The sad news is there are a lot of people battling cancer. Have you noticed this? It’s frustrating to watch people struggle with the initial diagnosis and then see them bravely battle the treatments. It can evoke feelings of helplessness, sadness and grief when on the sidelines…

The good news is a lot of advancement has been made in terms of treatment options. Many success stories – big and small – travel around the many communication channels that exist today. There has been a lot of progress in research, in medication, and in supplemental – and alternative – support that has helped many cancer patients navigate this difficult journey.

Faithful readers of my blog know that I have a family member who was also diagnosed with brain cancer almost exactly a year ago this month. My brother navigated his journey with immense poise and grace, and he benefited from a lot of emotional support from across the world. He recently turned 50 and is currently preparing a return to work in some capacity in the coming weeks… His journey is not over, but he is one of the cautiously optimistic success stories who managed to fight and remain standing. His family in Vancouver as well as mom and I here in Ontario continue to support him in every capacity we know how, and for now, all is well.

For me, this means an increase in my creative outputs.

You may recall that I created a little pouch for a healing crystal a friend of my brother’s gifted him a year ago when we first heard about his diagnosis. This was my first attempt at creating something like this, but I’ve had a lot of time and opportunity to prefect my craft. Take a look at this:

My brother uses his crystal on a leather string. He sometimes places it in the window.

A friend, who is also a follower of this blog all the way from Australia, requested I make her a similar pouch to hold a Rose Quartz crystal she was given by her friend to help her through the arduous journey of grieving for her child lost in a tragic accident. I attached her crystal pouch to a beaded necklace string.

Shortly after all this happened, I opened my Etsy shop Boldly Chic Boutique, but sadly I halted the crystal pouch-making activity. I had a multitude of other projects going on and some things had to be put on hold.

Until now.

Angie in California requested a couple of these holders recently, so I made a few samples for her. One of these is going to Texas as well.

Healing crystals are pretty little things, whether displayed in pouches or not, and it appears people like the pouches I make for their crystals no matter their reasons for collecting these stones.

I’m not going to get into debates about healing crystals here.
My objective is to fill custom orders for friends, family and my Etsy shop customers.

I personally use my own crystals to charge my neglected tarot cards… and sometimes use them during manifestation or meditation activities.

As you can see in some of the pictures, I used walnuts, pebbles, or my own crystals to aid in measuring for size if the crystal is not available for me to work with directly (as was the situation for both my brother and my Australian friend.) My Cali friend also has her own crystal and she sent me a picture with some coins to give me an idea how large or small or wide or narrow to make the pouches.

Next, another friend discovered her friend was recently diagnosed with cancer, and she wanted me to make a custom pouch for two crystals, but not as a piece of jewelry; rather, she wanted it to be a decorative item to have near the bed or or hanging in some prominent place around the house to aid her, if only psychologically, through recovery after surgery.

As far as the double-crystal pouch is concerned, I was asked to provide the crystals. I went to a supplier near my mom’s house and picked up the crystals and created the double-pouch in a couple of days.

The above Smoked Quartz and Amethyst double crystal pouch was shipped yesterday directly to the cancer patient’s home. My friend who ordered this unique gift texted me the following comment when I sent her the photos and a little clip of the final product:

This makes me happy. 😀

I have to say a big thank you to those of you who have read my first newsletter (with the birch bark message), visited my store and liked or favorited the products. It’s been time consuming to keep momentum, especially because this is a side hustle for me, but you have no idea how much it means to me to see you dropping by and in some cases purchase something. Eric, for instance, purchased his Aquarius daughter a bracelet from my store for her birthday, which I was able to send directly to her address. This is what she received:

Please let me know if you’d like to receive my BoldlyChicBoutique newsletter; the link for the subscribe button does not work in WordPress reader (sigh sigh sigh) but let me know in the comments if I can add you to my email list (if I have your email already) – if you want to contact me privately, do so at writerofwordsetc@gmail.com.

Once I leave WordPress, the email newsletter might be a much better opportunity to stay in contact with me until I figure out what my next steps are. As you know I am letting my premium account lapse in May and I’m currently looking at other ways to keep my online presence.

So, I need to do many things to keep momentum of my store! I have multiple items I’m ready to upload, and a custom order instructional info-graphic is in the works as well so I can continue to create these little crystal pouches for people.

I wish I could say it’ll be up this week but… #momlife #youthsports #teenagers

Feel free to contact me privately if you have a special request. I have birch bark and many other items in my store and am always thrilled to receive custom orders.

My daughter’s annual final ringette tournament begins tomorrow (Friday) and will last until Sunday. It happens in Niagara Falls, about an hour and a half west of Toronto. This tournament is always a highlight of the season which comes to a close at the end of April. We have an incredibly crappy schedule this year which will make our hotel stay a little inconvenient, and a weather alert just popped up we’re getting another nasty storm. It’s tradition! We always have winter weather when we have to travel far for her sport! (ugh) Niagara Falls however is a beautiful location to have a tournament in, with plenty of things to do both indoors and out, and we’re looking forward to it regardless what the weather gods have planned for us. (Is there a crystal I can wave at them to go away and send us spring weather instead?) 😀

Anyway, thank you for reading! Perhaps I will blog about our trip to the Falls this weekend. Stay tuned…

See you in the comments.