Watch gears, handmade ceramics, crystals, and a sense of timelessness combine somewhere in the depths of Simply Willow (in Kalamazoo, Michigan) and emerge as stunningly beautiful, uncommonly fetching jewelry.

 

Stil Novo Design, in California, handcrafts tables, benches, stools, candle holders, rocking horses, keychains, and other useful items and decor from recycled oak wine barrel staves and other reclaimed woods--all with a warm and homey vintage feel.

The creative energy behind Designs Made Easy is a Las Vegas based graphic designer.  She's a corporate worker by day, but expresses her creative side in this sideline designing invitations, announcements, or whatever type of graphic print design you need.  Then you take care of the printing yourself.  Nice idea, and very nice work on her part.

Dennis, at Anderson Soap Company in Portland, Oregon, makes a lot of very nice looking soaps.  They come in different forms with a range of ingredients:  Bar, liquid, whipped, olive oil, shea butter, hemp, glycerine and more.  But what got my attention was his soaps made from beer.  I saw Newcastle, and Guiness and two or three others in his shop, but they're not categorized separately.  You find them by scrolling through all shop items.

Mandy and Liz Curl, the daughter and mom team at Mandika Designs, craft classy and classically designed handbags from recycled men's suits.  Linings, inside and outside pockets, labels, buttons, and other elements make their way creatively into the finished products:  Clutches, shoulder bags, messengers, and more.

Beata, of Soigne Atelier, in Vancouver, combines multiple art forms to create decidely different and very appealing jewelry.  I have one of her very happy necklaces made of felted balls, but she also uses polymer clay beads (that she makes herself), glass, silver, wood, brass, found objects, whatever, to create pieces that defy categorization.

SpoonerZ uses recycled silverware to create jewelry that is artistic, well-crafted, and makes for wonderful conversation pieces.  The name comes up short because whole place settings are used, right down to multiples of fork tines, to create some pretty impressive silver jewelry.

Carol Gilbert, of Yorktown Road in Northern California, uses pleats and tucks to create designs that give a sense of topography to her understated and classically beautiful purses, tote bags, pillow covers, and other home decor.  This is oldtime tuck-and-roll taken to a new level.