Thursday, September 20, 2007

Bottled Up Designs




When I saw Laura Bergmans jewelry , I knew that I had to feature her shop ! She makes unque and beautiful jewelry from old , broken pieces of glass ! This is what Laura says about her work and what led her to create it : Living in the very rural Pennsylvania Amish Country, scattered throughout the woods and edges of the fields are where, many years ago, households would throw their garbage. (They didn't have trash pickup 100 years ago). Mostly, of course, this "garbage" was old broken glassware, and bottles where the contents were used up. Now, this is a treasure chest for bottle and glass collectors. I have been collecting bottles for over 20 years, and it always bothered me how we would take away the pretty whole bottles, but the broken remains would stay behind in the environment for the wildlife to have to deal with. After having one of my dogs return from a walk with a bleeding foot, I decided to start picking up these broken remains and started working with them. What emerged is Bottled Up Designs! I really did not want to put these pieces into the modern trash stream, because as a collector, I knew what they once were and I felt they are historial and beautiful.
I am now making jewelry and gifts from the antique glass and bottles reclaimed from these dumps, all in an effort to help the environment and wildlife. As an avid collector, I mount each piece on a card that details what the glass was originally, and how old it is. I feel the people enjoy the history behind them as well as how lovely this antique glass is! You may visit Laura's shop and see more of her unique jewelry by clicking on the title of this article .

3 comments:

AlternateBliss Studio said...

I love that artists are upcycling! Beautiful execution of style and philosophy!

AlternateBliss Studio said...

Love the concept of recycling and upcycling! Beautiful execution of style and phiolosophy!

Anonymous said...

It is a great way to create. Your earrings are lovely.