I hope you all had a great time. I was super busy with Kirameku and as some of you have seen on my Facebook page, I'm currently working on another exciting project. I can't tell much more than that for now. But what I can tell you is my experience at the first Montreal Etsy Made in Canada craft show! :)

There was gorgeous weather on that Saturday and we happily head down to the shop Angus, me, my boyfriend and my Mom (who is also an Etsy artisan). Once at destination, we looked for the entrance with a bit of difficulty but then we were greeted by big orange and white pompoms and an Etsy banner inside the shop Angus. Ouf, we managed to find the place! We were surprised to see there was no list of artisans and the room was so huge we didn't know where to start. Here, let me show you the beautiful space the vendors had.

The wonderful shop Angus and Etsy Made in Canada!

The cute kiosque of Gredin! 

Puces Pop - lifting the mystery

Hi everyone!
I hope you all had a wonderful week! I made wonderful discoveries this Friday and I wanted to share it with you, handmade lovers! :)

Friday night after work, I visited for the first time the Puces Pop exhibit, despite the subway being shut down exactly where I wanted to go. I had heard of Puces Pop before but I wasn't sure what to think about it, I don't know why, maybe because the posters had so much information on them I didn't know if it was a music fest, an art show or both. In any case, I jumped in and visited the expo and all that in very good company. As soon as we walked passed the door, we were welcomed by Mathieu amazing pieces, sending waves of bright colors and a hint of vintage. Need I say more? I was charmed by his original pieces and surprising color palettes. We talked about his technique and I was amazed to see the perfection behind his transfer technique on wood. I mean... Wow! He has recently opened an Etsy shop nammed Gredin, which you can visit here. He will be at the Etsy Made in Canada craft show this upcoming weekend! Here's Mathieu at his booth with his wonderful creations and here's are my purchases...! :)

When we got to the show, I have to say it was packed! We got there at about 6h and the show had opened his doors at 2h. I'm sorry I don't have any good pictures of the entire fair as I couldn't find a spot elevated enough to stand on but you can see for yourself on the Puces Pop Facebook page. If I may make a suggestion to the organization for the next show, and I know space is limited, but would it be possible to make the alley a bit wider? If people stopped at a crafter's table on each side, I caused a traffic jam and we had to squeeze between them and I'm sure this was not super fun for the customers and disturbed them while the crafter's were trying to make their pitch. But that's just my humble opinion

But wait, don't stop here! :) I have two more extraordinary crafter's to introduce you to. I've also met Wai-Yant from Creations Li. When I saw her cute creations on her kiosque, I just had to get one! I would have bought more than my adorable smiley bowl but my budget didn't allow it. I just loved the whimsical and simple shapes of her design. Her adorable pieces even go to the dishwashers, that was a great selling point and made my purchase an awesome gift. Love her cuties? Wai-Yant will be at le Salon des Métiers d'Arts de Montréal. You can also visit her website here.

Last but not least, I met again with the wonderful Norma from CaraCarmina. I browsed through her adorable cards and cute kiosque. I wanted to buy one or two cards but couldn't decide which one was the cutest, so I ended up getting 5. One of which I'm putting to good use today - Happy bday 'Ma! :) I just love how senorita Norma conquered the handmade business with her own willpower and dreams. Speaking of which, stay tuned, Norma said yes for an exclusive interview for my blog! :) (Gracias señorita!! ) Meanwhile if you want one of her creation you can visit her Etsy shop here or simply meet her in person - which is way better! - at the Etsy made in Canada craft show next weekend.

On this everyone I have to run, I have a birthday to attend to. I hope you enjoyed my discoveries and that you will support you local handmade artist for this upcoming Holiday season.

See you soon everyone! :)
*M*

Scoop, Henryville and craft show tips

Hi everyone!

Omg what a last couple of days has it been...! As you know, last weekend was the Henryville craft show and I am proud to say that it was a success! We had many visitors during the weekend and I'm so glad that many people visited us despite the bad and cold temperatures. Thank you everyone! It was a pleasure to meet all of you! :) We had a blast - we as in my extraordinary boyfriend tagged along and gave me a big hand in all of this - and we were super happy to present our newest pieces for this year.To be able to share my passion for creativity and illustration with everyone is truly a blessing. 

Here's the new collection I've been talking so much about, our pre-wrapped gifts just on time for the Holidays! :)

For those of you who want some more craft show tips (see my previous tips), here are my recommendation for after a show : write down everything you sold during your fair so you'll have valuable insight about that show. It will also help you during your post-show inventory and accounting. Write down a list of all that went well during the show, for example, putting the earrings up front worked great for your customers. Write down also all that you want to improve for the next show, like adding more levels to your booth. Make your list the week following the show while everything is still fresh in your memory. Also, when you finish setting up your table, take a picture of your booth as a reference for the following ones. Don't hesitate to switch things around during the show, maybe your layout worked perfectly last year but it might not do the trick completely this time. Be flexible, rearrange your goodies the next morning and see how it goes.

OK you say, but you mentioned big news in your title...? Well my dear readers, Kirameku made her first steps into a boutique in Montreal....!! :) How awesome is that?! You can now browse our Berry Collection plus our Dangle & Drop Earrings at l'Espace D. on St-Laurent, Montreal. There will be some new models like the new Tiger Eye Berry Ring and the Frosted AB & Gunmetal Berry Ring as well as classic ones, like the Sunset Berry Ring and the Red Azzuro Berry ring. Can't make it to Montreal? Well here's your 10% off to celebrate with us : BLOG10.

On this everyone, I hope you all had a marvelous weekend! :)

See you soon!
*M*

Henryville sneak peaks and craft show tips!

Hi everyone! :)

Like I've mentioned a few times in the last posts, my next and soon coming up craft show will be the one at Henryville. I thought I would share some insight and some sneak peaks! :)

All right! The show will be hosted at the beautiful church in Henryville (Église St-Georges-de-Henryville, 153 rue de l'Église, QC J0J 1E0) and you'll find from Kirameku many novelties and even a surprise! Kirameku is launching a new product at this craft show, I can't wait to see what you guys think!

Besides that, what's new? Well Kirameku will be adding lights to her kiosque this year so you can appreciate more in details the different colors and varnishes on the Berries. I'm also hoping to have enough space to hang my new beautiful banner that I had printed from Vista print earlier this year.

What about the Berries? Many original pieces have been added to the collection and you will find them - for now - exclusively at this craft show, just like the Mint Berry and Lilac Berry necklaces that you see below. And for the new goodies I've mentioned earlier I'm eager to post the final results! You can follow the steps on Kirameku Facebook page if ever you are too curious to wait! :)

The new Mint and Lilac Berry necklaces!

To top it all off with a bang, there's a new packing and I'm so proud to see how well it turned out! I have 8 different berry models for the tags on the bags but those 3 are my personal favorite! :) Which one is yours??

Kirameku's new packaging for her 2014 craft shows! :)

As for my Etsy shop, there has been a lot of renewal lately but some new pieces as well, like the gorgeous Cluster Berry Ring Green and Light Blue! I thought it was a perfect color match for this summer lingering heatwave. These cool hues are perfect to break the heat!

Our newest Berry ring in our summer collection! 

That sums it up for Kirameku this week! I said I'd share some insight for scraft shows well here it goes...! I hope many of you are doing craft shows right now (they are so much fun!) and that I'll be sharing some new tips you haven't heard of. I want to make a short serie of articles related to craft shows, but I'll start by saying this : here are my suggestions and my method to prepare for craft shows. There are many ways to get to the same result. The key is to find one method that works for you.

Planning a craft show - Part 1

So, you have found a craft show you are really excited about, you've made your research, found it to be a perfect match and you've sent out your application. Great! What next? Craft fairs are really fun, but they are a lot of work. Let's start.

Once you've applied to a craft show you should list all the things that you want to bring and/or make specifically for that show. I would suggest you divide your list in two sections : what you have in stock and what you want to make. In your ''to make'' section, be as specific as you can : what kind of material will you need, how much time will it take to create those pieces, how much will it cost you, if you need new packaging etc. This way, you'll be able to determine your goals for that craft show and see if your goals are too ambitious. Maybe you want to create way too many new necklaces for the time you have. Be realistic in your goals, it will save you a lot of stress and sleepless nights.

Most craft shows will let you know in advance if you have been selected or not to give you enough time to plan and market yourself. If you have doubt's about their reply deadline, don't hesitate to email the show organizers and ask them. But please, be nice! Those people are super busy making a show that will make you look good, the least you can do is to be polite. Why not ask them as well if you can help them promote the show? Promoting a craft show is always a good thing for everyone as you'll attract more traffic to this event, therefore more potential customers.

Once you've had the confirmation that you were selected for a show, clear your schedule and take out your plan and get busy! If you think the deadline from once you've been accepted to the actual show is too short, don't hesitate to start as soon as you've sent out your application. You're the boss of your schedule. Break down your ''to make'' section in a daily or weekly to-do list to ensure you'll meet your goals. Don't forget to include time for shopping if you need new material. Adding a bit more time to this task can be a good thing too as maybe you won't get lucky and the stock you need won't be available when you'll stop by the store. My suggestion is to purchase/go shopping for all the material you need as soon as you can, may it be business cards, lamps, new beads etc.

Make sure that you make your inventory before you start making some new pieces and also a second time about three weeks before the show. That way you know which pieces you need to make more of and you make sure that you have enough stock before the show. And if you don't, three weeks should give you enough time to double your efforts and make more stock. Include time to do a real size mock-up of your table to see how you want to fit all your goodies on your table. Dress a list of everything you need to bring to the craft show - from scotch tape to food and your goodies, write everything down. This will be your final checklist as you'll pack your stuff 2-3 days before the show so you can concentrate on having a good night of sleep and be full of energy on the day of the show. Don't forget to bring some business cards or some type of promotion tool so that your customers will remember you and will be able to find your Etsy shop if they want to shop from you again. Don't hesitate to be original but be consistent in everything you do, make sure it reflects your brand and your style.

On this everyone, I hope you found some tip that will be useful for your future craft show. I'll be back with more insights, no worries. And you, what's your favourite craft shows tip?
Have a lovely labor day everyone! :)
* M *

Baie St-Paul my love!

Hi everyone! :)

As I've mentionned a few post back, Kirameku took a very short but well deserved vacation an so last week, we jumped in the car and I was eager to empty my head and find new inspirations and ideas to focus on as much for my jewelry as for my artwork.

With my adorable boyfriend, we visited Baie Saint-Paul in the Charlevoix region, a lovely little town near la Malbaie, about 3 hours and a half from Montreal. I have to say, we both fell in love!

A quick view from Baie Saint-Paul from one of the numerous stops along the way.

The fresh air and amazing landscapes were such a pleasure and a feast for the eyes. We loved the vintage houses and decadent proprieties that we encountered along the way and we satisfied our love of food and fresh local products. We slept at L'Auberge de la Grande Maison, where the shabby chic of the antique house was simply adorable! Their newly added spa might be small but was quite welcomed after our long ride from Montreal to Baie Saint-Paul or after a long day of walking outside. The owners were kind and friendly people and told us they renovated all by themselves over the years and I have to say they did a heck of a job, bravo! The little inn is located not very far from all the attractions from Baie Saint-Paul and from various delicious restaurants. Our short journey to this auberge was peaceful and it was easy to travel to anywhere we wanted to go, either by foot or by car. What more could we have asked for? Maybe a few more days to the trip, but we were blessed with beautiful weather and a cool breeze.

The gorgeous view while we were waiting for the boat to take us to l'Isle-aux-Coudres

We took a day to visit l'Isle-Aux-Coudres and although there's not a lot to do on the island, we enjoyed the freshly baked buns at la Boulangerie Bouchard and the view all around the island was simply amazing…! Seeing landscapes just like those in Charlevoix makes me proud and so happy to be from Quebec! This is my home and it's a beautiful one! Please, stop by our little place of paradise that is Quebec! You definitely won't regret it! :)

On this everyone, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and I have to run for now as I have to stop dreaming and get busy busy for the upcoming Henryville Craft Fair! I'll be back very soon with all the details. Meanwhile don't forget to take a look at  Kirameku's Facebook page for some sneak peaks! :)

* M *

Etsy Canada : the results are in

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all enjoying the weekend! :) Mine has been quite busy (and a tad stressful) as you can imagine. I was waiting anxiously Friday night, as Etsy Canada was sending out their replies to the Montreal fair application.
And so… the results were in… And Kirameku didn't make it.... Snif snif. There's 60 spots for the artisans at the Montreal fair and Montreal is quite a creative town and is full of talent, although I was really surprised Kirameku wasn't selected. I'm still waiting on some feedback on this point but my guess is that there's a ton of great jewelry makers and those spots fill in fast as jewelry making is quite popular.

Our Frosted Blueberry necklace is finally out! It will be perfect for any occasion! 

I'm sorry guys, I really wanted a booth to an Etsy event and meet you all as well as my fellow crafter's. I keep my fingers crossed that the Etsy Made in Canada event will become a regular and yearly event. You can be sure that I'll do my best to go visit the show and will keep you posted with the details.

But if you wanted to stop by a Kirameku's exhibit,  no worries! My craft shows aren't done for this year! :) Next on the list is Henryville on September 13 and 14. Yep that's pretty much around the corner! I have plenty of ideas and I will be launching a new type of goodies exclusively for my craft shows. Also I've been working on some new packaging since those goodies will be bigger then what I usually sell at craft shows. I can't wait to post some pictures and have your feedback! :)

On this everyone, I'm leaving you on that suspense! I have to run for now but not before I wish you all a great week! :)

*M*