Jewelry Making

Bakelite is a favorite plastic for many collectors. Invented in 1907 by Leo Baekeland this extremely versatile plastic went on to be used in a multitude of products through the 1940s. Lately, they’ve experienced quite a resurgence in popularity. I’ve seen a bunch of antique bakelite things at various garage sales and swap meets, but usually the items offered are the actual old products (such as bangles, dishes, and even radios).

Aileen from Bakelite Bits ups the ante by creating original one of a kind jewelry pieces from colorful remnant pieces of Bakelite, including necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and pins.

From her website:

I adore vintage materials and I have developed an appreciation, dare I say LOVE, of early plastics, particularly bakelite. My love affair started with a wonderful red/butterscotch Fada 1000 bullet catalin (bakelite) radio that came my way and has evolved into an enthusiasm to make things from this beautiful substance. I have been creating pieces of jewelry and other objects of whimsy from vintage beads, buttons and parts (found in flea markets, antique shops and from folks who have purchased old stock and remnants from defunct plastics factories) which are inspired by those fashioned in the heyday of this vibrant phenolic resin and infused with my own sense of fun.

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I came across some fascinating DIY jewelry from Better Through Daisy the other day. (Interestingly, Better Through Daisy is not run by someone named Daisy but by someone named Colleen!) Based in Wilmington, NC, Colleen has come up with a really creative idea to reuse items that might otherwise sit unloved in someone’s basement junk box.

The idea behind the necklaces is really unique. Basically, she takes porcelain pottery shards from antique vases up to 900 years old from China and sets the pieces in sterling silver. The vase shard pendants are then made into necklaces and earrings.

Much of the spirit of this original, handcrafted approach comes from her overall philosophy of jewelry design. From her website:

When I look around at all the jewelry in stores or online, I find much of it looks the same. The same earrings, the same necklaces. My inspiration comes from women who dare to be different. The jewelry on many of the high profile celebs often speaks volumes about their personality and that is something I want to reflect in my pieces. My jewelry is unique, no question about it.

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From her studio in Venice, CA, Tiffini Dooris creates an array of elegant jewelry pieces including necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings, and other specialty pieces including bridal items. She started out as many jewelry designers do, designing the pieces for her friends until people began to take notice and asked about actually purchasing them. I notice use of lots of Peridot and Citrine in her earlier work, though her newest line features a lot of Turquoise.

A little bit about her design philosophy, from her website:

Tiffini loves to mix unusual combinations, such as pairing something traditionally feminine with something a little rougher. In keeping with her aesthetic philosophy, Tiffini is dedicated to using the very best materials: precious and semi-precious stones handpicked for cut and clarity, sterling silver, gold, hand painted charms…

While Tiffini is designing, she steps back and allows the gems’ personalities shine through. “When I’m shopping for stones I’ll sit and stare at them for 30 minutes, putting them on my arms, my neck, my head; just seeing where they go. I’ll fall in love with a color or shape and play with the gem until the design emerges…not the other way around.”

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I came across a site by an Oregon jewelry designer named Angeline who has a cool take on unusual jewelry. Enchantment By Angeline specializes in necklaces, bracelets and earrings that feature actual real flowers, herbs, leaves and other plants that have been cast in precious metal. She combines this with precious stones and gems to form beautiful and elegant jewelry. I believe each item is one of a kind, by default, since each real flower or plant is definitely going to be slightly different!

From Angeline’s website:

Angeline has been designing jewelry for the past eleven years. Her jewelry is a part of collections all over the world. Inspired by nature and the gemstones that brought her to this amazing career you will find a little “magic” in her pieces … Angeline is not only a designer but also a certified jeweler, a certified master of crystology, she has faceted her own stones, and is a mother of three beautiful children.

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As the vibrant colors on her website suggest, Laurice Curran creates jewelry that utilizes striking colors from every corner of the rainbow but stops well short of appearing too gaudy. She makes earrings, bracelets, necklaces and rings using a wide variety of precious stones. Some of her more unusual pieces are her bracelets which employ materials such as chunky resin and vintage glass for a funky, fun look. Another unusual line is her “vine” earrings which feature an amazing array of wirewrapped tiny stones that cascade off of a long length of chain.

A little bit about Laurice, from her website:

In the fall of 2000, I returned home to New York after a number of years of living in New Orleans. There, I had worked as an apprentice for a family of jewelers who had worked in the craft for eight generations. During my time with them I was exposed to the intricate techniques of filigree and Etruscan design, and honed my skills at delicate metal work. This exciting working environment sparked a desire in me to apply these skills toward something of my own.

My inspiration to create a line of jewelry came in the spring of 2002, when I happened past a gemstone store in New York. I walked in and found it impossible to leave. The colors, shapes, and textures of the stones mesmerized me. I wanted to take all of them home. With a small selection of beautiful stones that I bought that very day, I made a few pairs of earrings, and I realized I was onto something. I started telling my friends I was starting a jewelry line, and soon enough I really was.

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From her studio in Richmond, VA, Rebecka Boyd creates necklaces, earrings, and bracelets that are infused with a retro sense of style but often include more contemporary touches and flourishes in her work. She often uses warm reds, oranges and yellow colors in her designs, occasionally offsetting them with touches of cool pastel blues and green.

From her website:

After graduating with a B.F.A from Longwood University in Graphic Design Rebecka moved to Richmond to start her career as a graphic designer but continued to pursue her passion of designing jewelry as a hobby. “I went to local bead store and fell in love with the various colors and cuts of stones and glass beads. They looked like candy… so yummy! That’s when I started making jewelry for family and friends.” She started making designs with recycled glass beads that were made from coke bottles in Africa. Working with the crude and primitive qualities of the beads intrigued her…

After receiving numerous compliments from people at work and strangers on the street, Rebecka decided to pursue her dream of becoming a jewelry designer. She began working art and jewelry shows for an acquaintance. Soon Rebecka was asked to showcase her own designs which encouraged her to enter other shows that concentrated on quality and design as opposed to the more craft-oriented shows.

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Lilia Shatnaya creates necklaces and earrings with a bold and sometimes elaborate flair. These are a bit more ornate than the pieces I usually review, but they are quite striking in character which is what led me to take a second look.

Originally from Ukraine, Lilia first worked as a web graphics, video and special effects designer before discovering jewelry making as her true calling.

From her website:

While on a search for a job in the Computer Design field, Lilia started making jewelry. She taught herself wire wrapping, gemstone names and properties and soon a line of jewelry emerged. As many successful ventures, this one started as a hobby but soon grew into a full time business. She is now attending New York’s FIT Jewelry Design Program.

Lilia makes all the pieces by hand. She uses semiprecious stones to complement the antique filigrees in the pieces. Lilia doesn’t like dull colors and like the designer, her line is vibrant, colorful, fun and flirty…

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I’m really partial to unusual jewelry and Austin’s Kristin Laing fits the bill quite nicely with her etched sterling silver designs. Kristin latest collection includes earrings, necklaces and rings and each piece is created by hand in her studio. While many of her pieces may seem more stark than other typical bead and jewelry DIY projects, I think her style exhibits clean elegance through the use of silver etching without seeming overly distant or cold.

From her website:

Kristin Laing has been designing and crafting jewelry since her teens. Raised in San Diego and a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara, Kristin migrated to Austin, Texas after several years on the east coast. While in Austin, she had the opportunity to study silver, copper, and blacksmithing among other metal arts. Her love of working with silver eventually lead to setting up her own jewelry studio. With unparalleled support from family and friends Kristin released her first line in the spring of 2004.

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Mariska Design from The Netherlands (which is of course run by someone named Mariska) offers bracelets, necklaces, and earrings in warm colors like pink, peach and purple. Having started designing her own jewelry while at HKU Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands, she decided to offer some of her creations online. She uses a lot of pearls in her designs but also adds precious gemstones and Swarovski Crystals into the mix.

From her website:

I’m constantly trying out new techniques and materials to come to new designs.
My style is classic combined with modern. On this website you can see the result.
Only high quality materials are used in my jewelry.

When I go on holiday in other countries I bring back many different exotic beads .
I brought back beads from spain, USA, Italy, Germany and other countries. I use
these imported beads in my designs.

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Rachel Lavin from Pio makes use of her metalsmithing skills to create unusual metal pieces that she uses in necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings. Although she is currently based in Austin, TX she has lived in a variety of places including New York, Portland, Boston and Mexico (where she originally learned about working with metal).

From her website:

After graduating from Brown University with majors in anthropology and Spanish, she led kids on mountain hikes in Maine, then worked as a clinic assistant at Planned Parenthood, then played with images on the computer for Hearst Publications’ Interactive Studios. After Hearst, she ran away to a town called San Miguel de Allende in Mexico that’s known for being heavily populated by artists and American retirees. It was there that she learned metalsmithing; she’ll never forget the first moment she melted a small piece of wire into a perfectly round ball - the moment that she knew jewelry-making was the ideal outlet for her obsessive nature and her need to constantly create.

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