Amber, warm and powerful. Necklace

Scouring some vintage shops like I normally do, I came upon these loose Amber beads in an old tin on a shelf and when I enquired whether it was for sale, the lady said yes and I was surprised at how affordable they were and snatched them up immediately!

They obviously came from a previous neclace, so I just threaded some tiger-tail wire through the holes, attached some clasps and earring hooks onto the two I used for earrings and voila! a warm and powerful necklace with matching earrings!

While often considered a gemstone, the glowing amber is not actually a stone, but fossilized resin from ancient evergreen trees. The oldest amber discovered on Earth is about 320 million years old. Imagine the incredibly powerful energy this amber contains!

Young amber stones are less than 100,000 years old; the most valued pieces of amber are much older than that. (It takes a long time for the tree resin to become true amber). Isn’t it mind boggling to know that the amber jewellery you just bought contains such old, wise energy?

The most obvious quality of amber is its old, old, (very old!) energy. With it comes the accumulated wisdom of the earth and its natural kingdom. You can often see little insects trapped in the amber while it started as a tree resin; this gives the amber stone quite powerful magical properties. It is believed that amber:

• Balances emotions
• Attracts good luck
• Eliminates fears
• Relieves headache
• Clears the mind
• Dissolves negative energy
• Helps develop patience and wisdom

Amber clarity ranges from transparent to opaque and it has a resinous lustre. Most amber specimens have pockets of air bubbles and various other inclusions.

Abelone and Stone

An Abelone shell (Perlemoen - Haliotis midae - rear view) encased in silver solder sharing a chain with a pebble surrounded by silver wire. The pebble is a separate pendant.

Abelone is protected along all South Africa's coastlines and in 2008 Abelone fishing was suspended to protect the rapidly depleting shellfish species from commercial extinction. Illegal fishing and increased inward migration of a lobster species that destroy abalone habitat are being blamed for a decline in the shellfish's numbers. Also, over the past decades, the poaching of abalone has reached such proportions that it has become a full-scale industry. A record 3 000 tons of abalone was poached from South African waters in 2007, compared with the annual allowed quotas of 1 000 tons of farmed abalone.

Most abalone in the southern hemisphere is found in the cold waters off the South African, Australian and New Zealand coasts. The animal is protected in South African waters, and harvesting of wild individuals has been banned since 2008, while commercial operations need a permit to export.

Abalone meat is generally not for sale in South Africa, although selected restaurants around the country do serve it - at a price. Despite these regulations, stocks of abalone are dwindling because of illegal commercial harvesting. Most of the illegal harvest - as well as the permitted catch - ends up in Asian markets.

This piece had washed ashore many years ago and it certainly was a lucky find!

 Abelone pendant with silver wire and frosty glass bead hanging from a silver rope chain - (Shell 3½" - 9cm)

River pebble (1½" - 4cm) encased in silver wire, hanging from a silver rope chain

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River Pebble Pendant

A 1½" (4cm) river pebble surrounded by silver wire and hanging from a leather thong.
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Inland pebbles (river pebbles of river rock) are usually found along the shores of large rivers and lakes. These pebbles are formed as the flowing water washes over rock particles on the bottom and along the shores of the river. The smoothness and color of river pebbles depends on several factors, such as the composition of the soil of the river banks, the chemical characteristics of the water, and the speed of the current. Because river current is gentler than the ocean waves, river pebbles are usually not as smooth as beach pebbles. The most common colors of river rock are black, grey, green, brown and white. 

From my "Earth Range" and inspired by Nature.

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Life's a bitch...

but I appreciate her nontheless.
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I woke up feeling utterly depressed this morning. No particular reason, everything is running smoothly in my life, no worries, no stress, no problems, no debt, and yet, I had this completely flat and miserable feeling. Even finding some beautiful feathers in the garden could not motivate or inspire me. In fact, my garden looked like shit. Even the birds, who normally wait in droves at the bird feeders, seemed to have deserted my space.

I wandered back into the house to my studio and opened a box of beach finds, hoping to find inspiration there. But nothing. My muse seems to have taken a walk, leaving me with the dregs of imagination.

When the thought, "life's a bitch" came into my mind, I decided to Google it, maybe find some explanation or inspiration. But all I found was "life's a bitch and then you die" and "life's a bitch and death is her sister". Not very inspirational or explanatory at all. I pondered this for a while and summarily decided that I didn't like those references at all. They must've been written by somebody in a deeper depression than myself and the thought was very scary.

I remembered a quote I had read some time ago, "Creativity is a drug I cannot live without" and decided the only solution was that I HAD to do something creative to break this feeling. Even if it's just something simple, not too complicated, just to get the juices flowing again.

I remembered seeing a nice round pebble, well, stone actually, in my garden earlier (so I DID notice something nice after all!), so I went out in search of it. I gave it a thorough wash and just holding it in my hands brought a feeling of peace. It wasn't long before I was totally immersed in wrapping it in some silver wire, as if wrapping some peace and love into it, safely securing it with some drops of solder. Attaching a ring and adding a chain, it was ready to hang around my neck.

Hand-crafted river pebble (2½" - 5cm) pendant hanging from a leather thong

Pebbles and stones represent solidity, stability, dependability. And that's what I needed to feel today, solid and stable.

Since earliest history, people have collected and admired pretty pebbles, often believing they had magical and healing powers. Even the earliest people told stories about magical creatures made of stone. Pebbles, stones and rocks are a vital part of our earth and our history - from providing us with our very first tools and building materials to giving us a chance to express ourselves through sculptures, jewelry and other fine arts.

Go ahead, hold a pebble in your hand. Feel its smooth surface grow warm in your palm. See it glow with light. I asked myself: Where has this pebble been, and what has it seen, in all its thousands of years of existence? Then I opened my mind to its healing power...

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