Brooklyn Flea

"I love the idea of visual storytelling," says Bonbon Oiseau's Deb Stein. Her finely crafted collections of jewelry, hair adornments and unisex accessories come from an intense interest in narrative, character and history; her work is "meant to be like visual poetry, based on concepts or sayings," she explains.

Deb is a Day One Fleaster, having been with the market since the first weekend. She's currently based in Long Island City, after many years living and working in Greenpoint, and values the Flea for "the sense of community and camaraderie among the vendors and the level of creativity and inspiration there," she says. "I've met so many great people and made friends, both vendors and customers."

Her table is filled with long strings of colorful beads, sparkly drop earrings perfect for a party, weighty key fob lockets, and a small suitcase full of paper cards draped with charm necklaces (wishbones and feathers are recurring trinkets). "The Holiday Collection, which I'm showing at the Flea now, is called Etoiles du Monde (Stars of the World)," she tells us. "It was inspired by an Indian miniature painting we own, of a Maharani (Rajastani princess) pointing to the night sky. We used French antique crystals from the 1920's to represent the sparkling stars!"

Bonbon Oiseau's past projects have drawn their aesthetic not just from paintings but from vintage literature, old films, poems, even simple aphorisms: "Our newest collection is inspired by the old saying, 'Every cloud has a silver lining.' It's very optimistic and colorful—the pieces literally have silver (and gold) linings! There's Les Bois & Les Pres, (From the Woods to the Fields) based on Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and Around the World in 80 Days, imagining Phineas Fogg as a woman, bringing back bits and stringing them as she moved along." Deb's favorite collection was one she called Bonnie & Clyde, imagining what Bonnie Parker's jewelry case may have looked like after it was unearthed years later. "Very romantic." she says.

Deb's display (she's holding it down at G5, along the left wall on the ground floor) is also strewn with porcupine quills and other quirky objects, one of which was, in a reverse business arrangement, sold to her by a customer. "One old-timer wanted to sell me this really big metal key, like a prison cell key. He said it was the key to Al Capone's cell. He said, 'It's $8 but you can make at least $10 selling it again.' Hilarious. Of course I had to buy it and now I use it as a display for my key fobs!"

This connection to unusual materials is central to her creativity and pushes her out on the road a few times a year. "I love working with antique beads and mixing them with metals," she explains. "We have sources in Paris where we get old beads and glass and I love visiting the flea markets in France. Right now, we're working with and addicted to these really old seed-beads we came home with from France last year. Then, we found more seed beads on a road trip out west, from a trading post in Shoshone, Wyoming, where Sacajawea was from. The Shoshone people have a rich beading tradition. I learned a lot on that trip."

Bonbon Oiseau's jewelry is perfect for the holiday season, and Deb shares with us the reason why: "We try to make wearable, lovable pieces that women have a connection with and will make them feel special, beautiful."

And in the charitable spirit of the season, Bonbon Oiseau will donate five dollars from the sale of each money clip (like this lobster one) to the Food Bank for New York City.