Pearls of Life: For the Personal Spiritual Journey

My book finally arrived in the mail today.  I've been waiting for over three weeks.  This is the first time I've ever ordered a used book from Chapters and the experience has been relatively satisfying.  The book is in the condition they stated in their description: cover worn, edges dusty/dirty, clean interior.  What they did not tell me was that I would not be receiving the bracelet that originally came with the book, so I'm a little disappointed.

Not disappointed enough to return the book for a refund, but enough that I sent an e-mail to the vendor suggesting that they might want to include such details in further listings.  The contents of the book are more important to me than the bracelet, and I'm happy to have the book.  Considering it is out of print & classified as 'rare', I got it for a good price.

The Pearls of Life were created by a Lutheran Bishop, while he was stranded by a storm on a small Greek island, to help guide his prayer.  When he got back to civilization, he shared the idea with others.  He was amazed at their response and their stories of ever deepening prayer.  The book describes the meaning of each pearl (bead) and how it may be used in personal devotions.

While the bead strand was designed by a Christian, i think that the concept is very adaptable to any belief system.  Each of the eighteen beads has a specific meaning as explained in the book and can be easily modified to suit each individual person.  It is my aim to first create a bead set for myself than to share the idea others, hopefully, helping us all deepen the spiritual connection to our greater power and the universe at large.

Mixed-Media Jewelry

More and more jewelry makers & designers are pushing the boundaries of traditional approaches to jewelry making.  Beyond the basic bead stringing and wire-work, they have started to explore other options in techniques and materials used. They are mixing, layering and utilizing aspects from other craft forms and joining them together to create some unique pieces....typically one-of-a-kind.  This form of exploratory jewelry has become known as 'mixed-media jewelry'.

Individual designers can incorporate elements to reflect their own personal style and personality.  That can include glass, fibers, paper, buttons, ribbon, bottle caps, shells and many other bits & pieces found on their travels.  The selection of materials or methods is limited only by the imagination of the artist.  The finished pieces are fun & whimsical, stand out in a crowd and are great conversation starters.

While browsing through some used books at the antique warehouse on the weekend, I came across a fabulous book that brought this jewelry making genre to the forefront of my attention.  Of course, I'd seen pieces that were made in this style before but did not know that the style had a name.  I purchased the book, a bargain at one third of the original retail price, and began reading it as soon as I got home.

I'm inspired now to gather together all the odds & ends I have around here and experimenting with my own version of mixed-media jewelry.  Hopefully, I will have some samples to share soon.  Stay tuned for updates.

Conducting a Survey: Cloak Clasps

I'm conducting a survey at the Mystic Roots Conference (April 8-10) to determine the top three, best liked designs among the cloak clasps.  There are several new designs this year, as well as some favourites from last year, to chose from.

Anyone who participates will have their name put in a draw.  The winner will be chosen on Sunday, April 10th and will receive one set of cloak clasps of their choice.   If you cannot attend Mystic Roots but would still like to participate and get your name in the draw, please contact me by e-mail before April 5th (e-mail link below).  I will send the survey to you to complete.

I must receive your answers before April 7th in order for you to be included in the draw.   If your name is selected but you are not there personally, I will contact you for your mailing address and ship your prize via Canada Post.

Contact me to receive the survey

Please note, only one entry per person so everyone has an equal opportunity to win the prize.

New Product: Wire Wrapped Rings

One day, I came across a free tutorial online for making wire wrapped spiral rings.  I knew my friend Rose, of Country Rune, liked to work with wire, so I sent the website along to her.  At first she only planned to make a few rings for herself, but it has since blossomed into much more!  Here is a photo of the original ring in the tutorial.....

She purchased a ring mandrel on eBay and (im)patiently waited for it to arrive.  With her first attempt at making the spiral ring, she realized that she was unable to follow the instructions, in spite of the fact that they were very clear ones.  Never one to give up easily, she let her creative streak run wild and decided to try wire wrapping beads to make rings.  Doing some research online had shown her that there was no limit to what she could wrap.

The hunt began for some vintage buttons and old beads she could re-purpose into rings.  She loves to recycle things, turning something old into something new, so it was a logical next step.  Her husband has been quite the enabler, finding & selecting ones she should wrap.  When presented with so many options, Rose often has difficulty knowing where to begin so his support has been greatly appreciated.

She prefers to use 20 guage copper or brass wire.  While the tutorials and photos get her started, her creative nature takes over and branches out in all directions.  Her head keeps flooding with new style ideas to the point where she has trouble falling asleep some nights.  Her mind is too busy visualizing how she can execute that new design.  She even has ideas for making wire wrapped bracelets & necklaces too.  Some day she plans to go back and try to make the original spiral ring successfully....but not today.

At last count, over the last month, she's made over 100 wire wrapped rings and she has only kept five for herself!  You can see some of them above.  Her love for jewelry came from her Mom and Rose has found it difficult not to keep more of them.  She is currently selling her rings on Etsy, and I'd like to announce that Jasper Moon will be carrying a selection of her rings at events also.  Check out her Etsy shop to see more.

Ostara: The Life Force of Spring

Long ago, the Germanic goddess, Ostara, was celebrated each spring with festivals honouring re-birth and renewal.  Ostara is the living symbol for air and the life force of spring. East represents the element of air and our mental powers. Air is about new beginnings and allowing your spirit to soar. 

Easter, like most Pagan festivals, evolved into a Christian holiday focusing, not on the goddess, but on the biblical Jesus and his "rebirth" or "resurrection".  Even so, Easter somehow managed to retain all the fertility symbols, like the Easter Basket.  (I always wondered what the Easter Basket had to do with Christ's resurrection, didn't you?) 

Ostara is goddess of joy, new beginnings and fertility. That is where Easter Eggs and Easter Bunnies come in. Eggs are an obvious symbol for fertility and the rabbit has a well known reputation of being quite prolific.  Eggs were, and still are by the Germanic people, dyed or painted bright colors as an offering to her....presented in a basket.  She is also goddess of the dawn.

Right now is the perfect time to build and dedicate a small shrine to Ostara so that you can begin to bring in the energy & vibration for new beginnings and fertility into your life. This is the time of year when we symbolically wake up from our winter slumber and become more alert and active. 

Here are some of the elements you can include in your shrine to Ostara:

- Brightly colored stones such as Amethyst, Rose Quartz, Calcite, Citrine and/or Aquamarine
- Hard boiled eggs, preferably coloured or brown
- Seeds or rice
- Feather (symbol for air)
- Incense
- Rabbit figurine
- Spring flowers

Ostara's shrine will help our minds become fertile once again with ideas, making it very easy to take advantage of the vibrations this season offers us. This is a good time for starting new projects of all kinds.