Energy

Spent the day with my two oldest friends.  It was magical.

We haven’t hung out exclusively as the three of us since the weekend before my wedding, as we were stuffing my wedding favors and pigging out on pizza and this crazy pizza bread chocolate dessert thingy from Domino’s.  We were also watching some movie with Cher and Christina Aguilera… don’t remember the name, but it was surprisingly decent.  Sahara had probably one of the worst pregnancies in history and spent the entire pregnancy throwing up almost everything except french fries.  It was not a good time for her and she missed three weddings.  The first wedding, she was in the hospital for dehydration, the second wedding, she was having contractions, and around my wedding, baby was hanging out in the birth canal, but didn’t come out until almost two weeks later.  2011 was a roller coaster year for all of us, so I feel that it’s safe to say that we haven’t all synced together like we did today in at least two years.  That was the magical part of the day.

Sahara and Kandle are far better mystics than I am, even though I still have a lot to figure out; mostly what exactly my skills are.  Kandle is Queen of stone energies, while Sahara reads auras.  They dubbed me “Klingon Warship” because I shield so much that they can’t read any energy off of me.  Kandle has a better time with me because she sets her energy radar on whatever my frequency is, but it’s still far fetched because it’s so low.  It’s interesting that after all these years, they finally DO feel something off of me, but they’re sensing the baby, not me.  I was very amused by this, but Kandle did mention that Hui.1 should have a very strong water element, considering that he punched holes through my shields so they could sense him.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens after I give birth… will my shields go back to normal or will the holes still be there?

As far as my skills go, my “Spidey” sense for picking out the stones with good energy is innate.  I just do it.  If a strand of beads doesn’t “speak” to me, I set it down and leave it alone.  If it makes me go “Ooo”, it’s a good strand.  My Crazy Pirate Rock Lady had a small strand of rubies and I just could not set it down.  It so came home with me.  So yeah, innate rock sense.  I’ve toyed with water scrying a bit (duh, super duper water element here), and the only thing I got out of it is that I need to be bellydancing in order to stay creative with my jewelry.  Which is true, even though I haven’t been dancing since Sashi left for her Summer Down Under Tour.  I’m extremely sensitive to negative energy, though.  Enough that any taste of it makes my skin crawl and I want to run away screaming.

Today was nice because it felt normal.  Normal as in the three of us are happy and syncing together.  The only explanation I have for this phenomenon is that there’s nothing significantly stressing any of us out that’s taking away from that happy, “la la la” energy.  It was a genuine happy to be together energy and it was nice.  It gives me hope that no matter where life takes us, we can still come together and commune like usual. ♥

I have to do some research, but Hui.1 has made an interesting twist in my selection of stones this year.  I’ve been seriously craving tourmaline of all colors (mostly multicolored but still, it’s been one heck of a year for tourmaline), iolite, aqaumarine, charoite, garnet, sunstone, and moonstone.  Oh, and I prefer things that are BLUE.  My favorite maternity dresses are blue (and a purple one because it’s comfy and beats the So Cal heat).  Geez, I feel like a Smurf.  But I wonder what this baby is trying to tell me with all these stones…

Ooo, Rocks!

Last night I decided to bust out my stone boxes full of iolite, sunstone, and tourmaline.  The idea was to make more earrings, but that idea didn’t pan out.  I did end up going back to work on my “Rock on a Rope” collection.  This weekend, I hope to take photos and start listing them on Etsy.  I also need to calculate the prices too.  I’m hoping this will be a more affordable collection, because I want everyone from any walk of life to be able to purchase a stone that speaks to them.  This collection is also a way of introducing stones and their energy properties to the masses.  It’s also been a good way for me to freshen up on my stone studies.  I just happened to buy a stone book for my Kindle.  That’ll be more helpful than lugging around my favorite stone book everywhere.  I’ll have a baby to lug around in 2 months and a bit.  Yikes.  It’s scary how time flies.

From the left, prehnite, rough watermelon tourmaline, rose quartz, larimar, and pink tourmaline.

From the left, iolite, sunstone, iolite-sunstone waiting for their chainmaille bit and chain. ♥

Sporting my iolite and sunstone necklace with iolite-sunstone focal bead.  Of course, the focal bead is from my crazy pirate rock lady.  And I really don’t look pregnant from the chest up.  Hehehe.

Yay for Sunstone!

I finished the charm bracelet I started yesterday.  Wow, actually productive.  Very impressive.  I put it on and ever since I did, I decided to hang up some clothes, spend a few minutes tossing stuff off my dresser, etc.  I guess sunstone really does help de-stress and kick your butt into gear.  Perfect bracelet to say, “La la la”.

And after going through a ton of pajamas, my favorites still include the nightgown with the sheep.  You can catch a glimpse at the bottom of the picture.

There is Energy Everywhere

All women understand the concept of the Divine Feminine because they have that innate ability to sense and/or feel things… That weird, “hey, don’t do that” feeling in your gut. Or the mother-child connection. Alright, you get the idea.

My mother is training to be a tai chi master. One of my best friends is a 2nd degree priestess twice over from 2 different covens. My bellydance instructor channels the spirit of the dance. Um, yeah, I’m surrounded by some powerful energy folk. So it isn’t surprising that I understand the concept of stones/rocks having metaphysical properties.

Today, while I was searching for a large bead of some kind to wrap in brass filigree, I found a seraphinite focal that’s large enough to be covered in such lovely brass. The green and dull gold color would be awesome. Later this evening, I decided on a mini Buffy marathon to help regain my sanity since my sister and niece are visiting from Hawaii and gave me a pounding headache. Yes and I wanted to be hiding this weekend instead of chasing after a 4 year old…

Anyway, the seraphinite got me thinking about stone energies and how I should discuss these specific stones in this blog. Haha, why not? Yay, I think the Artist’s Way is actually working. Also, the cool thing about seraphinite is that it’s a higher level stone than your typical rose quartz or amethyst. Said best friend told me it’s not an easy task to really activate the stone’s energy. Which is funny because I was fretting over my first time vending at Pagan Pride Day (Los Angeles Chapter) and while I was making seraphinite earrings and watching “The Devil Wears Prada”, I got this sense of calm and something in my head saying “all is right with the world and everything will be okay.” Weird, huh? Yeah, I thought so too but it was a nice feeling. I need to work more with that stone. I’ve collected enough beads to really start making some lovely pieces with it. Yeah all this while I’m also wearing my favorite larimar.

Larimar is a light blue stone with white swirls and sometimes bits of black and red inclusions. It’s found in the Dominican Republic underneath a volcano. So it’s a water stone but also tempers fire properties. Which is great for me since I’m so much of a Cancer that I would love to run around pinching people. Hahaha. But seriously, aside from Jesse, who is probably my larimar in human form, it seriously calms down the crazy. It’s the stone that tells you, “chill out, you’ll be fine.” Yes, I need to wear it more often. I’ll be sleeping with it tonight.

Staying True to Your Vision

My friends and I are anxiously waiting to begin our preparations for the Los Angeles Chapter of Pagan Pride Day.  However, I am still drained from Gothla and also attempting to put together jewelry lines I can approach various stores and boutiques with.  Add a monthly visitor into the mix and there’s a good chance you could say that I’m burnt out.  When I’m in this mindframe, I think too hard, being creative flies out the window, and it’s a good time to go through my Photobucket to see what I can post on Etsy and generally get some of the business side of things done.  Oh, and I also get a little ranty.

It also got me thinking about the results of last year’s sales.  The strongest sales I had were purely chainmaille, which means that people are looking for something different than what’s out on the mainstream jewelry market.  So, that’s pretty much what I’m going to be focusing on, along with some pendants that showcase single stones since stone energy lovers seem to prefer a single stone vs multiple stones.  I don’t have the magic touch to notice what stone is emanating what energy.  The only thing I can really do is sometimes be able to tell that particular stone or combination of stones are working.  Anything more than that and you’ll have to find someone else to help you.    But anyway, I can’t over-think it and I have to stay true to myself and my designs.  It worked last year, so I can do it again this year, and make it even better.  It’ll be tough, but nothing’s ever easy and I really want to make a living off all this.  Haha, I’ll keep you posted when I can pay for rent on a monthly basis from this.

I’ll end this post with a peek of what’s in my jewelry box… don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Hugging a Blue Calcite

Garnets and Citrines

I’m a hoarder.  I buy beads and use them later.  I’ve been sitting on these beads for at least 2 years.  I needed something special for my friend’s upcoming birthday and since garnets and citrines are her power stones, this was perfect.  See my “Metaphysical Ramblings” post for details.

Still available for special order.  Please inquire.

Herkimer Diamond Amulet and Earrings

My Wiccan friend has been drooling over Herkimer diamonds for a few months now, so I decided to buy a strand from my favorite stone supplier. This is the drop-dead gorgeous amulet I made along with matching earrings. Needless to say, I was right on the money and picked the best stone for her. See my “Metaphysical Ramblings” post for details. She had her own chain that she got from me, so I didn’t need to make a chain for this one. I really love what I did with the earrings… substantial, but not distracting. They do not take away from the focal point of the pendant.

Metaphysical Ramblings

One of my best friends is a Wiccan and over the years, she has been my ultimate stone resource. Enough to say that sometimes I drive her crazy. But, she has been around for a good 7 years and has watched my design skills morph into what they are today. She was there when I was lazy and did nothing but string Swarovski crystals onto stretchy cord. But I do have to admit it was good for my color skills. And now today, she’s amazed at all the things I can create. She is my best testimonial and by far one of my best influences.

For her special Wiccan amulet, she asked for a necklace containing nothing but jet and amber beads. Of course, I was still in my bling-bling phase, and she said the only other thing I could add onto it were clear quartz beads. So, I shopped around for the best jet beads I could find and when Gem Faire came around, I went straight to my favorite amber lady and found the perfect piece of amber for her. I made that necklace about 3 years ago and she absolutely loves it. She mentioned tonight that she wore it to an open circle gathering and one woman came up to her and complimented her on the necklace…

“Mine looks like crap. Where did you buy yours?”

“Oh, a friend made it for me. She’s a jewelry engineer.”

“Huh?” the lady replied, hand still tightly grasped around the pendant.

Yeah, so apparently I picked the right amber and jet. Whoo hoo! No, but seriously, I’ve been getting better at picking stones for people. For my Wiccan friend, I am right on the money these days. I made her some jewelry for her birthday and she absolutely adored everything I made. I really channeled her energies last night when I was making that small stash of what I like to call her new metaphysical “armor”. Since I specialize in chainmaille, anything I make is armor, but this is special armor. Her power stones are citrines and garnets, and I just happened to have a strand of Herkimer Diamonds and found the best one particularly for her. When she put on the amulet, she got an instant buzz without drinking a single drop of alcohol. It was that strong and that perfect. I did good. The strongest garnet was in the other pendant I made for her (small and cute to match the bracelet), while the strongest citrine was in the bracelet. That particular strand of citrines was the one she was always drooling over and she probably pointed out to that particular stone and said, “This is the strongest one!” But, how would I remember that? I guess my 6th energy sense is seriously working in overdrive these days. It’s awesome.

And if I recall correctly, she was stuck in the Navy on either a ship or the boonies, and wanted me to find her a fire pendant. She was stuck wearing a water pendant and with her being a very fiery Leo, water elements of any kind do not float her boat. I bought her a green amber from my local metaphysical store and to this day, she can only wear the green amber I picked out for her. That’s how powerful I am without even knowing it. And the icing on top of that cake is that my bellydance instructor, Sashi, can feel my very essence emanating from all my jewelry designs. I guess I pour more of myself into my work than I thought… yay.