You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment unless you trust enough. ~Frank Crane, Presbyterian minister and writer
I’ve heard that when a healing bracelet breaks, it’s a sign the stones have done all they can do for you, and you need to move on.
Recently, my bracelet did just that, so I used a gloomy, stormy day to make another:
I was going to conquer the world but got distracted by something sparkly. — Unknown
Boy, can I relate to that! Funny how I wake up with big plans, then realize storms are on their way and find myself happily beading instead.
My last couple of posts have been on the serious side, so I thought it time to lighten up a bit.
How about I display some new beaded jewelry pieces, created during a recent day of thunderstorms?
I just realized it’s been awfully long since I posted pictures of the jewelry I’ve been beading, so let’s remedy that, shall we?
If you’re not into beads or jewelry or creativity, that’s okay. We don’t all have the same interests. You can skip reading right now.
Sure, you’ll hurt my feelings, but I’ll get over it. As Henry Rollins said, “Being an artist is dragging your innermost feelings out, giving a piece of yourself, no matter in which art form, in which medium.”
Just don’t leave forever, ‘k? Come back and join us next time, when I’m not writing about beads!
Still here? Great — thanks, and let’s get right to it.
I think it’s in my DNA to get excited about rocks and gemstones.
After all, my late dad was a geologist and, although he specialized in finding petroleum, he never lost his fascination with rocks.
When I was a kid, rocks were rocks. Boring inanimate objects that didn’t feel or speak to me.
Hard to get worked up over a lump of stone.
Then I went off to college and had to take a science class.
Now I’m more artistic than scientific and that, coupled with a poor background at the high school science level, told me to forgo Biology or Chemistry.
So I opted for Geology.
Really? Geology?
Sure, it made perfect sense. Daddy was a geologist. I figured I’d picked up enough from him to at least pass the course.
Geology was divided into a one-hour lecture class, three times a week, and a two-hour lab, twice a week.
The lecture class was scheduled for right after lunch. When it was hot outside, and the birds were chirping, and Spring was in the air.
And my old professor, bless his little heart, droned on and on and on, putting most of the class right to sleep.
Where we didn’t give him any trouble!
And the lab? Well, we each received a box approximately 8″ by 12″ by 1.5″ and were instructed to learn the various properties of what was inside.
Quartz and limestone and slate and such.
I, of course, found ways to memorize the markings and colors and feel of my box’s contents. And thought I was set.
Until the test.
When my teacher tricked me — my rocks weren’t there!
I didn’t know these new rocks. They didn’t look or feel the same, and I couldn’t remember properties to save my neck.
Somehow, I managed to pass. To Daddy’s delight.
Fast forward several years and once again, I’m studying rocks and gemstones and their various properties.
In an effort to learn which gemstone is purported to address which ill or need.
So I can expand my beading jewelry hobby into the healing gemstones area.
And I’m endlessly fascinated.
What goes around comes around, doesn’t it?
Thanks to several days of rain and thunderstorms, I recently had some time to myself, and I chose to pass it beading.
There’s something peaceful about working with beads, string, metal, and such. Something rewarding about creating a bracelet or earrings from rocks and wire.
I derive infinite satisfaction from fingering the beads, researching their healing properties, and knowing that, if I make something I don’t particularly like, I can either dismantle it and start over or I can squirrel it away for someone else to purchase one day.
We all have different tastes, you know, and one person’s trash is another person’s treasure!
Here are a few of the items I designed (and if you’re tired of seeing beaded jewelry, forgive me, but I’m up to my ears in Commencement preparations and this is the best I can post in my scatter-brained state!):
Citrine bracelet
1) This bracelet contains 8 Citrine chunks (helps with digestion and is known as the “Merchant’s Stone”) interspersed with 4mm round Hematites (increases intuition and improves relationships).
Unakite bracelet
2) This bracelet features 10 oval Unakite discs connected with 4mm round Unakite beads. Unakite is a combination of Red Jasper and Green Epidote. It’s said to lift your spirits, help you see the beauty in life, and uncover deception.
Healing bracelet
3) This “healing” bracelet contains 3 each of faceted Crystal beads, Sodalite, Turquoise, Jasper, Blue Averturine, and Howlite. All are 6mm round beads.
Healing bracelet #2
4) This is a healing bracelet featuring round stones sized 8mm each. Included gemstones are Crystal, Carnelian, Aventurine, Rose Quartz, Purple Striated Agate, Yellow Striated Agate, and Fancy Jasper. And here’s what the stones are said to do (minus, of course, the ones I’ve already listed):
Jade bracelet
5) This bracelet is comprised of 8 Russian Jade oval-shaped beads and 11 round, 4mm Fancy Jasper beads with a silver toggle clasp. Jade helps the body to heal itself. An ancient protective stone, Jade helps in clear reasoning.
Do stones in and of themselves really ‘Heal’? Who knows, but it’s fun learning about them anyway!
I’ve got a bit of a dilemma, so I’m turning to my online friends for help.
Most of you are aware that next month I’m going to my son’s university commencement.
You’re also aware that for months now, I’ve been trying to determine agonizing over just what I’m going to wear for this momentous occasion.
(Not that anybody will be looking at me. Or rather, they shouldn’t!)
Anyway, now that I’ve selected a few outfits — mostly in the black-and-white color scheme — I’m debating over accessories.
We had a LOT of thunderstorms recently, giving me many opportunities for my favorite pastime, beading jewelry.
I made the following two pairs of earrings, with an eye toward wearing them for Commencement.
The question is, Which do you like better?
And remember, I don’t want to embarrass my kid. Or stick out. But frankly, it isn’t me to wear a subdued pair of pearl studs and call it a day!
Earrings #1
1) This pair of dangling earrings measures 3 1/4 inches in length. Each contains four 6 mm round black jasper beads, a round mother-of-pearl, silver rondelle spacer, and an ornate silver connector. A leverback ear wire completes the look. (Black jasper is said to absorb negative energy, if that helps with your decision!)
Earrings #2
2) This pair of chandelier earrings measures 3 1/2 inches in length. Each contains five 6 mm round obsidian beads, three 6 mm faceted round crystal beads, a daisy spacer, and an ornate silver chandelier. A leverback ear wire ties it all together. (Black obsidian is said to cleanse the environment of negativity, disharmony, anger, fear, and resentment.)
Okay, y’all, start voting! If nobody likes either pair, well, I guess we’ll have more bad weather somewhere along the line, and I can go back to the drawing beading board!
And thanks in advance for helping me out.
When the husband of a friend of mine was diagnosed with cancer several months ago, I started pondering ways I could help.
Other than prayer, which I immediately did. And still do.
Luckily, Suzicate posted a blog about creativity, making a strand of prayer/meditation beads, and it hit me — I can do that!
As a Catholic and “beader”, I regularly make Rosaries. But my friend’s husband isn’t Catholic. And I never try to push my religion onto others.
Nor was I comfortable promoting the Buddhist philosophy.
Still, I firmly believe God put everything here on Earth that we need. Even rocks.
The Bible tells us God instructed His people to use certain stones — including jasper, agate, sapphire, and carnelian — when making the temple high priest’s clothing. And the Book of Revelation indicates the new temple will be constructed in Jerusalem using many of these same stones.
Do I believe gemstones, in and of themselves, heal? No, of course not.
Do I believe God can use gemstones to bring about healing? Definitely. He’s God; He can use whatever instrument He chooses.
So I designed and crafted a strand of healing beads. Not a bracelet, but a string of about eight inches long, consisting of semiprecious beads that supposedly have healing properties.
Stones like Flourite (to fortify bones), Howlite (to balance calcium levels), and Jasper (to ease emotional stresses).
On either end of my strand, I attached a simple Chinese coin, which traditionally is a feng shui money cure. Not that this man is suffering from lack of funds, but cancer treatments are expensive, and every little bit of “luck” helps!
Before I took the beads to him, I thought hard about what message I was sending. I didn’t want to mislead him by offering false hope, nor did I want to confuse him about Who is really in charge here.
So I told him some people call them worry beads. Others refer to them as prayer beads. Whatever we choose to call them, and whether they actually work, probably depends on our frame of mind. And the will of our Creator.
He was thrilled with my gift! He sat for a long while, fingering the beads and trying to memorize from my cheat-sheet which was which stone and their metaphysical properties.
Of course he’s undergoing traditional treatment. But if something as simple as gemstones can ease his mind during this difficult time, that’s a good thing, don’t you agree?
Darling Doggie and I thank everybody for playing along on our little “Name the Sheltie” contest.
We got LOTS of guesses — ranging from Irish names like “Seamus” and “Knute,” to cute names like “Fluffy” and “Silky.” From “girly” names like “Honey-Bear” and “Shannon” and “Flossy” to cats’ names like “Socks” and “Rusty.”
However, NO ONE guessed accurately. And here, I thought I’d given you too many clues!
So, Darling Doggie supervised while I wrote everybody’s name on a slip of paper (sorry, but only one slip per person — more guesses didn’t earn you additional chances, this isn’t a county fair or a church picnic!). Then I took those slips of paper and dropped them into a plastic cup. I swirled them around and around, but figured that wasn’t quite sufficient, so I took an identical plastic cup and sashayed them back and forth until they were good and mixed up.
Only then did I close my eyes, reach in, and pull out one slip.
One name. Belonging to one person.
Are you eager to find out who it was?
Or is the identity of Darling Doggie more pressing?
Bet you’d all have a fit if I refused to tell you either the winner or the Sheltie’s name, wouldn’t you??
Okay, enough suspense.
The person whose name I drew from the cup — winner of my hand-beaded chandelier earrings — is none other than Katybeth!
Congratulations, my friend!
I swear I didn’t rig it, just because it was her idea in the first place.
Katybeth, if you’ll e-mail me (ole miss debbie at gmail dot com — minus the spaces, of course), I’ll package these babies up and send them right to you.
And now for the “reveal” — Darling Doggie, the Sheltie, is named “Dallas.”
Big D. Lone Star. A stone’s throw from where Domer was born 21 years ago.
I told you the Sheltie was a “big boy,” didn’t I? And that he was the lone male in a litter of three?
And if you’d really been observant, you’d have noticed that w-a-a-a-y back in my blogging history, I mentioned his name. Hover your mouse cursor over the photos, and you’ll see I’m right.
And I know I’ve mentioned that I worked in Texas before moving back to Illinois.
So you see? The clues were there all along!
The remnants of Hurricane Isaac blew through my area over Labor Day weekend, giving us some much-needed rain.
Not what the old-timers call a drought-buster, but we’ll take what we can get.
It’s the “side effects” we can do without — you know, the lightning and thunder, tornadoes and wind.
Have you ever been in Church and heard the tornado warning go off? I hadn’t either, until Saturday evening. What better place to be during wicked weather?
Anyway, with a holiday weekend and bad weather roaming around, I powered down the laptop and turned to some beading. Without further ado, I present some of my new creations (and the stories that go with them!):
1) These dangly earrings each feature three 6mm denim blue cat’s eye beads, interspersed with a 4mm hematite bead, antique round silver beads, and an antique silver tube bead in the middle. They remind me of summer — denim usually does — and what better way to celebrate the end of summertime than with beads?
2) This pair is made of seven 4mm rose bicones, interspersed with silver spacers and a silver circle spacer in the middle. This color is just so flattering to most skin tones! They’re light and delicate, and I imagine they’d look perfect worn with shades of blue or black.
3) Native American cultures have long hung dreamcatchers over beds to catch bad dreams in the net and filter good dreams down through feathers to the sleeper. That lovely tradition is what this pair of earrings is based on. I used two faceted turquoise Czech glass beads with a silver spacer in each one and a leverback closure for increased security.
4) More feathers! I saw these silver “feather” dangles at Hobby Lobby one day and they spoke to me. These chandelier earrings are the result. They might look heavy, but they’re incredibly light and make the most delicate whispering sound in your ears when you move your head.
5) A bracelet/earring set in Hematite. This stone is incredibly slick to the touch and is the gem form of iron. When cut or ground, Hematite gives off red dust that runs like blood when mixed with water. People have used this “red ochre” for thousands of years to paint caves and tombs. Here, I separated the Hematite stones with 4mm silver beads on the bracelet and used a toggle clasp. Trust me, it’s heavier than it looks — that’s why the earrings are shorter than I’d usually make!
6) Can you tell the Fighting Irish have been on my mind this weekend?? This pair mixes several different shades and sizes of green beads, silver spacers, and of course, a lucky four-leaf clover dangle. They must have worked because the Irish beat the Navy in Dublin on Saturday, 50-10!
Musings by an ND Domer's Mom 