Tinkie A.D.

A bridge between the hands and the heart…

After developing the bunny urn I have been urged to create pendant urns for cats and dogs too. It was hard at first to maintain that same feel in the design that I think made the bunny successful. I wanted the forms to be simple and not to get too busy trying to make any kind of breed distinction. Then I came to a feeling that when our furries are babies, they have not yet developed those differneces that also come with age and illness.  So here we are, a cute little kitten made of Silver Metal Clay.  

Kitty Memorial Pendant Urn

I love the little Roman nose and chubby cheeks. This pendant is sizable, 2 inches long by 1 1/4 inches tall. Being hollow with only a bit of ash inside it remains light and is comfortable to wear. I never take off the little rabbit I made with my Trinket’s ashes.

I’ve settled on the idea that the customer will send me a small amount of their pet’s cremation ash or a small wad of fur. Then I can themake the pendant sealed permanetly with the ashes inside in the kiln and forgoing any danger of a clasp that doesn’t hold. A few years back I aquired a small prayer bead which I put the ashes of two of rabbits in and sadly now they are all over the inside of my car   I guess I should have glued the opening but that just didn’t feel right on a sterling silver item.

I am offering these Kitten Pendant Urns on my Etsy site. I hope that by exploring my own emotional loss and creating something that brought me comfort and closure, I can help someone else have that same comfort.

Yes I think I’ve gone off rocker! This all started with a fun conversation just talking about bunny pooh and then the next thing I knew, I was making plans to actually make these.  Why not? It makes complete sense to me as a bunny slave. Right from the beginning, bunny owners will learn to look to their bun’s dropping to tell what is going on. There have been many a Mom who has sat up all night praying and looking for that ever elusive pooh ball to let her know that her baby was out of the woods and stasis was on it’s way out.  Besides, its only recycled grass and vegetables!

Actually when I think back it all makes sense for me. I remember when my precious “Soul Bun” Mr. B was near his end. He had fought several years with chronic ear infections that spread to his jaw bone and then ultimately to his brain in the very end. He had numerous surgeries and had been on meds almost all of his life. That last day we had taken him to the vet hoping we could conjure up one more miracle for him. All that could be done was an antibiotic injection and wait to see if he could make it. We had him at my store for the day and we had borrowed a small litter box from the vet. He only passed three little turds all day. That night we got him home and sadly he passed in the night. He left behind his mate Minnie who absolutely worshipped the ground he walked on. I took his passing quite hard, it was almost two years I grieved, pouring all my love into Minnie hoping together we could heal. But then Minnie became chronically ill shortly after B and she only survived for two years after him.

For well over a year after B passed I kept that little litter pan with those three turds on a dining room chair. Everytime I went to clear it away I couldn’t. I know its crazy, but sometimes loving a fur baby is like that. Anyway I wish I had them now, I know they’d be my treasured gems in silver.

So here they are. Think of them as “Land Pearls”, Recycling at its extreme

Fine Silver Bunny Pooh Earrings

The little Pooh Balls are coated with Silver Metal Clay that has been made into a paste, lots and lots of layers! I’m finding 15 layers seems to be a good number as I do lose some material with all the sanding and polishing.

Once the balls are completely dried and sanded smooth, they are put into a kiln at almost 1700 degrees Celsius for a few hours. The poop is then completely burned away leaving a small and harmless bit of ash. Unfortunately I find the Pooh Balls impossible to completely dry out as they seem rehydrate with the silver paste. The result is that almost all of the balls split open  in the firing and need to repaired and fired a second time.

Bunny Pooh after a coat of acylic

Bunny pooh after a few coats of Silver Metal Clay Paste

All in all I was pretty pleased with the results and I think they make a fun a quirky gift. Surprisingly I did find other bunny pooh earrings when I started googling it.

I’ve decided to offer these in my Etsy shop and I’ve decided to offer them as a cheaper option in my Pet Memorial Jewelry category as well.  I just hope someone doesn’t try to send me a cat turd for memorial!

It brings me comfort to think of my sweet little Trinket as my little angel, some where near, unseen yet still a bright light in my memory. So of course I had to try a Bunny Angel Memorial Pendant. So here is another design I have added to my line of Cremation Pendant Urns

Bunny Angel Memorial Pendant Urn

Trinket’s passing in August has inspired me to embark on the most fabulous of adventures into Metal Clay crafting!

I have designed a sweet little pendant urn that contains the ashes of my sweet girl. The process begins with a substance called Cork Clay in which I form into the shape of the bunny, putting a small amount of cremated ashes into the belly area of the form. Silver Clay is them applied in layers until the desired thickness is achieved and then it is fired in a kiln for two hours. The binders in the silver clay then burns off leaving .999 percent silver (Fine Silver) and the cork clay is burned off leaving only a small amount of ash along with the cremation ash in the hollow bunny.The resulting piece of jewelry is then durable and beautiful. This design does not have any kind of opening so there is never worry of the ashes spilling out and becoming lost. They are a permanent part of the jewelry.

This is the pendant I made for myself with Trinket’s Ashes. I wear it on a long silver chain so that it hangs at my heart

Memorial Bunny Urn Pendant

Fine Silver Memorial Pet Urn Pendant

This Metal Clay stuff may seem easy at first glance, but I’ve come to learn it’s not. So many places to go wrong, but there is always a chance to improve on whatever results I end up with

So its been a year and half since I closed my jewelry and Art Gallery in Owen Sound. This time has been filled to the brim with caring for my bunny muse, my Sweet Girl Trinket. Its just not the same without her here now that she has passed away;  I’m finding it so strange to have so much time on my hands. I never knew I could miss things like changing diapers, syringe feedings, all the trips to the vet and of course all the worry. But I do. So its time to finally get back to work and easing myself toward that in this blog will be a big part of that too.

So Talking Work~I’ve finally ordered a kiln, the first major element to my plan to teach myself Metal Clay jewelry forming. I am very excited to get going, but as usual life gets in the way. We had to replace a vehicle and a stove this month so it might be another month before I get in all my supplies. I have to keep some momentum going so I’ve decided to get back to basics.

I’ve owned a butane torch for a few years now and for some reason when ever I tried doing any real soldering with it I couldn’t manage to melt the silver solder I bought. Why I’ll never know, I gave up there and went back to using a solder iron and solder used for stained glass. Well its fine on mixed metal pieces, but not suitable if I want to maintain an all Sterling Silver product and a professional product suitable for resale. So I’ve finally put aside my reservations and hit the books to read up on some basic techniques. For some crazy reason I thought my torch couldn’t reach the temperatures needed to melt the solder, but I was using a low temperature solder all along. After researching metal clay I have since learned my little torch exceeds the temperatures needed to fire the clay and that is enough to melt my wire so silver solder will not be a problem.

I decided to begin with a simple task such as annealing my wire for better bending and then I tried my first stab at melting the end of my wire to make that sweet little silver ball on the end. Woo Hoo I was so excited making my first head pin, then I quickly decided to make my first sweet little S hook  earring wire. Why have I not been doing this for ages I do not know. I’ve always been annoyed at purchasing affordable sterling silver ear wires and never really being happy with them. Now I’m bending my own and getting the exact size and graceful design I want. I even did the hammering bit to re harden the wire so it keeps it spring. Its a pretty basic metal smith techniques and I have to say as basic as you can get, but I am so happy as beading jewelry artist to finally make that first tiny step toward developing the skills I’ll need to make jewelry of the quality and unique design that I have been  imagining.

The first few bits of wire I put to the torch came out pretty darkened and I had to polish the first ones with a metal polish to get them shiny and clean, but i have since gotten myself some Alum to mix with water for my own pickling solution to remove the flux and darkening from the silver.  Works like a charm. I took two tablespoons of alum and mixed about  a cup of water. I warm this up in the microwave and leave my torched wire to soak for half an hour or so. Then the wire just needs a light buff and of course some hammering to re harden and strengthen the wire. My next investment is a tumbler so I can do large batches of wire and then toss them in the tumbler to harden up. I’m pretty pleased with this major increase in the quality of my work!

Swarovski Sterling Silver Earrings

My work can be purchased at my shopping site at

www.aloradesigns.etsy.com

 My plan is to teach myself a new technique regularly and bring up the quality versatility of my work. I’m excited to try out larger gauge wire and get into bending some intricate creations. I’ve learned this way, just read what I can and give it a go. I love to learn through my successes and mistakes.

Cultured Freshwater Pearl Sterling Silver Earrings