Czech-Bohemian Folk Art: Wish Bracelets!

We have here two very beautiful, delicate bracelets made from gemstone, crystal, and perla glass beads strung on very thin elastic cord.

These are wish bracelets, designed to boost your meditative powers for a time. These are delicate pieces that are meant to be worn until breaking — it is then time to speak your desire to the universe (think of it as simply making a wish or saying a prayer). 

When the bracelet breaks, you can take up as many of the beads as you can find — especially the meditation stone, also known as a touchstone — try to keep that one! You can give any or all beads away to others, or keep some to add to your own personal amulet collection.

All of the beads on everything in the shop are enchanted for a variety of purposes. These beads have been enchanted for protection and an easier removal of obstacles.

Ivory magnesite Buddha bracelet measures 6 (or almost 8 stretched) inches. It is made with gorgeous czech glass perlas in a starshaya sestra pattern in shades of black and gold, double-strung on our thinnest elastic cord.

Wood and Bohemian crystal skull bracelet measures 6 (or almost 8 stretched) inches. Composed of wood, perlas, and crystal, the piece is finished with a Bohemian crystal skull meditation stone. This bracelet is single-string on our thinnest elastic, so it is super stretchy and very delicate!

Jewelry Design: Evil Eye Earrings to Protect from Negative Bullshit

Cleaning out my bead stash, as well as releasing some of my personal collection into the world! Here I have a pair of handmade enchanted seed bead earrings! Each bead in every bracelet has been individually selected to work in harmony with the others, and all have been enchanted to give your vibe a little something extra.

All of the beads on everything in the shop are enchanted for a variety of purposes. These beads have been enchanted for good health, enhanced creativity, and a little extra sparkle of coolness in your aura! (If you have an enchantment request, convo me whether you do or don’t buy. I’d love to help.)

Dangly earrings made with a fabulous array of czech glass seed beads in apple green and gold, shimmery blue perler beads, silvery acrylic fringe beads & evil eye beads; folk art style, strung on nylon thread, on stainless steel French hooks.

Toughies are strong and are made to be stretched, fidgeted with, and used for meditation. They’re unique and magical just like you. Don’t be too tough though, use responsibly!

Gemstone Project: Chronically Illin’

 The person I made this necklace for (and his gf — who I’d like to make one for, too!) works with someone close to me.  The subject is a male hip-hop artist that struggles with some health issues.

Because this was a gift commission, I began by pulling a card in my search for inspirado. I wanted bold colors and a modern, masculine style. Our guy is a New England Patriots fan, so that took care of the color scheme quite nicely! Since I overbought on red seed beads for a khokhloma project I never got around to finishing 😂 I had tons of reds in every shade — I picked the boldest and closest to the Patriots’ colors.

My card was the six of swords. This is a card of air, of a flexible and positive spirit that enjoys wandering to avoid danger *and* also to gain experience and have adventures — not just in the physical world, but also the creative journeys of the soul this movement can bring. This soul is innately intelligent about survival and self-preservation, so they can enjoy many facets of life packed into the time they have on this earth. Basically, he can live many lives in the space of just the one we’re all given! 

The gemstones I picked were: Sapphire (for good mental & tummy health); Buffalo bone (symbolizing the bod in harmony with nature, it imbues all the powers of buffalo — including Taurean bonuses to musical creativity!); Black imperial jasper cubes (to deflect negative energy & return it back to the sender!); Smoky blue dragon vein agate drums (for creativity & fire, powers of dragon including mental prowess, bod health, & an eye for opportunities). In the the very middle of the piece, I added the one yellow Flameheart Carnelian that I have! It’s mostly an orange-y yellow, with a heart of red and white — specifically for health & calmness of the solar plexus [aka tummy] and sacral [intestines/ass/bladder] chakras. Red is a great color for creativity & physical health, blue is for mental strength to stay positive through all.

Also tried real hard to make this (a) masculine, and (b) hip hop.

Also “chronic” is a double meaning, as is “illin” — It’s just so punny I can’t stand it!  I hope he likes it!!

Amber: A Gemstone’s Meaning and Origins

Amber is formed from the petrified sap of conifer trees (such as pine). Sometimes, we will find fossils of ancient life forms within it, such as insects, leaves and wood bits, or the bones of other small animals. Although amber is classified as a gemstone, it is not actually stone. Amber isn’t a mineral or stone. However, it is still considered a gem, and we can loosely call it a gemstone (even if it’s technically a gem resin). And anyway,  it does make fantastic gems for jewelry and crystal work.

Baltic amber is a very special type of this beautiful gem.  While virtually all other ambers of the world are just as beautiful and fascinating, the Baltic variety differs from the rest in its chemical composition; it has high levels of succinic acid, which has healing properties. In fact, another name for Baltic amber is succinite — so called due to the rich succinic acid contained within each piece.

Along the waters of the Baltic Sea were huge prehistoric subtropical forests. This wasn’t just an innocent group of conifer trees — they were super trees, growing to sizes that could only be possible with an unpopulated planet. Millions of years ago, these botanical giants fell and decomposed, trapping their precious, sweet-smelling honey resins in the newly formed ground where it remained, undisturbed for eons until the Baltic folk claimed the amber for their own. 

Legends within this region claim that amber is great for physical and emotional pain. It promotes comfort and healing, as well as a sense of peace and cleansing. Many churches in Eastern Europe came to incorporate the use of Baltic amber incense as an offering to God. 

How to Use Your Meditation Stone

It’s really pretty easy! 

Use as a touchstone. You can use it as a grounding focus point when you’re worried or stressed. Touching it, playing with the stone, even memorizing the small pieces can be reassuring when you touch it later. The stone is permanent; its stability helps.

Use to focus your intentions. Each day, begin your morning by touching the stone and setting your intentions for the day. You can also use it regularly for long-term goal setting.

Use for gratitude. At the end of the day, program the stone with love and gratitude for who and what shares your life with you.

Use for comfort and prayer. If you pray, use it to text God. If you don’t, just use it as a touchstone when you need to calm down and self-soothe.

Toughies hold a long time, but if they break... you can restring the beads, make a whole new item, OR give the beads away to make their energies more powerful! Acrylic and wood tend to degrade over time, but some of my seed beads are as old as 200 years & I also work with pieces from ancient times. Your meditation stone has existed for thousands of years — and it should keep for life!

Crystal Skull & Sky Howlite Necklace

As most of you know, I adore working with gemstones! Earlier this week, I made a piece that I’m especially proud of, and was excited to put it into my Etsy shop... until my intuition said this was meant to be a gift! Even so, I put a lot of love and good energy into this piece.

I started with one of those velvety howlite crystal points that I’ve discussed on other occasions. These poor sweet things came to me damaged, the hardware just hanging off, and with some heavy discoloration from some label stickers! I polished some of them up (only a few because these pieces take time), did the best I could with the sticker damage, and redid the color so that it went from turquoise to a lovely pale sky blue.

The heavenly blue of the howlite went so well with my sky blue cats eye bicones that it seemed like a no-brainer!

Howlite is a great crystal to use because it’s a good substitute for turquoise in terms of aesthetics. But it’s got powers all its own, too! It helps to calm anxiety and heal sadness, but it also amps up your psychic ability and helps you think more clearly.

To this, I added one of my new fav beads - a jadelike crystal skull with that great titanium AB shimmer. This piece has also been spiritually charged to give confidence and resilience to the one who wears it.

I finished the piece off with stainless hardware and a traditional bolshoi malenki pattern which makes this piece of Baltic folk art one of my favorite ever!

Tricolor Cannabis-Themed Beaded Necklace with Gems

Frannie from SpiritClique recently completed her latest art project. We love this fun beaded necklace — just in time for spring! Check out more of SpiritClique’s spiritual lapidary art at the SpiritClique Etsy shop.

My first step was to create the color palette.  I went with a standard tricolor here because I wanted something bold and festive, that would show the gleam of the stainless steel off to its best advantage!

The color yellow has a deeply spiritual vibration that is interpreted in similar ways throughout human culture. As the color we most associate with the sun, yellow symbolizes life, renewal, and community. People with a yellow aura tend to be friendly, strong, and (despite the western’s association between yellow and cowardice) bravery.

Red is often associated with the planet Mars, plus all the strength and creativity that comes with it. In China, red is strongly associated with good fortune. In the western world, we associate it with physical strength, passion, and power. It’s no wonder that people with a red aura have a strong and vibrant life force!

Many cultures attribute qualities like healing, fertility, and relaxation with green. It has been proven that the color green can help people center their thoughts and get to a more logical place mentally. It’s also associated with the earth, plant life, and the heart chakra. Green aura bearers are naturally loving, brought to earth as healers and helpers. Green is a lucky color, combining the energy of yellow and the tranquility of blue. And of course, it’s the color of American money and cannabis — making it a great choice for this project.

These three colors together can symbolize many things. Lots of cultures use this color combination of red, yellow, and green: Pan-African culture, Rastafarian spirituality, Malaysian traditions, as well as the flag of the Lithuanian people. 

As a proponent of medical cannabis and a person of Lithuanian ancestry, this color combo has a special place in my heart! I chose to use lemon-yellow micro beads for this project because I had a lot of leftovers from my ongoing khokhloma project — but also, I wanted the piece to be warm and summery. Plus, making yellow the dominant color in my palette removes any assumption that this is a Christmas necklace. Not that the weed focal isn’t also a huge tip-off. :)

Beads. I chose sunny yellow Czech micro beads (11/0) for this project. And may I say, the 11/0 size is starting to become a fav to work with. :) Green crystal bicones and shimmery metallic Czech glass beads add more body and diversity to the piece. 

Metals. My chosen focal is a cannabis silhouette glyph made of brushed stainless steel. I love using steel in my pieces because it’s tough as hell, easy to care for, and fun to work with. Mars is the planetary correspondence of iron, and it’s also my main ruling planet. Iron is also the metal correspondence of Aries, which is my zodiac sign. And of course, as a daughter of miners, steel makers, and iron workers... it’s a perfect medium for me!

Gemstones. Because I’m working around a cannabis theme, I decided to choose two types of gemstones to represent the two basic weed types: soothing indica and invigorating sativa.

Flanking the cannabis focal are three beads made of natural shell dyed in red, yellow, and green — these are my soothing indica stones. Mother of Pearl is a fantastic choice for organic jewelry. Associated with the moon, throat chakra and solar plexus chakra (especially in yellow and green!), these ethereal shells are also linked with the psychic realm. It’s a wonderfully healing gem for people with anxiety or those who need healing in negativity-filled situations.

My sativa choice just had to be the lively, energy infusing emerald! I added about a carat of emerald beads to the center of this piece, keeping it close to the heart chakra to add all that fab green energy. Emerald is one of my favorite gemstones to use for its fun loving and exciting vibe. It’s the birthstone of May as well as a gemstone of Taurus. It is one of the world’s most precious gemstones (along with diamond, ruby, and sapphire). Many old-world religions strongly associated emeralds with love, more so than virtually any other jewel. And it’s no wonder — the emerald reflects the green power of the heart chakra. Emeralds can help us rediscover passions for people and things that seem a little boring; it helps to heal depression, raise self-esteem, and invigorate the soul.

I also have this piece in a white/blue combination with howlite! But that’s a story for another time.

Green Aventurine Properties: Crystal Magick

There’s a reason that this cool, green stone in the quartz  family is so popular with beginners. It’s a powerful crystal, but so easy to work with!

Aventurine is a great all-purpose crystal! It works wonders for attracting wealth, healing, & confidence. It also turns negative energy into positive!

What are the different birthstones for each month?

Did you know that there is more than one birthstone for each month? Traditional stones were established for centuries. But when retailers got involved to try to influence the sale of certain jewels... the traditions changed. Here’s a list of all the stones which correspond to each month. Enjoy!

January’s birthstone is garnet.

February’s birthstones are amethyst, pearl, and zircon.

March’s birthstones are aquamarine, bloodstone, and jasper.

April’s birthstones are diamond, sapphire, and mystic topaz.

May’s birthstones are agate, emerald, and chrysoprase.

June’s birthstones are agate, alexandrite, cat’s eye, moonstone, pearl, and turquoise.

July’s birthstones are carnelian, onyx, ruby, and turquoise.

August’s birthstones are carnelian, moonstone, peridot, sardonyx, spinel, and moonstone.

September’s birthstones are chrysolite, lapis, and sapphire.

October’s birthstones are aquamarine, opal, and tourmaline.

November’s birthstones are citrine, pearl, and topaz.

December’s birthstones are bloodstone, lapis, ruby, turquoise, and zircon.

Although most birthstones were pretty well-established by the 1400s, modern jewelers have altered the traditions by inventing new birthstones for the months. There aren’t any real reasons for this spiritually speaking — it was just a marketing ploy to sell more of certain gems. Therefore, don’t worry too much about it. The powers are inside of you, and you’ll intuitively know  which crystal should be yours!

Magickal Properties of Sand

 It might sound obvious, but sand is made from organic materials (like animal skeletons or plant matter) as well as pieces of rock sediment. Over time, water flow breaks these things up... and sand is born! So it’s basically components of what we already consider crystals: lovely minerals of all types (depending on where you live), including tiny crystals and other organic things. Bits of shells, pearls, driftwood, and coral are all contained there.

If you think coral, pearls, and shells all have special properties, sand might be a nice medium to work with. It also contains rocks, minerals... baby crystals. Of course sand has magickal use! Whether wearing a crystal point of pressed sandstone or even just molten glass, you can depend on its good vibes.

After all... sand makes glass and in a lot of cases, the glass we make gets returned to the beach.

In short, sand contains a bit of all elemental forces. It’s merely pieces of our earth tossed and broken by air and water, warmed by a fiery sun and cooled by the light of a million moonlit skies.  I don’t know about you, but that sounds like a shitload of magic to me. I use sand bits in some of my crafts for this very reason.