Where oh where has Dawn been?

Creating, of course!

Earrings...

Lengthening a Mommy Bling necklace I had made earlier for Treena...

I love it long!

(My friends/customers come up with the best ideas.)

Which inspired this bracelet...

(Which will be added to my website next week)

And this one...

In fact, I like this design so much that you will likely see it come up in a few more colours.

Some Mommy Bling for Lynn...

Some Angel necklaces for Avery School's Thomas' Treasure Boxes Project...

(Thanks to Marc & Shauna for involving me in such an amazing project).

I actually had most of these made before Christmas, but as most of you know,

I hit a wee blip in the road, so it took a little longer to get them all done.

Before the blip, we had planned a vacation.

It was wonderful - the Bahamas for one glorious week of relaxation...

A week on the beach and diving is a great cure for anything!

Which inspired this ring... a work in progress.

It still needs some polishing and detail work,

but I wanted to share my FIRST metal clay ring project!!

And that's where I've been.

Please give the new website a visit.

http://www.sunshineindustries.ca

Like it? Hate it?

Suggestions to improve how it works for you?

Please leave a comment or email me at

sunshineindustries (at) shaw.ca

Dawn

Tea Time!

Last week, I told you about a new local store is opening up in Lloydminster called Harvest to Home.

The owners are wonderful women who appreciate the idea of handcrafted and homemade. When they approached me to create a line for their new store, I knew it had to special.

It had to be just right. They had great ideas and together we envisioned food & home related bling that was perfect.

I took notes while we talked and started to sketch right away. This was a

few months ago. As the ideas came, I added to my sketches and notes.

The next step was to take these ideas and create a way to make templates to be used over and over. This is a series after all, and exclusive to Harvest to Home. I decided that I would make them one of a kind afterward by using different stones and chains with each one.

Some charms could be used in bracelets, earrings or wine charms, too.

So I created templates for each idea in a hard plastic sheet that you can buy for crafting.

I used silver clay to build the charms. It was a process of both using the template to cut out the shape, and drawing into the shape to add detail. I also used a syringe to add 3-D elements to some of them.

(The leaf and bug were for different clients. I'm a multi-tasker...)

After firing, adding liver of sulphur to darken the details and polishing... TA DA!

All that from a pencil sketch... isn't art wonderful!?

If you'd like to see more of the jewelry from this line, stop in at Harvest to Home - it opens November 12th!!

Also, please take time on November 11th to honor our fallen and the military - past and present.

Creatively Yours,

Dawn

Happiness creates sunshine whenever you go.
Sunshine INdustries
http://www.sunshineindustries.ca
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Turquoise T-Bird...

My love for classic cars began with my participation in car club activities with my parents. Car clubs are fun. We often went on trips to car shows or rallies - sometimes as far as into the States. Both of my parents had classic cars. Mom had a bright orange '65 Mustang. Dad had a '46 Ford Coupe. I dreamt of someday owning a white '63 split-window Vette. My friends and I would gladly grab a rag and polish Dad's 1946 Ford Coupe at a car show just to get the chance to somehow participate. In addition to the shows and rallies, I have very fond memories of Sunday excursions into the city in the '46 to Dairy Queen with Mom, Dad, our dog, Ralph. Ralph even got his own cone. I remember hanging out in the garage with Dad while he worked "his baby", handing him tools or just sitting and talking to him while he worked. I remember my parents trusting me to drive that car when I got my license.

These memories all came flooding back when I was asked by a staff member at school if I could make something for the car club silent auction. She said that there was always an abundance of items for the men to bid on, but they needed something to appeal to the women. Having just given some necklaces to the SPCA for their silent auction, I was hesitant to donate yet more of my jewelry, but I just couldn't turn this one down. Ideas started to boil in my head.

This couldn't just be any piece of jewelry. It had to be car-themed to reflect my love of classic cars. It had to honor my fond memories. My favorite classic car is the '63 split-window Vette, but when I drew the silhouette for one, it just didn't have a distinct shape for a silver pendant. T-Birds always seemed sexy to me - attractive to women as well as men. When I saw the photo of the turquoise T-Bird, I knew I had to give this a try.

I formed the T-Bird shape in silver clay. Once it was dry, I carved in the details using a Dremel drill and hand tools. I torched it, let it cool and sanded it smooth. I dipped it into Liver of Sulphur to blacken it so that the details would show. Much polishing and sanding brought it to the shiny state that it is now in. I felt the need to add "Just Cruisin' " lettering to personalize the necklace for the car club and I felt that the lettering would take away from the car details, so I added a second handcrafted fine silver tag. This tag went through the same construction process as the T-Bird.

I chose a beautiful lampwork bead from Bliss Beads. (I love her work! I bought a ton of her beads last summer while I was in Invermere...) Next, I added two turquoise beads on each side - the traditional colour of a classic T-Bird. Once I had it all attached to the 18" sterling chain, it looked even better than I'd imagined. I hope this necklace goes to someone who loves it... I know it brought back many happy memories for me.

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!

Newest Bling

Many of you have probably been wondering, where are all the new pieces, Dawn?! Well, here is what I've been up to lately.

First of all, the watch pictured here. It was a special order and was very difficult for me to give up. I love the colours!! The stones are chrysocolla and opal.

This is a personalized Mommy Bling Necklace I've been working on. You can order these on the website. The pendant is handcrafted with silver clay (99% silver as opposed to sterling, which is 92.5%. Fine silver doesn't tarnish near as much as sterling will). The birthstone dangles are both amethyst.

Next, another Mommy Bling necklace. This is only part of it. It presented a particular challenge as I don't have Japanese stamps. I'm drawing in the Japanese letters for their names. Yes, Treena, I'm working on it! Tomorrow is Takeo day in the studio. I don't want to ruin the surprise, but I think this necklace is going to be a different shape than most... stay tuned.

This photo of the Toshi pendant was initially made using the template behind it. That's how much silver clay shrinks when it's torched. Sanding it to make it smooth also shrinks it some.

THESE beauties are actually for sale! #09-162 - Amethyst Kiss Earrings. The ear wires are Bali silver in a gunmetal finish. The rings are pounded fine silver. The stones are all amethysts in different shades. Grey and purple are HUGE this fall...

This is the latest Baby Bling Bracelet. These may be special ordered via the website or email. I need the baby's name and birthdate. These are meant for the baby's memory book or perhaps to frame with their photo.

More to come next week...