A few years back, I had an interesting email come to my inbox. The man was requesting fingerprint jewellery of his children, a young daughter and his infant son that was stillborn, whose foot was captured skillfully in a plaster cast made at the hospital at birth. When he arrived at the studio with this precious memory, he was beside himself that his wife would find the keepsake was missing before he returned it. TALK ABOUT PRESSURE!!!! So many things could have gone wrong and it was a bit touch and go as the mould putty I used took its sweet time to set up on the plaster. What if the putty stuck? What if the putty pulled bits off the plaster when I pulled it off? THE KEEPSAKE WOULD BE RUINED!! Well, after waiting far longer than usual for the mould to be made and waiting patiently on pins and needles for the result, the mould turned out just fine. The jewellery came out great and at the time I thought that was going to be the end of this story.
A few months later, I received an email from this man's wife. Kim's request was for help learning how she could make fingerprint jewellery. She had a vision for helping other women who had gone through similar experiences losing a child. After some conversation back and forth about jewellery making we decided that her strengths lay in connecting with people, perhaps more than in making jewellery, so she would become a Sway Silver Design Representative. I'll let Kim speak for herself:
"My life was greatly touched by a gift I was given by my husband the Christmas of 2011. We had a gorgeous 2.5 year old daughter, Georgia, at the time and our son had been stillborn June 6, 2011. The necklace he gave me, with the two single print pendants on it, is something that simply took my breath away. It captured the adorable print of my wonderful little girl and gave my aching heart something of Cole's to hold in my hand. Being able to wear Georgia's thumbprint, and the print of Cole's toes was such a comfort, and it is a wonderful source of pride for me. I began researching the creation of these items and was so intrigued by their uniqueness and the fact that as a parent they were so special to me. I was determined to find a way to help others capture their children and family this way and it became my mission to help other grieving parents. I wanted them to have a way to include their lost children in the creation of the perfect individual piece for themselves.
It was when I gave birth to my third child, my beautiful "Rainbow Baby" Contessa that Heather of Sway Silver and I met for the first time. Tessa was about 6 months old and I wanted her impression included on my necklace. Heather did my baby's thumbprint impression for me but did so much more. She took me under her wing, she told me about her business and asked if I would be part of it, as a Design Representative. I would help people capture their fingerprint impressions and design their personalized pieces then Heather would create the jewellery. I can remember driving home that day in tears thinking about how I had come full circle and the dream of giving back to other parents of stillborns was going to be a reality."
Honestly, hiring a Design Rep. wasn't something I thought I was ready for as a small artsy business but my gut said this was going to be worth it! I am thankful that Kim had the dream and big heart to help others and I have never regretted having Kim join my team. She continues to have a wholehearted grand vision for what Sway Silver can do to help those in need of comfort due to loss.
Kim lives in Innerkip, Ontario.
Find Kim on Facebook.