It’s Studio 1 AM And Do You Know Where Your Recycled Jewelry Is?

STUDIO 1 AM

You have to love a brand that uses mad design skills to bring a little sheen to what is essentially "garbage" and make it into awesome, tasteful, wearable art. Studio 1 AM’s line of hip, stylish jewelry made from recycled computer pieces, cork and other sustainable materials is a great example of what you can do when you put your mind to creating something that is both buyable and wearable, without adding to the crap factory that is our modern consumeristic society.

www.studio1am.com

Wait a Secco, Is That My Ctrl Key?

SECCO

Secco makes fab rings and bracelets out of what to the common eye would appear to be just lame junk. But no- the folks at Secco find the inner cuff bracelet in that old Black Oak Arkansas LP you should be embarrassed to have, the hidden flower in that broken zipper., and the latent cufflink in those discarded QWERTY keys. I love it when people combine craftiness with excellent taste and make designer items out renewable resources like piles of, well, junk, which sadly enough is pretty much an unlimited, infinitely renewable resource at this point.

www.seccoshop.com

go back for seccos:

www.seccoshop.com

www.thegreenloop.com

www.greenergrassdesign.com

Put Some Junk In Your Trunk

JUNK MAIL GEMS

I’ve tried sending a firmly-worded “I don’t want anymore of your fucking junk mail” postcard to each of the big distributing companies that are responsible for the bulk of your, well, bulk mail. But they don’t listen. It’s a conspiracy, with the United States Post Office, to make money while creating obscene amounts of waste. It makes me sick just thinking about it. Grrr. Everyday I come home to a pile of crap that I have to put in a bag to take to the recycling b/c my apartment complex doesn’t have paper recycling because they hate me and I guess they hate trees too, since they are totally enabling this sick system of blindly trying to convince me to by tractors, or men’s shoes, or 54-packs of jello, or cheap wicker furniture, or to hire a baysittier for my imaginary kids. Dammit. I’m just glad Junk Mail Gems has found something redeemable to do with all this waste. They make wallets, earrings and necklaces out of junk mail, and they even have some sweet pieces made from just regular junk such as leftover cable wire.

www.junkmailgems.com

junky monkey:

www.junkmailgems.com

www.repurposed4you.com

Keeping It Bottled Up

BOTTLED UP DESIGNS

When I first saw these beautiful pieces from Bottled Up Designs, I imagined the ruined movie star or down-on-his-luck producer in the early days of Hollywood, passing out drunk in an alley and waking up next to a pile of glass from a shattered bottle of cheap booze, probably Night Train- a cheesy metaphor for his or her shattered dreams.

But apparently these cool earrings are made from antique glass bottles found in the heart of Amish-land Land. So maybe the just the drunk part of that vision applies? Drunk on... milk? No? Either way, these earrings and necklaces are made from repurposed chunks of beautiful bottle glass and are totally eco- and drunk- friendly.

www.etsy.com

www.myspace.com/bottledupdesigns

hit the bottle:

www.etsy.com

www.nimli.com

www.repurposed4you.com

www.nubiusorganics.com

Get Back Down To Buzzness

BUZZ

I've written about Buzz Buzz Designs before, and I've also pointed out how ridiculously under-priced this indie-designer's stuff is, but until she realizes she's dealing in dollars, not Euros, I say get yourself, or somebody you love (or for these prices, maybe someone you just tolerate) a cool necklace from this recycled jewelry designer.

Like, maybe one of these awesome disco necklaces. Because nothing says "I tolerate you, very much" like disco.

www.buzzbuzzdesigns.com

www.myspace.com/buzzbuzzdesigns

buzz yourself in:

www.indiefixx.com

www.thepearproject.com

www.etsy.com

Too Cool For Pool

ELEANOR SALAZAR

Eleanor Salazar makes rings and earrings out of pool balls. I don’t know how she does it but I imagine it goes something like this: Young Eleanor gathers baskets full of used and battered pool balls and takes them to a magical wizard who strikes them with lightning that he keeps in a bottle, which he calls a vial- but who uses that word anymore?- then she picks up the perfectly divided pieces and sorts them into whimsical rings and earrings, which she then takes to the enchanted land of Etsy where she shops her wares to eco-friendly peeps who want to look good without making the planet look bad.

Correct me if I got any part of this process wrong.

Frickin’ cool:

www.etsy.com

www.supermarkethq.com

Get Vlinggy With It

VLING

Eco-loving rockers and groupies alike can now sport some major bling with the Vling collection of necklaces, earrings, and pins. Made from recycled damaged vinyl records and boasting styles ranging from retro cassette tapes, edgy brass knuckles, whimsical hearts, and an earthly tree shape, they add a unique beat to anyone’s rock- n- roll wardrobe. Each Vling is one-of-a-kind due to the random nature of the “grooves” in each record, and with limited edition pieces made out of recycled colored vinyl they will make you the star at any gig.

www.vling.bigcartel.com

www.myspace.com/vlingvling

rock out:

www.vling.bigcartel.com

www.etsy.com

Getting Down To Buzz-ness

BUZZ BUZZ DESIGNS

Kristen Billings takes neglected, cold, shivering pieces of vintage jewelry and bundles them up in metaphorical blankets of love and creativity, giving new life to pieces of Lucite, pressed glass, carved wood, and enameled metal. Her stuff is so cool- and I’d hate to be sent to playah hater’s prison for saying this- but I kinda think she’s undercharging for these hot little numbers. $20 for a heart of (brass) gold? Crazy.

So, get some of her stuff before she reads this and starts charging what her shit is really worth.

www.buzzbuzzdesigns.com

www.myspace.com/buzzbuzzdesigns

get buzzed:

www.indiefixx.com

www.thepearproject.com

www.etsy.com

The Earrings that Annabuilt

ANNABUILT

Anna Johansson makes earrings out of recycled cans and the like- which sounds like it would be hideous, but they are all very cute and even classy (depending on the can). These have kinda a groovy seventies vibe that is so popular with the beautiful people who walk around Vermont St. looking good all the time, even when they're just getting coffee or pretending to be browsing for books.

www.annabuilt.com

start construction:

www.shopmodify.com

www.btcelements.com

I like peace. Do you like peace?

PEACE LOVE EARTH

Call me a hippie, but I like peace, and love, and the earth, and I’m not afraid to show my like of these things by donning one of Annatarian’s recycled silver PeaceLoveEarth necklaces. Supposedly wearing the word “peace" around your neck will make you more peaceful, which is why I’m getting one made that says “taller." JK- I’m already tall.

Anyway, these necklaces are cute and recycled, so you don't have to carry the weight of an entire silver mine around your neck. Which reminds me, silver is back, and mixing metals is ok- but you have to do it like you mean it. So if you want to wear one of these sweet necklaces with your gold “Carrie” rip-off necklace, you better work it like you own it!

www.annatarian.com

give peace a chance:

www.peaceloveearth.com

www.thegreenloop.com

Luving Lu Lu

LULU FROST

Lulu Frost is a line of unique high-end jewelry, each piece handmade by Lisa Salzer. Her necklaces, bracelets and earrings are made using weird, recycled things, like old liquor tags and brass hotel keys and even hotel room numbers. And clocks and brass chains and all things art nouveau. It is more than just recycling the parts- it’s recycling the design and all the vintage associations that come with it.

Because they just don’t make hotel room number/antique liqour label necklaces like they used to.

www.lulufrost.com

get a room:

www.frankeys.com

www.kaighthop.com

www.satineboutique.com

www.shopecookie.com

UK

www.kabiri.com

Entangled Up

ENTANGLES

Okay, this girl makes cool necklaces out of repurposed jewelry bits that are vintage, yet modern, and again remind me of the cute H&M/Forevs 21 jewelry that I can’t bring myself to buy because of that pesky sweatshop/industrial waste thing. These pieces have the added advantage of being one-of-a-kind, so there’s no risk of showing up at the middle school dance looking dumb because Tammy and Crystal are wearing the same necklace as you.

www.etsy.com

get sorted:

www.etsy.com

www.fashionethic.com

Angel Court Jewels Rules

Angel Court Jewels

Out of Mississippi comes Angel Court Jewels, a jewelry company that reuses vintage gems, chains and charms to create one-of-a-kind works of wearable art.

Designers Angela Burgess & Courtney Taylor cruise the antique shops and estate sales looking for inspiration for their distinctive necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

And famous people love them, which is this case proves that celebrities are all total idiots, and can actually appreciate the value of great style and sustainable design.

www.angelcourt.com

rock 'n roll:

www.myspace.com/angelcourt

go to court:

www.earthgirlsboutique.com

Species by the Thousands by the Thousands

Species by the Thousands

Species by the Thousands is a small company out of Brooklyn making hand-painted clothing and jewelry using vintage lockets and those mysterious, slightly irritating old sacred heart pendants you see in thrift stores all the time. Let’s see, they have a line of organic t-shirts and tanks, and even some matching art to throw up on your walls so you can dress your home to look just like you! Wouldn’t that be cute?

www.speciesbythethousands..com

www.myspace.com/speciesbythethousands

go:

www.gominyc.com

www.ecocitzenonline.com

Rust Belt It Out!

Rust Belt

Rust Belt is the brain-child of designers Anna Bario and Page Neal- two artists dedicated to making jewelry without making a mess of our planet. They use re-purposed and recycled materials to create elegant, modern designed necklaces, earring, bracelets, and rings.

Their shit is gorgeous.

www.rust-belt.org

put it on:

www.supermarkethq.com
www.scoutla.com
www.kaightshop.com
www.beklina.com
www.gominyc.com

VerdeRocks Rocks

VERDEROCKS

Gwen Davis makes awesome jewelry out of old factory runoff parts- like, really old, vintage stuff. All of it is awesome, therefore you cannot go wrong with one of these numbers. Very very cool. They even have a manifesto:

“So let there be style for those who care about combatting pollution, Global Warming, homelessness, inhumane illegal working conditions, dirty gold, gem trafficking, cheap imported goods, and anything else that sucks.”

- VerdeRocks

I think I’m in love.

let the revolution begin:

www.verderocks.com

www.myspace.com/verderocks