Healing heart necklace

Here it is...I just posted the healing heart necklace in my Etsy shop

Please let me know what you think!  Carol

A new way of thinking

My thoughts always held me back.  I thought...I can't do this or that, I am not as good as ____, I would never be able to _____.  All this thinking did nothing for me, but create a world where things were impossible.  Finding faith, self-esteem and yoga has helped me to release the creative part of me that has been waiting to burst out.

When I am making anything...the outside world stops and creativity comes in and takes over.  I never know what the end result will be when I start putting materials on my table.  Sometimes the final product is miles from the original thought process.  It is like a mystery or a puzzle which I love.

I am a fixer...I love fixing things...and I am able to fix a lot of jewelry.  It is a great feeling to restring something or repair something someone really likes.  I just love that part.

I have endured some troubling times in life, as everyone has, and I find it very cathartic to be able to pour myself into making prayer beads or rosaries.  Some time ago I lost my daughter in a custody war...our relationship was the casualty.  I found a community of others who have endured similar fates. I decided to come up with a productive way to heal and grow and possibly help others.  I contacted a shop owner on Etsy who makes metal jewelry.  I am having her make something for me that will hopefully become an item that will be very meaningful to the mothers or guardians who lost their children to similar circumstances of alienation and deception.

I am collaborating with my fellow Etsy shop owner to create a one-of-a-kind necklace that I want to call a "healing heart necklace".  Each heart is forged from copper wire, shaped and hammered and then torch painted.  How appropriate that the heart is hammered and fire painted...isn't that what happened to our hearts through this horrible process?  I want to add charms to the center of the heart that will represent the place in our hearts that is being held for that missing child, children, or other person we may have lost.

We will never forget, but we must learn to forgive.  Maybe someone would like to have a charm that is for their own precious heart, their own faith, their heart, their trust, freedom from abuse, a birthstone of a child, or some other meaningful remembrance marked by a charm of the buyers choosing.

Working on this project makes me feel very empowered and as though I have a connection in some way to the child I remember, the bond we had, and a reminder that we are still bound in faith and love of God.

I hope you will let me know what you think and let me know if I can make one of these for you or someone you love.

Soon to be added to my Etsy Shop

Thanks for stopping by!

In an effort to try to navigate the waters of selling hand made items online, I have learned a valuable lesson.  I tried to jump the Etsy ship and move over to Artfire and Zibbet.  So much for those ideas. While I was complaining previously about Etsy supporting bigger companies and manufacturers, I neglected to remember that they are a growing business of their own.  There are always growing pains when a company grows so fast.  I should be so lucky as to have these same types of issues.  I say all of this to tell you that I have continued to keep my shop on Etsy and update my listings.  I have started to have a few sales as the holiday season approaches.

The key point is that Etsy can afford to market shops on GOOGLE.  It takes millions to get your name up there in lights, and for .20 cents per listing and a small contribution toward search ad fees, I have decided I can't afford to abandon my Etsy shop for what I thought were greener pastures.

Please feel free to check out my Etsy shop Sacred Strands by Carol and let me know what you think.

My next event is scheduled this Saturday at Church of the Redeemer in Midlothian.  Please let me know if you need additional details.

Carol
Sacred Strands by Carol