Final post of 2009!

I'm taking a holiday break — this is my last post of 2009! Have yourselves a great New Year! Here's a final ring roundup to close us out:

First up is Jantje Fleischhut. I already mentioned this artist a few weeks ago as part of my Amsterdam report but, at that time, her site was not yet ready. Well, it's ready now! She is one of my all-time favourite jewellers.

"Fin #5" in silver, glass and dyed feathers by North Carolina's Angela Bubash.

Spiral-bound ring by the UK's Niko Pilarinos.

Botanical gold by Los Angeles metalsmith Valerie Mitchell.

"Tilted Cathedral" by New York's Francine Grenci.

Free-form metal and diamonds by Dallas jeweller Demotionart (Ludwig Schwarz).

Bar rings by English jeweller Katzie Hughes (now in Germany).

3D-modelled rings in gold and wood by Italy's D'Arc Studio.

Simple lines by Denmark's Anette Dreyer.

Fortune ring with paper fortune by Sweden's Lo Jewellery.

Even more jewellery:

• Aline Vandeplas (Belgium) - art pieces


• Conry & Wilcox (New York) - modern classics


• Diana Porter (UK) - silver & gold


• Hans Appenzeller (Netherlands) - metal & gems


• IndigoStar (Vancouver) - crystal charms

Leslie D. Boyd / Adrienne Wiegmann / Ginga Squid

Here's a hand-held device that doesn't require batteries: "Anger" by New York metalsmithing student Leslie D. Boyd.

Above, more palm-side prettiness, this time by Maryland's Adrienne Wiegmann: "Sanctuary" (top) and "Courage" rings.

Bonus link: here's a ring reminiscent of a palm tree by New Zealand's Ginga Squid (Vicky T. Hunt), who works with a variety of natural materials like coconut and wool.

Even more jewellery:

• Laura Prieto-Velasco (Chicago) - art jewellery


• Elisa Gulminelli (Argentina) - organic metal


• Genevieve Yang (California) - dotted silver


• Rachel Hawkes Cameron (New York) - clear acrylic


• Roque (UK) - interchangeable gems

Caren Hartley / cute.little.disaster

It's that time of year — are the receipts piling up? Perhaps you can turn your spending records into a gift for yourself! UK metalsmith Caren Hartley takes collected receipts and turns them into the gorgeous "picnic" ring, above (shown both open and closed). Below, more of her rings in recycled paper — this time, vintage postcards:

Bonus link: even the paperclips you use to keep those receipts organized can become a ring, as demonstrated by the Ontario crafter behind cute.little.disaster (part of a "60 Rings" project).

Even more jewellery:

• Wild Ivy Designs (Maine) - recycled paper


• Falck Jewels (Los Angeles) - magazine cutouts


• Little Object (UK) - circles & pegs


• Naked Label (New York) - feathers & chains


• Julita Alvarez (Argentina) - paint & wood

Melanie Eddy / Colleen Corinne / Duffy

Three hits of silver to take you into the weekend, starting with: bursting silver ring by London's Melanie Eddy.

"Finger corsage" by Ohio metalsmith Colleen Corinne.

Claw-shaped knuckledusters by London's Duffy.

Bonus link: here's a silver ring designed to take the hits. Anvil ring by Melissa Rallis of California's Kiss My Ring, where olde world, medeival themes reign supreme.

Even more jewellery:

• Mollystuff (Ohio) - modern silver


• Joanna Baxter (Vancouver) - antique inlays


• Zoe Duthie (Scotland) - framed vintage


• Patricia Peckinpaugh (Texas) - bold & regal


• Susie Barnes (Australia) - rubber & glass

Meredith Robb / Chus Bures / Ivete Cattani / Marlene True / DMH Design

Not all sprouts come from Brussels. These come from the bench of Halifax jeweller Meredith Robb.

Some more non-Brussels sprouts by [clockwise from top left]: Spain's Chus Bures, Brazil's Ivete Cattani, North Carolina's Marlene True and Oregon's DMH Design.

Bonus link:
Here's a ring in silver, rubber and plastic with some longer, finer sprouts by Texas artist Natalie Macellaio.

Even more jewellery:

• Urban Spark (UK) - sprouting urchins


• Marion Vidal (Paris) - chunky & colourful


• Emma Carroll Etc. (Chicago) - leather clusters


• Birdhouse Jewelry (New York) - metal & charms


• Weston Metal Studio (Colorado) - contemporary silver

Carolyn Tillie / Kimberly Anne Johansen

If Carolyn Tillie invites you over for dinner, don't say no. The San Francisco jeweller and food writer shows a penchant for the finer, tastier things in life with her sushi- and champagne-themed jewellery.

She's got dessert covered, too. For more on her gastronomical side, see her food and wine blogs.

Bonus link: this fish may not be sushi-grade but it's certainly well-crafted. Alberta's Kimberly Anne Johansen has lots of piscine jewellery, like this silver and copper "Descent" fishtail ring.

Even more jewellery:

• Flying Crane Designs (San Francisco) - marine animals


• Jodi Henry (Florida) - modern & minimal


• Charlote Filshie (Australia) - acrylic & metal


• Corrina Smith (UK) - silver & aluminum


• Wil Le Cher (France) - spirals & dolphins

Emi Ando / Yuki Ferdinandsen

We had a blink-and-it's-gone sprinkling of snow over the weekend. San Francisco's Emi Ando offers a more permanent installation with her "Snow" rings made of sterling and fine silvers, pearls and cz. Below, her scrolled "Last Letter" ring stamped with (backwards) Japanese hiragana.

Bonus link: sticking with cold precipitation, check out the "Arare" collection by Copenhagen's Yuki Ferdinandsen. "Arare" is Japanese for "hail" (while "yuki" is a near homophone for "snow").

Even more jewellery:

• Metalscapes (Maine) - snowflakes & horses


• Yuki Mitsuyasu (UK) - clever concepts


• Jordan Askill (Australia) - cool & sculptural


• Yakira Rona (New York) - modern gold


• Madeleine Chisholm (Vancouver) - silver clusters

All for the Mountain / Thomas Feichtner

Imagine that New York's Chrysler Building were left to weather atop the Tibetan Himalayas — you might get a sense for the aesthetic of Los Angeles designers All for the Mountain. Recommended if you love triangles! Pictured above are their "Palace Brick" and "Sacred Mystical Mountain" rings; below, their "Drip Crown" rings.

Bonus link:
This jewel outline ring by Austria's Thomas Feichtner reminds me somewhat of the Chrysler Building's jewel-like crown.

Even more jewellery:

• Jennifer Carroll Wilson (San Fran) - architectural metal


• Brokenfab (UK) - beaded triangles


• M8 by Marc Mann (Germany) - seaglass & LEDs


• Jeni Burgess (New Zealand) - sculptural silver


• Andrew Hamilton Crawford (New York) - translucent resin

Stacey Lee Webber (The Coin Smith) / Mitsuhiro Okamoto

If someone offers a penny for your thoughts, do you give them your two cents? Maybe money management isn't your strong suit. Someone who is good with coins is Wisconsin artist Stacey Lee Webber (aka The Coin Smith), whose work goes beyond any coin jewellery I've ever seen. Her portfolio is definitely worth a visit.

She even sculpts with coins; the screwdrivers above are from her "tools" series.

Bonus link:
Japanese designer Mitsuhiro Okamoto also makes coin rings — but he has a yen for euros instead of cents.

Even more jewellery:

• Lucky Sixpence (UK) - cutout coins


• Beth E. Coiner (South Carolina) - botanical metal


• Soyeon Kim (Illinois) - art pieces


• Tangerine Treehouse (California) - copper trees


• Luis Acosta (Netherlands) - paper clusters

Rebecca Little / Louise Douglas / Zwetelina Alexieva

When the simple band isn't so simple: "twill" ring by UK jeweller Rebecca Little.

"Sea lace" ring by New Zealand's Louise Douglas.

"Thorny" ring by Bulgaria's Zwetelina Alexieva.

Bonus link:
Speaking of thorny, this "subway" ring by New York's CJ Recht (Mindy Recht) is designed to ward off anyone who dares invade your personal space.

Even more jewellery:

• Victoria Delany (UK) - birds & bands


• Alienology (Los Angeles) - wavy acrylic


• Laurel's Bench (Indiana) - modern metal


• Michael Colero (Toronto) - simple glass


• Carlee Santarelli (Los Angeles) - lace & fabric

Autumn.products / Katharina Ludwig

Have you ever been somewhere so cold that your hair froze? Australia seems an unlikely location for such an event but it's Sydney's Autumn.products (Kristian Aus) who came up with these icy, frosted acrylic silhouette rings based on — how cute is this? — hairstyles!

Bonus link:
For a ring that really is frozen, check out the Netherlands' Katharina Ludwig and her ice jewellery.

Even more jewellery:

• Tess Blenkinsop (UK) - frosted glass


• Mctega (Los Angeles) - colourful clusters


• Stephanie Schneider (Germany) - metal & mohair


• Hazel Smyth (Elizabeth Herff) (Texas) - modern gold


• Jette Zirpins (Mexico) - silver & beads

Hannah Havana / Kate Bauman

A little toilet humour for your Tuesday: bathroom-lock-style engagement ring by Hannah Havana of UK collective Garudio Studiage.

Bonus link:
For some serious engagement ringery, check out this quadruple ring piece by Maine artist Kate Bauman.

Even more jewellery:

• Diana Warner (New York) - bridal & cocktail


• Maria Lewis (Sweden) - modern metal


• Julia Montanarini (Brazil) - bold silver


• Pristinesmut (UK) - fashion textiles


• Astrid Keller (Germany) - pleated magazines

Rana Mikdashi / Batia Wang

November in Vancouver was all grey, like this.

But December is turning out to be all bright and sunny, like this! Aside from illustrating my riveting accounts of meteorology, Lebanese jeweller Rana Mikdashi does nice work in silver, gold and enamel (with some bone and polymer clay thrown in as well).

Bonus link:
This gorgeous piece by Batia Wang, a jeweller from Uzbekistan but now based in Israel, is like rays of sunshine for your finger.

Even more jewellery:

• Alicia Jane Boswell (Idaho) - lacey enamel


• Gabriella Casemore (UK) - modern petals


• Jika James (New Mexico) - sculptural metal


• Karma el Khalil (Lebanon) - gold & gems


• BuenoStyle (Vancouver) - vintage style

If this page is missing posts from the first few days of this month, it's because I've reached my Blogger page limit! To read all posts, see the full monthly archives at TheCarrotbox.com