{BeBuddha} X Amanda Gregus
INSPIRATION: Amanda Gregus, is a dear friend and we have been working together for a while now. She approached me about making the jewelry for her senior fashion show and I could not resist. The collection is inspired by clouds, travel, and chaos.
ABOUT THE STONES: Part of my fascination with jewelry making is the stones. What do they mean? Where did they come from? Below find the meaning of the stones of this particular piece. Please keep in mind that gemstones and semi-precious gemstones have many different meanings to many different cultures- these are just what I’ve found in my research! :)
*** FRESHWATER PEARLS are usually pale white or cream-colored, though darker blue, gray, and even black variations exist. Remember, Pearl is the result of layer upon layer of substance produced to combat irritation. Freshwater pearls enable one to accept love and see the good parts of oneself so you can love yourself and others more. Pearls are also a symbol of purity.
***GOLDSTONE is a man made gemstone that has been around since the European Renaissance. Early monks working at a glass factory near Venice, Italy were practicing alchemy when molten copper accidentally tipped into a molten glass container. This crystallized into thousands of tiny crystals and formed a melt with golden light sparkles. Goldstone is said to energize those who wear it!
***MAGNESITE is said to assist in creative vision, stimulate passion, and bring peace in meditation
***CZECH GLASS At the turn of the 16th and 17th century Bohemia became the center of crystal glass production. Important technological discoveries during the crystal production era in Bohemia led to the formation of the ideal crystal glass, particularly suited to cutting and engraving. This glass, called Czech crystal, has been top of the range in the crystal glass industry for more than one century. These beads are machine faceted, then polished by glazing inside a red-hot oven. This gives them beautiful, glistening colors with a "softer" look and a smoother feel.
***AGATE is THE stone everyone should have for protection. It attracts strength and has been said to protect the possessor from bad dreams. Different types of agate were used in ancient Babylonia to make jewelry. Babylonians also placed them at the head of their bed because they thought agate brought good dreams! It is also known for its power!
***SKULLS Ancient civilizations like the Egyptians and the Aztecs used the skull as a symbol of the cycle of death and rebirth. In these cultures, death was not encumbered with the same stigma as in today’s Western world, and the cycles of nature (including passage into the afterlife and even the underworld) were treated with the same reverence as the respective gods that were believed to control them. Actual bones were also pierced through regions of the skin and strung together to create jewelry, and in this case, the larger the bone, the more skillful and respected the tribesman. Some original Aztec ceremonies and celebrations involving skulls and skeletal remains eventually translated into the more modern Mexican holiday known as Dia de los Muertos, or “Day of the Dead.” During the Elizabethan Period in Europe, rings fashioned with a “Death’s Head Skull,” or a skull that is missing the jaw portion, became a symbol of one’s membership in the societal underworld. In a more modern sense, visages of the skull have been seen with wings (which symbolizes freedom in the sense of the release of the dead from their physical form into a freer spiritual one), with crossbones (signifying eternity, danger, or poison), with butterflies (symbolizing the changing nature of life), with snakes (a depiction of immortality, or knowledge of the next world), and with crosses (denoting mankind’s beginnings). The newest addition to this menagerie, the skull with a bow resting atop its cranium, has also become clearly symbolic of the recent feminine embrace of these ideas.
WHERE ARE THE STONES FROM? China > Chicago >Thailand > Czech Republic > Hong Kong
HANDMADE IN CHICAGO WITH LOVE ♥
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