How to test is Baltic amber real?

When there are so many fakes in the market, it becomes important to be able to test amber. There are few ways to test amber, but i will write here about few most popular and best known ways to do that at you own home.

Salted water test.

This is one of best known ways to test Baltic amber, but it is considered to be not exact, because density of amber varies a lot: from 0.93 to 2. Fresh water is measured 1. This means some amber pieces float even in fresh water (that usually is white amber), some sink in salt saturated water (closer to 2 usually is amber with earth inclusions). 

If you have purchased jewelry, it most probably has thread, plastic or metal clasps, maybe some other details. Those details might make Baltic amber to sink too. 

UV test.

Baltic amber fluorescence (shines) under UV light. This test does not work on heated amber, and as i have noticed, often does not work even on natural, not heated cherry color amber - change under UV light is not so drastic as other colors especially if that cherry amber is opaque. So if amber does not fluorescence under UV light, test it in the following way.

Hot needle/pin test.
This test is also called as "smell test". 

Baltic amber ancient fossilized tree sap. Comes from trees which no longer grow on  on the surface of Earth. Baltic amber is 40-60 million years old. During that time tree saps have changed and became natural polymers, that means plastic made by nature. Each color of amber has its own smell. This is because each color of amber has been formed in different environment, with different chemical compounds in the soil, different temperature, different time of exposure to the Sun and air and so on. So, basically each amber piece has slightly different smell, and color's smell can be very different from each other.

In order to test, heat a needle or steel wire, touch with amber piece and smell what comes out.

White and very light yellow Baltic amber has a lot of amber acid (up to 8% from it's mass). For this reason it's smell is a bit sour.

Honey amber gives smell which is close to pine sap or colophon smell.

 As scientific books about Baltic amber say, clear light Baltic amber has formed inside of tree, usually under the bark of tree. It had gone through different processes than other colors of amber for this reason it has a bit different chemical and physical properties than other amber colors. It fluorescence under UV light, but when tested with smell test it smell more like plastic than pine sap. The more clear it is the more plastic it will smell. If clear light amber has, for example, slight honey color like in photo above, it will have hint of pine smell and a hint of plastic smell.  In the photo with light yellow unpolished amber, beads looks a bit cloudy, but in fact they are transparent and clear with slight shade of yellow, just matte surface makes to look them so. So they should smell like clear amber.
Hot temperature (when smoke starts to come out) enhances smell of plastic. In other colors pine smell is strong enough to overcome plastic smell, but in such light clear amber testing temperature is very important. So do not burn it - touch with hot metal and smell it right away.

Heated Baltic amber has weaker pine/colophon smell than not heated amber. It looks like, that some of that smell goes a way during the process of heating. But when you have such amber, try harder to feel that hint of pine smell. 

Scientists say, that natural cherry color also was formed by heat, most probably in forest fires. for this reason intensity of depends a lot on shade of amber and for the same reason it does not shine so dramatically under UV light.. 

Copal
In one of the videos in Youtube I saw woman saying that amber is a bit gummy, my face expression was like that: o.O ... because copal might be gummy due to young age (1-5 million years old) and process of polymerization did not went so far in it like in natural Baltic amber (age 40-60 million years old).
Copal can go through most of the tests which amber goes through, but usually it is in more gummy state than amber is and has more sweet smell that amber does. Amber's hardness is similar to nail hardness, so it is quite hard and not gummy for sure.

Air Bubbles
If you see air bubbles in stones, you know that it is glass fake. This does not work on Baltic amber. Some amber pieces do have air bubbles and from those bubbles scientists got information about what atmosphere was on earth 40-60 million years ago. So if you see bubbles in Baltic amber, it does not mean, that amber is fake.

To conclude... 

The only perfect way to test amber is costly tests in laboratory. If you test amber at home, you will need some knowledge... :)

It might also be interesting for you to read:
What is amber and Baltic amber?
How Baltic amber can be used for healing and what is amber acid?
What is amber for? (some information)
About ambers of the world and copal
Who am I? (about me)
How to choose Baltic amber teething necklace?

How to make Baltic amber teething necklace?

P.S. I am sorry for mistakes - English is not my native language.

How to make Baltic amber teething necklace?

I get many question on Etsy about how to make teething necklace, how to fix clasps and so on.
This is blog entry about which i was thinking for almost 3 years, but somehow always had "more important" things to do. But now decided to do it :)

I am sorry for photo quality, it is evening here, and I though it is better like this, than no photos at all. To make it one step harder decided to make centered necklace with tiny pendant.
So what do we need for teething necklace?
1. Beads (Beads in my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you?section_id=6976664)
2. Thread  (Thread in my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you?section_id=10378317)
3. Clasp (Screw clasps in my shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you?section_id=10378317)
4. Paraphin or bees wax candle (soy wax is not too good here)
5. Scissors

 Light up a candle and wait until wax melts. Dip a thread in to it. I prefer to harden ~0.7" of thread, but experiment and choose your length. While wax is melted, roll thread between your fingers to get rid of access wax and to make waxed thread as thin as possible, because it might be too thick to get through bead or clasp.

 Put one side of clasp on thread. I prefer to put it so, that screw part would face end of thread. I suggest to check if both sides of clasp will have big enough holes that thread could go through. Clasps are factory made, but holes in them differs.

Make double knot (one knot upon other knot).

Cut extra thread, leaving around 1-1.5mm (~0.05") of thread, that it would not untie easily.

 Harden knot. You might do it with nail polish, special glue or wax. I prefer wax.

 Fix knot inside of clasp by pulling thread from other side. I prefer to screw in that white screw part, to check how it looks, to press knot in to place and to check if it will not untied inside of clasp. Cut generous amount of thread. It usually  needs  0.8 yd - 1.1 yd for 12"-13" knotted necklace.

 As I am making necklace with pendant, I need to divide beads in to 2 groups - one side and other. Also some beads should be left as extra beads, because it is possible to brake them, there might be a need to use few beads more on one side than on other and so on.

 You might place a knot between clasp and first bead, this time i did not do this. Harden other side of thread as the first one. You might have to repeat this several times, because hardened end gets soft when gets some pressure (for example when placing bead with some force). Place a bead.

 Start knotting.

I mostly use thick thread which hardly goes through holes, so i need just 1 knot between beads. That saves a lot of work but sometimes creates trouble, because some beads somehow manage to get smaller holes than others and thread does not go through them. I leave such beads and knot another necklace with thinner thread and with smaller holes in clasp and beads.

 When knotting, I have noticed, that i needed longer necklace than i have beads, so adder 4 rice shaped beads in to necklace - this is how creativity gets in to this world :)
Then checking how many beads should be added to second side to make pendant in the middle

 It looks it is enough.

And here it comes - most important and most difficult (at least for me) part in whole necklace making process - placing second part of clasp.
Put a clasp that it would face end of thread with screw-in part.

 Make a knot, and  when finishing it, slide it as deep as you can in to clasp. This is not necessary, but i find it to become more secured.

 You may use nail polish, special glue or liquid glue as i use this time. Get ready white screw part, because you will have to act quickly after placing glue inside. Hold 2 last beads and clasp firmly, that clasp would stand so as you wish it to see at the end. Place tiny drop of glue inside of clasp. Screw in white part. If there will be too much glue it will get out of clasp, one possible way to solve this is to glue on last bead to clasp. If you leave thread with glue, it might brake, because it will become as plastic in width of thread.. Also if you place too much glue, clasp might crack or brake. If you will place too little glue, thread will get out and you will have "broken" necklace.
If you will do this part wrong you will possibly have to remake necklace from 0, or if you will be making necklace without centered pieces, you may simply remove last bead or two, loosen up some thread, harden it, place a new clasp (one with glue inside is not usable any more) and do next steps.

 After placing white part inside you'll see, that thread inside took some place, and white part does not fit so well as before - it's normal.

 When glue hardens, place another side, to check how much of spare white part you have.

 Cut with scissors or nail clippers some of white screw in part.

 Check how they match together.

 Thats all! :) Necklace is already made!

 All designs and ideas are up to you. You may mix various colors, stones (for example turqouise), hazelnut wood beads - those are healing materials from nature too!

And if you think this is too much trouble to make one, you always can find already made teething necklaces for sale :)
Check up my shop for Baltic amber baby teething necklaces:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you?section_id=10413188

If you have any questions - do not hesitate to ask!. I will answer faster on Etsy than here :)

P.S. I am sorry for mistakes - English is not my native language.

Which baby teething necklace is best for my baby?

This is one of the questions which i get quite often. I though it would be good idea to write a blog entry which would help to make a decision.

There are couple things which are important when deciding what you need: surface and color.

SURFACE:
There are few kinds of teething necklace's surfaces: raw, unpolished, polished, heated.

Raw Baltic amber necklaces have untreated beads. Beads are selected, drilled and made in to necklaces. "Sharp edges" give massage which increases blood circulation, which help for healing process and to distribute substances which are absorbed through skin. They have most of surface, so easier than other bead types releases amber acid. You may read more about amber acid in following blog's post:

http://oldknowledge.blogspot.com/2010/09/how-amber-can-be-used-for-healin-what.html

                                                                  Raw Baltic amber

Unpolished Baltic amber is such kind of amber where amber is shaped ir "sharp" edges are treated, but matte surface is left. Such kind of beads has smaller surface in total than raw amber, but it usually touches skin with more surface than raws. For this reason such amber is a bit less effective or has same affect as raw amber.

                                                        Unpolished Baltic amber

Polished Baltic amber is such kind of amber where surface is polished to shiny state. Polishing might be done in abrasive way (abrasive-polishing dust, sand paper) or by heating. Such amber has less surface in total, harder releases healing oils and amber acid, but looks much more beautiful. I have got many letters which wrote that such amber helped to solve various issues, so it has healing properties for sure too. 

                                                             Polished Baltic amber.

Heated  Baltic amber is such kind of amber which was effected by heat to change some properties like: to enhance color, to change color, to increase clearness, sometimes heat might be used as a way to polish. Most (not all) cherry color amber is heated. I suggest to search for sellers who inform is amber heated or not.
The more amber is heated the lower healing properties it has. So slightly heated amber has slightly lower healing properties than polished amber. Amber heated to the point where it will change color (like in cherry amber case), has lowest healing properties from all ambers.

                                                                    Heated Baltic amber

COLOR
Cherry color Baltic amber.

As mentioned before, most of cherry Baltic amber is heated. Looks amazing, has some healing properties, but there can be and more effective colors to heal.

                                                            Cherry color Baltic amber

White color Baltic amber
It is almost opposite of  cherry color. It contains so much amber acid, that when burned as incense it has sour smell. Less than 1% of Baltic amber is in white or very light yellow color, so for this reason and for healing properties this color is very valued. White Baltic amber is always polished or unpolished, because in raw state it is in dark yellow or brown color due to surface oxidation. 

 White color Baltic amber

Yellow color Baltic amber.
Cloudy or opaque ambers usually have a bit higher healing properties, but clear or semi clear yellow amber is something what gives amber name "Sun stone" - it looks like pieces of Sun. Yellow is color of energy, and everyone needs energy especially if there is health problem. So yellow amber is universal amber.

                                                               Yellow color Baltic amber

Brown color Baltic amber . 

Brown amber is very good for various problems but it especially helps body to remove what is unnecessary to it. So if there is digestion problems, toxins in the body, skin blemishes and so on, brown amber is what you need. 

                                                              Brown color Baltic amber

Red Baltic amber.
Red amber gives more energy to become active, trust in you own abilities. Helps to man's and boys reproductive organs. So it is balanced for grown up people, unless you child needs encouragement or healing powers for boys reproductive organs.

                                                             Red  color Baltic amber

Black Baltic amber.
Jet black amber is something what people in ancient times avoided. It was used to guide soul safely in to afterlife and in black magic. People did not worn black amber but had somewhere at home "in case it would be needed". Children under 10-11 years old should not wear any black stones, amber especially. Many people forgot this knowledge and are selling black amber teething necklaces as something cool, for some sellers money is something more important that the results for the customers.

        Black color Baltic amber (few beads are cherry, that can be seen from shade which they drop)

Amber color Baltic amber.
We do not have such name of color in our (Lithuanian) vocabulary, so we add those pieces to yellow, brown or red ambers depending on shade.

Conclusion:
My personal favorite necklaces are unpolished or raw necklaces in white, yellow or light brown/honey colors. When my friends ask for polished necklaces I recommend yellow & white necklaces, somethimes not heated honey color necklaces.

I hope this blog entry will be helpful to you!


Baltic amber teething necklaces at my shop:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you?section_id=10413188
My Baltic amber shop: amber4you.etsy.com

It might also be interesting for you to read:
What is amber and Baltic amber?
How Baltic amber can be used for healing and what is amber acid?
What is amber for? (some information)
About ambers of the world and copal
Who am I? (about me)

Amber tea? What is this?
Once I was talking with my old friend from USA. I have said, that I am drinking amber tea at the moment. Got a question "Amber tea? What is this?".

Amber tea should be prepared from Baltic amber. Just Baltic amber has enough amber acid to create healing effect to the body.

How to prepare?
If you would like to taste natural Baltic amber tea, you should get so pieces of amber. I usually use about 5g (0.18 oz) tiny pieces of amber for a cup (300-400ml) of water. Why tiny pieces? Because they have more surface which contacts with water, so more amber acid is taken from them. Amber acid melt point is 184-187C (~370 F), so when you use it with hot water, you get just small amounts of amber acid.
But amber has a lot of other good qualities - it is sun stone, charged in Sun. So it contains a lot of solar energy.
Amber tea is prepared in a specific way.
If you are using an ambers for the first time, you might want to was them (unless seller says you should not do that, and did that for you already). Do that with soft, clean water, witch should be about 20C (~70F) degrees temperature. Rub them a little with your fingers in the water to remove the dust which might be there. Remove water. If you think it is necessary, you may repeat it.

Amber tea is prepared by keeping heat for some time.
You should put ambers in a bowl which you are going to heat, pour hot, not boiling water (about 80C (~180F) degrees), and keep it on a little fire (best would be candle fire) for 15-20 minutes.
You might use same ambers for many times, but after 7-15 times of using you should put a spoon of natural sea salt (ordinary is not suitable for this) in to the glass with water and to put the glass in sunlight for a day or two. It is the way amber is charged. Then repeat from the beginning :)
Also you might charge ambers just by laying them in direct sunlight for a day or few, but that doest not charge so well as the first way with sea salt.

You might use same ambers for 15-30 times (depends on particles size) for getting amber acid, and for many many times as a way to clean you body in energetic way (just do not forget to charge them in sunlight). So if you have purchased new ambers for tea, you might use them together with the old ones.

What is the taste of Baltic amber tea?
Baltic ambers origin is similar to pine (extincted now) tree resin. If you would taste strong amber tea, you even would be able to feel taste similar to pine resin. Not sweet, a little bit bitter, amazing smell. Everything what is too much is not O.K., so do not use such tea often. If you drink amber tea in normal concentration, you should not feel taste at all, or it should be very very weak. That is why often amber tea is used with other herbs and honey.

If you would like to use herbs together, it would be better if you would not pure them in a same bowl as the ambers, because it might be hard to remove the herbs after putting them among ambers.

What amber tea heals?
Amber tea is antiseptic (kills microbes), strengthens immune system. Cleanses body from energetic rubbish, reduces negative affects of stress.
Also works as a prophylactic in a way as amber acid does. You might read how it works in my article about amber acid.

Ambers for tea from my Amber shop on Etsy
Ambers for tee listing on Etsy (if link is not working, try the link above.. or it can be that listing has just be purchased, in that case it will be available in few hours again)

You might get tiny pieces of amber in my shop on etsy. If you are not able to find it there, you might contact me by email laura.jankauskaite@gmail.com

My other articles:
How Baltic amber can be used for healing and what is amber acid?
What is amber and Baltic amber?
What is amber for? (some information)
Who am I? (about me)

P.S. I am sorry for my English. It is not my native language.

The information (text and photos) which is in this blog can not be copied, unless you will give a link to this blog.

How amber can be used for healing? What is amber acid?

For beginning about place where amber comes from... People in the territory of Baltic lands and Lithuania lives more than 12 000 years. As traditions ware and are important, many knowledge comes from unknown times.
Lithuanian language is the oldest alive Indo European language. In Lithuanian speaks about 4 million people in the world, but it is taught at the biggest universities of the world. Lithuanian language has many similarities with sanskrit (old Indian language) language, many words which are pronounced in similar way has same meanings. So Lithuanian language is at least 5000 years old. Not many language live so long :)

For beginning about amber: "amber" in Lithuanian language is called "gintaras" [g i n t a r a s]. Many people think (me including) that it comes from the verb "ginti" (we are changing endings in our language and in that way we are creating verbs, nouns, adjectives and etc.). "Ginti" means to protect, defend, guard. To protect from illness, to guard soul and body.

Why to choose Baltic amber for healing?
Baltic amber is valued not for cool marketing :) It is valued because Baltic amber contains most of the amber acid inside in the world (to compare with other ambers from other regions). I have written about ambers of the world and copal in this blog.. But Baltic amber is most valued among them all. Yes, for the same acid. And.. for the beauty. Such beautiful and deep colours.
When you ware Baltic amber, some of succinic acid (it is the other name of amber acid) in very small amounts gets through your skin in to you body. The today's medicine also use amber acid which is taken from the Baltic amber. And yes, today's modern medicine uses that acid to heal people. It is expensive, so many people use natural Baltic amber as an alternative for amber acid sold by pharmacists.

Ambers from my Baltic amber shop on Etsy

It's chemical formula is C4H6O4. Melting point 184-187 degrees C. Succinic acid is white crystal powder, whose taste is similar to ascorbic acid (That E330, the one which you find in lemons, oranges and so on.. also called Vitamin C).

What else is special about amber acid? It works where body needs help and do not touch healthy places of the body. It do not stay in a body of human for a long time. Amber acid helps for body and mind. There many recipes in ancient Chinese medicine, where Baltic amber is used (Baltic amber to Chine has been brought by Arabian people, who brought also the name "anbar")

Amber acid is antiseptic (kills microbes), strengthens immune system, reduces negative affect of stress, helps to heal when there are inflammatory processes in the body, strengthens the work of intestine and kidneys, helps to remove toxins from the body, stimulates neuro system. Amber (or succinic) acid is also used to heal various anemias, sudden/strong radiculitis, chronic heart veins illnesses (after myocardium infarct, coronary sclerosis).
When people have problems with thyroid, it is suggested to use amber acid (or amber powder) in oral way and to wear a necklace from natural ambers.

Amber acid doest not have any known side affects.

People who uses amber acid in small amount in prophylactic way regularly, have good mood, healthy hart, are active optimists.
The norm of amber acid in the blood is 0,2-0,8 mmol/l. So people who are always sad, always irritated, always in bad mood and feel the stress from almost nowhere, could make a blood test (in clinics) and make some changes in their lives.

The brighter amber is, the more amber acid it has. That is why white, bone, ivory, light yellow colours are valued so much. Even when you are using a piece of amber, you may notice, that smells of brown and light ambers differs a lot. The lighter colour is, the more smell is sour.

People should heal the diseases by themselves. Professionals are for this. But as I say, today's medicine if in hands of pharmacist, where people are not patients any more, they are clients, who bring the profit. In hard cases modern medicine may be main cure, but in many cases it heals symptoms, but not the reason. Instead of helping for the body to heal it self, weakens it.
If you are willing to heal yourself from something with amber and/or amber acid, you should be watched by doctor, to see how it works for you. Do not forget to give all information you have about amber to your doctor, they know much more about many things than other people, but they do not know all.
In Europe Baltic amber is well know, but in other continents it is still exotic "warm stone".

Other articles:
What is amber and Baltic amber?
What is amber for? (some information)
Who am I? (about me)

P.S. I am sorry for my mistakes. English is not my native language. If you would like to help me to reduce the number of mistakes you have noticed, please, write to me laura.jankauskaite@gmail.com

The information (text and photos) which is in this blog can not be copied, unless you will give a link to this blog.

What is amber and baltic amber?

Amber is neither a stone nor a crystal.
Baltic amber is fossil resin, which age is about 40 million years. It is warm to touch and very well known for its healing abilities. Baltic amber works not only energetically, but also because of amber acid, which is excluded in small amounts when is near your body (because of your body warmth). That is why amber is valued stone in most expensive SPAs around the world.

Amber has been used since the stone age, from 13,000 years ago. Amber ornaments have been found in Mycenaean tombs and elsewhere across Europe

Baltic amber from my shop amber4you.etsy.com

Amber differs from the stones, because long time ago it was a part of living thing - tree. It was excluded as a healing resin, which helped a tree to defend and heal itself. It took 2 millions of years to become a hard, fossilized resin.

So amber has born as a defensive/healing material, born from energy of sun, earth and water (trees are using sun energy and earth materials to grow). It laid down in earth for 40 million years, was touched by sea water (witch is also healing) and now is used by humans. Ironically, many people use amber in a way as it was created. Trees created resin, from which amber came, to heal and defend themselves, in the same way we are using it now.

Baltic amber from my shop amber4you.etsy.com

Is fossilized tree resin found just near Baltic sea?
No. But in each amber differs. Baltic amber is the most valued amber among all other Amber.

Copal
Copal is a type of resin produced from plant sap, often from members of the genus Copaifera. The term is particularly identified with the aromatic tree resins used by the cultures of pre-Columbian Mesoamerica as ceremonially burned incense and other purposes. More generally, the term copal describes subfossil resinous substances in an intermediate stage of polymerization and hardening between "gummier" resins and amber. The word copal is derived from the Nahuatl language word copalli, meaning "incense". (Wikipedia)

Amber
Fossil resins from Europe fall into two categories, the famous Baltic ambers and another that resembles the Agathis group. Fossil resins from the Americas and Africa are closely related to the modern genus Hymenaea
Molecular polymerization, resulting from high pressures and temperatures produced by overlying sediment, transforms the tree resin first into copal. Sustained heat and pressure drives off terpenes and results in the formation of amber. (Wikipedia) .. and that process took few milion years.
Pieces of amber torn from the seafloor are cast up by the waves, and collected by hand, dredging or diving. Elsewhere, amber is mined, both in open works and underground galleries. The nodules from the blue earth have to be freed from matrix and divested of their opaque crust, which can be done in revolving barrels containing sand and water. Erosion removes this crust from sea-worn amber.
Dominican amber, especially Dominican blue amber, is mined through bell pitting, which is dangerous due to the risk of the tunnel collapse. (Wikipedia)

Baltic amber belongs to the highest class (1st) among other 5 classes of ambers.
Only 2 or 3 types of amber belong to this class. So when I speak about healing amber abilities in this blog, I speak about Baltic amber. Becouse only this amber is sold in my shop.. And is the only amber I know all my life.

My other articles:
How Baltic amber can be used for healing and what is amber acid?

Literature:
Very big article by Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amber
List of types of amber:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_types_of_amber

The information (text and photos) which is in this blog can not be copied, unless you will give a link to this blog.

Natural Amber on Etsy

I have added many new things in my etsy amber shop today and yesterday.

Charms from my Amber shop on Etsy

For the same occasion searched around Etsy for natural amber. It is interesting to read how other sellers describe their items, what do they point out and so on.

At one point I began to laugh in voice... Of course it is easy to laugh for me when I grown up with ambers in my hands.. but comon... if you already are selling mainly amber, you should know a little about it. Isn't it right?

Amber is said to be medicine from all illnesses and body abnormalities (like infertility). But to heal some part of the body, amber is put next to it or close to it. In many cases to construct something what would heal powerfully needs very specific knowledge not only about colours of amber, but also forms of amber, symbols, combinations with other plants and so on.
.. So I was searching today for "natural amber" and again I have found teething jewelry. Teething anklet :D I guest that child for whom mother will buy that anklet will have to chew his feet all the time to feel any affect for his teeths :D Teething necklaces should have some affects, to calm baby a little, to reduce fever and pain, but not every amber fits for that... here, on Etsy looks like that people do not care what they sell and for what it should be used. In fact for teething people used not necklaces, but big piece of amber which children ware chewing. Somehow old ways and knowledge are described today in the ways which are easiest to sell and sellers do not care, what they talk it is not true.

Some time ago, i have seen black amber teething necklace. My thought was "Oh my God...". No matter that black stones should not be worn by children under 10 years old at all, but black amber (jet black) do not heal! It is the only amber which is not for healing or protection. And in Baltic lands people avoided black amber, because it should guide soul of the dead man to afterlife world safely (was putted on a dead man in his grave) and was used by ancient wizards in black magic during war time! And here they sell it for children! Can you imagine that?

In time i will make another entry in to this blog, to talk about the colors of amber and for what which color is used. I guess there is another entry needed too - how to determine is amber real. Thinking what else is needed here... maybe you have any suggestions?

Woohooo!
Today I had a very busy day! I did many things at work, made some things for my final paperwork for master degree... and... and.... i have opened my brand new AMBER shop!!!

Check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/amber4you

What do you think?
Yea, I know.. nor many choices.. but I promise, that in a new 2 weeks there will be more items :)

Now I'm thinking what to do with the amber items from my jewelry shop... andaja.etsy.com
Hm... i think I'll put those I'm thinking about putting those items to my amber shop.. but then again I begin to think, should I leave my amber shop as just a supply shop? I think I need a day or a few days to think about this topic :) How we say.. "Morning ir more cleaver than evening"..

Colours of amber.. photo from my Amber shop

I'll go to check my amber inventory now.. and to search what else I could put in to this shop :)

So good night...

Treasury "Natural and Sunny"
Most amber and wool.

Today I have created my first treasury in Etsy. Treasury is a list of various items from various sellers. There is new possibility to create lists - treasury east. So I have tried this option :)



























You can check this list here -> Treasury Natural and Sunny
Heh.. I live in the land where amber comes from.. and now i find items with it from all around the world. Somehow strange that the world is sooo little.

What is amber for?

Many people think Amber stones are actually stones (minerals). In reality however they are fossils. Fossilized tree sap to be exact. Amber is not a mineral, in fact it is more of a natural plastic and there is not an exact chemical composition that makes up amber stone for that reason.

Amber stone feels almost warm to the touch. Minerals feel cool to the touch but amber does not conduct heat the way mineral stones do. If it gets hot enough, amber will actually burn.

Amber can be made to attract electro static electricity. Simply rub it with a soft cloth and it will attract small pieces of paper placed near it.

Most amber stone is a warm golden yellow color, but the colors can run between shades of yellow, orange, red, white, brown, green and a bluish almost black color.

Everyone that spends long periods of time on a computer should keep an amber stone on their desk due to its ability to detoxify the body from all types of radiation (sun, computers, xrays, etc.)

An excellent healing stone, not only is it stronger than some other healing stones but also has the ability to take negative energy that could be causing the illness and transmutting it into positive energy that helps heal the affected area.

An excellent stone for those working with the Law of Attraction due to its ability to help in manifesting your desires.

Tree from natural amber. You can find this tree in my Etsy shop: Amber tree on Etsy

Natural amber on my hand

There will be more information about amber on this blog soon.

My first mood-board :)
I have found, that there is tradition on Etsy to create mood-boards on every Monday. Mood boards are photo composition from various photos of handmade items which can be found on Etsy.
My today's mood is..
"Window to the spring"
When I look outside the window, I see the Sun, I hear birds singing.. but still it is cold... and I want warm things near my body, like wool or amber.

Rose-> Ing00te
Boots-> aurelijaLT
Wrist Warmers-> Karolija
Earrings with amber-> BacaCaraJewelry