Christmas season is very dangerous for me. Every year when I go out to shop for gifts I seem to suddenly find a million things that I love for me and it's always hard to not cave in and buy myself a few presents. Last year when I visited my favorite shop I found a bowl of gorgeous crystals. Translucent pink -a little ecru-ish, very pretty. As they were mostly less than $10 and I was desperately attracted to them I allowed myself one. The owner of the store told me that they were called nirvana quartz but he didn't know what properties they had -as all crystals have some kind of energy and spiritual property associated with them. I came home and searched the internet and found that they came from the Himalayan mountains in India. What I read about it's properties was that this crystal has a mission to help us realize not yet formed potential of what we can be, that they can be conduits for profound inner illumination and awakening, they bring deep peace and can assist in achieving one's destiny. 
I started to carry the crystal in my pocket every day. I had it with me when I decided to quit my job -shortly after the holidays, on the day I resigned from my job and probably on my last day, as well. I had it with me when I went to court (both times) to appeal for unemployment benefits. I have it with me nearly every day. A few times I've thought I lost it and made peace with the possibility as I believe it came into my life to give me strength to make these huge changes and that if it should disappear it is somehow also meant to be and I'll be alright on my own. But each time I find it, usually tucked in that tiny pocket in a pair of jeans I thought I'd checked a hundred times.
I thought a lot about having it made into a necklace but wasn't sure I was up for wearing a chunk of crystal around my neck as a "look". Not that they aren't beautiful, I just like to keep my spiritual matters to myself rather than turn them into fashion statements. Recently I saw a photo of a necklace that made me think about it again. It was a crystal that was wrapped in a net of wire, if I recall. Very pretty. And it gave me an idea that I finally got around to making today. It's not perfect and I'm not sure I won't try to do it again, but here are a couple photo's of the work in progress so you can see my technique and imagine how long that took and how blind I am from threading those tiny links.

And the initial results!

I've since turned it on it's end and overall it's still a sloppy job. The fine wire I used to join the chain links into a net has ends sticking out everywhere stabbing me, I need to think of a new way to do this....