Are you smelling the air, the scents of the flowers and buds that are wafting about? And sniffing the beautiful flora bursting from the seams? And soaking those rays, imbibing the vitamin D you’ve been deprived of for so long?

Ah yes, everything’s feeling lighter.

(Except of course, if you’re an allergy sufferer!) But if you are, I hope like me, you started taking those little pills BEFORE the onset of the pollen season! That’s really the key.

Well I’m here to tell you about a fun and fantastic Diamond Jubilee festival  at the Valentines Mansion and Park, showcasing 60 years of art and design in this great city of London! It’s called London Pride – 60 Years of Bright Ideas and begins Thursday with the appearance of the Queen, yes, the Queen (and I practiced my curtsy in her honour, the lucky lady she is!) and ends on Sunday afternoon.

I will be exhibiting (and selling!) on Saturday (31st March) in the gardens of the Valentines Mansion with the Designers/Makers group and would love to see and meet you lovely people who read me. And along with me, there will be of course, a plethora of beautiful handmade things from London designer-makers and local artists as well as an exhibit of classic British cars, fun fair rides, bands, food, and of course the big name exhibitors like Tate, Saatchie Gallery to name just a couple.

London Pride – 60 Years of Bright Ideas

A perfect cultured weekend outing in this loving spring weather! So if you’re a lover of art and design and you are curious to see how it’s evolved over the last 60 years, I know where you’ll be this coming Saturday!

Valentines Mansion
Emerson Raod, Ilford, Essex
IG1 4XA
Tube: Gants Hill

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So here’s my eflyer for the Xobo Shop.

ilanaDesign at Xobo Shop South Ken

I’ll be all installed by next week with the private view on Thursday January 12th.

Along with my Fondue collection will be Xobo Design‘s latest furniture collection and photography by Robert Taylor.

So come, come, come along and bring those who love special things!

I must say I’ve been neglecting my blog lately but I hope to be more on top of things in the coming year.

Things have been moving for ilanaDesign however. I sold to shops, had commissions and have been meeting interesting and wonderful people in the industry and forming my ‘jewellery family’. Ooooo warm fuzzies now! Like sipping a hot toddy, mmm mmm.

At the moment I’m scrambling to get my display ready for the Xobo Shop located in South Kensington on the very posh Walton Street! Oo la la baby. This shop is up and running as we speak, with the very exciting new furniture line from Xobo Design, and the photography of brilliant portrait photographer Robert Taylor  (stay tuned to my blog for more…).

Some of the great furniture includes the Oyster Wardrobe, this fantastic colourful wardrobe based on a gentleman’s travelling suitcase! How cool is that!

Xobo Oyster Wardrobe

Going forward, I have yet expansive plans for my Vase Ring. I won’t give that away just yet though! But I can say I’m excited about it.

So, I wonder now, what are YOUR plans for 2012? Yes you! You who is reading these words at this very moment! Get in touch, give me your news as I love hearing from you people out there!

In the meantime…

Looking oh so divine in my Snail Chapeau!

Lots of love to all of you and wishes for peacefulness within, togetherness, and whatever really, truly, deeply makes you happy!

Peace out,

ilana

Garden of Vase Rings

Imagine this…
An intoxicating perfume wafts from your hand, drawing in eyes from every direction to a beautiful fresh cut flower that sits on your…

…finger?
A gerbera, a chrysanthemum, a rose…

What tickles your fancy? None the matter, as the Vase Ring is the platform for your fickle desires.

The Pink Gerbera Vase Ring

The Deep Purple Chrysanthemum Vase Ring

The Two-tone Wild Chrysanthemum Vase Ring

The satin brush finish silver base is simply the vessel that houses your expression. The Vase Ring evokes the senses, draws in smiles, catalyses conversations as well as new friendships.
After it’s creation slightly more than a year ago, I’m happily and officially launching the ilanaDesign Vase Rings (see my blog entry on July 16, 2010)! So yes, that means they are now available for you to dress up your fingers!

And I had a fun photo shoot with Image Outlet, a new photography studio based in East London (www.imageoutlet.co.uk). Emma Job, with her talents, brought my creation to life.

During the shoot it felt like the flowers were actors on a stage, like models working hard under hot lights and it was like a story in itself so I took a few snaps of the photo shoot (please don’t cringe at my lack of photographic talents!)

Image Outlet photo shoot

The actors without makeup in position

Working hard under the hot lights

So, I wonder, what flower would you wear?
I leave you with a quote by Emma Goldman:

“I’d rather have roses on my finger than diamonds on my neck.”  – Emma Goldman, political activist

Ok so she actually said “I’d rather have roses on my table…”, but I took the liberty of exercising my artistic license. Sorry Emma! But gosh she looks sweet in that Yellow Rose Vase Ring!

Ms Goldman wears coveted ilanaDesign Vase Ring with Rose

This bracelet funny enough gives me the feeling of tall and thin, and well guess what, the artist Miriam Austin, whom it was made for is elegantly tall and thin!

Her bracelet flows between straight and organic lines in the same way that her own work moves between sculpture, performance, and installation.

Mim Bracelet, a fusion of straight and flowey, of brass and silver.

Just a little peek-a-boo to say hey-ho before I go home for a few weeks I can go with a smile on my face with my Fondue collection on the platform!

Platform Gallery that is.

Until April 15th you can find my Fondue collection at Platform Gallery in Hatton Garden as part of the Work in Progress showcase organised by Holts Academy.

www.platformjewellery.com

I’ve a new addition to the Fondue family and that is the chunky man’s ring, in a serious Fondue-stylee! Gentlemen check it out. You want to say “cool, masculine, funk”? Hot-up your digits with one of these, baby!

Man's chunky Fondue ring

A hip statement on the thumb or index finger! oo la la!

And of course, lots for the ladies…

And on this note, I jet off to Montréal!

A bientôt les amis!

My workbench at home with bits from the Fondue collection

Well it has been a long time since you’ve heard a peep from me, but here I am! Checking in! Saying hello. Giving you abit of news.

Oh how procrastination can be so easy (and unsettling).

Well here I am, and I’m working on making more of the Fondue collection for Platform Gallery in Hatton Garden and hopefully soon for a pop-up shop in a 5 star hotel somewhere in London. At this moment in time I still don’t know where though and it’s kind of exciting. Feels like a rave party where you only find out at the last minute where you’re going!

And oh, I will soon have a profile page with Stylistic Gallery when they launch their site in April and right now you can see my pieces on their facebook page. Stylistic Gallery on Facebook

My Fondue collection is looking good, taking on new forms each time. I’m excited about the new ring for MEN!!! Yes I have a very chunky funky man’s Fondue ring! (Watch this space for a photo soon!). AND, I’ll be exploring BLACK DIAMONDS!! Ooooooo I find that oh so thrilling! But enough about that now, more on that next time. Can’t give it all away in one go!

So that’s my little peep for today! Stay tuned. Bear with my procrastination! I actually love writing for my blog! Happy happy joy joy!! Feels so good to be back! ; )

Back again soon soon…

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads This blog is doing awesome!.

Crunchy numbers

A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 1,300 times in 2010. That’s about 3 full 747s.

In 2010, there were 12 new posts, not bad for the first year! There were 47 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 30mb. That’s about 4 pictures per month.

The busiest day of the year was April 22nd with 41 views. The most popular post that day was Jewellery portfolio.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were facebook.com, linkedin.com, ilana-design.co.uk, mail.live.com, and uk.linkedin.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for rings sketches, jewellery sketches, ring sketches, thumb ring, and jewellery hand sketches.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

Jewellery portfolio April 2010
2 comments

About April 2010

Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb – An interactive playful ring with grit May 2010
1 comment

Contact me April 2010
2 comments

Short n sweet, the time is nigh… November 2010

May it be filled with living colours, fresh angles, sparkley gems, atypical perspectives, glistening moments and the birth of many new ideas!

Let’s create and create in 2011!