Nola Singer designs beautiful jewelry out of vintage pieces she finds all over the world. Here she shares how she got inspired to design sustainable baubles and lead a kind life. Thank you, Nola!

How I Got Into a Kind Life
By Nola Singer

I have always been creative, and after majoring in art in college, I still needed to find my outlet. Fashion became my canvas, and I decided to become a stylist. While having the opportunity to work with Alicia Silverstone, Halle Berry, and Jada Pinkett-Smith (among others), I had a difficult time finding unique accessories. I would go shopping and all the jewelry looked the same. I like to wear something different, and as a stylist, I wanted my clients to have their personal style reflected in their wardrobe as well. So, I started making jewelry by recycling vintage pieces that I had collected over the years. I love how each vintage piece is one of a kind and special, and I've always believed that accessories can make (or break) an outfit. I really wanted to make jewelry that anyone could wear to dress up a tank top and jeans, but also wear with a black dress to stand out with some edge.

My love for vintage started in high school. I remember my parents giving me $20 to go to the mall and see a movie or get food with friends. Instead, I would go to Melrose and spend it at the thrift stores. This was a decade ago, so $20 could get me a vintage T-shirt or slip dress. This is the moment I fell in love with vintage. There is something magical about the history of each vintage find. There is also an energy that I think lives on in the pieces.

In college, I spent a semester abroad studying art and fashion in Florence, Italy. Having grown up in California, where everything is torn down and rebuilt or remodeled, I was enchanted by all the history in Italy. At the time, the American dollar had a lot more value, and I started collecting vintage treasures throughout Europe. I didn't know what I was going to do with these art deco dress clips, shoe clips and filigree brooches I found, but I knew I had to have them. My friends told me I was spending my money on junk, but I knew I would make something with them. I also loved meeting the antique dealers and hearing the history of their antique finds.

So much vintage jewelry and vintage fabric still exists - you just have to search for it. I love re-working the vintage treasures I've found and making them into modern fashion. For example, I love to break a pair of clip-on earrings and re-make them into a new style of chandelier earrings, a necklace, bracelet or a ring. It's exciting to take something old and reinvent it. I also feel like much of the new and mass-produced jewelry can't compare to the craftsmanship of vintage jewelry. Recycling vintage pieces ensures that all of my jewelry is one-of-a-kind and unique - and of course it's environmentally friendly.

I think it is really important to be conscious of everything we do. I try to act ethically in my production of jewelry and in all aspects of my life. I hand make all my jewelry. I make environmentally responsible decisions in my life whenever I can or with every opportunity I have. Beyond being a sustainable jewelry designer, I live in a 1930s house, and even my workspace is decorated with hand-me-down furniture and flea market finds. When I am not making jewelry, I volunteer at animal shelters and I rescue dogs. I love animals, and I'm a vegetarian.

As part of the green fashion movement, I feel good knowing I'm not leaving a carbon footprint and that I'm making good use of a renewable resource by recycling old jewelry. Every piece of jewelry I hand-make is created from a one-of-a-kind piece that I love or that inspired me. I want my jewelry to be stylish and make a statement, while capturing timeless elegance. My designs are feminine and classic, but are mixed with an edge by incorporating asymmetric layering or mixed chains with a vintage piece. I feel very grateful to have been able to make my love for vintage jewelry my life's work.

Nola Singer's jewelry and store locations can be viewed on her website at www.jewelrybynola.com. Nola is also on the board of Friends of Los Angeles Animal Shelters and also volunteers with Animal Advocates Alliance at the Baldwin Park Shelter when she is not making jewelry.

Thanks Nola! Do you Kind Lifers buy vintage jewelry? What are your favorite places to shop?