I asked a friend for some brass bullet casings from his scrap metal business. I'd been contemplating their use in a design for a walkway. While cutting and working with these brass casings I noticed for the first time how bullets and their primers were constructed. I was intrigued and yet disturbed as I thought about their intended usage.

The primer end of the bullet was deeply inscribed with "45 auto" and other letters and numbers to mark their caliber and maker much like we mark "sterling" and our maker's mark of "Silverwear Jewelry Design".

Our soldiers are never far from my mind and I believe the same is true for all Americans. As I held these casings in my hands I thought of how removed I was from the every day dangers and sacrifices our troops are making so far from home.

Soon, I was cutting the solid brass primer (previously fired) off the end of the casing and making a sterling silver ring to set it in. When I was finished I had a really beautiful piece of jewelry but more importantly I had a daily reminder to lift our soldiers up in prayer whenever I felt the ring on my finger. I noticed immediately how effective it was as many times during the day my eyes fell on the ring and reminded me.

I found a website called Soldier's Angels, started by caring mothers of soldiers. This dedicated site encourages Americans to send packages, notes of encouragement and support to our troops in a number of ways. It seemed like the perfect non-profit organization to donate to.

I contacted Soldier's Angels who loved the idea and added the ring to their website shop. If you would like to know more about Soldier's Angels visit their website at: www.soldiersangels.org. We are donating 10% of the sale of these soldier's prayer rings to this wonderful organization.