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Bottle tops
pop up in designer’s funky accessories
By Marshall Hood
The Columbus Dispatch
Were Cynthia Chriss-Knochel
to go to your next party, she’d probably end up leaving
with her purse bulging. But not with silverware or soggy
shrimp wrapped in a napkin. She would have made off with
every discarded bottle cap in sight. The cap-aholic even
has friends keep their Bud and Miller toppers in buckets
that she picks up every month. Recently, a bartender pal
in Australia sent her a year’s worth that he had saved.
Eureka! (Burp.)
“The
bottle caps are like little jewels, too precious to toss
out,” said the Ohio State University fine-arts grad
and the hands behind CeeCee Was Here, a line of charm bracelets
and purses made from bottle caps. Although charm bracelets
are the retro hit of the season, Chriss-Knochel has been
crafting hers since 1997, mostly for friends who appreciate
their uniqueness and “girlie-girl” flair.
But when she graduated
to purses, she discovered that she had something hot on
her wrists. It struck her one night as she left the Burgundy
Room in the Short North toting one of her bags. “I
had a girl chase me out of the club and down the street
to find out where I had bought (it) because she wanted one,”
Chriss-Knochel said. “It was then that I decided to
offer them for sale.”
The bracelets cost
$45 and are made from a dozen or so caps and other “found
objects.” Purses come in four sizes, cost $125 to
$300 and are made from caps connected to one another with
rings, similar to chain mail. All materials – even
the metal purse frames – are “found objects”
(that is, castoffs). The items are available on www.ceeceewashere.com.
The 3-month-old
Web site also chronicles the goings-on of CeeCee: her world
travels, favorite hot spots, top Hollywood hunks, etc. But
CeeCee is an imaginary person, sort of. “I made ‘CeeCee
Was Here’ my logo because it was something uniquely
mine. In junior high, I used to write it on my notebooks.
“C.C. are my initials, and I made it into a sort of
alter-ego name for myself.”
mhood@dispatch.com
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