Toni Ruther

I was born in Germany and was adopted, sight unseen, by an American family from a German displaced persons/children's orphanage at the age of five in 1952. Having lived most of our lives in Northern Virginia, my husband and I moved to Lake of the Woods when he retired in 2005.

In 1995, I took a stained glass class and fell in love with this art form. Since then, I have pursued stained glass as well as my jewelry designs. My husband, who is an artist, collaborates with me by creating some of my custom stained glass designs such as those shown in these photos.

I have always loved antique china so I also decided to find a way to recycle chipped or broken antique china into wearable art/jewelry. It took about two years to develop the best way to cut china into shapes that I fashion into earrings, necklaces, and brooches. My brooches can also be worn as necklaces. Each piece is one of a kind, and is completely handcrafted by me. None of my jewelry is mass produced and every piece is signed.

I accept commissions to design jewelry from family china so that members of that family can share momentos of their parents or grandparents’ china. The jewelry ranges from $26 to over $100. Please contact me for more information at timelesspatterns50@gmail.com.