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One Year

To be honest, I don’t actually know when my anniversary is. Mike and I went on vacation March 20-22. I have a picture of Mike’s clock on April 11th. I made my mom and I’s clocks shortly after that. I don’t remember when my first sale was. And since then, there have been a lot of firsts.

There was the first sale, the first business name, the first business card, the first consignment store, the first sale to a stranger, the first returning customer, the first art trade, etc.

This started as a hobby as I dealt with a lot of health issues. I wanted to make money from it, but didn’t want to run my own business. I kept trying to get friends to take over as my “business partner” so I could just be the “artist” Fortunately/unfortunately my friends keep trying to make me a better person! They will give me advice and tips, but none of them will do 100% of anything for me. Even the friend that built this website for me is slowly teaching me how to run it by myself.

I am now on terminal leave with the United States Coast Guard. My last official day is April 10. I will have served for 12 years, 8 months, and 22 days, if I just did the math right. I’ve been stationed in Texas, Washington, Alabama, and Ca. I’ve been North to Nome all the way down South to Costa Rica. I accomplished a lot, met a lot of great people, and saw a lot of great things.

As I transition out I’m trying to figure out what I want to do next. What am I good at? What skills do I have? Where would I fit in best? How can I continue to help people?

Part of that journey has lead me to accepting I am a business woman along with being an artist. I can run this on my own and should. I can take it to the next level and want to.

So, from the vacation that lead to my love of sand dollars to my official last day in the Coast Guard, let’s celebrate one year!! Let’s release any anger or bitterness that we may be holding on to and be thankful for the things that are good. Let’s thank the friends we have in our lives that have made us better people. Let’s enjoy where the journey takes us. Thank you for being on my journey with me.

Sabine Pass, Texas. My first unit in the Coast GuardPismo Beach, California. The place where this journey started My love for sand dollars and this new life 🙂

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Amethyst Clock / Healing Crystals

This business kind of fell into my lap. If you read the first blog post, the first clock was made for my roommate, Mike,  after we went to Pismo Beach for vacation. It was a way to save our sand dollars from our trip and it was a nice gift for him. I made a few other gifts and that was all I intended to do. After I posted pictures on Facebook, though, I had several people ask if I would make them clocks.

At first I was selling to friends for near cost. As interest continued to grow, though, I decided it was time to figure out where else to sell. Mike and I tossed around several ideas and, at the time, consignment stores seemed like the best way for me to sell my clocks. I searched and found two in the local area, Made Local in Santa Rosa, Ca. and Stones Throw Gifts in Cotati, Ca. I met with both owners and my clocks can be found in both stores.

I also volunteered to work at Stones Throw Gifts. The majority of the merchandise in the store is made by local Sonoma County Artists. We also sell a lot of healing crystals. I didn’t know anything about crystals when I first started working at the store. I suppose I never had to learn about them if I didn’t want to, but I’m the type of person who wants to be able to answer customer’s questions and be helpful versus just standing behind the register. I started walking around the store during my shifts to familiarize myself with where everything was located. Then I began looking up different crystals that I thought were pretty in our book to see what their healing properties were. From there I searched Capricorn. Then I searched my medical problems. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with crystals. (my favorites, so far, are malachite and blue lace agate)

My first “Just Breathe” clock was made as a thought “Amongst Chaos, Find Inner Peace” entered my head. The clock itself is colorful and chaotic with a blue “peaceful” center that says “Just Breathe.” Or in another version, around Just Breathe it also says “Amongst Chaos, Find Inner Peace”

I love this clock, but the feedback from the majority of people is that the clock itself is “too busy” or “too colorful” for a “Just Breathe” clock. So, back to the drawing board.

How do people go about “breathing?” What calms people down and allows them to find true inner peace? Prayer? Writing? Meditation? What healing crystal or crystals aid in this?

If you are just getting into healing crystals, amethyst is a good one to start with as it is a very versatile. Amethyst  helps with physical ailments, emotional issues, and in Energy Healing and Chakra balancing. Most people are very attracted to the beautiful purple color, as well.

Thus, my second edition of “Just Breathe” is here. Amethyst combined with sand dollars to allow for a calm atmosphere so the owner of this clock can find inner peace.

 

Special Thanks to Jessy Bloom and Joseph Rotstein at Redstone Minerals for the amethyst. You can find them on Instagram at #redstonecustoms.

You can also find their crystals and some of my clocks at Stones Throw Gifts in Cotati, Ca.