Tinkie A.D.

A bridge between the hands and the heart…

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!

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

Well I have to admit, I have been a very bad blogger. So sorry for not having posted here in so many months. Since Trinket passed away in August I have been a bit emotinally messy at times, but now that Christmas is over and her bithday which was New Years, I feel ready to muscle down and get some stuff done.

So the latest is my adventure into Metal Clay. When Trinket died I really felt compelled to have her close even if it was just her ashes. Years ago when I first learned about Metal Clay I wanted to make a wearable urn to put the ashes of two of my bunnies, Minnie and B in. Well life usually gets in the way of such plans and it never came to be. Finally over the holidays I took the plung and bought a small manual glass kiln and invested in a wack of starter tools and a couple hundred dollars worth of clay to get me started. A wonderful friend from Bunspace donated her left over clay supplies and some wonderful gems for me to experiement with. This was great because initially I thought I would just work with the Art Clay 650 slow dry but I found that PMC standard is fabulous because of its large amount of shrinkage. So now I’ve come to realize its best to have a variety of clay types to work with depending on the project.

So my first project was a pair of earrings made from the left of supplies my friend gave me. First I had to reconsistitute the dried up clay by chopping it very fine with a tissue blade and then I mixed water and “Paste Maker” (in my reading I understand Lavender Oil will do the same thing) to the dried shavings. I then mashed it up with a pallet knife until it formed into a clay. Not ever even having felt what the clay should feel like, I just kept adding moisture until it felt easy to form and maintain its moisture.

When it came time to deal with the issue of a bezel to hold a beautiful topaz I wanted to use, I realized it wouldn’t be safe to fire the gem in place, but had to add a fine silver bezel. My first attempt was pushing the bezel into the clay and then fire. Well I’ll never bother doing this again. When the clay shrunk it created a huge gouge along the inside of the bezel and huge lump in the centre that held up the stone so I couldn’t set it. So hubby and I had the brainiac idea to use a dremel to drill out the centre. What ended up happening was that the dremel kicked out and took big gouge out my bezel. It was a blessing!! I ripped out the bezel and used a file to smooth out all the mess and I used some slip to attack a new bezel to the already fired base. No shrinkage and it resulted in a nice neat seam. I will always do it this way from now one. Live and learn. So here is my very first attempt at working with Metal Clay

They may not be perfect. I think my finishing needs work, but I am pleased with this first attempt. Metal Clay crafting is not fast but I thrilled with the possibilities.

These Topaz earring were made wth PMC standard Metal Clay