When I’m not making jewelry, I volunteer at a local animal shelter, the Animal Welfare Association in Voorhees, NJ. Both of my dogs were adopted from AWA, and the True Blue Hound pendant was inspired by my Coonhound mix, Sutton. AWA gets a lot of transports of dogs from shelters in southern states; we get quite a few hounds. Sometimes it takes a while to find the right family for them, and Sutton was a long-term resident at AWA.

He became my “project dog” in November of 2015. He spent Thanksgiving at the shelter, and then Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and his first birthday in February. Poor guy, we couldn’t give him away. Seriously, his adoption fee was waived but there were still no takers. He did go home once, but he came back the next day. Finally, he was sent to another shelter. I went home and cried so hard that my husband said we could go get him if he was still available when we got back from our vacation. Of course he was! We adopted Sutton on April 1, 2016. Now he’s my forever project!

I made this necklace to celebrate all the hounds who were loved by AWA staff and volunteers until just the right family came along to take them home and love them forever. The pendant is copper and brass and hangs from a simple leather cord with sodalite beads. The length can be adjusted by sliding the two barrel knots at the back.

Overall, the necklace is kind of like a hound—not fancy or elegant, just kind of simple, heartwarming and fun. The brass hound has a true blue heart (as hounds do) and the back bears the words “loyal & true.”