Dana’s Designs

05/23/2025

Made a few ear wires and hoops this morning out of argentium silver wire. Into the oven they go. The heat makes the wire harder and elevates the tarnish resistant properties of argentium. If you take care of your jewelry and don’t expose it to moisture or chemicals, pieces made out of argentium tarnish at a much slower rate than sterling silver. It’s a little more expensive but if I’m going to make a piece out of high dollar material, it’s going to be argentium.

05/23/2025

05/22/2025

A herd of 50 mules heading to another pasture today. These are fun but quite labor intensive to do. I find it very satisfying to decide what colors and then try to combine them in a realistic coloring for a mule. Many thanks to Gayle Stegmann at Gem State Mule Co. for this order. Check out her page, she’s got some beautiful animals.

05/16/2025

Awesome!

Erna Valdivia just became the first African American teenage girl to compete in the Tevis Cup, a one-day, 100-mile race across the Sierra Nevada, and she did it on a horse her mother rescued. - Just Perfect ❤️

Erna Valdivia chuckled in disbelief while shaking her head. The 17-year-old has recently made history as the first African American teenage girl to participate in the renowned and challenging Tevis Cup, a 100-mile endurance horse ride across the Sierra Nevada completed in a single day.

It's physically and emotionally exhausting, but she is the best said Valdivia, as she pats Love Story, the horse rescued by her mother, who runs the Love This Horse Equine Rescue in Mojave.

The white mare was on its way to the slaughterhouse when she was rescued. At first extremely frightened and unapproachable, she developed a unique connection with Erna, who eventually began riding her.

05/16/2025

Took a trip to where John is working. Can’t really do any soaping here but I did bring wire, tools and a few beads to have something to do. The first picture is a raw lepidolite crystal wrapped in copper wire. I can’t wait to get home and make a purple leather cord for this. The second picture is a pair of small argentium silver hoops with sapphire beads and a Larimar on argentium silver wires.

05/03/2025

Pouring a large batch of soap today so I had to make my own molds. They ain’t fancy but they will do the job.

04/23/2025

Another batch of kitchen/garden soap is in the works. These were/are very popular, I think first because of the pigs but once it is used, people see how well it works to get those kitchen odors off your hands from garlic and onion (to name a few, not that those are bad smells 🤗). I have mentioned before how it takes the black grease from my bbq grill right off my hands yet it doesn’t strip the oils from my skin. This recipe is made in the crockpot and it is cooked, which makes it a hot process soap. It isn’t better of worse than the other soap I make, just a different method. The second picture is the first batch of pig in a puddle I made as a donation item in a children’s giveaway. I hope it made them “squeal” with delight. lol

04/22/2025

Got things going on behind the scenes…. Making soap wedding favors for a special wedding. My daughter is getting married ya’ll, to the man of her dreams. My mommas heart couldn’t be happier. Oh, and by the way, I would be happy to make whatever you wish for a special occasion-wedding, bridal shower, baby shower, birthday celebration , etc…message me and let’s talk design!!

03/25/2025

Haha me!!!!

The smell test is how I decide.