Turning Old Novels into Literary Jewels

I've made a not-so-great effort to hide that I'm a huge book nerd. My bookcases (yes multiple) are constantly overflowing and I get rid of nothing after I read it. So when I saw this awesome jewelry artist, Jeremy May, I thought "I need these!" May creates jewelry pieces by cutting pages out of novels, carving them into shape, and them laminating them into place. And he gets the most interesting and intricate designs out of it. See for yourself.

The organic, almost woody look that these necklaces have is amazing. The stacked pages look like they could be the rings of a tree. My favorite pieces are the ones laminated so that you can still see words and sentence fragments. I mean that is the whole point isn't it? Otherwise, it just kind of looks like fun plastic jewelry. Either way, it's an fascinating take on recycled jewelry making.

I love the design of the pendant, but I might be biased since it was cut out of a copy of Hamlet.

Do you get to keep the book the pages were cut from? Absolutely. What are you going to do with a book that has a giant whole cut out of the center? Well you can use it as storage for your one of a kind designed piece, show friends how cool the bracelet you're wearing actually is, or store tiny bottles of alcohol - we all have needs right?

Part of me struggles with this concept a bit because I take pretty good care of my books and never in a million years would I think to cut the pages out of one I own. Yet at the same time, I love jewelry and each piece is gorgeous and timeless. The book nerd in me loves the idea of wearing parts of my favorite stories. I guess if I already own a copy of Hamlet, I could also own a copy with a giant circle cut out of the middle right? Sure, why not.

So what do you say? Genius or not?