putting my life at risk for this here blog (review of the month)


Once I had received this necklace in the post, I proceeded to open it, note its beauty, and then put on my hiking boots and walk up to the field near my house. After taking multiple photographs on the way up, I then noticed a small gap at the side of the field, hidden only by brambles and nettles. Naturally, I pushed those aside and crawled through the small hobbit hole. Avoiding spear-like bough after spear-like bough, I found myself to be in what could only be described as the centre of a reasonably deep forest. Due to my (possibly irrationally dangerous) wanderlust, I began to venture further into the forest, hopelessly trying to note which direction I had previously turned in. The trees, all around me, were placed in an almost symmetrical pattern, meaning that every. single. direction. looked exactly the same. 
Noticing a tree with branches just dying to be photographed, I began to stray towards it so I could get a good shot with the ever falling sunset in the background of the necklace. Suddenly, the same unformentioned dog from earlier (which had raced towards me, teeth baring, jumping about and terrifying me until an owner comforted me by stating that "she gets a bit excitable" to which I snapped "YES I GATHERED") paced towards me once again, before recognising me and running back only to terrorise some other stranger. However, in my panic of possible imminent death, I decided to follow the path which the dog was now on, due to the fact that people were obviously there and the footway would lead me out. Long story short, the necklace is still somewhere deep within the forest, lost, as once I was distracted by the dog and followed it I quickly came across ripped barbed wire, a fleshless bone and thus ran the hell out of there - straight into, can you imagine, a fox. Honestly, the drama was euphoric.

Thank you to Caleb for sending me a beautiful necklace to review on this here blog, although essentially because of said necklace I did, in fact, almost die. Kind of. If you count an almost dog-attack and almost fox-attack. Which I do. And I hope you do too because I tried to word that as dramatically as possible so that you would be intrigued and want to carry on reading. Let me know if it worked.

Although I think that this necklace is stunning, I was initially despondent to find that the chalcanthite is in fact synthetic. I did originally believe this to be the case, due to the colouring being not quite as vibrant as its natural brothers, so I shouldn't have been surprised. However, after doing some more research I found that Caleb chose synthetic over natural because, to quote, "chalcanthite is a natural byproduct of copper mining, and is incredibly rare in it's natural state. I choose to use an ecofriendly synthetic mineral, rather than add to the excessive fracking taking place." Coincidentally, I recently attended a protest rally against the commercial overuse of fracking, and so, after careful indagation, I thoroughly agree with Caleb's decision to go artificial.


"I actually make my living as a woodworker with my main shop also being here on Etsy. I'm absolutely obsessed with learning how things work, and making them. It doesn't matter whether it's made out of stone, metal, wood, etc; I'm just in love with the process. I have a lot of excess metals, and failed projects around my shop. I've seen geode pendants here on etsy quite a bit, so one day I decided to try the electroplating process for myself. It actually turned out to be quite an enjoyable process once I got a hang of it, and I've been making them in my free time. I'd ultimately like to put much more time into this shop, but as it is this is just a small outlet for some of my creations. I do have high hopes for the future."

The necklace was sent all the way from Colorado (which is just one Salt Lake City away from Oregon State, my dream university), and so I'm surprised that it arrived as quickly as it did, and in pristine condition too. Also, I didn't have to pay any hidden postage fees, unlike the time I was sent a capo and *cough* left it as the office *cough*.

I would just like to note that although I only had this necklace in my possession for a very short amount of time, I fell completely in love with the blue and gold contrast. The synthetic chalcanthite is beautiful alone, but when in a vibrant gold casing it is (or, as the case may be, was) absolutely stunning. I am really disappointed that I never got the chance to wear it out and show it off, as it would have been the perfect statement piece of an outfit, but at the very least I got to take some photographs of it whilst visiting a beautiful scenic area within the countryside.

"I love creating things; whether it's made out of wood, metal, or I'm writing a song, I feel whole. I am obsessed. I'm a full time woodworker, and a father. I love my family, and wouldn't be where I am today without them. Each necklace is unique, and one of a kind. They are ready to ship when ordered.  If you have any questions, just ask, I'd be happy to answer them."


Prior to finding out that this necklace was made from synthetic materials, I did some research and was informed that "chalcanthite is an excellent throat chakra stone. It is said to help further desires through communication abilities. It is also said to help one stay in the now and enjoy life, as well as get rid of feelings of abandonment. Chalcanthite is reputed to eliminate delays of things in progress. It is also used metaphysically for insight, clairvoyance, and psychic attunement. It is said to enhance one's ability to read people and situation." But hey, maybe this synthetic necklace will work well abandoned in the forest and bring mystical powers to it, because that's how it works when reversed, right?*

Another point that I feel would be useful to note is that the chalcanthite, however contrived, is still a rather heavy centrepiece for a necklace. Of course it is understandable that the stone was rather weighty, as it had been encased in "electroplated, 14k gold, and then milled, tapped, and affixed with the eyelid screw", but nonetheless I thought that it was worth a mention. I for one tend to sometimes like necklaces that aren't small and dainty and are instead rather large and make a communiqué, and as the pendant didn't weigh my neck down I actually quite liked it. 


The above photograph was the last one taken with the necklace, which is annoying as the quality of this image isn't even very good. To be honest, if I hadn't decided to venture into the forest to get this shot then it would probably still be hanging on the mannequin hand in my bedroom rather than a branch, none the wiser. But, as I did take this photo, it is probably lost forever. I feel like irony is highly evident here, although I'm happier to believe that this was all one big coincidence for the greater good and that I'm not simply just one beautifully beautiful necklace down.

You can check out Caleb's products by clicking here and here.

*I pretty much just guessed that whole thing, someone please tell me if I was anywhere close?

67 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry the necklace was lost! And that you almost died, too! ha ha! I'm not usually afraid of dogs, but some are just...wild. ;0
    it looks so beautiful, though! Your photos are stunning! xx

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    1. It's okay aha, I'm all good! And about the dogs - I can totally understand that now aha!
      Thank you!

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  2. aww! I'm so sorry to hear that you only had that necklace for a short time. It is absolutely beautiful, love the color contrast.

    But hey, at least you survived, right!? I would run away too if a dog approached me like that! haha.

    btw, you took such gorgeous photos! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's okay ^^ And that's what's really important I guess.
      Thanks dude!

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  3. OMG! This necklace is so beautiful <3

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  4. I am so sorry for your lost... The necklace is pretty beautiful!
    xx

    http://losaway.blogspot.com

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  5. Such a beautiful necklace.
    Great post.

    Love Vikee
    www.slavetofashion9771.blogspot.com

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  6. Oh, what a gorgeous necklace! It's too bad that you lost it, though, and that you almost died ♥
    Amy xx

    Perfect Imperfections

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    1. Kinda sucks that whole near-death experience thing :/

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  7. Glad you're safe. I'm sorry you lost your necklace. It looks gorgeous!

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  8. Oh my gosh, this necklace is amazing! I'm so sad you lost it. Ain't that always the way.
    Perhaps if its meant to be you will stumble upon it again, or someone else on a jungle adventure will come across it and think they have just won the necklace lottery!
    Kelsey x | Kelstagram

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    1. It totally was! And I love your way of thinking - definitely makes me feel a lot better about losing the necklace!

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  9. wow ! creative !

    www.madamedaria.blogspot.com

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  10. That necklace is absolutely stunning! It's a shame that you ended up losing it. However, I'm glad you made it out alright.

    Connie | Sponsored by Coffee | Bloglovin’

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    1. It really was >< But that's really all that matters in the end!

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  11. 1) I love your writing style, it felt like I was in a novel.
    2) I love your photography and your sense of humour (that's actually number 3)
    4) I can't type quickly enough to get out all of my feeling about this blog post and your blog and how beautiful it is and everything is in the world gah
    5) I give up on numbers not but oh my good GOD you are amazing. No seriously. I have the same irrationally dangerous wanderlust at points too so I laughed when you wrote that. I mean the necklace is beautiful and unique too aha but I enjoyed your stories a lot as well! The bones, vicious dogs (all horrible, horrible omens) but 'everyday is an adventure' and all that! Right?

    Anyway, thank you for writing this - it made my (mundane boring) day! x

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    1. Thank you so much! That's so nice of you to say c: THANK YOU AWH!
      Totally, what is life without the adventure?
      I made your day? I think your comment definitely made mine!

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  12. Amazing photos!
    xoxo,
    http://adonadasushi.blogspot.pt

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  13. OMG that necklace was beautiful ♥ I'm so sorry to hear that you lost it but at least you are safe gorgeous!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It really was too bad, but at least I'm alive aha.

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  14. Such a wonderful post!
    Have a nice week end!
    Photographer Gil Zetbase
    http://www.gilzetbase.com/

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  15. I'm sorry for the necklace dear. Thanks for you visit. Of course I want a follow for follow. I'm now following you as catia.alexandrafr so please kindly follow back like you said x
    THE PINK ELEPHANT SHOE | FACEBOOK | YOUTUBE CHANNEL

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  16. Sorry to hear about your necklace, anyway in your shoes I would have probably died of heart attack since I am really scared of dogs in general, LOL...you were brave, glad you were able to get back home safe. It's the thing that matters the most.

    Fashion and Cookies
    Facebook / G+ / Bloglovin

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    Replies
    1. Oh gosh that's not good aha! And thank you so much, it is c;

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  17. This necklace is amazing.

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  18. Awe I hate losing things this necklace is GORGEOUS!

    Florals&Smiles
    Twitter

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  19. What an adventure! & Such a beautiful gem. (:

    ♥ | http://www.connect-the-cloths.com
    http://www.carseyyycakes.tumblr.com | xoxo

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  20. I think it was totally worth the risk - the necklace is stunning :)

    Corinne x
    www.skinnedcartree.com

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    Replies
    1. Too bad it's probably still somewhere in the middle of a forest ><

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  21. ahhh it's gorgeous! beautiful photos!

    - Mariah-Ruthel
    http://mariahruthel.blogspot.ca/

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  22. it is really a beautiful pendant, it has something whimsical.
    xxx
    mari
    www.ilovegreeninspration.com

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  23. That necklace is beyond gorgeous! I can't believe you lost it :( ahhh man

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  24. This necklace is so unique and gorg! Amazing piece! Looks so beautiful!
    xx
    cvetybaby.com

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    Replies
    1. Too bad it's no longer in my possession ><

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  25. So beautiful and interesting post, darling! Love your blog and the way you write!

    Diana Cloudlet
    http://www.dianacloudlet.com/

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  26. That is one incredibly beautiful necklace, oh my gosh, I can feel your pain for losing it.. but you never know what greater power is at work and just keep reminding yourself of that! Perhaps someone will stumble across that necklace when they most need it.. or maybe the fox will find it and give it to a lady fox! haha ;)

    Gabrielle | A Glass Of Ice

    x

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    1. Ugh I know right >< Thank you, that's slightly reassuring - and that's a nice thought aha c;

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  27. what an exhilarating experience!! i think you still did the right thing for your safety.

    those gems/jewelry look amazing!! :D

    Animated Confessions

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    1. Thank you, the bone and barbed wire really freaked me out so I couldn't think of doing anything besides running away ><

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  28. It definitely worked. This is quite possibly the most dedication I have ever heard of to get the perfect shot for a blog.

    Luckily you managed to get 9 of them.

    I've had the same blazer for years and could only manage to get 3 good shots of it. haha.

    Glad to hear you're alive and well :)

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    1. Aha, I did try c;
      And awh aha >< Thank you!

      Delete
  29. The necklace is gorgeous and the color f the stone is amazing!

    http://www.notesofglam95.blogspot.it/

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    1. It was, and the teal colour is definitely one of the best c;

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  30. Oh wow, looks very unique and lovely. Lucky you :)

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    1. Too bad it's no longer in my possession ><

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  31. What a dramatic story! (The descriptive wording did its job and kept me hooked, just so you know.)

    That's too bad that you lost it! It's super gorgeous. Perhaps some day it'll find its way back to you...?

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    1. Awesome, just what I was going for aha c; And awh dang I know right! I've kind of given up hope of getting it back though ><

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  32. That is stunning -- so gutting that you lost it! Though I don't have much sympathy tbh; I am normally the owner shouting "she gets a bit excitable!" as one or more of my 3 dogs dances wildly around unsuspecting walkers and their well-behaved pets .....

    Anyway, so glad to be reading your blog again! I have got horrid exams looming so I've been studying and, paradoxically, reading a lot more than normal, whilst not blogging at all. But I'll be back (more's the pity for you lot ...)

    Hope you're well etc. The photos are beautiful, by the by. I pinned the first one. Little by little my Pinterest is becoming a shrine to your blog, it would seem ...

    Talk to you soon!

    Love,
    Emily x

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    1. Ugh I know right! Thank you thank you, and same here, just without the studying bit.. I totally need to get a Pinterest, I'm hearing so much about it - thanks all the same for those pins aha.

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