This is a departure from my usual charm bags of crystals and bits and bobs. A charm is a written or spoken spell, so I’ve written out a list of affirmations of intent, which I’m making into beads, so each one becomes a solid object.
My intent is to try and get my health and wellbeing back on track – an uphill struggle as more long-term ailments present themselves. My charm bag will be full of beads, each one with an intent sealed into it.
I started by writing a whole lot of affirmations between the lines on a writing pad – things like ‘eat more greens’, ‘go for a walk’, ‘spend time with family’ etc.
Using the ruled lines as a guide, I cut the list into strips, one affirmation on each, and smearing each one with No More Nails on the side with the writing (avoiding the first centimetre so it could slide freely) I rolled each one tightly round some knitting needles. As it was quite late in the day, I left them to dry overnight.
Then the fun part – out with the acrylics for a nice mindful spell of painting. The beads dried quickly, so I finished them off with a coat of clear nail varnish. Once completely dry, I popped them into a cute little organza bag, and now they can come with me in my pocket or bag. The charm bag can continue to work its magic under my pillow at night.
I used to make beads like this when I was a teenager, but without writing in them, and I used old-fashioned gum to glue them up, and different coloured nail varnish to paint them. It was in a workshop recently with Lucya Starza that I learned that No More Nails is a quick-drying and strong alternative to gum, and in her workshop we made beads from long triangles of paper that ended up a nice shape, with a magic word in one bead and a sigil in the other, before turning them into adjustable bracelets with a metal charm and a sliding knot.
Here’s the one I made – beads painted with purple nail varnish. I would like to acknowledge and thank Lucya for this valuable lesson in bead making.
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