Weaving A Gem Of A Life » garnet

Green Garnet Necklace

Peg Cherre — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 13:58:39 +0000

Although the overwhelming majority of my time this year has been spent weaving, for my September and October shows I was showing both weaving and jewelry. I hadn’t really made any jewelry this year, so needed to get those creative juices flowing. I started by making some simple pieces, and then moved on to new things that were really fun to make and used some beautiful beads I had in my stash.

The result was this necklace and earrings made from a nice grade of green garnet.

I used 21 gauge sterling silver wire to make the squiggles that served as both head pin and necklace interest, hammering it after I bent it to work harden it (make sure it retained its shape). The five dangles of varying lengths are surrounded by sterling liquid silver and 2mm beads. All are suspended from very fine silver-plated 49-strand beading wire. Although you can’t see it in the photo, I made a sterling hook and eye clasp for closure.

I haven’t used green garnet much, but find it really beautiful. Like all gemstones, green garnet has healing properties; they are different than red garnet properties. Green garnet promotes healing, encourages cooperation, and can be helpful in meditation. It can be a help in the creative process (maybe that’s why this necklace worked so well), as well as enhancing a sense of peace and serenity.

I won’t likely be putting this or other new jewelry on my website, instead only having them available at shows or by contacting me directly.

Garnet Weddings

Peg Cherre — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:38:24 +0000

When I was a girl the nuns taught us that red was the passion color. We were not allowed to have red & white checked tablecloths on the tables at our high school dances, nor to wear red dresses, for fear that we would stir our teenage dates into states of love that could not be controlled. In reality, I don’t know that there was anything that could have tamed the flames of passionate youth, male or female, but that’s a different story.

As it turns out, the good sisters were right about the color red, at least as it applies to garnets. Garnets are a gemstone that inspires romantic love, sensuality, and sexuality. I am not surprised that brides in three of the weddings for which I have made custom jewelry have chosen garnets as their centerpieces.

I’ve just put the finishing touches on the two necklaces for Corrine’s wedding, and will get them in today’s mail. I’m really happy with the two pieces, which are in the “same but different” mode. Corrine took the personalities of her two attendants, lifelong friends both, into account when she asked me to make their necklaces. Cayla is petite, blonde, and pale-skinned, with classic tastes and metal allergies that require special attention. Andrea’s tall, outgoing, has a ruddy complexion, and tends to the chunky, funky, and eclectic. Corrine and I worked together to create jewelry that will not only look great as they walk down the aisle before the beautiful bride, but will serve them well for years afterward. I’m betting you can guess which necklace is for which woman.

In addition to inspiring love, garnets also promote positive energy and thinking. They provide inspiration and enhance warmth and understanding. When you want to be determined and focused, achieving your goals without running over other people, garnets are your go-to gemstone. They’ll also help you develop solutions to difficult situations. Garnets also symbolize faith, truth, grace, and compassion.

January’s birthstone, garnets are most often thought of as red, but are also found in green, yellow, orange, pink, white, and gray. I have some lovely green garnet that I’m preparing to turn into great jewelry, but have never seen the other colors, myself. Historically, garnets often led people to diamonds. Early miners knew that where they found deposits of one stone, they’d often find another. Finding significant strains of garnet were a likely indicator that they’d find diamonds nearby.

The lovely red gemstone has been used throughout the ages, often found in the remarkable jewelry of the ancient Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians, and others. Soldiers carried garnets to ward of injury, believing that its red color strengthened their blood, and thereby their courage, and that this much red on the battlefield helped to prevent the release of their precious lifeblood. Legend has it that Noah used a large garnet to steer the ark through the night. Today, garnets are mined in the United States, Sri Lanka, Brazil, India, Kenya, and several other places around the world.

If you’re looking for custom jewelry for your wedding, whether you want garnets or another gemstone, contact me well in advance to get just what you’re looking for. Visit my website to see a garnet necklace and earrings. Come to a show and see lots more designs in garnets and other gems.

Easing the Knees

Peg Cherre — Fri, 22 May 2009 21:01:57 +0000

My arthritis talisman

Here’s the talisman I made for myself to help ease the chronic aches in my knees.

You can guess that the metal is copper, which has long been recognized as a healing agent for arthritis. I punched the little tab with the word SHANTI, which means peace, hoping that it would bring some peace to my knees. I added the copper chain for two reasons – not only would it provide more of the healing copper, it would give me more options for use of the talisman as a whole. Although I usually carry it in my pocket, if I’m wearing a skirt without pockets, I can easily pin it to my bra by the chain. I actually kind of like this option, as it makes little noises when I move a lot. This gentle sound reminds me that it’s there and makes me smile. The talisman never jangles in my pocket.

I purposely made the entire healing talisman small and lightweight. Knowing that I intended to carry it in my pocket, I wanted something that wouldn’t wear out the fabric quickly, and that wouldn’t be obvious to others that I was carrying it. Now that I’ve been using it for a week, I might rather that it was a bit larger and reminded me that it was there. If this feeling continues for a few weeks, I’ll modify it.

The healing gemstones I used in this in this talisman include carnelian, bloodstone, garnet, mother of pearl, and rubies. Yep, really rubies. I consider myself fortunate to have some sweet little faceted rubies left over from making a piece of custom jewelry for one of my customers a few years ago.

After deciding on the copper, the first gemstone I chose was carnelian. And I knew that I wanted to use more carnelian than any of the other healing gemstones I’d use. Why? Carnelian is a strong gemstone to use for arthritis. If you look closely at the picture, you might notice that the largest piece of carnelian is a bit oddly-shaped, not an absolute oblong. I chose this stone specifically for my talisman. Not only did I like its less-than-perfect shape, my thinking was, and is, that the more “raw” the gemstone, the less it has been “worked” by machines to form it, the closer it is to its natural state and the more healing power it contains. I don’t really know this to be true, but this particular stone spoke to me, so I’m going with it. There’s another small carnelian rondelle on the smallest dangle of the talisman.

Above the carnelian oblong is a small garnet rondelle. Garnet is a gemstone that helps heal inflammation, and arthritis is a chronic form of inflammation. Again, I purposely chose an oddly-shaped stone.

Highest on that dangle is a mother of pearl star. Like carnelian, mother of pearl is recognized as an aid to heal arthritis. Now you might think that I showed quite the contradiction, purposely choosing a less-than-perfect carnelian and garnet, and then picking a highly-worked star for my mother of pearl component. This little off-white star encourages me to shoot for the stars in my healing, to work toward complete cessation of pain and inflammation. It also just makes me smile, and smiling is always a good thing.

The second dangle has two of those lovely little faceted rubies bordering a bloodstone lentil. Rubies are good gemstones for healing arthritis, and bloodstone is good for inflammation.

Finally, the shortest component has the carnelian rondelle I mentioned before and another garnet.

I’ve only been carrying the talisman for about a week, and I have been successful at remembering to transfer it from pocket to pocket each day. Although I’ve been thinking about it, I haven’t yet worn it to bed.

So have I noticed a difference? I can’t say I’ve noticed that my knees hurt less, but I can tell you for sure that when I hear or feel the talisman it makes me smile and feel better mentally. And feeling better mentally is an important part of physical healing. Besides, talismans aren’t magic bullets; it takes time for the gemstones to impart their healing powers.

I will periodically let you know how my knees are doing, but I’m heading outside now to work in my garden!

Gems for the Economy

Peg Cherre — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 17:42:08 +0000

It’s not as if you need the talking heads to tell you that we’re in economic trouble, you live with it every day. Even if your personal finances or your retirement income seem stable now, you worry about how long that will last. If you’re among the millions of people in the United States and around the world who’ve been hit hard, you’re struggling to maintain your home and buy the groceries.

Can gemstones help you through difficult financial times? If you choose wisely, the answer is yes.

It all starts with knowing what you’re looking for. I’m not in any position to offer any advice to those who have money to buy diamonds or other precious gems as investments; that’s way out of my league.

But I can offer help to those of you who, like me, are struggling and worried.

Gemstones to bring prosperity

Let me be clear: I don’t believe in magic bullets. I don’t think you can carry a gemstone in your pocket while you sit on the couch and watch reality TV and expect to have good things happen to you. Although it sure is true that people who work hard aren’t guaranteed of success, if you don’t expend significant energy on achieving your dreams, it’s a pretty sure bet that you’ll be disappointed.

That being said, I do believe that gemstones can help you realize your goals. Which ones? It depends.

Gems to encourage positive thinking

Green stones, specifically moss agate, green garnet, green aventurine, and malachite can help you achieve prosperity. Tiger eye has been used to achieve and maintain financial success. Citrine, labradorite, bloodstone, and peridot can also help you achieve success.

But is that all that’s needed?

I believe positive thinking is at least as important as anything else we can do. Sure, we need to be realistic, but negative thinking patterns bring negativity toward you; positive thoughts and actions bring positive responses. If you think you’ll fail, chances are you will; if you believe you’ll get that job you’re interviewing for, you’re more likely to get the offer. Amazonite, garnet, and snowflake obsidian help to transform negative thoughts into beneficial ones. Rainbow quartz is particularly good at encouraging a positive outlook and helping you to see the positive possibilities of any situation.

Gems that enhance creativity

Creativity and flexibility are also important attributes in tough times. Expand your mind and expand your possibilities. How can your current skill set and your past experiences be applied to a complementary position, or even to a completely new field? Green garnet, citrine, and green aventurine all encourage creativity. Malachite promotes flexibility.

There are other characteristics that are likely helpful, too. Courage, openness, and protection are just a few.

Of course, these are broad overviews; the properties of each stone should be studied more carefully to reflect your specific situation. Contact me for personal consultation and the creation of a gemstone talisman designed just for you.

Talisman Tales

Peg Cherre — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:06:45 +0000

After that first talisman for little Ben, I was inspired to make talismans for family and friends who were having particular problems. Let me share just a few of them with you here.

garnet, amethyst, and rose quartz

I made an easy-to-wear stretchy bracelet of amethyst, garnet, and rose quartz for an anxious new mother and her colicky baby. I chose amethyst for its soothing and calming properties, and to encourage positive energy. Garnets were included to promote warmth, wisdom, and understanding. Garnets also protect and calm newborns. Rose quartz also providing calming and cooling benefits. In addition, it helps to remove negativity, emphasize both self-love and mother-love, and promote healing and emotional balance. Mama was thrilled to receive this gift. Did it calm, soothe, and protect? I can’t say for sure, but I do know it helped her to remember that others cared about her and were willing to help in whatever ways we could.

Red & Magic

A woman I know does amazing healing work with animals, using homeopathy, reiki, Chinese medicine, and more. She has helped my animals immensely, pulling them through some rough times. While she’s extremely skilled and certainly doesn’t need my help, I figured I’d just add to her healing tools, and made a simple wrap bracelet of amethyst, sodalite, and green aventurine. Here’s why I chose those three.

Amethyst is sometimes called the healer’s stone, or the stone of spirituality and contentment. It enhances your creative energy and healing power by assisting the mind’s surrender to higher spiritual energies. Amethyst opens you up to the cosmos, bringing in all the positive energy around you, balancing and aligning the intellectual, emotional, and physical energies.

Sodalite is a shaman’s stone. It is beneficial in healing work by providing activation of the third eye, and provides direction of purpose and lightness of heart.

Green aventurine was used in shamanic medicine wheel work to aid spirit guides in connecting to the green, healing heart light.

Next time I’ll talk about how you can choose a talisman.