happy earrings

Carved from bone and painted by hand, two happy seahorses dangle below petite cultured pearls and beads of amethyst. Ayu Ary creates the earrings, which swing from hooks of sterling silver.

Artisan Rosario Leiva of Guatemala brings new life to recycled CDs in these beautiful and fascinating dangle earrings with sterling silver hooks. She melts the CD scrap in a mold, then artfully applies droplets of acrylic to achieve her desired colors--purple, turquoise, and yellow for this pair of earrings--and then fuses the CD material and acrylic together using a blow torch. The resulting effect is magnificent translucent color punctuated with air bubbles that create unique patterns.

About her work, the artisan says: "I love creating jewelry with materials that most people would discard. Let's all take the time to think about the endless opportunities we have to give 'waste' materials another chance."

Crafted by hand, filigree kittens come to life as earrings by Pichaya. She works in shining silver to craft cheerful kitty cats that swing on sterling hooks.

.925 Sterling silver