Tag Archives: quartz

Sep19

More Necklaces

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Today I am sharing with you more of the necklaces I’ve made with my own little hands. All of these necklaces are for sale. I did the hemp work, but I did not make the pendants unless otherwise noted.

The necklace on the left is made from natural hemp and wooden beads. It is 21 inches long. It costs $11, including shipping. The middle necklaces features a goldstone bear on pink and black hemp. It is 14 inches long, and costs $11, including shipping. The necklace on the right is made from black and natural hemp. The carved bone pendant features an ankh. It is 20 inches long and costs $11, including shipping costs.

The necklace on the left is made from natural hemp and wooden beads. It is 21 inches long. It costs $10, including shipping. The middle necklaces features a goldstone bear on pink and black hemp. It is 14 inches long, and costs $10, including shipping. The necklace on the right is made from black and natural hemp. The carved bone pendant features an ankh. It is 20 inches long and costs $10, including shipping costs.

 

The 16 inch necklace on the left is made from black and green hemp and has a simple pendent I made. The stone is serpentine, which is believed to help one feel more in control of one's spiritual life and the aid meditation. It costs $16, including postage. The necklace in the middle is 20 inches long and made from black and purple hemp. The stone is amethyst, which is believed to support sobriety; guard against panic attacks; and dispels anger, rage, fear, and anxiety. It costs $18, including postage. The necklace on the right is 20 inches long and made from brown and black hemp. The pendant and the accent stones are carnelian which is believed to stimulate creativity, calm anger, promote positive life choices and remove fear of death. This necklace costs $16, including postage costs.

The 16 inch necklace on the left is made from black and green hemp and has a simple pendent I made. The stone is serpentine, which is believed to help one feel more in control of one’s spiritual life and to aid meditation. The wire is copper. The necklace costs $16, including postage. The necklace in the middle is 20 inches long and made from black and purple hemp. The stone is amethyst, which is believed to support sobriety; guard against panic attacks; and dispel anger, rage, fear, and anxiety. It costs $18, including postage. The necklace on the right is 20 inches long and made from brown and black hemp. The pendant and the accent stones are carnelian which is believed to stimulate creativity, calm anger, promote positive life choices, and remove fear of death. I turned this stone into a pendant using copper wire. This necklace costs $16, including postage costs.

 

This necklace is made from natural hemp. The frog pendant and the accent stones are made from carved bone. It is 16 inches long and costs $11, including postage.

This necklace is made from natural hemp. The frog pendant and the accent stones are made from carved bone. It is 16 inches long and costs $10, including postage.

 

I made the pendant on the necklace on the left. The hemp is purple and black. The stone is a double quartz crystal. Quartz is believed to be a powerful healer and energy amplifier that unlocks memory. This necklace is 21 inches long and costs $18, including shipping. The middle necklaces features a skull pendant carved from smoked yak bone with hematite accent beads. Hematite is believed to dissolve negativity and enhance willpower. The pink and blue hemp portion is 17 inches long. The cost, including shipping is $18. The necklace on the right features a pendant I made. The stone is rose quartz from South Dakota. Rose quartz is the stone of unconditional love and infinite peace. It is believed to encourage self-forgiveness. This necklace is 20 inches long and features pink and black hemp. The cost is $15, including shipping.

I made the pendant on the necklace on the left using copper wire. The hemp is two shades of purple. The stone is a double quartz crystal. Quartz is believed to be a powerful healer and energy amplifier that unlocks memory. This necklace is 21 inches long and costs $18, including shipping. The middle necklaces features a skull pendant carved from smoked yak bone and an hematite accent bead. Hematite is believed to dissolve negativity and enhance willpower. The pink and blue hemp portion is 17 inches long. The wire is copper. The cost of the necklace, including shipping, is $18. The necklace on the right features a pendant I made using copper wire. The stone is rose quartz from South Dakota. Rose quartz is the stone of unconditional love and infinite peace. It is believed to encourage self-forgiveness. This necklace is 20 inches long and features pink and black hemp. The cost is $15, including shipping.

 

Both of these necklaces are made from natural hemp and feature pendants I made using copper wire and white onyx stones. (I did not carve the stones or drill the holes in them. I used stones that had already been shaped and drilled to make pendants.) White onyx is believed to aid in learning lessons. It's also believed to promote vigor and give strength. The necklace with the star pendant is 18 inches long. The necklace with the moon pendant is 15 inches long. The stones on both pendant are quite large. Each necklace costs $11, including shipping.

Both of these necklaces are made from natural hemp and feature pendants I made using copper wire and white onyx stones. (I did not carve the stones or drill the holes in them. I used stones that had already been shaped and drilled to make pendants.) White onyx is believed to aid in learning lessons. It’s also believed to promote vigor and give strength. The necklace with the star pendant is 18 inches long. The necklace with the moon pendant is 15 inches long. The stones on both pendant are quite large. Each necklace costs $11, including shipping.

 

These two necklaces feature dice I drilled. The necklaces made from black hemp is 15 inches long. The necklace made from natural hemp is 20 inches long and has black and white accent beads.

These two necklaces feature dice I drilled. The necklaces made from black hemp is 15 inches long. The necklace made from natural hemp is 20 inches long and has black and white accent beads. Each die has the number 5 front and center, but it may be possible to move the die to feature another number. Each of these necklaces cost $10, including shipping. I have other drilled dice, so I could possibly do a custom order of a necklace with a die on it.

 

I took all of the photos in this post.

Aug12

Whimsical Mushrooms

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I have a friend who is a fantastic artist. She wire-wraps shiny rocks and crochets purses and water bottle holders and headbands to cover cold ears in winter. You can check out many of the items she has for sale in her Etsy shop, Nirvana Creations,  at https://www.etsy.com/shop/NirvanaCreations.

Ammonite Non-Tarnish Copper Wire Wrapped Pendant

This is an example of a wire-wrapped ammonite from Nirvana Creations . Image from https://www.etsy.com/listing/398635131/ammonite-non-tarnish-copper-wire-wrapped?ref=shop_home_active_3

A few weeks ago she posted on Facebook some lovely ammonites she had wrapped in copper to make pendants.

This is what Nirvana Creations says about the ammonite pendants:

This ammonite pendant was handmade by weaving copper wires into these elaborate designs. There is no glue or soldering in the creation of this piece, it is firmly held in place by the handmade setting. Each of these pieces is made with only the utmost love and care, to present the purest and most healing jewelry available. All the pieces are one-of-a-kind, there will be no other exactly like it in the world.

I love ammonites and I love my friend and I love my friend’s work. She is so talented! I told her I wanted to order one of the ammonite pendants.

My friend is also very nice. When I told her I wanted to buy one of her pieces, she said she wanted to do a trade. Of course, I was flattered she wanted to trade with me and told her she could have whatever of mine she wanted. She picked out a couple of things she liked, and I added a couple of other things I thought she should have and sent it all off to North Carolina.

A couple of weeks later, I received a package from her, and I got such a sweet deal. She sent me so much good stuff. I am a lucky woman!

In the package were three (three!) mushroom pendants I knew would look so good on hemp necklaces. I hadn’t even touched my jewelry-making supplies since spring, but I was so excited about the mushroom pendants, and I pulled out my supplies and made three necklaces on a slow afternoon at work.

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These are the three necklaces I made with the three mushroom pendants my friend sent to me. Each necklace is 20 inches long. Each costs $23, including postage.

 

If I had to pick a favorite of the mushroom pendants, this would be it. The cap is made from purple and blue clay. The stem is made from a tiny stick. That's right! The stem is a piece of wood. I hung the pendant from a necklace of purple and blue hemp. The necklace is 20 inches. The price is $23, including postage.

If I had to pick a favorite of the mushroom pendants, this would be it. The cap is made from purple and blue clay. The stem is made from a tiny stick. That’s right! The stem is a piece of wood. I hung the pendant from a necklace of purple and blue hemp. The necklace is 20 inches long. The price is $23, including postage.

 

This amanita-esque mushroom pendant is super cute. The cap is made from red and yellow clay. The stem is made from a crystal (!) maybe tourmaline. I used red and variegated earth-tone hemp to make the necklace, which is 20 inches. The cost is $23, including postage.

This amanita-esque mushroom pendant is super cute. The cap is made from red and yellow clay. The stem is made from a crystal (!), maybe tourmaline. I used red and variegated earth-tone hemp to make the necklace, which is 20 inches long. The cost is $23, including postage.

 

This mushroom has a lot of color. The cap is made from clay and includes browns, reds, yellows, blues, and GLITTER. The stem is a QUARTZ CRYSTAL. I used blue and red hemp to make the necklace, matching the blue and red of the mushroom cap. The necklace can be worn with either the mostly blue side or the mostly red side showing, so it's like getting two necklaces in one. The necklace is 20 inches long. The price is $23, including postage.

This mushroom has a lot of color. The cap is made from clay and includes brown, red, yellow, blue, purple, gold, and GLITTER. The stem is a QUARTZ CRYSTAL. I used blue and red hemp to make the necklace, matching the blue and red of the mushroom cap. The necklace can be worn with either the mostly blue side or the mostly red side showing, so it’s like getting two necklaces in one. The necklace is 20 inches long. The price is $23, including postage.

All of these beautiful necklaces are for sale and would make lovely gifts.

I certainly appreciate my friend gifting the pendants to me to use in my work.

 

Dec18

She Talks To Angels

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The Okie and I were in Asheville, trying to sell the huge quartz cluster we’d been given at Coleman’s Miller Mountain Mine in Mount Ida, Arkansas.

The man who gave us the cluster only wanted points a couple of inches long to use in his crafts. He wasn’t interested in the chunk of quartz that probably weighed 50 pounds, so he offered it to Mr. Carolina and the Okie. When the boys asked me if I wanted to keep it, I said hell yeah! They hauled it over to my van and lifted it up into the space under my bed. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it. The Okie was convinced we could sell it to one of the downtown rock shops in Asheville for several hundred dollars which I could use for needed repairs on the van.

So the Okie and I were in downtown Asheville on the day after we delivered Mr. Carolina to his brother. When I parked the van, we had no money to feed the parking meter. I figured either I’d panhandle change for the meter or get a ticket I’d pay later. The Okie loaded the quartz cluster into a green army-issue duffel bag and hoisted it onto his back.

Before we made it to the first rock shop, we met some traveler kids hanging around on the sidewalk.

The Okie, who was not the least bit shy, talked to the folks and asked if they wanted to see the cluster he was hauling around. Of course they wanted to see it. While he was showing it off, I pulled out some of the smaller points I had found and traded them to one of the kids for change to put in the parking meter. If I hadn’t needed to feed the meter, I would have given him the crystals. Since he offered the change and I needed it, I took it.

When I got back from putting the coins in the meter, the Okie introduced me to the oldest of the kids, a guy who actually had a girlfriend and a house just outside of Asheville. That guy wire wrapped stones and offered to trade quartz points in exchange for making some pendants for us.

The guy picked out the points he wanted, and the Okie and I gave him the crystals we wanted wrapped. We agreed we’d be in touch the next day, and the Okie and I went on our way.

When we heard from the stone wrapper guy the next day, we were at Stuff-Mart where I’d been flying a sign. He and his girlfriend were out and about in a car, so he said they’d meet us where we were.

Upon arrival, they presented us with beautiful pendants made from the stones we had found combined with (as it turned out) the girlfriend’s fabulous wire wrapping work. But even better than the pendants was the girlfriend!

Miz C and I hit it off immediately, which was unusual for me. There are few people I’ve liked the moment I met them. I’ve had to warm up to even my closest, dearest friends. But not Miz C. Right away we were talking as if we had known each other for years. Within minutes, she had invited me to Thanksgiving dinner the next day. I typically don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, but I agreed to go over and share the meal.

On Thanksgiving morning, the Okie and I cooked eggs on my camp stove in the Stuff-Mart parking lot where we had spent the night in the van. After breakfast I drove him thirty miles east on I-40 to a Pilot truck stop so he could hitchhike to his next destination. Once we said our good-byes, I headed back to Asheville and Thanksgiving dinner.

Upon arriving, I was introduced to Miz C’s mother. Yikes! Although everyone was very welcoming, I suddenly felt as if I were crashing a family party. I wondered if my presence was going to be awkward for everyone.

Luckily, Miz C’s mother, Em, was as cool and loving as Miz C herself. It was a total case of “like daughter, like mother.”

While Miz C and the boyfriend cooked, I sat with Em and chatted. I told her some about my life and my travels and my very vague future plans which involved New Orleans for Mardi Gras and visiting an old gal friend in Austin. It turns out Miz C had once been quite the traveling kid herself, so nothing I told Em shocked or surprised her. Em was absolutely accepting of the way I was living my life.

When I asked Em about herself, she said received messages from angels. Communicating with angels was a new one to me, but I kept my mind opened and listened to what Em had to say.

She explained that angels are around us all the time and want to help us. We just have to ask them for the help and guidance and protection we need. However, sometimes if we are focused on negative aspects, the angels will think we are asking for a lesson and will send us the very situation we have been fretting over.

She told me both the archangel Michael and the angel Uriel were with me.

According to Wikipedia,

Michael…is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam…

In the New Testament Michael leads God’s armies against Satan‘s forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is specifically referred to as “the archangel Michael”.

(I found an interesting gallery to help one decide if the Archangel Michael is actually sending guidance.)

According to the Ask-Angels.com website,

Archangel Uriel is a spiritual being of immense light and power, with an incredibly high vibrational frequency.

Uriel is the Archangel of Wisdom, Illumination, Light and of the Sun.

Over time, the conversation drifted to other topics. After a while, I excused myself to go out to my van to get more quartz points for gifting and trading.

I hadn’t been outside long when Em joined me at my van.

This friend in Austin you’re going to visit, Em asked, do you call her your sister?

I thought about it, then shook my head. Lou and I were close when we lived in the same city and worked together, I told Em. But I don’t think I’ve ever called her my sister or thought of her as my sister.

Em seemed perplexed. The angels were talking about my sister she said. The message from the angels (which was unclear to Em) was about my sister…

I almost fell over. Although I hadn’t mentioned her to Em, I did have a sister. She and I had been estranged since my bad-news boyfriend said she’d told one of his relatives that she didn’t have a sister. When I explained to Em that my sister had rejected me due to the crazy behavior I’d exhibited while still with my ex, Em wisely pointed out that he could have been lying to me to separate me from one of my main sources of support.

This talk of my sister went a long way in helping me believe that Em received messages from angels. I hadn’t even mentioned having a sister, so how could she have known about her? Maybe she just guessed, but it seemed more than coincidental to me.

I took the photo of the angel.

Mar8

International Women’s Day

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Hey Everybody! Thanks for giving 49.6% of the earth’s population one day a year to call our own. Perhaps if we think of Mother’s Day as a type of women’s day, that’s two days a year to celebrate women. I guess the other 363 days a year belong to men.

(On second thought, I don’t think Mother’s Day is an international holiday, so it really doesn’t count. That means the score is 364 days for men, 1 for women.)

And guess what? According to Quartz (“a digitally native news outlet…for business people in the new global economy”), “men now outnumber women on the planet by 60 million, the highest ever recorded.”

How can this be? “Left to nature alone, the population on earth would be give or take 50% men and 50% women, according to what’s become known as Fisher’s Principle.”

More from Quartz:

Gender imbalance starts at birth: Both China and India are infamous for widespread gender selective abortions and female infanticide. Both countries have birth sex ratios that are well off the worldwide average. In 2013, China saw 1.11 boys born per girl, India 1.12, as compared to 1.07 worldwide. The availability of affordable prenatal diagnostic techniques has only accentuated the trend, which means the gender gap in the general population is bound to widen in the coming years, as more balanced older generations pass away. In an attempt to break the trend, India has legally banned sex determination before birth in 1994, legislation that has, however, been criticized as ineffective. In 2013, China loosened its one-child policy, one of the main drivers of gendercide.

( Read the entire article at http://qz.com/335183/heres-why-men-on-earth-outnumber-women-by-60-million/.)

What’s going to happen if this trend continues and the number of men on the planet increases further? Will we be reduced to International Women’s Afternoon or International Women’s Moment of Silence?

(I didn’t come up with this rant all on my own; I had a little help from my friend. Actually, this rant was originally hers.)

UPDATE: It just occurred to me to see if there is a Women’s History Month. There is. It’s March. Women’s History Month is now. So I guess women get a whole month of the past to celebrate. To find out more about Women’s History Month 2015, go here: http://womenshistorymonth.gov/.