Aland – This year’s Sepac stamp shows handmade jewellery from Åland

On 17 August, Åland Post promotes locally manufactured jewellery made from recycled material. This is a stamp in the series of Sepac stamps issued by the small European postal administrations on the 2017 theme local crafts.

The handmade necklaces on the stamp were made from old leather garments and metallic bits. At the lower edge of the stamp, a pair of earrings made from ostrich feather down appears. The jewellery is sold under the name Oktober, and is produced by Anna Karlsson in her tiny workshop in Godby.

The material at hand is often the starting point of Anna’s jewellery. She mainly uses recovered material, mostly leather but also yarn, pieces of glass or discarded cartridge cases.

“Preparing the material is a complicated process. I look for old leather garments at flea markets, shear or cut them into their components, shred them into adequate strips and glue them together. Not until then can I begin to create the actual piece of jewellery. What’s more, different qualities of leather suit different types of products. Thick quality leather from, say, boots is not well suited for making soft necklaces or bracelets, and very soft leather is best suited for necklace laces.”