This is a project that I filmed for HGTV a couple of years ago. It was filmed in the heat of an early summer day, and didn’t air until mid-December. It was a trip, I’ll tell you that!

Materials:
vintage optical test lens (to purchase lenses)
photo to use on pendant (original will not be harmed)
clear fixative spray (Krylon Clear Acrylic Spray)
drop loop
head pin
assorted beads
Golden’s Polymer Medium or Diamond Glaze
bail or jump ring

Tools:
photo-editing software on computer (colored photocopies can be substituted)
printer
1-1/2 inch hole punch
paintbrush
pliers: chain nose and round wire cutters

Step by step instructions

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After years of making these optical lens pendants, I have decided to call it quits.  I actually took what I thought was going to be a brief break from making them at the end of 2008.  They are the only “production pieces” that I’ve ever made (I think), and somehow I just couldn’t ever seem to bring myself to resume when the break was supposed to be over!

I’m perfectly happy to share with you how they’re made, however, and tomorrow for Technique Tuesday, I’ll do just that!

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I work with several natural materials and I also work with Precious Metal Clay which is pure silver recycled from the film making process. It is then mixed with an organic binder and water and I can then roll it, cut it, texture it, mold it etc to make rings, pendants, earrings, bracelets etc.

I use concrete and rough cut or raw stones in some of my designs and well as molds of shells and corals, leaves and branches. I do beadwork with semi-precious stones, pearls, wood, glass, recycled jewelry, just about anything I can get my hands on.

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There are sweet pendant necklaces like these, and also lines of more glitzy wearables.

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Little Architecture is a collection of jewelry that references the inspiring work of architects Santiago Calatrava, Luis Barragan, Tadao Ando and others.

Constructed primarily from silver, Indonesian teak and ebony, the pieces illustrate an intimate investigation into scale and form. Select pieces feature unique and irregular semi-precious stones, and gold vermeil is used sparingly to highlight form. The collection is being produced in Indonesia by a team of skilled artisans the designer met while working with a furniture manufacturer in Bali. All wood used in the collection is scrap wood from nearby factories.

Pico founder Andrea Panico believes that no matter how small, all the choices we make are design decisions. She created her jewelry line–Little Architecture—to provide modern options for design conscious women. The name Little Architecture is a nod to the inspiration for the line, but also reflects Panico’s belief that the shape and scale of jewelry can complement the body to create beautiful, wearable pieces of art. As an industrial designer, Panico has experience designing furniture, lighting, tableware, carpets, bedding, tile, plumbing fixtures and graphics and as such, approaches her designs with a unique eye. She believes that like a great building, products create their own landscapes as well as an active dialogue with the environments in which we place and use them. Every design or collection should focus on the user, the space, and the other objects around it. Pico, short for the Italian word “piccola”, is a company that celebrates the little things and the big impact they have in our homes, on our bodies, and in our lives.

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Artist: Mayra Orama Muniz
Website: Mio Studio

Using exotic hardwoods as an expression of organic moving forms, self- taught artist Mayra Iveliesse Orama Muniz has created a line of jewelry that reflects on her life growing up in New York City and the more recent influences of the last five years living in Puerto Rico.

The many landscapes of her life — from modern industrial city to the tropical rainforests of Puerto Rico — have become her inspiration.

The miniature sculptures Muniz creates are a melding of richly textured woods and cool metals. Her forms hint at the natural flowing beauty of the lush green mountains of Utuado and the pristine white- sand beaches of Vega Baja. An admirer of celebrated British sculptor Henry Moore, Muniz is also influenced by Asian art and drawn to balance and movement.

The artist selects her exotic hardwoods by hand, choosing each piece for its color, grain, and suitability for the intended design. In the studio, Muniz carves and sands each miniature sculpture for many hours, finishing the piece with hand-rubbed natural oils.

Muniz believes wood is an ideal material for jewelry because as the piece is worn, oils from the wearer’s skin continue to protect the finish. All of the woods Muniz uses are acquired from remnant pieces, making her work very eco-friendly.

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Artist: Alisa Michelle
Website: Alisa Michelle

Alisa Michelle Designs has been in business for over 13 years and have sold to hundreds of stores around the country and the world.

Currently the line can be found in stores such as: ICE (Sunset, Brentwood, Fred Segal SM), LF (Various locations in So. Cal), Studio Sebastian, Rosie True, Bodhi Bazaar, Rosebud (Japan), Moda Salon, Galena and many, many more.

We cater to a long list of celebrities such as: Halle Berry, Hilary Duff, Faith Hill, Lindsay Lohan, Christina Milian, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Brooke Burke, Taylor Swift and many more. Currently our jewelry will be featured on Brooke Burke in Malibu Times, Vanessa Hudgens in her new Ecko Campaign print ads, Taylor Swift for SELF Magazine, Accessories Magazine etc.

The Pocket Change collection features genuine coins that have been recycled into beautiful, timeless jewelry using natural woods, chains and leathers. Custom items are available and they make amazing gifts! We have had wedding proposals on necklaces, pendants made for entire families, key chains… Basically anything that can be thought of can be created!

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Artist: Gayle Friedman
Website: ArtJewelryOnline

I am interested in the stuff that flows in and out of our hands – in my case, it can be a scrap of fur, or fragments of metal that I encounter on my bench. These things are often imbued with unexplored meaning and emotion. I am drawn to relationships, and in making my jewelry, I get to explore the relationships that we have with these materials, the people and places they come from and how they can be understood through the medium of jewelry.

Gayle Friedman lives and works in Washington, DC.  She studied metal

smithing with Anya Pinchuk at the Corcoran School of Art and Design.

Friedman is the founder of Studio 4903, a studio space for working artists,

that also serves after hours as a 21st Century Salon by hosting artistic and

cultural events.  Her work is published in 500 Earrings, Lark Books, 2007.

She has regular shows and sales locally, and in Studio 4903.

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Bamboo

Artist: Anna from Lila Ruby King
Website: Lila Ruby King

I am Australian artist, now living in Athens, Greece, my educational background is in printmaking and jewellery design. My work is largely inspired by nature and I think that is what draws me to work with natural materials. I like working with found pieces of wood, not only because it is a recycled material, but also I love the idea of taking something that would otherwise be overlooked and turning it into something beautiful and desirable. It also has a simplicity which suits my style of work. I have also started a new series using bamboo, it’s not a recycled material, but it is a fully renewable source of wood and it has really beautiful markings quite different to other wood types.

White Branch

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Artist: Jennifer Dawes
Website: Dawes Design

Jennifer Dawes lives in rural Northern California where she has distilled her knowledge of metal smithing into an exquisite line of jewelry. This versatile collection can be mixed together to create a contemporary playful look while keeping to a classical ideology. Each piece is handmade, fabricated and finished at Jennifer’s studio in the coastal hills of Sonoma County, California.

Jennifer just recently launched Sustainably Beautiful, her initiative in creating jewelry in a socially and environmentally responsible way. She only uses recycled gold, conflict free diamonds and responsibly mined stones. “I try to leave as small a footprint on this planet as possible.”

Dawes Design makes their jewelry locally and sources using sustainable businesses that use recycled ethically produced products.

“I want to add something to this world, not take it away. Becoming a mother has been the most profoundly meaningful and spiritual experience I have ever come to know. It has changed the way I perceive our future and how important it is to the commitment to a socially and environmentally responsible lifestyle.”

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