New Old Irish Blessing Stone Pendants

Two new Old Irish Blessing Stone Pendants were added to my Good Dirt Jewelry shop today!

These Blessing Stones are patterned after the Buckquoy spindle whorl, which was excavated in Buckquoy, Birsay, Orkney, Scotland in 1970. The old Irish Ogham inscription is believed to date back to the 8th century. Historians believe it was a standard Old Irish ogham benedictory message, Benddact anim L. meaning "a blessing on the soul of L.". The stone from which the whorl was made, and on which the inscription was written, is native to Orkney.

Celtic Spinning Dragons Earthenware Ceramic Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

I created this "Celtic Spinning Dragons" piece from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with an earthy iron ore glaze. Measuring about 1 1/4" in diameter, this pendant hangs from an 18" ball and chain necklace. Don't forget--you can click the photo to get a closer look!

**Dragons in Celtic Mythology**

According to Wikipedia, "In Britain, the dragon is now more commonly associated with Wales due to the national flag having a red dragon (Y Ddraig Goch) as its emblem and their national rugby union and rugby league teams are known as the dragons. This may originate in Arthurian Legend where Myrddin, employed by Gwrtheyrn, had a vision of the red dragon (representing the Britons) and the white dragon (representing the invading Saxons) fighting beneath Dinas Emrys. The red dragon was linked with the Britons who are today represented by the Welsh (and Cornish), and it is believed that the white dragon refers to the Saxons who invaded Britain in the 5th and 6th centuries. This particular legend also features in the Mabinogion in the story of Llud and Llefelys."

A Little Celtic Love

My laptop is still down, so I haven't been as prolific online as I'd like to be. I was able to add this "Celtic Love" and three other new pendants to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop.

This "Celtic Love" pendant is made from earthenware clay and has been accented with a very old African Krobo bead. It has been glazed to have a distressed look. The cord is a wonderful faux suede material that doesn't "shed" on your clothes like real suede does and is very easy to tie so your pendant can compliment any neckline. If faux suede is not your favorite material and you prefer to wear your pendant on a chain, you can easily remove it.

What are African Krobo Beads?

Krobo powder glass beads are made in vertical molds fashioned out of a special, locally dug clay. Most molds have a number of depressions, designed to hold one bead each, and each of these depressions, in turn, has a small central depression to hold the stem of a cassava leaf. The mold is filled with finely ground glass that can be built up in layers in order to form sequences and patterns of different shapes and colors. The technique could be described as being somewhat similar to creating a sand "painting" or to filling a bottle with different-colored sands and is called the "vertical-mold dry powder glass technique". When cassava leaf stems are used, these will burn away during firing and leave the bead perforation. Certain powder glass bead variants, however, receive their perforations after firing, by piercing the still hot and pliable glass with a hand-made, pointed metal tool. Firing takes place in clay kilns until the glass fuse.

Celebrating Another Anniversary!

We'll be traveling to celebrate another anniversary this weekend!

In our former lives, we worked and traveled at the pleasure of the Department of the Interior, more precisely the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Over the course of his career, Dave managed some of the largest game ranges in the United States, with the most recent being Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. We spent six years in Burns, which is located in eastern Oregon and is also known as the "Oregon Outback". This weekend, Malheur NWR will be celebrating it's 100th anniversary as a National Wildlife Refuge and we have been invited to attend!

Also, Rogue Ales has released a Great Egret Pale Ale to commemorate this event!

If you try to contact us via email or Etsy convo this weekend, we will reply as soon as we return on Sunday. Thanks to Hurricane Ike, the motherboard for my laptop is still sitting in Houston.

Spiral Hand Symbol Ceramic Pendant

Along with the new Celtic Oghams, I have added a few more of my latest earthenware pendants to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop, including this Spiral Hand pendant.

The spiral is an ancient symbol reflecting the universal pattern of growth and evolution. The spiral pattern appears again and again in the natural world from the milky way galaxy to snail shells. The living spiral does not begin or end, it is an ongoing process of innocence, discovery, community, and the essence that connects all things.

New Oghams Added

I finally got a few more Celtic Ogham pendants added to my Good Dirt Jewelry Etsy shop! Things have been a little crazy around here lately, so I haven't gotten as many pieces finished as I had hoped. Oh well, I'll just consider more to later job security :)

Round Water Earthenware Ceramic Pendant

Made with love on Grizzly Mountain!

I created this "Round Water" pendant from earthenware clay. It has been glazed with a dark "Blue Grotto" glaze. No two pieces ever come out of the kiln the same!

The 2" diameter pendant hangs on a faux suede cord that doesn't shed all over your clothes like real suede can. You can easily tie it to accommodate any neckline. The cord can easily be removed if you have your own favorite cord or chain.

All of the items in my Good Dirt Jewelry shop includes free shipping and a gift box--making this a great holiday gift!