Holiday time 2009

After a solid year filled to the brim with hard work, it was definitely time for a holiday! Mark and I took a complete (well, almost) break from work of all kinds and headed down to America to visit somewhere I've wanted to go all my life ...

Disneyland! It really is 110% the most happy place on earth - I thought that was just their marketing thing, but it honestly truly is! Don't remember the last time I was happy for 10 hours straight. I want to live there! The music that plays throughout the park, the castle, the food, the themed everything everywhere, the amazing rides, parades, fireworks and teacups! It was amazing in every way. We also managed to cram in a short road trip to Las Vegas for a few days of crazy good times before returning to reality back in Vancouver.

A quick side note: a big thank you to Etsy for featuring Aroha Silhouettes in their 'The Space Between' storque article this week!

Happy Birthday Aroha Silhouettes

Today it's been exactly one year since Aroha Silhouettes was born! And I couldn't have dreamed of a better first year in business. I'm addicted!

The learning curve has been huge and a year ago I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. Thankfully I'm happy being a workaholic! I kind of assumed that it would be all designing and glamorous selling, and didn't really think too much about the endless photos to take, constant emails, accounting, writing, marketing and constant self promotion online. BUT all that aside, I love Aroha Silhouettes to bits! It gets me bouncing of bed on a Sunday morning because I can't wait to get started on working on it, and it keeps me up until the wee hours every night of the week.

And Aroha Silhouettes 1st birthday delight - an article in Granville Magazine!



A big enormous thank you to Janet Gyenes, the assistant editor of Granville Magazine for taking the time to write such a incredible article about Aroha Silhouettes.

Also big props to Notcouture, This Little City, Design Catwalk and Kathryn at Like Gold Dust for being super stunning and featuring Aroha Silhouettes jewellery on their sites!

Aroha Silhouettes - Stainless Phantasmal lookbook

The Stainless Phantasmal lookbook is now available for download!







A huge amount of work went into putting this lookbook together and it makes me so happy to see everything put together so beautifully!

Stainless Phantasmal is out now!

Optical illusions disorient the visual perceptual system with their eye-catching impossible lines.

Illusions can be based on an individuals ability to see in three dimensions, even though the image hitting the retina is only two dimensional. The brain tries to find some kind of continuity in what our eyes see, and when our perception does not match with the physical dimensions of the object, an optical illusion is born.

The semi-gloss stainless steel that each piece is etched from catches the light and provides a strong yet lightweight material for the delicate geometric designs. The Stainless Phantasmal collection by Aroha Silhouettes is made up of miniature pieces of unique art that can be worn as three-dimensional eye candy everyday.

arohasilhouettes.com

Earrings - $46

Necklaces - $52

A sneak peek

Recently I teamed up with the fabulous Andrea and Kaveh of Nardeboon Photography and Emma Garland hair and makeup extraordinaire for a studio photo shoot to get some new images. Our model Siri was absolutely gorgeous and did a fabulous job of modeling the pieces.


I've been wanting to get the Phantasmal Collection designs smaller for such a long time and I'm so happy with how they have turned out! Stainless steel is the perfect lightweight yet strong material for these tiny designs.

They will be available in the Aroha Silhouettes online store on the 22 August 2009, I can't wait!

Portobello West video

I just discovered this cool little youtube video of the Portobello West March market. If you look closely for the splash of purple you'll see me giggling!

Craft show display setup

A few months ago was my first arts and fashion market at Portobello West here in Vancouver. I wanted to come up with a display that left everyone with a fantastic first impression of Aroha Silhouettes! Here's what I came up with for the show ...

A giant sign that matches my business cards + a tall standing easel

Custom displays I designed and had made from white acrylic to make the jewellery stand out

I can't imagine doing a craft show without my handsome helper Mark!

And here's the final result - I went to five different fabric stores in Vancouver in search of the perfect purple fabric for the table, it was totally worth the hunt
It was so much fun doing the show and actually meeting the customers, a rare treat since I mainly sell my jewellery over the internet. I hope I can do lots more shows again in the future!

Outblush love

Outblush is a blog for girls who love to shop! So naturally I was one excited cookie to discover the red hot Perception Necklace featured!

Much Music Canada

I lurrrrrve Much Music Canada, so to be featured on their blog is super duper!

Lucid Contrast in colour

Lucid Contrast is now available in deep sapphire blue, emerald green and fire engine red!

Each design is made from a vibrant coloured reclaimed 12" vinyl record. When you look closely at each piece you can see the unique grooves that hold the music, creating a one of a kind design.

I can't stop wearing my new pair of emerald green contour earrings!

ECOLS and Starfire Studio

I'm so excited to announce two new retailers for Aroha Silhouettes!

The first store is ECOLS in Hong Kong, a fabulous store dedicated to the eco lifestyle. They also have a super cool ECOLS rating system to illustrate why products they sell are ECO and are selected or designed for the ECOLS store. The rating system considers four main criteria - materials, manufacturing process, creativity and stylishness. I'm so thrilled that they chose Aroha Silhouettes jewellery to be a part of their store.

The second store is Starfire Studio in West Vancouver, set in the picturesque Village of Horseshoe Bay. At Starfire Studio you will find the unique and unusual, attracting the attention of discerning collectors. These objets d'art stimulate the five senses and appeal to those who have that sixth sense.

Sweetspot Canada

Setting up a facebook page for Aroha Silhouettes has been on my to do list for a while now, so I dedicated my Saturday to getting it all setup. I'm so happy with how it turned out!

I would love, love, love it if you would join me on facebook and become a fan! It's where I'll be posting news, events and photos.


Last week also brought some incredible press from Sweetspot, Canada's first online trend spotting lifestyle guide. It was the cherry on top to find out the feature wasn't just on their website, but it also went out to inboxes all over Canada. Eeeeee!

Another awesome surprise of the week was an article on TreeHugger by the brilliant Cara Smusiak. I'm a massive fan of TreeHugger, it's a media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability into the mainstream. It's so exciting to be featured on my favourite websites!

Lucid Contrast

I'm so thrilled to release my second collection, Lucid Contrast, a collection of eight modern designs now available at Aroha Silhouettes.

Each eco friendly piece is made from reclaimed vinyl records and is one of a kind due to the nature of the unique grooves present in the record prior to cutting. The lightweight earrings and necklaces create striking contrasts with their simplistic designs that go with everything.

Contour necklace - $35

Peephole earrings - $25

Vapour necklace - $35

You can also find the collection in the Aroha Silhouettes Supermarket store!

Portobello West

I've been going full steam ahead over the last couple of weeks putting together everything for my first show!

I absolutely love craft shows, I've been going to them as far back as I can remember. I never even imagined for a second that I would be lucky enough to take part in Portobello West.

If you're in Vancouver this weekend, come on by and check out the season launch and some amazing local designers and artists with the talent and the dedication to produce truly original and desirable clothes, jewelry, accessories and art.

It's only five days away and I'm a little nervous!

Packaging jewellery for Canada Post

When selling jewellery online, finding an attractive yet practical packaging solution isn't easy. It needs to be sleek, protective, lightweight and most importantly, it needs to fit through the 2cm plastic slot at the post office (and that's after it's been put inside a bubble mailer!) to get the most affordable shipping rate.

I've searched high and low for the perfect packaging and I think I've found it!

A rectangular CD tin is only 1cm deep, lightweight, protective and I think it looks pretty sleek and snazzy. They also come in adorable mini sizes for smaller pieces. Add a simple printed insert and it's ready to go.

Now all Aroha Silhouettes purchases come dressed up!