I’ve been around the electronics industry for years as my Dad has run a successful small electronics company for the last 20 or so years.  When they first opened, we’d often spend long hours into the night building various circuit boards and products and I’d find my mind wandering to what exactly could be made of all the colourful diodes and resistors.  Well, wandering minds need to wonder no more — check out Girl Geek Boutique.  They’ve got every colour combination you can imagine made of upcycled, recycled and surplus diodes, LEDs, capacitors, resistors, circuit boards, wires, cables, gears and even duct tape.

I totally dig the ribbon cable earrings that could signify your love of colour, electronics, geekery or even symbolize your support for the gay and lesbian community.  At only $18 these are surely a conversation starter that not every other person will be wearing.  Want a choker or necklace to match?  No worries — they’ve got that too!

The artists are the Girl Geek Boutique are actually engineers so if you want to know exactly how the electronics in your piece would work, they encourage you to ask.  That way you can add more geek to your chic when people comment on your fantastic piece.

Another piece that I’m over the rainbow about are these cascading resistor dangly earrings.  At only $39, they’re a great option for gift giving as well.  I think these would make an awesome gift for women working in the electronics industry and am definitely going to have to recommend this store to all the guys at my Dad’s electronics company.  Not to worry though, they have pieces suitable for men as well including business card holders, rings and cufflinks that will scream geek and tree hugger all at the same time!  Two of my favourite things all rolled into one:)

Many of their pieces involve the use of watch movements being repurposed into the focal point of the entire piece of jewelry.  They’ve got a fantastic selection of rings available on their site featuring many different kinds of watch movements.  One thing that I really like about this site is that what is pictured is exactly what you receive.  It’s not similar to or like what’s pictured, it really is the actual item.  This means you know exactly what the piece you choose will look like!

They do custom pieces or you can choose from their ever expanding selection available in their store.  I use the term “store” loosely as they claim this is not a business.  Just two young people working together developing their craft!

The pieces are quite affordable as well.  The ring pictured here is priced at $35.  It’s a 17 jewel watch movement attached to a filigree adjustable band.  That’s a steal of a deal for the huge statement that such a piece would make!  The ring prices vary in range but all are extremely budget friendly.

They’ve also got a variety of necklaces, cufflinks and even earrings for sale that utilize various watch movements.  My favorite necklace is the one pictured here with the black flower.  What a stunning accent piece that would look good in everything from casual wear to the office to a beautiful necklace to go with that little black dress.  It uses a vintage watch movement mounted to a vintage silver setting.  The black rose is what really set it off though.

This is definitely an Etsy shop worth checking back into again and again.  It sounds as though items are added almost daily.  They currently have 273 items for sale and I love almost each and every one.  Some of my favorites are the Lolita gothic hair clips that they have available in vintage silver settings.  Absolutely adorable!!  I love the flower designs and the skull designs.  You can even have them made in a different color to match a certain outfit!!

I love the erotic and retro nude pin-up girl used on the card the brooch is clipped to for sale.  It’s intriguing that the naughty bits of a book is covering the pin-ups naughty bits!  This etsy craft rescues books from dumpsters, yard sales and library sales to make these sexy pins. 

She also makes a line of wallets and purses that re-purposes books in bad condition as well.  These sorts of second life products would make great and original Valentine’s gifts that will declare your love (& desire!) for your special someone as well as your love for the planet.

The brooches come in a range of phrases that are carefully cut from trashed trashy books.  This ensures that the pin you receive is a virtual one of a kind creation which is mounted to wood and varathane to ensure that the pin is protected.  There are pins listed such as “being deep inside”, “slowly stripped off” and “her orgasm hit”.

There’s nothing that a girl likes receiving more than jewellery.  Every woman likes a different style, for sure but jewellery is always a great gift for the special women in your life.  That sounded a little wrong — I didn’t mean the wife and the girlfriend — lol.  More like your wife, daughter, sister, mother, aunt, etc.  Jewellery with heart designs on it especially signify your deepest feelings for the women that you love.  I think that heart jewelry in particular, has a special significance to it. Especially a heart shape filled with diamonds!  I especially love this diamond and pink sapphire heart shaped pendant.  It’s just different than most other designs that you see women wearing which makes it even more special and romantic.  Truly a gift from the heart.

One thing to really watch out for when shopping for jewellery though is to make sure that the diamonds and gemstones that you buy are conflict free.  In 1993, more than 15 years ago, an agreement was reached between various governments and the diamond industry to insure that the flow of the world’s so called blood diamonds was put to a halt.  This agreement is the Kimberly Process Certification Scheme, also known as the KPCS.  Before you buy any diamond (or gemstone at all for that matter), insure that the buyer strictly follows this agreement and checks on their suppliers of diamonds.  Jewellers should have a zero tolerance policy in regards to conflict diamonds for the sake of the entire planet.  Diamonds are beautiful and wonderful but not on the blood and war of people.

For review, they sent me these beautiful recycled glass earrings called Cobb.  These earrings look absolutely gorgeous on and I always get compliments when wearing them.  They are light, easy to wear and match with practically anything!  I am 100% behind eco-friendly jewelry but it still needs to be pretty and fun to wear — that’s absolutely no problem with these earrings or any of the other great designs that they make!

I would definitely recommend following both their facebook account where they announce some incredible sales and joining their mailing list for a $10 off coupon!

Want to try out a pair of their earrings for yourself?  Moonrise Jewelry has graciously offered a pair of pretty earrings called Abilene to one of my readers!  They are made of fair trade silver beads on sterling silver posts and feature purple lace agate.  I absolutely adore these earrings!  They would look great with everything from jeans and a tee shirt to a business suit and everything in between.

To Enter (One Time Only):   Leave a comment on this post about your favorite design at Moonrise Jewelry.  Good luck picking only one thing!  So many of their designs are eye catching.

• *Become a fan of Moonrise Jewelry on Facebook.
• *Join their mailing list (you’ll get a $10 coupon!).
• *Enter one of my other giveaways and leave a comment telling me.
• *Tell me how you heard about this giveaway.
• *Follow Green Colored Glasses on Twitter and ReTweet this giveaway RT @Green Colored Glasses Giveaway – Eco-Friendly Earrings From Moonrise Jewelry Giveaway (you can Tweet this once a day for Extra Entries)
• *Become a Fan of Green Colored Glasses on Facebook
• *Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post
• *Suscribe to Green Colored Glasses by RRS Feed

I’ve found that parenthood can really bring out the environmentalist living inside of most people.  You begin to realize just how precious the planet is when you think of your children’s and grandchildren’s future on it.  It’s important to remember the legacy that we are leaving the treehuggers of tomorrow!

These bracelets are a great example of turning trash into treasure.  They also help to keep our little one’s close to our hearts at all times.  What could be better than to carry an imprint of their tiny fingers with us?  You can add to your bracelet as your family grows and it really sounds quite simple to take an imprint.  There’s instructions on their website — Dimplesforever.com.

It’s best to capture their imprints early as everyone knows kids grow up way too fast!  This is a new, Canadian, family owned company who is developing a sales team to help buyers make the imprints.  So, whether you’re looking for unique, environmentally friendly jewelry or a way to earn some money, definitely check out this website.

This is not a sponsored ad.  I just love their jewelry and the idea and ideals behind it.

The winner of the Moonrise Jewelry contest was Anne-Marietvete.  We will be contacting her as soon as we can.

My mother-in-law loves collecting stamps from all over the world.  Recently, she just got back from Antarctica.  She sent us a few postcards from there which we’re saving the stamps from.  I’m not sure if she would love this jewelry or absolutely hate it because she couldn’t save the stamps but it definitely reminded me of her.

These pieces are amazing in that they show off the range of colors, patterns, designs and variety found in stamps.  The artist of Fox Glove Accessories has a great eye for deciding which part of the stamp should be featured and how it should be displayed.  Working out of Chicago, this artist is working her way through a huge collection of cancelled international stamps that she’s upcycling into gorgeous jewelry pieces.

The multicolor necklace featured on the left is definitely one of my favorite pieces.  The colors are extremely vivid so you can be sure that people will notice your handcrafted piece.  From this necklace, it’s almost hard to tell whether it is money or stamps underneath the resin of the pendants.  Absolutely gorgeous and would go with virtually anything.

I also really love these teardrop shaped earrings.  Each pair is made out of 8 different stamps which have been mounted and laminated to sturdy cardstock.  Each shape is individually cut by hand and strung through sterling silver hoop earrings.  There are a ton of different color combinations available in the store and each pair is completley unique.  These are waterproof, super lightweight and subtle enough to blend in with whatever you may be wearing.  However, the original life of the stamps can clearly be seen upon examination of the earrings.  That’s my favorite kind of upcycled product — on that shows it’s previous existence.

Lastly, I wanted to show off the gorgeous rings that are also available at this store.  I mean, what else are you going to wear with the earrings and the necklace, right?? I think the simplicity of some of the rings is simply stunning.  Many of the designs have been cut in such a way that it’s nearly impossible to tell that it used to be a stamp.  It might be fun seeing the look on people’s faces when you revealed what exactly your ring used to be!

There are also bracelets, cufflinks, stud earrings, drop earrings, a variety of necklace designs and some strand earrings (on sale for only $10 right now!).  Remember that supporting handmade is a way for you to stand up against mass production, mass consumption, waste and it’s beyond fun!  You can get a unique item made especially for you that no one else is likely to have anything like.  No more “twinsies” with your BFF.

The talented crafters of this shop have decided to giveaway this ring to one of my lucky GreenColoredGlasses readers!!!  The ring won’t be exactly as pictured but will be the same band and be very similar.

There are lots of easy ways to enter and support handcrafted and upcycled jewelry.  The giveaway will be open to people WORLDWIDE as LondonGate graciously didn’t want anyone to be left out.

Please leave a separate comment for each entry.  The first entry is mandatory and there are many bonus entries available.  I’ll choose with a random number generator on March 31, 2010.  Good luck and get entering!!! PS…Don’t forget to include your email address so that I can easily contact you if you are the lucky winner.

To Enter (One Time Only):   Leave a comment on this post about your favorite design at LondonsGate.

Bonus Entries:

• *Become a friend of LondonsGate on Facebook.
• *Tell me how you heard about this giveaway.
• *Purchase any item from LondonsGate and get 5 additional giveaways!!  (Please comment once for each entry)
• *Follow Green Colored Glasses on Twitter and ReTweet this giveaway RT @Green Colored Glasses Giveaway – Steampunk Ring by LondonsGate (you can Tweet this once a day for Extra Entries)
• *Become a Fan of Green Colored Glasses on Facebook
• *Blog about this giveaway with a link to this post
• *Suscribe to Green Colored Glasses by RRS Feed

One line that I found particularly stunning was the assortment of jewelry that she makes from plastic used in architectural applications.  Between the two layers of used plastic, she sandwiches a selection of materials to make graphic and beautiful patterns.  Even the materials between the plastic is made up of 40% post-industrial reclaimed materials.  This is then cut into small pieces to be used in her jewelry.

This line of recycled plastic jewelry includes rings, bracelets, necklaces, bobby pins and earrings.  It’s nearly impossible to tell just what exactly the pieces are made from just by looking at them.  All you see is their beauty shining through in the array of colors and shapes intricately laid out between the recycled plastic.  Absolutely stunning!  Any of these pieces would make a great gift for Valentine’s Day or any other reason…or maybe even no reason at all.

Green Colored Glasses will most definitely be featuring this designer again and again.  I definitely recommend checking out Amy Pfaffman’s site to see some more of her amazing creations.  There is also a list of places where her work can be purchased in person or online.

Looking for a great eco-friendly gift for a music lover on your list?  Check out the site Wear Your Music.  It’s a really cool project that reuses old guitar strings that would normally be headed for the trash and makes jewelry out of them.  Even better, a lot of the proceeds from these bracelets go to charity!

The fashion bracelets like the one shown above from pink guitar string, come in a huge range of colors.  They’re available for only $10 each or 10 bracelets for $70.  They are made from used guitar strings and a portion of the proceeds go to charities that support music.  These would make great gifts or stocking stuffers for friends (or yourself).  You could buy the 10 pack and give everyone one or two each.  They look great with a couple stacked on top of each other on the wrist and fit all sizes.  This bracelet supports music, charity and the environment.

Even cooler are the artist bracelets.  These bracelets are hand made out of recycled silver and used guitar strings donated by dozens and dozens of different artists of every genre.  100% of the profits of these bracelets are donated to an artist chosen charity and are listed on the site.  There’s some great charities benefiting from these sales though — Unicef, Rock against Cancer, Peta, Michael J. Fox Parkinson’s Research Foundation, 1% for the Planet, Rock the Earth and many other great causes.

They have some great artists available in a huge variety of price ranges.  The silver bracelet shown above is one of James Hetfield’s strings.  His charity of choice is Music Cares.  At $250 for each bracelet, it’s a very cool Metallica souvenir that benefits charity and the planet.  Kinda expensive but I do love Metallica!!

There’s lots of other artists like Carrie Underwood, Avril Lavigne, Dolly Parton, Ziggy Marley, Pete Townsend and even the Naked Cowboy!  Many of the artists I’ve heard of before and many I haven’t.  There’s a big price range difference…The least expensive is a $50 string bracelet from Yuto Miyazawa who is the world’s youngest professional guitar player in the Guinness Book of World Records.  The most expensive is Eric Clapton’s silver bracelet at $500.  Very, very cool!  Worth checking this site out.  It’s full of big names, little names and everything in between with the money going to a host of great causes.

This week’s Etsy find repurposes and refurbishes watches of all kinds into some very stunning pieces of jewelry.  The seller — A Second Time — has a wide variety of pieces including necklaces, cufflinks, earrings, brooches and tie tacks as well as a selection of watches available for sale.  The pieces of watches that are used in her pieces include the watch face itself, the bezel, the gears and springs inside of the watch.  Pretty much any piece of the watch itself may be found in one of her artistic creations of extremely wearable jewelry for men and women.  I really love how recognizable some of the pieces are as former time pieces.  This kind of repurposing is great because it’s like being a walking ad for eco-friendly living.  Everyone sees what the item used to be — this can lead to a conversation starter or even an inspiration for greener living.

When selecting which pieces of the clock will be used, the artistian ensures that the piece is no longer viable for use as it’s intended purpose.  This ensures that only pieces of watches that are “useless” are used to make the jewelry out of.  If the watch is salvageable, it’s repaired and available for sale at her shop as well!  This kind of fix or use policy really makes sure that the time pieces are kept out of the garbage and reused in one way or another.  There’s a wide variety of styles of pieces available for sale in her shop.  Go and check it out!!

I’ve never seen jewelry quite like these pieces that are somehow reminiscent of the 80′s to me.  Retro 80′s styling is definitely “in” again.  The bold, bright colors of the zipper pulls on the necklace especially harken back to days of my youth.  I love how these earrings and necklace don’t try to hide their previous use.  Instead, the artist embraces it’s past use and makes that the main feature of the piece itself!  Anyone who looked even remotely closely at the jewelry who recognize it immediately.  One common, everyday item turned into a beautiful accessory.

These pieces are also quite affordable as well with the earrings being $14 plus shipping and the necklaces being $36 plus shipping, both in USD.  She’s got a huge range of other jewelry available for your perusal on her site as well — zipper tape earrings and necklaces, earrings and necklaces of pull tabs of every color and design imaginable as well as a variety of bracelets.  She ships to Canada, the US and everywhere else with really pretty reasonable shipping rates as well.  But if you think that jewelry could be the only use for these upcycled zippers, think again!  She also makes some really fantastic jars that are covered in zippers that require more than a passing glance to realize what it’s made with.

There’s also some fun and colorful magnets which could be used in the office or in the home to hold up the odd bits and pieces of notes, photos or whatever that must be remembered.  I’d definitely recommend stopping by her Etsy store or gallery site to check out the huge range of items that she has available for purchasing.  You could really make some of your loved ones Christmas’ a little green-er with her amazing pieces or add some fun flair to your own wardrobe or decor.

Love her or hate her, Barbie is an instantly recognizable pop culture icon — even if it’s just a tiny piece of her!  Artist and designer Margaux Lange has found a way to upcycle various pieces of Barbie’s (and Ken’s) anatomy into a stunning array of jewelery.  This sexy bracelet is just one example of how these pieces of plastic can become eye catching accessories.

This brooch ingeniously uses the profile of Barbie’s face to form a flower shape.  Margaux has found a way to use every imaginable part from the Mattel dolls — yes, even Ken’s bulge is present on some pieces.  She also takes custom orders at her Etsy shop.  Many of her designs are one of a kind pieces that are sure to be conversation starters.  You can tell everyone you run into how important it is to reuse items.  Margaux says:
“I take pleasure in the contradiction of transforming mass-produced objects into unique, and distinctly handmade, wearable artworks. In my Plastic Body Series jewelry work, I am re-purposing salvaged Barbie dolls as the accessory instead of being accessorized.”

These dismembered hands make for a very interesting hinged bracelet.  The rings add a pop of color to this racially harmonious accessory.  And there certainly should be many hands from which to choose.  On the Barbie press page, they proudly proclaim that enough Barbie dolls have been produced since their first one in 1959 to circle the globe 7 times!  Just think of all the wasted plastic, oil and resources that have gone into making these dolls.  I wonder how many of them are just sitting in landfills.

The artist’s pieces range from innocent and cute to downright raunchy so there is sure to be something that appeals to everyone.  Even though Barbie has just turned 50, she still has an impressive following.  90% of American girls aged 3-6 own at least one Barbie with the average number of dolls owned by this group being 12.  The dolls are available in over 150 countries and another two dolls are sold every second.  Every second of every day of every week.  That adds up to 1,209,600 dolls sold every week!  It’s no wonder that that Barbie has made Mattel one of the largest manufacturer’s of apparel in the world.  They’ve used over 105 million yards of fabric to make her tiny outfits.
I’m sure that more than a few of these have ended up in the world’s landfills once the girls who play with them grow older and grow out of them.  Buying and wearing Margaux’s jewelry is a great way to get at least some of the unused plastic out of the trash pile and put it back in the treasure pile.