Before
When you check out, you will see some questions about your preferences and hopes, as well as some optional information about the beloved person or creature these beads will be honouring.
If requesting multiple items, you can choose to pick one set of colours to be used across all the pieces, or make individual choices. You can tell us as much or as little as you want.
To make the glass pieces, we only need a very small amount of cremains - a teaspoon is more than enough for a number of pieces. Cremains kept for a long period of time may become solid and hard to use: it might be worth checking before ordering.
If you are local to Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, we can arrange drop off to the studio. If you wish to mail cremains, you accept the possibility that they could get lost in the mail one direction or the other. After placing your order, you will receive an email with instructions for sending us your cremains. We will let you know when they have arrived, and when we get to work on your order.
Making
Each bead, pendant, and sculpture is created by melting and combining rods of glass with cremains by hand over an extremely hot oxygen-propane torch. We anneal them in a digitally controlled kiln to ensure longevity, and clean them carefully. We work on each order individually, to ensure that each piece goes home to the right person. You can request an edited video of the process of making your beads in the shop.
After
When your glass is finished, we will contact you with photos, and arrange for pickup or shipping. If shipping, we will mail things back in as safe a manner as possible.
Glass is a temperamental medium, especially when incorporating anything non-glass, so during the beadmaking and annealing process sometimes heartbreaking things happen. From the occasional piece coming out lopsided and ugly, to cracks and outright breaks. These would normally be pieces we would not sell or show, but in this case they contain something precious. For this reason, typically, we will include in your package anything we make that we don’t think will be a danger to anyone, ie, no sharp edges. If you have a different preference, please let us know at checkout.
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Despite these caveats, glass that has gotten through the trial by fire that is their birth tends to be extremely durable. My husband keeps his memorial stones of our cats in his pocket with change and literal rocks. I have watched one of my worry stones be dropped from 5 feet onto concrete and be just fine - not that I necessarily suggest trying either of these things, but I am saying that with a modicum of care, your glass memories can last many lifetimes. I hope you’ll consider reaching out to us if you have any other questions about the process.
<3 - Ashlyn
