One Person's Trash is Another Person's Bling

Introduction

This is my main thing right now: creating pieces from materials found in the strangest of places. As I stated in the last post, this is fairly evident in any of the things I create, but it's a new exploration in the realm of jewellery.

I use old dynabolt casings for tubes, evening dresses that I'd normally bin for fabric, even curtain rings.


My current fetish is the old leather pants purchased from the op shop in my area run by the Sacred Heart Mission who every day assist hundreds of people who are homeless or living in poverty to find shelter, food, care and support. Anything I would normally send to landfill or, in the case of Sacred Heart, has a positive social connotation, is fair game.

There's an element of upcycling in each piece that I create.

And I am not alone! A recent call out on the DUST (Down Under Street Team) forum, a group of Australian creative geniuses who sell on Etsy resulted in some very interesting replies!

Lekker

Pendant by Lekker

Three guesses what Rachel at Lekker makes these fun and fabulous pendants out of..... Smarties?..... Skittles?... No... a stash of old knitting needles!

The item description for this piece makes everything clear:

Ever wondered what happened to Nanna's old coloured Knitting needles? I did.

This pendant has been made from my ever so secret stash of knitting needles that I have been left by the many Nanna's of the world.

While the art of knitting may be lost to the younger generation, encased in an aluminium frame made from pipe offcuts and embedded in resin, this pendant may be a sign of things to come for the fate of the knitting needle!

Having studied printmaking for years, Lekker is run out of Melbourne, Australia.

Incalesco

Recycled Copper Fringe Earrings

Incalesco means glow in Latin. And I have nothing but glowing reviews for this metalsmith! Another Melbourne based artist, Erika works mainly in silver but often uses other metals & stones to giver her pieces that extra bit of colour. Her pieces are delicate yet contemporary, intricate yet versatile.

Not long before I started hunting for fellow upcyclers, Erika of Incalesco was given a pile of scrap metal by her father.


And I think you would agree that there's a big difference between the pile above and what has emerged so far:



Spoonerz



Now, I'm just going to put it out there... I'm not a huge fan of spoon & fork upcycling. There's a guy at the local market who started a trend around here and then everyone was doing it... but they were all a bit... plain for my taste.

This morning I logged on to Etsy however, and saw this utensil upcycler on the front page...

A Mum of 4, SpoonerZ takes the bits and pieces of utensils and remakes them, rejuvenates them and redefines them.



Other bits and pieces

This article could go on forever. There are a bunch of people out there doing great stuff! Here's a few more...

Sea glass pendant by Epheriell

Steam Punk Cuff Links from Nouveaumotley
Cufflinks from mobile phone copper & photographic silver by Ben at Biome

Circuit board earrings from Upcycled Jewellery



Next: Trash bag to Handbag