EPIC - a good "green" time was had.

Thanks to all of you who dropped by my booth at Epic and for all your lovely comments. (See more info on EPIC in the post below). The necklace shown above consists of a pair of vintage rhinestone clip-on earrings wired with a vintage rhinestone bow brooch to make one gorgeous cluster. Strung on grey glass faux pearls - many people thought they were the real thing. I'm glad I got a photo of this one because it was brand new and sold to a very nice lady that day.
For me, the highlight was the eco fashion show put on by Fashion High. It was fantastic to see so many talented, hip, fresh designers all choosing to use eco-friendly fabrics as their main medium.
Here's some pixs of my booth set up. On the bottom right are the new blingy key collection. It's my riff on those ridiculously expensive, jewel-encrusted Tiffany's keys that you see advertised everywhere.

Beside my booth were the lovely Basil and Blake from Inkspoon. I was impressed to learn that all of their garments are sewn and printed in Canada - the Kootenays to be exact.

And check out Granville Magazine online - they chose me as one of the top local designers to check out at the show!

BuenoStyle at EPIC this weekend!

I'm excited about the upcoming "green living" expo EPIC this weekend. I've attended it in the past but this is the first time I will be exhibiting and selling there.

Now - you mat be wondering why is my jewelry considered in the "green" category? Mostly because I use as much vintage and reclaimed material as possible in my designs. By using what has already been produced years ago, my jewelry has a smaller "footprint" than purchasing something brand new. It hasn't taken any new energy to smelt the metal, no stones or metal have been mined from the earth. I love the look of natural stones (sea jasper, quartz, etc) but I will not use them in my designs because I have no idea how they have been quarried from the earth. Many semi-precious stones are mined in poorer regions such as Africa and South America and you have no idea how the workers are treated never mind the environmental impact.

And, generally speaking, I'm committed to eco-friendly practices and packaging. All jewelry items come packaged in recycled tissue and a cute gift bag. I had quite a dilemma about packaging acually. I was concerned that the little gift bags I was buying were probably made in China (sweatshop labour/shipping long distances) but I was adamant that I would not ever buy any plastic or cellophane packaging. Then someone pointed out that people will tend to save those little bags and re-use them instead of throwing them out. At least they won't end up in a land fill, so I decided to go with them.

I'm just starting to research further into ethical mining practices and have found this promising organization, and this great web site - both on ethical mining practices. I have yet to find any information on purchasing ethically quarried stones though.

Epic runs from Friday May 8 (1pm - 8pm) until Sunday May 10 (mother's day!). There will be fashion shows put on by Fashion High, and lots of inspiring green products to check out. Bring your Mom down and make a day of it!

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