Crystals for joy, optimism and happiness

Crystals for addictions

There we go... The first of many to come graphics, each addressing a different problem. This week it is crystals for addictions. You can read more about it here https://rockyroadminerals.com/blog/crystals-for-addictions/

A year of absence

It`s been a long, looong time since I last posted.
A lot has changed, but all things for the better. In March 2017 my beautiful, second son was born. Since then life has been busy ;)
While on maternity, I devoted myself to improving my two Etsy shops: NatureMagicStones and RockyRoadMinerals. I was also working on a brand new project, my own shop www.rockyroadminerals.com . I am absolutely delighted to announce, that the shop is now live and you are welcome to check it out! There is even a coupon code that you can use to get 20% off the entire shop until the end of February 2018- WELCOME20.

Throughout the year I have learned A LOT about minerals. I have been studying geology, crystal shapes and even metaphysical properties of stones, this is all very exciting and I try to learn more whenever I have a minute to spare. But because I really got into selling on the Internet, I`ve also spent weeks studying SEO, social media marketing, etc. I feel so much wiser than a year ago, but still too underinformed to solve some basic issues ;) Anyway, that will all come with time :)

I have been out collecting a few times. I went to Owenahincha (yes, again!) and found a few quartz points with Albite...

... I was in Clare where I found a huge Quartz cluster, and some tiny galena and pyrite, interesting stone concretions, and... where one of my chisels ended its life ;) ...

Then I went to the Burren that surprised me with its landscape completely. Bare mountains with interesting rocks formations, a great place for a hiking trip and... some mineral collecting! We hit a vein with deep-purple Fluorite (some specimens can be bought in the shops), such great stones we found!!!

In November I went to Dingle to collect some Kerry Diamonds and Jasper, you can read more about this trip here

The two last photos show the same specimen straight from the rock and pampered by me :)
How do you like the shops and the stones?

Mr Klaban`s collection / second shop on Etsy-NatureMagicStones

I haven`t been writing for quite a while now, I was busy with my shops on Etsy, selling through other channels, too. Privately, I am getting married next month, started a part-time job that I love (will be a while till I can live from selling stones only), and I am expecting my second child. I hope I`ll be able to write the promised posts in the coming days.
"Mineralwise", in the last three months I visited the Czech Republic where I collected agates, viewed the collection of Mr J.Klaban (in this post), and visited a mineral museum, I went on a few collecting trips in Ireland, including Owenahincha (a few times), the Gortdrum Mine, Tynagh Mine, and the Wicklow Mts, and recently visited the mineral show in Gliwice in Poland.

Concerning my shop on Etsy- RockyRoadMinerals, I had made a few observations and decided to open a second shop- NatureMagicStones. I was selling a mixture of things in my first shop, starting from beach crafts supplies, ending on fine minerals, and I just felt like these things need to be separated. Therefore now, I focus on minerals in my first shop, and sell crafts supplies, aquarium rocks, ets in my second shop. Please visit them, if you are also interested in beautiful cabochons and faceted stones, such as rutilated quartz, emerald, garnet, epidote, schorl, kunzite, turquoise (untreated) etc.

Both shops here :

Visit my shop on Etsy- NatureMagicStones

Visit my shop on Etsy- RockyRoadMinerals

Now the colourful part of the post :)
In June I was in the Czech Republic on holiday. My husband-to-be has a neighbour who has been collecting minerals since he was a young gentleman (right now he is a little older gentleman ;) ). I visited Mr Klaban a few times during my holiday to listen to his stories and to see his enormous collection of minerals. He has amazing specimens of regional minerals, collected in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and Germany, but also "foreign" pieces, as he has been collecting wherever he goes, and believe me- he has traveled the world left to right, up and down...
I would need a full day or two to see his collection in detail, and we simply didn`t have this time. We could discuss one specimen for 15 minutes, so it all moved very slowly... but well, how can you not stop and discuss if his pieces are so good? I was amazed how Mr Klaban remembered how, where and when he found all his specimens, and how carefully he handled them, as if they were his children.
Let me show you some of his specimens...

One of VERY MANY cases, here lovely agates and jaspers

One of my favourite agates from Mr Klaban`s collection

I think it is a polished, Slovakian opal, I must check it in my notes, though ;)

Calcite... how I wish I found something like this myself!!!

Opal (?)

giant smoky quartz

chalcedony

A huuuuge amethyst kept on the floor (the shelf would break in half under its weight)

a few big nodules and a huge quartz crystal

Czech garnet (?)

garnet (?)

a big vltavin, below the same specimen

Mr Klaban told me the story how he went looking for the vltavines with his friend, and they dag big holes for a long time with no success... After some time he relaxed for a while in some bushes and... there it was!, waiting for him on the surface, ready to be picked :) It kind of reminds me of my boy-friend, who always finds the best pieces without even trying too hard, usually when he goes for a smoke and kicks a few "ugly rocks" off his way ;)

I hope you enjoyed :) I will try to find my notes with exact localities for these stones, however, it could be hard as my storage place currently looks like after a tornado ;) Will try anyway ;)

How I gave up my job and decided to sell minerals :) About my shop :)

Hello everyone!
First of all, let me apologize for the long break. It was a busy period for me; a few things happened and I felt the need to rethink my life. You probably remember my post from October last year about the new job that I got, I was all excited and very happy. It was a managerial position in a big supermarket, I thought a dream position I had always wanted to have. After a few months, however, I decided to see things that I didn`t like and didn`t agree with and so decided I to leave.
The period that followed was filled with relaxing moments with my child, something that I had missed so much and no longer had time for, meetings with friends and learning about minerals. Since then I have been collecting many, many times- something that I must write about here, too. During that time I met a few people who let me understand that I should follow my dreams. And as my dream has always been to have my own business, I decided to go for it. At first I though of a stationary shop (not with minerals) and was making plans, but meanwhile I sold a few of my minerals online with ease, and thought that THIS IS THE WAY FOR ME TO FOLLOW! I should turn my passion into a profession. And here it is, my Etsy shop- RockyRoadMinerals.
This shop is a newborn baby that needs to be fed to grow, so I started promoting it on FB, Pinterest and Instagram. I constantly add new things and think of the ways in which I could make it better. I sell minerals (including self-collected), rough rocks, pebbles, real stone jewelry, cabochons and whatever comes from the Irish shore. Here are a few examples:

Pebbles with holes, Irish beach

Flint stones, Irish beach

Driftwood, crafts supplies, Irish beach

Aquamarine with smoky quartz, The Mourne Mts, Northern Ireland, self-collected

Double terminated quartz cluster, Paskistan

Quartz cluster, Pakistan

Orthoclase, Albite, Mica, Smoky Quartz, The Mourne Mts, Northern Ireland, self-collected

Black pebbles with white stripes, Irish beach

Pebble with a fossil, Irish beach

Water tumbled shell parts, Irish beach

Sea glass, Irish beach

Quartz crystal cluster, Owenahincha, Ireland, self-collected

Mica, the Mourne Mts, Northern Ireland, self-collected

Chalcedony, Doubravice, Czech Republic, self-collected

Hematite, Owenahincha, Ireland, self-collected

Irish beach set

Large turquoise cabochon, Nevada

Hag stone, Irish beach

Large quartz geode, Morocco

Amethyst cluster, Uruguay

Variscite cabochon, large, USA

Small turquoise cabochon, Nevada

Syrongopora Coral fossil, County Cork, Ireland, self-collected

Big quartz crystal cluster with double termination and black rutile

 Of course there is soooooooo much more in my shop and new things are added every day.
Please visit RockyRoadMinerals on Etsy.com and tell me what you think!
Oh, and visit my blog soon again, there are more posts coming very, very soon! :)