promised

The colors were inspired by a Chinese proverb ...

"Keep a green tree in your heart and perhaps a singing bird will come."

So what of this reminds one of either a tree or a singing bird?

(This dainty necklace is called "Promised." Something a Celtic princess might wear to a "Hand Fasting" ceremony, to be wed for a year and a day, and then to decide if she will remain a wife or take back her freedom. Thus two hearts, one large and strong. The smaller delicate heart is struck by Cupid's arrow. The stones here are Peridot and Amethyst. )

Peridot was used by the Egyptians and Aztecs for cleansing toxic energies and negative emotions such as jealousy and rage, even. Associated with both the heart and solar plexus chakras, sharing the same vibrational signature, it allows one to move forward towards unconditional love with a clarity and a calm heart. It has been called a good "first stone" for those who have begun the search for spiritual awakening, because of its quiet energy. Whereas a higher vibration might cause feelings of light headedness, nausea or back pain as energetic toxins are stirred and brought to the surface.



Amethyst is THE healing stone of choice. A beloved, high vibrational stone that matches the vibrational signature of the crown chakra. I spoke of Amethyst's qualities below in my August 9th entry; Journey in Stone.

Unfortunately, this piece will not go on the sale block as it has already been promised. The new owner is a lovely Irish woman ... so this little piece will be shipped out to the Emerald Isle. I just like to photograph them before they go off into the world.

Oh ... and I haven't forgotten that I have three more to tag!

~L

a new display mannequin

i was so excited to receive my new toy in the mail last night. Yes, I said last night, because it arrived around 7 pm on the evening of our ever-celebrated Pizza Tuesday! A knock came to the door just as I stuffed my mouth with mushrooms, cheese and tomato sauce! I opened the door, smiling with pursed lips and using hand signals as hot cheese burned a brand into my palette ... and there was the UPS guy in shorts (aren't they lucky?) bearing a cardboard box for LoraKellyDesigns! Just like Christmas!

I knew what it was as soon as I saw the Venus Display Mannequin return postage in the upper left hand corner and could barely contain myself while doing my best to remove three layers of that shiny mailing tape (which runs neck in neck in annoyability to duct tape!) In the end, I prevailed!


Look what I got! Isn't she lovely? I actually received two lovely ladies ... well, really I only got their upper torso's, not sure what happened to the rest of their bodies. In case you wondered, they will by no means replace the lovely blue fairy Flora! Never! Despite her unfortunate mishap with the slates, she is still as lovely as ever and holds a special place in my heart. Still ... I'm really excited about the new girls! This one photographs well, doesn't she?




My next photograph has nothing to do with mannequins or display models or blue fairies but is actually just an adorable picture of my two beloved parrots, that I hope you will indulge me by viewing; Ms. L (on the left) and Mr. R (on the right) ... both wanting their share of pizza and wondering why they must pose on the back of the chair when they'd much rather be sitting on my shoulder and attempting to pull pizza from my lips. Yes. They are THAT bad! Horribly spoiled ... I admit, but ... cute beyond words. And sweet? Well, indescribably.

Even though I design jewelry and spend a great deal of my time with stones and beads and findings and the like, I rarely get a chance to wear jewelry myself at home for one reason, these two bothersome birds! They love to be with me as much as possible which means, when I'm in the house, they are usually on my shoulder. From there, they have an excellent vantage point should they wish to partake of a lovely earring or pendant, and although they may look like gentle creatures, there is nothing they enjoy more than destruction! It's a parrot thing, nothing personal. And shiny, colorful beads offer just such an invitation. I fondly refer to them as "The Destructors!" ... sort of a super hero status that fits them well.

Ms. L is the more timid of the two and steps about like a delicate princess with a hoidy toidy attitude, Mr. R's nickname is "Kerplunk!" in that he's a sturdy little lump of a fellow with no airs or graces and who lives for fun, food and friendship. The order depending on his mood.

(Spell-check had great difficulties with this blog entry today! It is so confused by my challenging language! It really loved "annoyability" as you can imagine!)

You've obviously realized I am an animal lover, as so many of you are, I can tell by your blogs. And so I am glad and proud to be in good company.

Thanks for stopping by!
~L

art for a little more than arts sake

Someone To Watch Over You

Let It Go

Make Peace

Be Happy

in a rather serious mood today ... what's up with that? it's another gorgeous day here in the northwest and i've spent the morning working in my studio since, oh, say 8 a.m.? I love doing that ... the time there is heavenly, despite my organizational disasters... however, this morning I was not making jewelry but rather working on a memorial of sorts, for a beloved animal I lost last November. Yeah, long time ago really, one might think if they've never loved an animal, but truth is, whether they be feathers, fur or flesh..they are just containers for love. I thought collage art would be a great way for me to express my heart about the matter. I've written about it, talked about it, cried about it ... here I "draw and paint" about it. My first try at collage art ... sort of funky and amature but the fun working with glue and paint is always worth the mess and worry that it's never good enough! You who have stopped by to visit me are so lucky! You get to be the first to see it. My ode to Arwen.

Have a lovely day!

~L

meet flora ... the blue fairy

yes, I do know that she's missing part of her head but ... we don't mention those things within ear shot.

I barely had a chance to say how do you do to Miss Flora ... (the lovely blue fairy pictured here modeling some creations) she'd hardly said giday ... it was less than 5 minutes ... truly ... when one of the slates toppled over during a photo session, banged her on the head, flattened her and caused several little chips to appear on her torso! Poor love! She promises not to sue, and despite the development of a rather odd tick ... she seems just fine!! Really, she does. Unfortunately, now she's damaged goods! I swear! She was in the mailbox when I got home, and I being so overly excited, rushed to my studio, situated her just so, and ... it took me no more than 5 minutes to destroy her. I have quite the knack for these things!

My mother came very close to naming me Grace. Perhaps if she had, I would've gotten through life with a few less accidents!

Must go wipe away tears now ... what a major KLUTZ!

... later

full moon monday and the proper clearing of stones

i don't have much time to visit this morning, which certainly shouldn't be the case, but today is my busy Monday and entails another job that isn't nearly as much fun as making jewelry and requires a great deal of stress medication in the way of caffeine and chocolate. However, that being the case, I still had a moment to begin my "list" ... the one I spoke of several posts ago. The one I had every intention of following through on and so here, this morning, I begin...

but first ...let me remind you that today IS the full moon, and if you are one to keep crystals in your house (being a bead goddess I have a multitude of cut and natural crystal), whether they are set in silver and strung about your neck or geodes placed next to your bed, or polished stones you keep in a medicine pouch, or just crystals you keep because you think they are beautiful, which they all are, and I fully understand!


Whatever reason... crystal does collect and retain energy and can lose its luster, clarity and other properties (except for citrine) and must be cleared regularly. As science has now confirmed, we are all merely waves of energy on the sub-atomic level, and so truly the same as our crystalized friends, just moving somewhat faster. And, just as the moon has magnetic qualities, stone acts in much the same way, drawing like-energy to itself or as they are used in healing, drawing detrimental energy away from us. Running water, sunshine and moonshine (as in the moon in the sky! Not the nearest distillary, dear friends!) are excellent resources for the purpose of clearing energy.

The problem with sunshine is, it may actually fade your gemstones, as some are quite sensitive to sunlight, being cave dwellers for the most part! Case in point, I had a brilliant green aventurine heart a good friend made me swear I'd leave to her when I died (I think she's still counting the days!) But, I left it on the top of a dresser for a day, unfortunately right where a splash of sunlight happened to fall for about an hour each day, and even more unfortunately ...my gorgeous lime-colored pendant faded to a mere ghost of itself! I still adore that stone and wear it often, but needless to say, it doesn't get the compliments it used to, but at least my friend has made no more threats on my life.

Fresh running water, the best source being a waterfall or fast stream, though an excellent source, is not so easily come by. Tap water is so so and if there's nothing else, leaving your stones in a bowl under fast running tap water for 20 minutes or so works just fine. Obviously, if your precious stones are set in silver or gold or any type of baser metals, be sure to dry and polish them thoroughly afterwards! Burying stones in a container of sea salt is another good method for clearing cluttered or stagnant energy, however salt can be caustic to some softer stones such as celestialite, tigers-eye and sugalite and again cause dulling, scratching or cracking.

However, one method that is clearly excellent and causes no adverse effects to your stones whatsoever is the light of the full moon. You certainly can set your stones in your window sill overnight, however as the earth and moon go through their rotations, the stones will not get a full dose throughout the night, which is preferred.

I recommend placing the stones on a tray and setting them outside overnight somewhere they can get some full-spectrum moonshine. Don't worry if there is cloud cover or rain, the power of the moon is undaunted by the weather. Tomorrow, you can set them out about your home again to be beautiful, or do their work. Some people prefer to re-program their stones with intention based on the innate healing quality of the particular stone. There are wonderful books available regarding this! What's really interesting is that most people, never having read a related book on the subject, usually just know the capabilities of their stone.

Finally, those stones that are set in metal of any kind should be stored properly when not being worn. If I'm not wearing my rings, pendants or beaded jewelry, I keep them in air-tight freezer bags. This keeps them gorgeous, without need for polishing or cleaning. Just... after each time you wear them, be sure to polish them with a soft, dry cloth and stick them away again for safe keeping until the next full moon.


Now ... that list ... I didn't get very far as you can see. I suppose tomorrow is another day!

Have a fabulous Monday!

XXOO ~L