Todd Reed is passionate about diamonds. He is a self-taught jewelry artist who uses his
training as a pastry chef to create award-winning innovative necklaces, bracelets, pins and earrings from 18 carat gold, platinum and silver, using cut diamonds as an accent to raw diamonds. One of my readers who loves the work of Reed suggested that I feature him. I was impressed by his work and thought you would be, too.
The 
Fingers gallery features the work of leading New Zealand jewelry artists. Pictured on the left is Lynn Kelly's
silver aluminum garnet poppy brooch. Anna Wallis created this ring made out of oxidized sterling silver. Fingers was created in 1974 by six artists who wanted to showcase contemporary jewelry. Today, it features the work of 48 artists whose work is playful, funky, colorful and worth checking out. What do you think?
Straight from Bologna, Italy, Momaboma creates handbags from recycled
Italian magazines and newspapers from the 1940s through the 1960s. Momaboma selects the photos, takes them out of the publications, glues them onto a surface, treats them with resin and then creates one-of-a-kind handbags while recycling the rest of the material. These bags have quite a WOW factor, I'd say. What do you think? If nothing else, with his motto, "Invert the World," Momaboma has come up with a unique way to bring to life his commitment to recycling.
The colorful work of artist Louise Fischer Cozzi was featured on the Polymer Clay Notes
blog last week. Artist Fisher transforms translucent clay into geometric shapes and infuses it with color. Cozzi's Wholey Necklace (left) and Mini Petal Necklace (right) are made from etched and painted ploymer clay. Cozzi creates bracelets, brooches and earrings, too. How do you like these necklaces? I think they would be great to wear when you're feeling playful.
Japanese born Hiroko Miyamoto creates jewelry using an ancient Japanese
technique called Mokume Gane. The technique involves combining metals like silver, gold or copper, by alternately layering and fusing them together. The layers are then twisted and forged to create unique, one of a kind designs and patterns. While many metal artists in the United States are using Mokume Gane today, Miyamoto's elegant, modern designs are among my favorite. Here are two dramatic pieces from Miyamoto's collection: 'Anillo' ring from the gold collection and 'Colgante' necklace from the wood collection.
