Coming soon to Australian retailers: Elma Venezia Jewellery

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They are finally here and I am so proud of my latest project. You may have read a little from my previous posts about Elma Venezia, an Italian jewellery house who makes beautiful original pieces of glass art. I am simply in love with the whole range, especially all the marine summer colours. One of my collective of projects for 2012/2013 is to import these beauties to the Australian market. So look out for them in bespoke galleries, fashion stores and jewellers near you soon. If you have a store or know someone who might be interested in becoming a stockist of Elma Venezia jewellery, contact me via my shop.

Also if you are interested in where to find a stockist near you, we will be launching the Elma Venezia website in February 2013.

For now, my online store has a vast range available and for this weekend only is having a 30% off sale as part of its '12 Deals of Christmas' promotion. To receive a 30% discount off all Elma Venezia jewellery, enter the following coupon code DEAL30%MURANO during check out.

SHOP NOW - SALE ENDS MONDAY 10 DECEMBER

If you love the pictures below like I do, tell me your favourite, I would love to hear from you.

Zavara Newsletter Subscription Promotion

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Hey everyone,

Just a short and sweet entry tonight as it has been a crazy week for the shop. I promise my next post will be juicy, as our photos have arrived from the Elma Venezia jewellery shoot and they look hot! Look out for them later this week.

In the mean time, we are building up a collection of amazing Christmas offers for our store. See below for our very cute facebook newsletter subscription promo, where you have the chance to win a $100 gift voucher to spend in my store. Visit our Zavara facebook page for more information.

Help me style my engagement shoot

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So I have my engagement shoot with Photography by Nadean next week and I am busy collecting cute rustic picnic props for it. Since my beautiful husband to be is Italian, I was trying to add subtle Italian flavour to the shoot too without introducing gingham table cloths and candles half melted into bottles.

Here is a list of things that I have come up with so far. Would love your thoughts and any suggestions to add to my collection of engagement props.

I have a cute blackboard tray that I am going to write 'la vita e bella' on which means 'life is beautiful'

That's all I have so far. I would have loved to add a vintage bike leaning against a tree or even a scooter but I dont know anyone I can borrow one from. Also NSW scooter laws mean you need a motor bike licence to ride one, so hiring is out too.

Can you think of any other ideas for me?

In the mean time, I am going to work on finding the perfect 1950's style dress to wear. Mod Cloth doesn't deliver to Australia express, so I am off to the shops on my lunch break.

For the little rockstar in the family

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Has you son got the muso gene? 
Is he already practicing his air guitar and head banging skills?

This just might be the only quiet musical gift you can give a budding little rockstar which he can both play with and sleep with that wont give you a headache. 

Designed by the Danish brand Ferm Living and made from 100% Organic Cotton, the guitar cushion is the great accompaniment to any boys bedroom.

$88.00
Available now from Zavara 

BUY NOW

Elma Venezia behind the scenes

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Tuesday was a big day for the Zavara team as we held our Spring/Summer photo shoot for the jewellery house Elma Venezia. You may have read a little about the brand from my earlier post Venice Part One - Murano Jewellery however if you haven't read the post yet, I can summarise the jewellery as exquisite handmade statement jewellery that is not like anything Australia has seen... until now!

Being an event manager certainly helped me prepare for this shoot, from writing the call sheet through to the problem solving on the day, which is always inevitable. Essential to the day was of course our models Rachel and Oceana from Mannequin Models and our very talented photographer Nadean from Photography by Nadean. I also enlisted some first year students Kayla and Emily from Whitehouse Institute of Design to help with the styling.

Before the shoot
As you can imagine, even with the shoot scheduled to start at 3pm, we were up and out of the house before 9am to ensure everything was ready in time. First stop after loading the car with boxes of shoes, clothes and diet cokes was the RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority). Yes, that sounds like a strange choice but we noticed our number plates stolen from our car and therefore couldn't drive it.... I'm thinking lucky we are up and out the door early. Not so lucky was that we couldn't sort it out in time and ended up hiring a car for the day. Did I mention earlier that problems on the day were inevitable?

After that it was collecting the catering, picking up more clothes for the shoot and be on location my midday.... Ahem make that 1pm. 

Next the stylists arrive and models with their hair beautifully done by Amy from Amy Chan Hair & Make up Artistry. We opted to have Oceana with her hair out and Rachel with an elegant updo, which turned out to be a great move since Rachel wore most of the evening wear and with her hair up, the earrings looked stunning.

With Sydney weather always a lottery, I didn't want to assume we had Mother Nature in the bag... but this picture below one of the stylist took, shows just how amazing a Sydney Spring day can be.

Next it was matching the jewellery with the outfits and putting them together with the models... pretty much like dress ups for grown ups. Loving the number system the stylist have set up to match the jewellery with the outfits.  Have to say 3 hours into the shoot, it was a lifesaver. An hour or so later when the heat of the day had gone its was action time.

Action Time
By far the most exciting part of the day, when everything comes together better than you imagine. Here are a few pics we took on our phone from behind the scenes. In a few weeks when the professional photos are processed, I will add another post of our new catalogue for all you all to drool over. 

Loving these printed pants in marine colours 

 All hands on deck for this one with Kayla fighting with the tree

Last few shots before the sun went down. 

 Cheeky Alberto trying to get the models to laugh

Breathtaking

All in all, it was an amazing day that ending at sunset with a well earned glass on wine in hand. If you are in love with this jewellery as much as I am visit my shop to view the full range. 

Creative Blackboards

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I have this obsession with blackboards, I just love that a simple sign or note can look clever at the same time. From writing a shopping list to quoting your favourite poet, here are some unique ways to incorporate blackboards into your life.

From a unique children's desk in a playroom, to a custom tall boy or feminine headboard....

From the kids lunch bag to the backboard of your cabinetry

Labeling with blackboards is not new but how about a custom table runner or spice rack or even your guests wine glasses?

Anything and everything can become a blackboard, even your wine bottle from last nights dinner

So how about we take blackboards to another level...

Surfboard anyone, or perhaps a car... no I am thinking vegetables?

The blackboards may be gone from our schools but they are very now for the grown adults of today. Think outside the box and your world will turn into a giant blackboard. So what are you going to write about?