Found Object Jewelry

At the Art Festival I had come across the booth of Barbara Foley who is from Joplin MO. She made jewelry that had a somewhat steam-punk feel to it but she also made pieces that seemed abstract and more natural with the use of stone beads. I was particularity interested with her necklace collection. One that she had made had what looked to be a vintage camera lens on it. There was no price tag and I wish I would have asked how much it was, not for the purpose of buying it but for the sake of knowing how much it would take for her to part with it. Other than necklaces, she had an endless supply of earrings and pendants that incorporated old coins and misc. other small objects. I have yet to find a website for her but I did find other artists on the internet that had work I really liked.

Etsy user Yumis, has a list of items for sale but the one I liked most was their Steampunk Bracelet, currently priced at $130. I love how the centerpiece is a keyhole framing a small spring. The keyhole is dated from 1910-1920.
(Source)

FashionAndStyleNow.com has a post about handmade vintage-look jewelry. The artist for this piece is not listed. The other pieces on this post are worth looking at but not much information is shared about it.


If you like the vintage look, Jennifer Valentine is wonderful. Looking through her flickr site one can reflect on the importance of presentation. She also has a blog and etsy site that can be accessed through her flickr page.

Tanith, also on Etsy uses used guitar string in her works. She likes to have used guitar string because she thinks "Some strings may have some discoloration, but I feel this adds to the character of the pieces". She has a few bracelets that look like the following, but rather than use sheet music she uses maps or book pages. Very cool.
(From Tanith's Etsy Page)

Artist Louis Waitt uses various pieces of metal and other small objects like dominoes to make necklaces. One of the pendants on his necklaces takes the shape of a dog.

If you've ever seen or read The Magic School Bus, you might remember the teacher Ms. Fizzle, who was really spontaneous and everybody's favorite teacher. If she could be summarized into a necklace, Gerry Florida has done it. His work is bright, colorful, and crazy just like Ms. Frizzle.

(From Pittsburgh Artist Registry-Gerry Florida)