Ana in the Studio

Last week we revamped some of Ana's jewelry. Here she is experimenting with possible cleaning agents.

Kentucky Derby a' Comin'

Derby Necklace

The Kentucky Derby is next Saturday, May 3rd and I have a few lucky necklaces to bring in a winner.
As superstitious gamblers have their lucky charms, I'll be wearing my Derby Necklace and putting my money on Cool Coal Man, one of Nick Zito's horses. I'm a fan of Nick Zito. And now I'm also a fan of his jockey, Julien Leparoux who is French and cute and has never been a contender. I am ever hopeful for a good underdog story.

I have a penchant for kitschy racehorse imagery. Maybe it's because my father had a bit of the gambler in him--he liked the track and betting on the horses. He'd go to Belmont sometimes and once in a blue moon into an OTB. I was too little to go at that point, but he would always bet on the numbers of my birthday, 4/4 and a few times he won doing that. When that happened, he considered me his lucky charm which, since he was never unhealthy about gambling, I thought was cute.
He didn't read the stats, just liked numbers and names--and in that pure aesthetic spirit, I am his daughter.

(Not as scientific as Trish, Heather and Ada's techniques--girls? Horses please?)

Finding these black and gold glass pendants along with the jockey cap and crop was lucky (in a pure aesthetic spirit kind of way) for this Spring's Derby Necklace (above & below). The former is from the 1953 Belmont Stakes and I'm not sure what they were used for. The three little running racehorse charms are set on the chain to look like their coming around the track and represent each of the triple crown winners. There are some delicate little antique African seed beads near the collarbone (see pic above), for a pretty little detail. I figured it was a good necklace to kick off the triple crown season and I've been surprised how many like-minded ladies feel the same way. I'm almost sold out.
Other lucky pieces that have become Bonbon Gambler's Classics:

triple crown necklace with an antique glass ring
in a beautiful shade of pomegranate.

Triple Crown Fob Set and
Lucky Gambler Key Fob Set
(set with your lucky number instead if you want)

Good luck out there this weekend!!!

ckny

My friend Chris just showed me his new blog, ckny. A blog has this unique comes around like Halley's Comet. Please post more Chris because I cannot get enough.

Brooklyn Flea Redux

We're coming baaaack...
to the good ole'
Brooklyn Flea

for the next 2 Sundays, April 27th & May4th, 2008
good thing too because we'll have
lots of new goodies
just in time for Mother's Day!
Where? Here
in sunny (we hope) Fort Greene, Brooklyn
from 10am-5pm
Come early while we still have a lot of stuff!
As you know, everything we make is about re-purposing antique glass and baubles and putting them into a new context, so I like to think that we fit right into the spirit of the place.

We'll bring Everything from our famous antique brass key fobs

(with your choice of chains to wear as necklaces)
to this Spring's Zodiac Necklaces and antique glass earrings to goodies from our
infamous Les Historiettes Collection, Lapel Pins, (perfect for Mother's Day on May 11th!)
our new antique bead "grab bags"--a big hit the last time, and lots lots more.

Please come down and see us! Best part? The goods will be 15-50% off and my booth babes this week are my mysterious and handsome husband Jim and hot fashionista and baker extraordinaire Ana (who might bring some goodies of her own).

Oh yeah! And there's a ton of other cool stuff at this market.

***Can't make it to the Flea? ***
From now until May 5th we're giving you 20% off anything from
our Les Historiettes Collection
(look under earrings and necklaces).

Man, I used to love these

You know, you stare at the center for 30 seconds and then look at a blank piece of paper and, well, you know the rest. I met an antiques dealer who used it as his business card. Nice.

earth day happiness

In honor of Earth Day, I just ordered some new "jewelry care" cards (you know, to let people know how to take care of things and everything) from Greener Printer.
They print on recycled stock and use soy-based ink which we love.
We did our last show announcements with them as well and they came out beautifully.

Coincidence

sabrina dehoff

malababa

Add Coincidence (click on that one-cool website) in Shibuya in Tokyo to our list of "Bonbonbadiers". They'll have a big selection to choose from starting June 1st and I'm pretty psyched to be working with them.
Kaori, the owner, also carries some really interesting jewelry designers including two of my favorites, Malababa from Madrid and Sabrina Dehoff from Berlin.

The Huntress

Icky regards the fallen pearl from afar.

She gets closer, but plays nonchalant.

Moving slowly, she goes in for the kill.

And it's on.

Getting it Down and Up

Last week, I cleaned up the leaves and raked up the dirt in our flowerpots, window boxes and our 3' x 3' plot of dirt with a little trowel. We picked up these seeds to go into some of our windowboxes and also got gifted with some nice Italian basil.
This year, I think it's pretty flowers and herbs - I have rosemary, mint and chives from years past and maybe I'll plant bay, lavender, marjoram, thyme and what else? A little salad bed with some parlseys and of course a some peppers for salsa and grilling and tomatoes. Always tomatoes.

Psyched that the mint I lifted from a wild patch in Pennsylvania last Spring, below, is bursting up, full and heady already.

Gratitude and Bliss

My birthday was pretty uneventful this year, by choice, but this year I got such nice birthday gifts that I had to take pictures of everything they were so thoughtful and beautiful. I felt really loved this year and as this birthday kind of coincided with being a bit under the weather, I also felt really lucky to have such nice people around me. (I denounce all future birthdays by the way.) Here's the sweetness:

Jim brought me a gorgeous lush bouquet from Sprout in Williamsburg

and then he took me there for a visit the next day. It's a really beautiful place and he bought that little plant from outer space in the pic next to the fleurs. He declared it "his plant" although I've been
watering it and the cat has been eating it!

Velvet Acorns handmade by my friend Ana.
She made 4 of them because she remembered I said I liked the number.
I mean---handmade VELVET ACORNS!!!! Incredibly sweet.The chubby leg on the right is from my assistant Vanessa and it is an antique milagro I think from Peru. We have a little collection now and I love this one especially. The leg can represent healthy travels or a good journey through life. For me, it's kind of about getting back on my feet. It's a really special gift.

And then a little package came from London and it was this hot little leopard print coin purse from my friend Ann of ANNANN fame. We met in Paris a few years ago and she's one of the sweetest people I know.

Yes, these are my first Le Creuset cookery pieces. And yes I'm excited. And yes, they are in the most lovely shade of green that the company calls "lemongrass" but I call it "grannysmith". The teapot is from my oldest and bestest friend Joie and the oval Cassoulet pot from my brother and sister-in-law. (My sister-in-law is also Joie's mom--my brother and she were married back when we were in school--I know I know--cool and strange). My first dish in the pot is going to be braised artichokes and fingerlings in olive oil, tomatoes and garlic.

I got some lovely teas from a few people--tea from Yunnan from Ana and flowering tea from Joie and this tea from Sandy (and a Tee also, not pictured but funny). This tea is from Forte and is amazing and subtle
as is the packaging--the little leaf is attached to the silk bag on a coated wire and wraps around the lip of your cup.
I am almost out--I've been drinking it with whoever comes for a visit.
Jim brought me a brewing cup as well, so thoughtful and lovely, especially for the studio while I'm working.

Oh cookbooks! Nothing better for this girl than to bring a pile of cookbooks over to the couch, spread them around and do a little research, plan a menu or just obsess over recipes and pictures.
My sister-in-law Sara knows this, and the Tartine book arrived at the door. It's the cookbook that began this blog and the one I just never bought for myself. She knows me too well--she is also a master baker.

Casa Moro, recipes from the restaurant by the same name in London known for it's "Moorish" cuisine is another beautiful gift from Ana. I love this cuisine, where Spain meets Morocco and have been recently obsessed with this style of cooking. The recipes in this book are droolworthy. For example: Quail stuffed with Couscous, Almonds and Apricots. I must go to London and eat here.
I bought myself the one in the bottom picture with a little of the generous loot received by both sets of parents. I never owned a Jewish cookbook and it's a great read, with some beautiful sounding recipes from Persia and Italy and my favorite chapter so far, Passover in Paris.

earrings & plugs

These are some new custom earrings I did for Cog & Pearl over in Park Slope. Am getting some new ones ready for The Brooklyn Flea as well for April 27th as well as this Earring Workshop I'll be teaching over at Make Workshop. (Shameless Plug 1, 2 and 3).

The Spring of the Golden Clogs

The flowers are pushing their way up this week in Brooklyn and I took a walk around the garden to see what was on the way. I particularly love when flowers work their way through cracks in the pavement or end up in the middle of a lawn meaning some bird or squirrel pooped out some seeds and there you have it, like these pansies.

Also, this is the spring of the Golden Clogs. I stopped by Jan & Aya last Thursday afternoon and came out victorious with above clogs, bought with birthday loot from my in-laws.

Brooklyn Flea Interactive

Today is the second Sunday of the Brooklyn Flea over in Fort Green but alas I cannot be there. The buzz in one short week between 1 and 2 has been tremendous: check out the NY Times today in print and on-line and INTERACTIVE!
Bonbon'll see you back there on April 27th and May 4th with lots of new treats for Mother's Day and to amp up your Spring accessorizing.

Brooklyn Flea
Bishop Loughlin Memorial High School
Lafayette Ave. between Clermont and Vanderbilt Ave.
Fort Greene, Brooklyn, NY

Paris Sweets

Just a little afternoon fantasy break.

Kir, Royale or No

The last thing I picked up at the Paris airport was this hard to resist bottle of Cassis. Too pretty not to. I figured we'd be drinking Kirs, Royale or no, all Spring long, pinkies out, the whole shootin' match or maybe we could pour it over vanilla ice cream and add some fresh berries and eat that for dinner. Maybe we'll never use it but I just keep looking at this bottle and it gives me that delicate feeling of being away in body in spirit every time.

Last Decadent Day in Paris, March 8th

View of the Pyrenees. Took a plane in the a.m. from Barcelona
back to Paris. Large breakfast at hotel in Sitges, not shown.

Walked all over Paris. On way to Jim's Birthday lunch. Favorite bridge? Pont Neuf I guess.

Window of Deyrolle, living cabinet of curiousities. I was too shy to whip out my camera inside.
(We got kicked out of the Taj Mahal that way.) There were some incredible dead butterflies inside
which were eerily beautiful, as was the whole shop.

Umbrella Shop on Blvd St Germaine? Yes please!

Smart Cars smooching. So polite to leave room for other cars to park. Brooklyn take note.

Favorite paintshop on the rue Voltaire The first time I was ever in Paris was 1991.
I bought watercolors for myself here. The colors are clear and rich. up there with Schminke.

Lunch at the Relais de l'Entrecôte.Not such a delicious photo, but this place is incredible. It was recommended to me by Vivian Pei, one of my favorite gourmands and it's the most delicious steak I've ever had. When you walk in, they ask how you want it cooked, write it on your tablecloth and they bring it over and keep it coming.
The fun is trying to figure out how to duplicate that tarragon sauce at home.
They only serve steak. And dessert. We had the Mont Blanc.

More desserts. It was Jim's Birthday people. Come on.

And then a little glass of wine.

And then dinner. The third time I ate here this trip--my favorite little restaurant with
really typical food called Aux Tonneaux Les Halles on the very fun rue de Montorgueil, a great street to
meet friends, filled with bars and
little food shops. I adore this dish, Cuisse de Canard with
sauteed potatoes and simple salad dressed with fresh vinaigrette.
We are the dorks who take pictures of our food.

End of trip. That's all folks.