the power of rocks

I know that gemstones are ‘just rocks’.  I know this.  But you see I love them, always have.  Gemstones are like beautiful magic rocks, I was drawn to them even as a child.  They have a power, each one with different energy.  They draw people to them.  I see it all the time with my jewelry, someone looks at an entire table of pieces and is drawn to a certain stone over and over.  There is a reason that we have assigned these ‘rocks’ value for centuries!  They are special, and they can make you feel special.

How could you not love gemstones when there are this many varieties?  Each one seems to call to me.  Of course I do have favorites 😉

Here are just a few to enjoy. Mouse over to see the name.  Click one to see scroll through larger images.

Obsession ~a new necklace

It seems I find inspiration from all sorts of aspects of life. I’m inspired by the incredible women around me, by aspects of nature or even emotions, and by other jewelry that I see. I get excited about each new design, I can’t wait to make it once it’s in my head, and once I’ve created it I can’t wait to wear and to make more! This necklace was no exception.

A few months ago I was at a party and a beautiful friend was wearing a necklace that I couldn’t stop starring at all night.  It was a simple strand of faceted stones on string.  It was so elegant and stunning!

I couldn’t stop thinking about the necklace.  A few days later watching an action movie during the closing scenes the heroine was wearing a beautiful low-cut evening down and a super sexy necklace that hung in a similar way to the one I had seen on my friend. Now there was no choice but to make my own version of the necklace, I had to have one!

I promptly ordered the supplies and as soon as they arrived made several of these necklaces. As I’ve been getting more and more into colors the last few years of my life right fun colors, I had so much fun incorporating that into these necklaces. I can’t figure out which one is my favorite!

There is something so powerful about just having the simple strand of one type of stone and wearing them across your heart. It’s hard to describe but I absolutely love it! I can’t seem to wear them enough.  Here is the Peridot necklace, one of my favorites!  Wearing these bright stones across your heart (color of the heart chakra) makes me so happy.

Labradorite!  Look at the rainbows!

Rainbow Moonstone

I love the versatility of them you can wear them longer or shorter as a necklace.  Or you can untie them and wear them as a wrapped bracelet. I thought as a bracelet the tassel would be annoying and get in my way, but in fact I actually loved them.  They were fun to play with and I love the extra colors.  Here is the garnet as a bracelet.

I haven’t come up with a good name for these necklaces yet so if you think of one let me know.

Jewelry Photo Shoot at Mahai’ulas

Who knew that one of the hidden bonuses behind opening a jewelry business would be that I to be a model?!  And more importantly who new that would learn to love getting my picture taken?

We have only had two officials Dragonfly Diva photo shoots. Each time I learn a lot. For example although I love to be an organizer and to be the boss, being the carefree model is so much more fun! So now I’ve learned that I will plan ahead of time, but come the actual shoot I need to have someone there to organize the shoot, organize the jewelry, keep us on track and so on. That way I just get to be one of the models, which is so much fun!  At this shoot our professional lady in charge was Naomi. Her creative eye was perfect for deciding who wore what jewelry and which pieces to combine.

My models for the day~

My girl Karen, stunning as usual

Angie is a natural beauty and doesn’t she make my jewelry look good?

My sweet sexy Morgan

My blond bombshell Sara

Powerful goddess Jen just owns It.

And me

I love you girls! Thank you so much!

I feel really blessed to have gotten to work with Karen Louden. She is an incredible photographer. She has a way of making you feel comfortable making you feel like you belong in front of the camera even if you didn’t think that you do. Getting to pull together some of my closest girlfriends to go and do a shoot is truly a huge gift that comes along with this” job”.  Plus I get to be a model! If you asked me 10 years ago if I would be modeling anything I would have laughed in your face. But here I am, with my own jewelry business and beautiful pictures being taken of me! Who would have guessed?

My favorite part of these shoots is that the inner divas all come out! And Karen Loudon can capture it on film, so perfectly! See the power, the light, the joy and exuberance shine through? That’s what I’m talking about! That’s the Diva!!!

The Booty Short Revolution

Over the course of my life I have hated and loved every single part of my body.  This is no exaggeration, I’m sad to admit.  The one part of my body – and I hate putting this into words, especially written ones because I don’t want to give them any power, so I will word this very carefully: The body part I am learning to love the slowest would be my thighs.  (haha, can you read between those lines??)  So after a ‘friend’ in junior high told me my legs were too white to wear shorts I stopped and didn’t bare my legs again for many many years.  I wish I could say that I have gotten to the point where people’s words just roll off me……… but it’s a journey.  I’ve gotten a lot further along than I was at 13!!

So eventually I got to the point where I would wear long shorts – thank goodness since I now live in Hawaii.  Then I found yoga  and along with my other exercise my body continued to become what I wished for.  My yoga guru and dear friend Jen wears the tiniest yoga shorts and has an incredible body that I, and everyone else, love to look at and enjoy, so stunning so strong!  Obviously her wearing tiny shorts is not only natural, it’s a treat for everyone around her!  I was at her house one day feeling very diva-esq after being around her all evening and I said ‘Jen what kind of shorts do you buy, and are there longer kinds that I could get?’ she took me to her closet which was like a candy store for yoga clothes – every color and every pattern imaginable- and started pulling out shorts for me to try on.  Since I do as I’m told by my yoga guru, I put on the tiniest shorts I had ever seen.   She freaks, tells me they look great on me.  I think she is crazy and I say so.  Out in the living room our friend called out to see what the fuss was about.  I very timidly walked out of her bedroom.  Everyone agreed that the shorts looked good.  I know none of them would lie to me so I thought hmmm… maybe one day I could wear shorts like these?  Something inside my heart peered out from behind trepidation, disbelief and uncertain excitement.  Jen was emphatic that the shorts looked so good I had to keep them.  She was so certain and so excited for me that I finally agreed to leave with the shorts, feeling like they were the crown jewels.

The next day in yoga class I put on the shorts and nervously walked in with my butt hanging out, tugging constantly at the itsy piece of fabric.  I  set up my yoga mat but  I wanted to crawl under a rock!  I worried that  this was the worst idea I had ever had and the beautiful and fit yoga girls were disgusted by me.  It was high school all over again and the popular girls were going to look down their noses at me.  I ran to the locker room and pulled the shorts in every direction, trying to cover my ass and freaking out at the cellulite that to me looks neon.

Just as class started Jen saw the shorts.  She was so proud of my body transformation and that I was wearing them that she exclaims  ‘the shorts!”  and points to me telling the girls around me (the beautiful ones who I’m intimidated by) how she gave them to me the night before and don’t I look great.  I told them I didn’t really think I could pull them off and you know what?  They all gushed with positive praise!  I kid you not, they flattered me and bolstered me up, told me how I rocked the shorts and that had a great body and should keep on rocking them.  Slowly my insecurity mellowed and my diva  peeked out.  I watched my legs and ass in the mirror through the entire 90 minute class.  At points I was horrified by what I saw, stuff  jiggling everywhere!   But mostly I was amazed that I looked okay, and that it wasn’t that bad.  And sometimes it was  even good.

So now I rock tiny shorts whenever I can.  And I look at my thighs in the mirror as much as possible and work to think positive thoughts about them.  The transformation slowly continues.  I can not say I am confident in the shorts, I still have moments of panic when I look down and everything looks huge.  But when I look in a mirror I see that it looks just fine, great even!  So I just keep buying more shorts and working to build that confidence, working to think the positive thoughts that I know are transforming my body and my life!

This is my Booty Short Revolution!  I say let it all hang out girls!  Do anything you can to love and feel proud of yourself, we are all worth it!

 

UPDATE!!!   2 months later

You are never going to believe this!  I wrote this blog about 2-3 months ago (wrote it weeks before I could muster up the balls to post it).  And just two weeks ago I was asked to be a model in a shoot for my friend’s clothing line – of BOOTY SHORTS!  Can you freaking believe that?  I couldn’t believe it when she asked me.  It was a wonderful experience with incredible women.  And of course several more opportunities for me work on reprogramming how I think about my body!   First, I had to accept that she was asking me!  Second, at the shoot as I stood half naked next to women I felt were so  much smaller and more model-esque than me, it gave me a chance to call on that inner diva – strength, knowing, connectedness – and step into my own, letting go of worrying about it and just enjoying the playful fun of it all!  Then third, when I saw the pictures and actually said “Is that MY butt???!!!!” I was reminded again that my body looks pretty darn good, not what I think it looks like in my head.  I should be proud of it, not nit pick, or criticize.

Here are some pictures.  And be sure to check out the clothing line Ships in the Night: on sale in many stores in Kona, Hawaii and also at http://www.etsy.com/shop/shipsinthenight?page=2

 

Enjoying the little things

So the other day I was running errands.  I was driving all around town doing the tedious stuff that we all  have to do.  And so was everyone else.  So here we all were on the roads and in the stores, all getting in each other way.  I pulled into the bank, walked to the ATM and looked to my left and saw this.

And then I stopped and gaped at the majesty of mother nature.  Look at the show she was putting on!  On a weekday when no one was paying attention!  And it reminded me that there is so much beauty around us.  So many little miracles to appreciate and enjoy.  So many reasons to be in the here and now.

How different would your life be if you went from moment to moment enjoying every little glimpse of beauty,  every little bird sound, every color, every smile or laugh?  That moment changed my day.  it  immediately got me back on track with my joy.  Later, I thought about that beauty that I almost missed and I realized that there are probably so many moments like that, so many cases where if I had just looked up I could have experienced something magical!  I bet, in fact, that if I looked I could find something remarkable in every moment!  Something like that incredible show across the sky that will remind me to be joyful, to let go of the rest of it, to enjoy and be in joy!

Last night I caught myself laughing out loud – very loudly- at a line in some mediocre movie that caught me totally off guard and struck me as hysterical.  My first reaction was to think ‘good thing it’s only my boyfriend here. That laugh was so loud it would have bothered people’.  Then I thought, ‘No way, that was a moment of pure enjoyment for me’.  That laugh, however loud and obnoxious, was purely inspired by the moment.  That moment snuck up on me and surprised me enough that I dropped all defenses and laughed with abandon!

The more I reflected on that silly moment and my reaction to it, the more I realized I wanted more of those moments!  I want to live my life that way.  With total abandon, swept up in each moment!

Changing your own thoughts

I don’t like to say this but the other day I was having some of those feelings. The icky type like low self esteem, insecurity, jealousy, comparing myself to others, you know what I mean. (Yes, I had PMS, surprise surprise, right?) Well I could only put up with feeling crappy for so long before I finally pulled out my tools to do something about it. We really are the creators of our own reality after all, why wouldn’t I change this?? So I lay down on the floor with a pad of paper and began doing some writing exercises to work my way into feeling better by reprogramming my thoughts. Soon after I was able to work my way up to writing the following statement:

“I am a strong, sexy, beautiful and special person. There is no one like me. There can be no comparison.”

Wow, I felt better! It’s good to be reminded that I can change my frame of mind any time I want. I can change my life instantly just by changing the way I view it. I can change how I feel on any subject. I am the Master of my fate and the Captain of my soul and I’m going to enjoy the hell out of this ride!!!

P.S. I also wrote “I am a Hot Sexy Bitch” which didn’t feel so bad either 😉 Give it a try, it feels great! And, you won’t have to go through the silly embarrassment of admitting it to the world in a blog either! haha

So if you ever have a subject you want to change your view of or your feelings about, which as we know is the only way to allow anything to change, try writing or talking yourself into feeling better about it. Here is a very easy exercise:

Write a statement of how the subject currently feels. For example: “I hate bugs, they torment me. They are everywhere and I feel powerless to get them out of my house. Their bites are so annoying and they are dirty and gross in my kitchen!” Then slowly begin writing statements that feel a tiny bit better, you don’t have to take the leap all at once. Remember you’re reprogramming your mind. Examples:

“While I may hate them, I suppose there are worse things than bugs”

“At least I don’t live where huge rodent-size bugs live!”

“Ew at least there are no rodents in my house!”

“I know that I’m really not a victim of anything, certainly not insects”

“I know that bugs do some good things like, um, spiders eat other bugs!”

“Oo at least I don’t have spiders in my house! They are outside and I really appreciate that”

“I guess I don’t get bitten all that often, and it probably only annoys me when I’m already annoyed by something else!”

Each thought feels a tiny bit better than the last. In this way you slowly ease your own inner tension about something, letting it soften and soon your are writing about what a sexy bitch you are and you are ready to rule the world!

Power jewelry

There are certain things that give me confidence.  You know that little added boost when you need it?  Like clothes that you know make you look good, high heels that give you that sassy walk, your best push up bra, or a really good hair day.

One of those for me is special pieces of jewelry.  You know those power pieces?  If I have something to do that I’m nervous about or need a little added back up for, I wear one of these pieces of jewelry that day.  Probably my favorite one is a bracelet my dad bought me years ago.  It was Christmas right before I was about to start a highly stressful job that I was very under-qualified for.  I opened a gift from my dad and in it was a bracelet, silver with the theater faces, you know the happy and sad faces?  And he said to me “It’s so you always remember that it’s all just a game”.  So now I pull out this bracelet when I need to be reminded not to take things to seriously or get caught up in it all.

Another piece I lean on is my Anahata necklace.  This necklace was one of my favorite creations but I had just decided to give up on it because no one was buying it, when my dear friend and yoga guru came over to jewelry shop and fell in love with it.  She called me the next day and told me that she wore the necklace and everyone wanted one, and that she had renamed the necklace it! She said it was a Heart Chakra Protector Necklace. That night I called her and asked what the Sanskrit name for the heart chakra is, she told me Anahata, and so the Anahata heart chakra protector necklace was born!  So if I want a little badge of courage or extra protection I wear mine!

Anahata necklace by Dragonfly Diva
Photo by Karen Loudon
http://karenloudon.com/

So my advice in all this is to find little things that you love, that remind you of your inner power, peace, confidence, or just remind you that you are not alone in all this, and sprinkle them all through your life!  Like planting a garden of happy positive reminders all around you!

The journey to my own Diva

I know I titled this blog artisan jewelry, but I’m realizing it might be about something else.  I think it’s really about my ongoing journey finding my own inner diva:

Finding my own sense of pride in the person I am.
Finding acceptance and love for everything about myself.
Learning to own my own sexiness and not be afraid or ashamed to express it.
Realizing that I am beautiful and finding more and more ways to feel that all the time.
Claiming my thoughts and opinions, not being afraid to speak my truth.
Connecting with that deep sense of worthiness, and the expansiveness that is my spirit.
Opening up to the abundance of life.
Accepting my own greatness, my own uniqueness.
Learning to love being a woman.
Standing tall and proud in this life in this body.
Knowing that I am me, and enjoying it.
Learning that I have the power to create any life I choose.  I have the power to make myself happy.
Finding my joy! My sassyness! My spunk! My fire! My thirst for life!!!!

In my playfulness I call all of this the Inner Diva, but you can see there is a lot more to it.

For me this is an ongoing journey with lots of layers.  But it’s a fun journey full of surprises and joy.  I had no idea that this jewelry business would have so much to do with this journey of mine, or that it would give me a way to connect with and sometimes help other women on their own journeys.  But boy am I glad that is what it turned out to be!

So here is to the journey!  And to all of us Divas!

In love,
Cara

So I started a jewelry business ….

So I started a jewelry business.  Well, to be more accurate, a jewelry business sort of started itself around me.  It all happened very easily and in tiny bite size pieces, which was perfect because I was hardly able to put up any resistance! 

Two years ago I had the idea to make jewelry for my friends and family as Christmas gifts.  (This is a recurring theme since I was a kid, every few years it seems!)  Well I ordered a bunch of supplies and was having so much fun making jewelry that at some point it turned into “if I can sell some jewelry I can keep buying supplies and making jewelry!”  Since that was the fun part, it became my goal – keep making jewelry.  So it all happened very slowly it seemed, but looking back I guess it was kind of a whirlwind actually.  First some friends bought some pieces, then a friend hosted a huge party, then a boutique bought some… or maybe the order was different.  I don’t even remember now.  But all along I just kept making jewelry which was the joyous part!  I was watching my own skill and style grow and develop.  Soon that became another fun part for me.  And then came the tremendous joy of watching women find the pieces that were perfect for them, that made them feel beautiful!  That became a huge joy for me.

And now here I am, having so much fun making jewelry, learning and growing, and getting to be a part of women finding their own beauty and inner diva.  How fun is this?