Stone Lore on Turquoise

Turquoise is the birthstone of December and ranks on the Mohs scale between 5 and 6. In other words, it's a fairly soft stone and needs to be treated with care. Keep it wrapped up and away from other jewelry that might scratch it.

Turquoise was, by most accounts, the first gemstone to be mined, as early as 3000 B.C. It's been used by ancient Egyptians and the Chinese who have always been a major source of the stone. For at least 2000 years, Iran (formerly Persia) has been an important source of Turquoise.

The lovely deep pastel color of the stone has made it a favored stone of many ancient cultures such as the Aztecs, the rulers of Ancient Egypt, the people of Mesopotamia, and the pre-Columbian people of South America and Mexico. For both modern and Ancient peoples Turquoise has been regarded as a holy stone and/or a stone of great luck.

In the U.S. the American Indians have always revered this stone. It is sacred to them and has been carved into animals and birds and placed into tombs to protect the dead and to bring the good spirits. Medicine men would use it for healing and warriors would use it to insure their arrows flew true.

Interesting fact, around the beginning of the 17th century, it was a stone worn almost exclusively by men. In fact to be considered to be properly dressed, a man had to wear a turquoise ring. Women very rarely wore it.

These days however, it is treasured and worn by both sexes, although in the United States it is a stone that is more popularly worn by men in the south west region.

Folklore of this gorgeous and ancient gem include the power to attract money, to bring luck, love, healing and courage.

Going Purple?

Food for thought. I read something last night that set me thinking. When it comes to selling making jewelry we should do something that sets us apart. Well, there's a "DUH" statement if ever one was made. The problem is finding that something. It went on to say something like concentrate on one that that you love. Cats, dogs, colors etc. And BAM!

Leanne and I love PURPLE. She loves the darker purples and I'm a lilac type person. So what if instead of trying to make all sorts of lovely jewelry for the whole world, we concentrated on the "Purple People Eaters" (those of you who are around my age may remember that song)?

All our Jewelry already has a very high quality amethyst in it, what if we just expanded that theme to the whole piece and worked on PURPLES. Just purples.

Leanne is probably not out of bed yet, however I'm going over to her house this afternoon anyway, I may spring it on her then. Or not. I may just call her and see what her response is.

We are starting to sweat. Our one and only show is this weekend and due to all the swine flu that's infiltrated my house, we've gotten nothing done. She can't come over because she's a care taker for her elderly parents, and no way can we risk her infecting them. I had the flu and am over it, so it's safe for me to visit. It is going to be a MAJOR hassle though. I've got to pack up a TON of stuff, bring it over and then UNPACK it. >sigh< All for the cause.

Anyway, I need to ponder on the purple proposition. Preposterous or Possible?

Well meaning people, good intentions and all that jazz!

Doncha just love people who know how to do EVERYTHING better than you do? "Oh you shouldn't do it that way, you should do it THIS way." "Here, let me tell you how it really works and what that is really used for." And my personal favorite, "Well, that's not how a REAL business does it."

That one really has me loading my gun and reaching for my lawyer. What do you mean "REAL business???" I AM a real business. I have my fein number and my resale number, I sell and buy and have the filed taxes to prove it. So what if I don't do it the same way everyone else does, everyone ELSE crashed when the stock market did. Look at the number of businesses, oh excuse me, REAL businesses that have had to close their doors and I'm still here.

Yep, that one REALLY gets the old and tired juices flowing.

Leanne and I are getting ready for our (probably) one and only craft show this year. I'm pretty happy that we were able to find THIS one so late in the season. Of course that they still has openings has me a bit worried that it might be a dud. Been there and done that in San Jose. Nothing worse than a two day show with no customers!

The other thing that does concern me is that there are going to be the well known brands as well as those of us who aren't so well known. Having done that before too, I am a bit worried that we won't be able to compete.

Of course, when it comes to setting up an interesting table to show ones goods off to their advantage is also NOT my forte. Okay, let's be blunt. While I can make nice jewelry, when it comes to decorating, I'm CRAP! Just once I'd like to have a table that people ooohed and aaaaaahed over. I hope Leanne has better instincts that I have as it would be nice to announce ourselves to the local community with a Roar instead of a constipated whimper!

Well, back to the real world. Today I'm baking pumpkin muffins (cooked up the pumpkin yesterday and couldn't finish the rest as the electricity kept going out. We had a HUGE wind storm), seeing the quack about my blood pressure and diabetes, and dealing with the two eldest children who are in bed ill today. yippee skippee.

Etsy or Ebay?

That is the next question on our minds. I had never heard of Etsy until a few weeks ago and now a lot of people have some good things to say about it. One person (Stacey Miller) said that Etsy is for artisans to get out there and Ebay is for sellers who sell stuff. I am paraphrasing of course.

I think I'm going to work it this way, post one item at ebay, list it for a penny and see how it does. Then I think I'll post another item for a penny at Etsy. Of course if they SELL for that penny I'll be horribly upset, but thems the chances one takes when one is experimenting.

I am hoping people will keep on telling me about their experiences with both or either. Will definitely help with the research input.

Leanne and I have been working on Jewelry for Halloween. She's been doing the earrings and I've been doing the necklaces. However, unless I can figure out my website making program (using web expressions 3) and why some things aren't uploading at all, NOTHING is going to go up.

This is driving me insane. The code is exactly the same for all pictures (I triple checked, letter by letter, symbol by symbol) and yet, some just wont upload. sigh.

Speaking of which, I'm headed back to the program to try it again. sigh

Frustration abounds!

There are days that I seriously think I hate making jewelry. Today is one of them. I'm making a yellow necklace, have already been made it twice, was just about to add the signature Amethyst when, CRAP! I have to take it apart again. I've given up for the night. It's sitting in the dining room, laughing at me every time I walk by.

I did get some good news today. I sold two more lanyards and a sterling silver peace sign at "Elegant Corner" in San Jose. Some good news to balance out a necklace that doesn't want to be built.

Some more good news, Jessica of Cocoon's apothocary.com has agreed to a trade. She get's a year of advertising free at Aromaticsage.com and I get someone to do some major rescue work at Beadhussy.com. I have a few talents, Web designing is definately not one of them. I don't have the patience nor the skill to do what I want.

One last bit of good news, the Patriots won tonight. Good game although I missed the crucial final two minutes . Leanne (my partner) came over so I had to go deal with jewelry and business instead of watching.

Brady has some good moments where he looked like the Brady of old. Other times he looked a bit shakey and hurried, but after an injury like he had and a year out, I thought he looked wonderful. Nice to see him teaming up with Randy Moss again. Was sad not to see "BREUski" this year and Vrabel! Why is he gone? Sometimes, just sometimes I think Belachick has a screw loose.

Although he's not as nuts as the Denver Broncos. To get rid of Shannahan AND Cutler. Obviously someone over there took an overdose of 'stupid pills". Just my opinion, but let's see what the season brings.

Okay, that's it for tonight. I'm done in. Was up until midnight last night and didn't sleep well. Up at 5 am to take himself to the airport. I'm one tired puppy. A nice cup of tea for me and then bed. Hopefully I'll not have two cats eating up all the bed space, leaving me with a tiny spot tonight.