It summertime. Feel like getting your mermaid on? I'm always excited to find someone using materials in an interesting way. Hazel Studstill of HJ Designs uses carp skins to make jewelry that looks and feels a lot like leather, but still has a bit of fish to it.
The carp skins are salvaged from fisheries in Canada. And if you like these, check our her other pieces. She makes lots of lovely jewelry, and it doesn't all involve fish.
Images from HJ Designs. Discovered via Fab.
We've covered recycled bike tube jewelry before, but Montreal-based Otra (On The Road Again) does it right. These are sleek and modern. Available via Fab for the next couple of days, or on Otra's website.
I can't believe how sleek these look, given their humble origins and bicycle innertubes.
Images from Otra. Via Fab.
There's a lot of jewelry made from reclaimed vintage silverware. Most of it is nice, and often looks like this (rings from Doctor Gus--super affordable at under $10 each!).
But every so often, someone sees the materials differently. Kristin Freiha at BohoElegance (on Etsy) decided to pull the tines off the forks and rework them into some surprisingly modern pieces. I like how relaxed they are, especially since they originated with grandma's formal silverware.
Images from Doctor Gus (center) and BohoElegance (top, bottom).
I'm on a concrete kick and discovered Green Couch. These Oklahoma-based designers are making very cool concrete jewelry and other upcycled products. The rough copper and concrete jewelry pieces are my favorites, and the railroad date nails make great earrings.
If you want to know more, there's a great article about the designers here. In addition to the jewelry, they do graphic design. And if you live near Oklahoma City, they make custom furniture, too.
Images from Green Couch. Via Kara Paslay Designs.
Designer Amanda Loos takes seed beads and recycled silver and turns then into summery loveliness. I love the signature hexagonal clasp on the bracelet and the sharp right angles on those quill earrings.
See more of her charming KYYOTE jewelry here.
Images from KYYOTE. Via Fab.
I discovered the lovely work of Amira Mednick (top photo), and got to thinking about modern macrame, and how it might be used with recycled and found materials. The challenge is to do it in a contemporary way, without the hemp rope and owls of the 1970s version.
Berenice of Lunatic Arts uses reclaimed silver and waxed cotton thread to make her hybrid rings and bracelets.
Take this as just a little inspiration for your toolbox. Enjoy!
Images from Amira Mednick and Lunatic Arts's Etsy shop
The amazing curators over at Fab* tipped me off to the work of Montreal artist Vanessa Yannow. She's very versatile, and there's a lot of variety on her website. However, it's the zipper necklaces that got me.
There's something the juxtaposition of fancy art glass and the mundane zipper, plus seeing the metal teeth next to bare skin, that really works for me. I don't know if there's anything really green about these, but the concept lends itself to salvaged zippers and a variety of pull ornaments. I'd love to see these in person.
*Note: The Fab sale is over, but you can see more of Vanessa's work at her web site.
Images from Vanessa Yannow. Via Fab.
My latest Fab discovery--Language jewelry. These are geometric and modern and crave-worthy. I love the pieces built from tubing and bars. My favorites by far are the caged ball pendants, like this one. I keep thinking of other spheres that might like to live in that gilded (OK, brass) cage. These tubing necklaces that use silk cord instead of chain are also so simple and charming.
Aside from some use of reclaimed brass and materials, there's not much overtly green about the language designs. Still, they are lovely and inspiring.
Images from Language Jewelry. Via Fab.
While everyone is going digital and taking photos with their smart phones, old lenses past their prime are finding new life as these sharp bangle bracelets. Craig Arnold collects the lenses and reworks them into jewelry. I especially love that silver one.
Who knew being in focus could be so stylish?
Images from Oye Modern. Via Randomization.
