Lulu’s searching for stamp of approval
Lulu Watson at Bank Street Arts with her collection of jewellery she has made from postage stamps
...AND talking of niche hobbies, philatelists may want to look away now - for here’s a Sheffield jewellery-maker who perhaps won’t get your stamp of approval...
“When they see what I’ve done, they’re horrified,” says Lulu Watson.
A good job, then, that her unique line - ear-rings, necklaces and cuff-links made with historic global stamps - is proving popular with plenty of other people.
“Collectors keep their stamps pristine but I’m hacking them up and covering them with resin,” says the 25-year-old of Hooton Lane, Ravenfield, Rotherham. “They’re such incredible little works of art, I thought they’d look amazing in jewellery.”
And it seems online buyers, from Australia to the US, agree. Because, from the sublime (a brooch featuring a French Polynesian stamp depicting a glorious sunset) to the ridiculous (a necklace made with a Mali second class print of Luke Skywalker), hundreds are being snapped up every month.
Particularly popular are those featuring birds - although a necklace adorned with a British QEII stamp complete with 1976 Sheffield postmark is still to sell.
“It started when I saw a bag of old stamps in a charity shop and something clicked,” said Lulu, whose workshop is in Sheffield’s Bank Street Arts complex. “That was 2010 and things have been growing since. People like how they’re relatively cheap - under £40 - and hand-made.”
www.etsy.com/shop/luimadeit
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Friday 25 May 2012
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