The story of how Love began making epic jewelry is unexpected as well as a journey of the soul.
It all began in David, Panama, around May of 2014, my first night in a sweet little hostel filled with people from all over the world, from many different cultures and many different journeys.
I entered the Bambu Travelers' Hostel's dimly lit back dorm to a bunch of wooden bunk beds.
As I claimed my bed and put away my personal things. I looked around the empty bungalow and saw a piece of brightly colored woven scrap on the floor. It had several colors in it forming a diagonal pattern, tied together in a way that I had never seen before. I stood there and looked at the scrap of tiny macrame for a moment, kinda entranced by it. For several moments I stood there wondering what this was. Finally, I tossed it aside and never gave it another thought.
A few days passed before I met Fabio, a full-blood indigenous Kuna man.
He is the one who put me on a path to learning not only what that piece of scrap on the floor was but also to meeting all the right people in the right situations to learn this craft. He showed me his jewelry that he had made but, to tell you the truth, I was not that impressed.
However, after a few weeks he invited me to his island to meet his family and community. We took the 3 day journey to the beautiful and exotic San Blas Islands off the Caribbean coast of Panama's Darién Jungle.
It was on the island of Ukupsent of the beautiful San Blas Islands, sitting under a shade-roof of banana leaves where I made my first bracelet.
Fabio's family are all jewelry makers and they all hang out in the afternoons in hammocks, listening to music, listening to the ocean waves, joking, talking, and snacking on fresh chunks of coconut, all while making their jewelry. I hung out in a hammock while watching them and reading my Isabel Allende novel for a full day and a half before I finally put down my book and said, "enseñarme". They all looked up at me and one cousin said in his broken English, "You want to make!?".
While I was on this island the most unexpected event happened to us that later became an award-winning story. Check out Buying Back My Kuna
After I returned to the mainland I met a beautiful young Panamanian woman who was in a relationship with a man who was a friend of Fabio's. Her name was Luzby. She made some really beautiful pieces of art. Every chance I got, over the next couple of years I would hang out with her to learn her craft. She showed me the places to go in Antigua to buy crystals and strings. I would help her watch her booth in the streets of Panama's tourist areas and she was happy to sell my simple beginner bracelets for me.
When I stayed in Panama City I had a favorite hostel I loved to stay at, Hospedaje Casco Viejo. There I would often look up YouTube videos on their public computer to learn how to make all kinds of knots and jewelry pieces. It was almost like I was obsessed. When I wasn't watching Luzby make beautiful pieces or Youtube videos I would find other street artists to see other examples of this beautiful art. Everywhere I went I always brought strings and beads with me so I could keep on knotting and beading.
I went from making $3 bracelets to pieces worth several hundred dollars. I went from selling in the streets of Latin America to having my own website to offer my art to the world.
When I lived at the hippie commune, as people would call us, I was introduced to the concept of crystal medicine.
I quickly became impassioned with crystals as medicine. Learning about the properties of the crystals and incorporating them into my jewelry has evolved over the years. Collecting crystals and crystal beads can be addictive. It was easy to fall into the abyss of crystals and become immersed in their beautiful medicines.
When I go into jewelry-making mode I still like to turn on my favorite YouTube jewelry makers such as Percy Palamino to learn and be inspired while I am working. I like to pretend I am hanging out with my Latin friends, all of us making jewelry together, laughing, eating, listening to music and just enjoying the free life together.
I can't seem to stop collecting crystals and crystal beads. I must always have a big variety of strings and at all times I need every color they make so I can always be as creative as I want to be. My heart is addicted to making jewelry. I can't stop. I love the colors, the crystals, the metal beads, and the endless ways I can express love and beauty through my art.
When you go to my website, Love's Epic Jewelry you will see that each piece listed tells briefly of the crystals' associated properties. Not only are the pieces beautiful, but each one is a one-of-a-kind work of art that potentially has the power to heal. No two pieces are alike. That would be boring.
Eventually, I began to be interested in wire jewelry. I use YouTube to learn that craft as well. I still have a long way to go to master that one but I do make some nice pieces if I do say so myself.
Now, don't be shy!
Pop on over to Love's Epic Jewelry and use this
coupon code XMAS20
until 1/7/2024 for 20% off of one item
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