Merry Christmas & Happy New Year from Sunshine INdustries!

Merry Christmas

&

Happy New Year

May all of your hopes and dreams come true in 2010...

Sincerely,

Dawn Lawrence Floen

Sunshine INdustries

Want unique gifts? Artist/Artisan ART MARKET!

Want unique gifts? Come to the ART MARKET at the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre on Thursday, December 17th from 5 - 9 p.m. Sunshine INdustries will be there! Come out and support local artists and artisans.

Eleven more shopping days...

There is still time to shop Sunshine INdustries...

Great gifts at a variety of price points!

Shop the website - www.sunshineindustries.ca - gifts will still get to you by Christmas in Canada if you buy before Friday, December 18th.

If you prefer to shop in person, Sunshine INdustries will be at:

BCHCC Gallery Art Market

Thursday, December 17th

5 - 9 p.m.

If neither of those options work for you, give Dawn a call at 780-875-8246 for an appointment to shop in person in the studio.

Stay warm!

May the Bling be with You...

Dawn

Saturday December 12th - Family Christmas Fantasy

Next Saturday, December 12th, the Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre is hosting the Family Christmas Fantasy. See the BCHCC site for all of the events involved: http://www.bchcc.ca/events.html

Sunshine INdustries will be there with the Mid West Canadian Artist group. There will be special sale pricing... come out and save on your favorite S.IN. jewelry pieces!

May the Bling be with You...

Dawn

Like handcrafted gifts for Christmas? Support an Independent Artisan!

Handmade gifts. They are the best... remember wool sock monkeys? My aunt used to make the most excellent sock monkeys. It is one of my best memories. I recently bought some wool mitts that look similar to sock monkeys and have been driving my husband crazy talking with them... Those mitts were handmade.

I love handcrafted things. They have all of the love & time invested from the creator imbedded into them. They often have a story behind them as well - a history. All of the parts come from each of their own places and come together to create the whole. I like to think of the journey each piece took. I like anything with a story or history...

Thanks to those who braved the storm to come to the Marshall Craft Sale. It was a success despite the snow and wind! I met some great people! As vendors, we made the best of the show by buying from each other... I stocked up on baking and some beautiful handcrafted Christmas gifts.

Speaking of stock, there is still time for you to invest in some handcrafted jewelry... here are the newest items I've added to the stock on the website..

Above - Green Prehite Earrings - These prehite pentagon stones are gorgeous!

Pink Candy Earrings - Dyed pink candy jade earrings - they are bright and yet dainty at the same time...

Daisies in Bloom Earrings - Yellow jade rounds on pretty Bali sterling ear wires.

Pumpkin Spice Earrings - cola quartz and orange adventurine rondelles on sterling ear wires.

Tropical Rainforest Bracelet - brown and green mixed turquoise and sterling bracelet.

Dream Necklace - a lovely square jasper stone paired with a fine silver handcrafted tag on an 18" long sterling chain. I thought this piece of jasper looked like that few moments when day turns to night or when you are almost asleep and dreaming yet aware of your surroundings...

Iced Blooms II Bracelet - Iced blue chalcedony stones with sterling spacer beads, a sterling extender chain with a sterling lobster clasp. The blue chalcedony stones range from a lovely iced blue sky colour to almost white.

Candy Oh! Earrings - These earrings are for those who like attention. Huge sterling ovals with dark pink candy jade baubles and large handcrafted ear wires make these pretty groovy...

Candy Oh! Bracelet - goes with the Candy Oh! Earrings... So cool looking.

There is more - check out the two new watches as well. Tick tock... Gift giving time is coming...

May the Bling Be with You!

Dawn

Marshall Craft Show

Sunshine INdustries will be at the Marshall Craft Show this Saturday... come out and touch/try on in person. You may even buy some for others...

: ) Dawn

Cyber Monday Sale!

CYBER MONDAY SALE!

Purchase anything from my website on Cyber Monday - November 30th - and receive 20% off your purchase!

http://www.sunshineindustries.ca

Happy shopping... May the Bling be with You!

Dawn

Upcoming Shows!

Well, the Christmas Craft Preview was a HUGE success. I'm happily exhausted and blessed to have such supportive family, friends and customers. More upcoming shows:

December 5th - Marshall Craft Show

December 12th - Barr Colony Heritage Cultural Centre

New items have been put up onto the website:

http://www.sunshineindustries.ca

More will be added gradually this week, so check back often for that perfect Christmas gift!

May the Bling be with You!

Dawn

Christmas Craft Preview Show & Sale

The Christmas Craft Preview Show & Sale is almost here! (Previously known as Sunny's Craft Show, this is the biggest handcraft shopping opportunity of the year!!)

The hours are:

Friday, November 20th - 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Saturday, November 21st - 10 a.m. - 7 p.m.

Sunday, November 22nd - 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Yvonne and I will be there at the MidWest Canadian Artist's booth. Here is a preview of some of the bling that I will be bringing. Don't bother to click on them - they are not available on the website. You have to come buy in person!

See you there!

May the Bling be With You...

Dawn

Tag - You're It!

Lately I've been fooling around with the idea of mini dog tags. (Thanks Amy for the idea!) Each of these tags are about 2 cm long and 1 cm wide. They are all made of fine silver, which is 99% silver.

This first one is hung off a raspberry coloured glass bead with a sterling heart. It is on a 16" sterling box chain.

This one is paired with a cultured pearl and is also on a 16" sterling box chain.

Lastly, this wee beauty (a bit smaller than the other two) is paired with a red garnet and a sterling heart on a 16" sterling box chain.

May the bling be with you!

Dawn

More of the Latest...

This necklace, "Midnight in Siam" is really just a teaser... It was a special order and is sold. It is a mix of gorgeous Bali style sterling beads mixed with firepolish jet glass. I imagine it being worn out to black tie affairs...

Ok, so this isn't jewelry, but I had to share. This was a week of MAJOR finds for my studio/store! I found two of these metal/glass shelves on wheels on a garage sale group on Facebook. Love them! They are inspiring. I just want to fill them up with shiny things! Best of all, they come apart for easy movement to trade shows...

Speaking of shiny things, here are some new earrings.

#09-176 - Lemon Drop Earrings

(Click on the title to purchase or for more info.)

These earrings feature handcrafted sterling hoops with lemon calcite drops. The hoops are about 1 1/2" in diameter. The entire length of both hoop and drop is about 2". They are not heavy, but they make quite a statement! Yellow is very in this season. These are not bright yellow, so they would also go nicely with neutrals. Money saving hint - purchase these, then go to the Mix n' Match Earrings area of the website and buy more drops to interchange as needed! Ta Da! Earrings for any outfit.

This porcelain cross was another great find at ReStore this week. I love shopping there! It's not antique, but it definitely has a vintage flair.

On it hangs the Ocean Breeze series - the necklace, bracelet and earrings. They would make great Christmas gifts for the gal who loves turquoise or the ocean...

Speaking of the ocean, these new jade earrings are part of the Among the Kelp series. Click here to see the necklace and here to see the bracelet. All are made with sterling silver and new jade stones. The necklace and bracelet also incorporate some pewter elements - the seahorse and the starfish.

These earrings are on handcrafted sterling wires that are about 3/4" in diameter. The total length is about 1 3/4". The soft light green goes with any neutral/natural and give just enough of a colour pop to be noticed without shouting.

I also created several Mommy Bling & Baby Bling items, but until they are given as gifts, I can't give away their identities!

If you would like a Mommy Bling item or any special order item for a Christmas gift, it's best to order now. My order book is filling up quickly! Thanks to all who have already ordered.

May the Bling Be With You...

Dawn

The Latest Bling

09-166 - Believe Necklace

This fine silver pendant was fun to make. The pale lemon topaz drop was chosen because it's the colour of the stars. This AA quality stone has plenty of sparkle!

It's on leather with this handcrafted sterling clasp.

09-168 - Elegance Earrings

The idea for these earrings began with the cool sterling circle link chain I used in another necklace. I was already working with the lemon topaz stones for the Believe Necklace, so they were a natural choice. These elegant earrings dangle 2 1/2" long. They are much more gorgeous in person, I must say.

Finally, a necklace that I'm having trouble putting up for sale.

09-167 - Drops of Love Necklace

This pretty yet industrial style heart was handmade in fine silver. The dyed pink cultured pearl adds a feminine touch. The sterling chain is from Nina Designs. The chain is 18" long with a sterling lobster clasp.

All of these new pieces are on the website - http://www.sunshineindustries.ca. Please forward this link/blog/email to anyone who may be interested in this post.

May the Bling be with you...

Dawn

Adventures in making a Medic Alert Bracelet

I wanted to make a medi-alert style bracelet for my Dad's birthday. He'd looked at them online and didn't like any of them.

I thought it be pretty easy to do in silver clay. It wasn't.

I looked online for a medi-alert stamp. No go. So I decided to make my own stamp. First, I tried clay. I carved something I liked, but when I tried to fire it, it broke. Next, I carved soap. This worked pretty well, as the photo shows.

I purchased some silicon mold making compounds. The first mold I took from the soap it was a fail. The second one wasn't bad. I

put silver clay into the mold and let it dry.

Major fail. The silver clay adhered to the mold. I had forgotten to put a release onto the mold first! Note to self. Spray release into the mold before using. (Olive oil works well).

Next, I made a bracelet by hand. Using only the logo part from the silicon mold, I stamped it into the bracelet. So far, so good.

Next, I stamped the back. This ended up crushing the logo on the front. Stamping both sides is not easy. Silver clay dries very quickly as well, which doesn't help. I eventually got both to show up, but the stamped letters on the back were a bit crooked. After trying three times, they had to stay that way, as the silver clay was drying rapidly.

To fix the logo on the front, I ended up using a syringe of silver clay to "draw" in the snake on the pedestal, which actually looked better than the original on the mold anyway.

After drying the bracelet thoroughly, I fired it with a torch.

This photo is after brushing the white coating off after firing. You can see the brush marks from the wire brush. At this point, you also file down any rough edges or thick spots. You can also smooth it a bit with sandpapers.

Next, to make the lettering and logo stand out, the bracelet was dipped into liver of sulphur. This is the back after taking it out of the liquid.

After sanding the black patina off with several kinds of sandpaper, the logo and lettering stands out and the bracelet is much more smooth.

TaDA! The finished product. I made two different straps for Dad to wear with different things.

So... now that I've done this once, I can do it again MUCH more easily. Special orders are welcome!