Featured Artist: Lilah Vintage

Meet Amanda from Lilah Vintage!  This is my first vintage upcycler that I've featured and what a great first.  I love Amanda's story, not to mention the fun picture of her.  I hope you'll enjoy reading about her work as much as I did.  Oh yeah, you'll have your chance to pick up a great pair of earrings just for sharing this blog post.  But more on that at the end.

Tell us a little about your shop and your art.

LilahVintage is a marrying of vintage material and modern design.  I collect quality broken vintage jewelry and take them apart to create simple elegant designs for everyday wear.

Silver Hoop Earrings

When did you start creating with “old stuff”?

My grandmother, Louella, was a spit-fire and lived a long fantastic life where you dressed up to get on an airplane.   I inherited all of her jewelry but much of it was broken and I didn’t want to throw it out so I took classes on beading and chain work learning how to reuse the pieces.    I love both the art of jewelry making and creating modern gems from beautiful old finds.

Who are the important folks/critters in your life?

I keep a photo of Louella at Morro Bay in a skirt suit and hat on my desk.  She’s standing at the beach so posh and engaging!  Next to her is a photo of my lovely fiancé, Gary, and our Aussie rescue Lilah – for whom my shop is named after.

14kt Gold Nesting Necklace

Where do you take your inspiration from?

I gravitate towards the clean lines of mid century designers like Neutra, Eames and Eichler where every element has a purpose.

What other passions do you have in life?

My other day job is working on Hollywood movies as a coordinator.  I get so excited reading the script and being a part of movie making – even after 15 years.   I’m an avid runner and usually take Lilah trail running at Eaton Canyon in Altadena.

Also a portion of proceeds from all LilahVintage sales goes to The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  It is a charity close to my heart as my mother is continuing her fight against leukemia.

Time to enter to win these beautiful earrings made from vintage glass beads

You know the drill, be sure to enter a separate comment for each action that you take below. On Thursday, April 5, Random.org will determine the winning number! Now get busy tweeting, sharing and commenting (and be sure you leave some way for me to contact you in case you are the winner):

1. Visit Lilah Vintage on Etsy and tell us your favorite item below

2. Tweet this post and be sure to include @Upcycled_Stuff in your tweet

3. Follow Lilah Vintage on Facebook

Good Luck!