August 19, 2014

A Special Review - Memorial Jewelry

Those of you who've been following along I'm sure remember this picture I posted of my mother-in-law, Simone, and our angel Bailey as a Give Cancer the Paw tribute post. We lost them both to cancer. 
And of course we also lost this beautiful girl.
Angel Abby
All three of them were cremated. And we decided to do something special with a tiny amount of their ashes.

We ordered memorial bracelets from Sisu Beads. (Definitely check out their site, especially the About Us page, which tells the story of how they began, and also explains that "Sisu" is a Finnish word for "embodying a strong will and determination that will prevail through any challenge.")

Sisu Beads makes necklaces, rings, bracelets and earrings. We decided on bracelets since we wanted something the hubs and/or I could both wear. With the bracelets, we selected the bead colors we wanted, and the band color.

We selected red for Bailey, pink for Abby, and blue for Simone as those were each of those beauties' "colors."

Here the hubs models the Bailey and Simone bracelets and I model Abby's, while Rita gets an ear rub:
Below is a close-up of the bead and a pic to show how you slide it on/off. And also a not-great photo of me with the Simone bracelet. (We went out for sushi the other night, which Simone used to love, so she came along.)
The Simone bracelet is a "sky" bead with black band, Abby's is "coral" with dark teal

When you place your order, they send you an "ash collection kit." It takes a VERY small amount - like the size of a watermelon seed will do several beads. The ladies who run Sisu Beads encourage you to send photos of your loved ones. Each bead is handmade with love! (And any unused ash is returned.)

We had 4 Simone bracelets made - for me, the hubs, my brother-in-law and his wife. We plan to use the money she left us to travel on beach vacations - another of the things that she loved - and we'll all wear our bracelets when we go. We thought that would be a nice memorial. 

I've met Gina from Sisu Beads in real life and she couldn't be sweeter. In fact, when I sent Bailey's and Abby's ashes in, I sent photos along, and she when she sent the bracelets, she also sent a box of note cards made from my photos. So sweet.

If you are looking for an extra special way to memorialize a loved one, I don't think you can go wrong with a necklace or bracelet or other piece of jewelry from Sisu Beads!

Note: I was not asked to write a review, nor compensated in any way. I just wanted to share this cool company with you all. Pooch Smooches would never review anything we aren't willing to spend our own money on!

Thanks to BlogPaws for hosting Wordless Wednesday!

31 comments:

  1. Will definitely keep her in mind. Golden Thanks for sharing. Golden Woofs

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  2. Lovely.So nice there are so many ways to remember our loved one these days. There really is something out there for everyone.
    Have a wonderful Wednesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  3. Wow, this is so neat! What a nice way to keep your loved one close! We are definitely going to keep them in mind!

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  4. Wow! I really love this idea! What a cool way to keep loved ones close to you!

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  5. Wow! I love this concept...and the bracelets are perfect! I will need to remember to save the information about this company.
    Oz

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  6. Wow! How special to carry them in your heart, mind, and now in such a physical way too! Happy WW!

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  7. Great idea. So simple, and yet so meaningful.

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  8. This is such a unique and sweet idea

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  9. Great idea. Goes well with Marybeths guest post today about loss on our site.

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  10. what a good idea, many are looking for a special way to always have them with us!

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  11. That is a very sweet way to pay tribute to your loved ones.

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  12. Absolutely love these! Lovely was to wear a tribute :-)

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  13. Such a beautiful idea! I love it.
    hugs
    Mr Bailey, Hazel & Greta

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  14. The bracelet is a lovely way to remember your loved ones.

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  15. Thanks for sharing... I will need to share this on to some friends as well. Thank you.

    WOOF WOOF!
    www.piranhabanana.com

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  16. What a wonderful idea, and I love how the bracelets are simple yet beautiful!!

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  17. I am totally going to check this out! Thanks for sharing it!

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  18. How nice that you found a meaningful way to keep your loved ones close to you. Sounds like a wonderful idea.

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  19. What a beautiful remembrance better than sitting in a jar on a shelf collecting dust. Mom doesn't think she can even open them but its still a lovely idea. Love Dolly

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  20. I was fortunate enough to find Gina as well. I have a beautiful ring that allows me to carry each of my 3 Boxers with me daily. I encourage all of you to think of Sisu beads when that dreadful day comes.

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  21. Thanks for this post. It's a nice alternative.

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  22. That sounds like a great way to remember. My past pets are on the shelf in my garage. I am thinking of making a memorial at the cabin but then I think, what if we sell it?

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  23. That's beautiful. I've seen jewelry where you can put the ashes in them, but not where they are designed IN the beads. I bet there is a huge market for this.

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  24. Love love love, I have been checking into beads made out of ashes but haven't found one that I want to trust with my loved ones ashes. Thank you for doing this review, they turned out beautiful! Thank you also for answering my question about your hair. Next month I am dying mine back to blond and may cut it, we will see.

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  25. Thank you for sharing this. What a lovely way to keep them with us.

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  26. What a great idea! Glad you shared!

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  27. Thanks for sharing this. Prior to our blog, my first ACD, Cairo, died of cancer at age seven. I love the bracelet idea.

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