Dune Jewelry employs an amazing team of craftswomen, called Sand Artists, to create each and every piece of jewelry! Being a Sand Artist is not your average job and honestly, it makes sense that you might not know exactly what we do! But that’s okay, we want to welcome you to our workshop! Let’s take a peek through a day in the life of a Dune Jewelry artisan and answer all those questions.

Simply put, our Sand Artists spend their days creating jewelry pieces to fulfill Dune Jewelry orders, since every piece is handcrafted and personalized! Generally, Dune Jewelry receives two types of orders. 

The first is large store orders which often means a higher volume of jewelry pieces but using the same sand and designs. For example, our Sanibel Island Retailer, Suncatcher’s Dream, will order all of their designs at once. They use Sanibel and Captiva Sands with color combinations of our blue Powerstones (Turquoise, Lapis, Amazonite), colorful shells, and beach roses. As a Sand Artist, it’s our job to gather all of those elements which can be challenging since it requires a high volume to create so many pieces! The neat aspect of large store orders is we get to see the different element combinations each of our stores carry! 

The second kind of order is “one off” orders. These come from our website and are usually a piece or two from one person, either for themselves or as a gift. These items feel much more personal and sometimes our customers (yes, that’s you!) include the story behind their element selection in the order comments. It makes our day to read about the cherished memories we are helping to capture for you! 

So how do we go about creating these pieces? Each day our Sand Artists receive their set of orders for the day. They take intricate notes on the sands, shells, and other elements needed to create the jewelry and then they’re off hunting through our Sandbank! Notes are an essential step in every day; it’s vital to read all the order comments and organize the sands in the right order (maybe even drawing a map!) so that each piece is personalized perfectly to your specifications! 

The Sandbank is our collection of elements gathered from every corner of the world and brought to us by customers like you! So thank you! Our Sandbank has grown so large that each element is designed a unique number in order to keep them straight. Like a library’s Dewey Decimal System, each element is tagged and recorded so we know exactly where to find them. During the holidays when so many sands and elements are out, it can become nearly impossible to find the element you need, so we start declaring “I have the cap for 4171, blue and green sea glass!” or asking “who has 166, Hatteras Island?”. It can be quite complicated!

After exploring the shelves of the Sandbank and gathering all the elements we need, the next step is to place the designs. We make the most out of the natural beauty of our elements, so each grain of sand or bit of shell is meticulously placed by toothpick into each piece of jewelry. Our Sand Artists use their natural creativity when crafting a design and seamlessly integrate their work with what a customer tells us they want in their designs. 

In fact our favorite, and sometimes most challenging pieces, are when customers send their own element! We love to hear your stories and learn precisely why the bark of this birch tree means so much to you, but working with a never before used element takes a lot of experience. These heartfelt orders are reserved for our most experienced Sand Artists, who ensure this new element is perfectly placed within your jewelry.

And after precisely placing each element within your design, the item is carefully sealed, giving it a glass-like appearance. Then we package it up to send to you! We have an entire Quality Control team dedicated who custom package, polish, and assemble each design, making sure it’s up to our standards!

Our Sand Artists come in excited and eager to create your perfect piece of jewelry and they spend each day meticulously capturing your memories in a keepsake so you can have a tangible reminder of your travels!