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Why we developed this memorial jewelry
The first piece of memorial jewelry was handmade by us, Marion and Lynn
Cheney, after we lost our twenty-two year old son, Michael, in 2006. Michael was a healthy college student who
was suddenly stricken with community acquired MRSA.
Michael was a lover of light. To 'keep his memory near,' we decided to create some memorial jewelry in which we could place some of his cremation ashes. We worked with dichroic glass and photoluminescent substances until we found a way to treat a small amount of Michael's ashes so that they would absorb and release energy in the form of light, all the while protected within a beautiful fused glass "stone". After developing a method for creating handmade memorial “stones” we looked for ways to craft appropriate settings for these stones. We then discovered a method by which we could use silver to create beautiful settings on which to mount these glass stones. Each setting is handmade. How our memorial jewelry is made Our five-step process starts with suspending the ashes in a special solution which includes a photoluminescent material. The particles are then hand-applied to the first and second layers of glass. The stone is capped with a third clear layer. The stack of glass is placed in a kiln and brought to 1505 degrees, held at that temperature for 35 minutes, and then slowly cooled. Once cooled, the stones are placed into a .999 fine silver setting which has been handmade according to what the client has requested. The stone is further secured to the setting with tendrils of fine silver. Once again, the piece is fired to sinter the silver into a solid, this time to 1100-1290 degrees. Once cooled and polished, the completed handmade pendant is ready for delivery. Why our memorial jewelry is called “Starseed” The name Starseed was chosen to honor Michael's birthplace, Cape Canaveral, Florida, and Michael's love of light. Michael's grandfather worked on the Apollo and Gemini Programs, and Michael's sister and cousin are currently working at Kennedy Space Center, located on the land known as Cape Canaveral. Astronaut and Astrophysicist Edgar Mitchell once said that he believes that all of creation is an energy hologram, and "every part contains the pattern of the whole." Carl Sagan is quoted as saying that we are all made of elements that came to Earth as stardust. Our bodies, ashes to ashes, are essentially stardust. We like those ideas. We like the idea that our ashes are 'Starseeds,' each containing the pattern of the whole person. We like the idea that our ashes are 'Stardust.' We like the idea that the ashes of someone we love contain the 'pattern' of their being. That's why we created StarSeeds. Thank you for visiting our website. Pictures of some of our previously handmade memorial jewelry are on the following pages. We will be happy to create a piece for you similar to any of these pictures. (None will be an exact replica, because each is handmade). If you have an idea for an original design let us know. Many of our previous memorial jewelry designs were created to fill a custom order. It can take up to four weeks to produce the stone and finished pendant from the time we receive the ashes. Currently, due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, where the silver clay is manufactured, there may be further delays, but we will let you know if that is going to occur. At present, we are still able to work within our four week time frame. Please be patient with us. Each piece of memorial jewelry is carefully handmade. |
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