Beyonce, Alicia Keys and THAT jewellery

Beyonce sporting a big smile and a pair of Sobral's Tropicalia earrings in Rio last month

What a cracking combination – and we now know that Beyonce looks pretty darn cool in the South American sunshine adorned with Sobral jewellery, as you can tell from the pictures.

So what was this all about? You might be aware that Alicia Keys and her mate ‘B’ (as she calls her) were spotted in Rio recently in full carnival dress. Actually, you couldn’t miss them as they had a rather large film crew in place and were shooting a video for Alicia’s new single ‘Put in a Love Song’ which features the rather lovely Beyonce looking even more stunning than usual. The single, off her forthcoming album ‘The Element of Freedom’ is due to be released in the UK quite soon, but I can’t give you a date at the moment.

I spoke to Alicia afterwards to find out what she thought about it all. No, I didn’t really, but it would have made a good story, right? We’ll have to take someone else’s word for it ! According to AllHeadlineNews.com “Shooting ‘Put It in a Love Song’ in Rio, in Brazil, was very incredible,” Keys told MTV following the shoot.

Beyonce posing with Liquorice Allsorts Bangles by Sobral in both 34mm and 50mm sizes

” I feel that the energy of the city matches the energy of the song. It’s sensual, it’s exciting, it’s so rich with color. I loved it.

The people came out so heavy and so hard. I think it was exciting, especially to participate and experience it with them like that.

“Me and B have a great relationship,” she continued. “And to be able to have the chemistry we have and do it in a city that’s so unique like that is unforgettable. The pictures speak a thousand words. So you saw the energy out there. It was great”

This might be why we’re sold out of these items at the moment on the Jackie Brazil World site (we’ll be getting more very soon, we promise!), but do check back often!

Doesn’t it look fabulous there? But then, it’s the origin of Jacke Brazil, and it’s easy to see where the inspiration comes from!

Clare

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My favourite customers Part I – Sue from Oz

One of the best things about running a business like this is because it’s so personal, I get to spend a lot of time with customers. Sometimes that’s face to face at shows, sometimes it’s on-line or via email.

Sue modelling N2660 Liquorice Allsorts 'Cleopatra' Necklace (approx £83.00) and E95 Black Gloss stud earrings (approx £9.00)

Some of my customers I’ve been dealing with for a long time and there are a special few in particular I have a bit of a laugh with and look forward to hearing from.

One of those is Sue, who’s a huge Jackie Brazil fan based in Oz, and I’ve been dealing with her since the early ebay days.

She sent me a couple of pics the other day and I thought they were great, so, after getting her permission to publish them, here they are – our very own Ozzie model! Of course, it helps that she’s pretty gorgeous and I know my other half thinks so too – I could tell by the way he pretended to nonchalantly ask me who it was!

Honestly, subtle as a brick that man …

I also love this photo – here she has her beloved E95 black studs in place again, but how about THIS for a classic Australian shot! Honestly, it’s the sort of thing you could put up for a caption competition and yes, that really IS wallaby stew. Lunch anyone?

Thanks Sue – these are great!

Clare

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‘Statement Necklaces are definitely IN’ according to the Telegraph’s fashion guru

I was perusing the papers the other day as I often do, and noticed an interesting article in the Telegraph’s Fashion section about statement necklaces which I found to be a pretty nice summary of what’s going on at the moment. If you’re not sure what ‘statement’ actually means, the definition, as with most things in fashion, is a little subjective, but really I think it all comes down to size, colour and ‘stand-out-ability’ (OK, so I made that last one up) ie, making a ‘statement’

We have, for some time, referred to Jackie Brazil pieces as statement pieces, and it seems this expression is becoming more and more mainstream. Although this journalistic piece refers to the work of other designers ranging from High Street to High Fashion, the message is still the same: The statement necklace is most definitely in and the predictions from the fashion people in the know is that this is going to be even bigger in the 2011 season …

Good job I love wearing ‘em! Happy days for me!

The article is here and worth a nose if you have 5 minutes:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/hilaryalexander/6995238/Lola-and-Tali-Lennox-model-Freedom-for-Topshop-jewellery-for-springsummer-2010.html

Just had a sneak preview …

WOW! I was down at Earl’s Court yesterday for the Top Drawer show where we were showing off the brand new stuff from Sobral. This was the first time I’d really been able to have a proper, proper look and, ladies, I have to report a total thumbs up! This is gorgeous stuff … and we’re looking forward to having it on the website in due course. We don’t know when it’s going to be available to us yet – we don’t even have any official photography – but as soon as it is, it’ll be there, don’t you worry! Very excited, but can’t tell if that more about getting it on the website or wearing it next time I’m out with the girls!!

Clare

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Behind the website …

I ALWAYS THOUGHT I was pretty hard working, but I’ve never worked as hard as I have in the last few months!

Getting the website together (www.jackiebrazilworld.com) was not that complicated in retrospect, even for us mediocre techies, but getting the stock organised and individually photographed … now THAT’s a different story! We just didn’t figure that that would take longer than building the site itself! It wasn’t just the volume of photographs and descriptions, it was the fact that we’re so fascinated about each piece as an individual work of art that we still, even now and after all this time, get distracted with cries of ‘wow, look at THAT one’, ‘check the colours on THIS’ and, of course the inevitable,  ‘can I keep it?’. The latter is usually met with a dull and distinctly disapproving frown from my partner.

Of course, that wasn’t the only distraction. Being the mother of two lovely and very young children (2 and 1) means that every now and again the kids have to come with you and that piece you’re about to photograph in the studio suddenly disappears from position by the time you get to press the button, only to magically reappear on the wrist of your son or daughter. You try telling off an 18 month old girl with an Art Deco bangle up her arm as she looks at you with a sparkly eyes, a beautiful bright smile and wild, curly blond hair. You can’t do it. No one can.

But I’m summarizing months of work and organization in just a few lines and it doesn’t do it justice. Our story is no different from anyone else’s I’m sure, and I’m writing this to kick start the blog on launch day. I should warn you all, I love writing stuff and I will be back again soon ….

Here are the obligatory links to show off what we’ve been doing:

Our main site, as of today, still being tweaked and improved:

www.jackiebrazilworld.com

Here’s our Facebook page, lots of sample photos and interesting stuff. Become a valued fan, we’ll look after you, don’t worry!

Here’s the inevitable Twitter link, and the latest posts are shown on the right:

https://twitter.com/JBrazilWorld

Finally, here’s where it all began, on our Ebay site, which we still use for various specials deals and promotions. We earned Top Seller, Power Seller and 100% positive feedback. Wow. Told you we were passionate!

http://stores.shop.ebay.co.uk/The-Funky-Accessory-Store

Thanks guys, speak soon

Clare

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