rocks – Dana Maye

Hello Again!

Published on June 7, 2017June 7, 2017 by danabuchmiller1 Comment

Hello, everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve written. So, I thought I would give you a quick catch up on my life recently.

Here are some of the things I have been up to:

Visiting Teddy Roosevelt’s house in Medora
Coloring and cuddles with Cecilia
Chalk painting a rock display box
Reading my new book, Tranquility Du Jour Anthology by Kimberly Wilson
Adding new rocks to my collection
Attending a chocolate exhibit at the North Dakota Heritage Center
Stopping by the Mandan Kite Festival
Visiting Buckstop Junction —Historic buildings were moved to a piece of private property, creating a ghost town that never existed!
- The Foley House circa 1907
- Bethel Lutheran Church circa 1915
- Yagen General Store circa 1877
Enjoying all of the lilac and lavender blooming in Bismarck
Jumping in the Tardis at the Fargo-Moorhead Comicon
Getting a caricature drawn of Ben and me at iMagicon
Raising money for the Abused Adult Resource Center at iMagicon
Creating collages
Starting an art journal 100 day project and playing with washi tape

I have some fun posts coming up!

xo Dana Maye

Rocks For My Birthday!

Published on May 14, 2015December 11, 2015 by danabuchmillerLeave a comment

I have pretty much the most amazing husband in the whole world. He sure gets me! They say a diamond is a girl’s best friend, but in my case, it’s any kind of rock! Well, Ben came home with a whole handful of rocks for me for my birthday. It was so cute –he had them in his pocket, and was going to wait to give them to me (it was a couple of days before my birthday). But… Ben’s not the best at keeping surprises secret. 🙂 He ended up just giving them to me right then and there! I love the emerald he picked out for me! He also brought me home an emerald jewelry set, which I love. 🙂 He knows that rocks are the way to my heart! I am just enchanted by rocks. There’s something magical about them to me. The colors and the textures and the shapes are so cool, and every stone is so different.

rocks1 — My awesome rocks part two: zebra jasper, sapphire, citrine, jet, Idaho jasper, black amber, red sardonyx, apache tear obsidian, brown aragonite, shungite, fuschite, turquoise and selenite (in the center).

I went back a week later, and picked out some more rocks for myself. We go to a little shop called Treasures of Seas and Earth here in Bismarck. It’s crammed full of rocks and seashells, and smells heavily of incense. It’s a fun eclectic little place. 🙂 I got a piece of real turquoise that I am really excited about.

rocks2

Also, I found a chimpanzee in one of the rocks I’ve hand for a while! Can you see him? Aren’t rocks just amazing? I sure think so!

5 New Rocks!

Published on March 31, 2015December 11, 2015 by danabuchmillerLeave a comment

rockies1

I now have 5 new lovely rocks to add to my rock/gemstone collection! I picked out some ones that have been on my list for a while. Whenever I go into our local rock shop, I never come out with what I expected to. That said, I always love what I end up bringing home!

It was a lovely day outside, so I decided to take pictures in the grass clearing near my apartment. The rocks are as follows: Black Kyanite, Angelite, Red Muscovite, Blue Aventurine and Crazy Lace Agate.

I think the Black Kyanite blade is really cool. It naturally grows in this fan or featherlike structure in nature. It is so neat. It looks kind of rough and gray, and yet it still shines in the light. You can see that better in the second picture. Angelite is a trade name for Blue Anhydrite and grows in the same environment as gypsum. It is a really pretty baby blue. Red Muscovite is a mica-based rock that often grows along side rubies. I have a ruby (not gem quality), and while they are similar colors they look way different. Rubies have this silver etching inside the stone, while the muscovite shines with an orangish glitter (that being the mica). Blue Aventurine, as I found out when I got home, is dyed. It’s still a really pretty rock though. It’s so deep of a blue that it almost looks black. Crazy Lace Agate is a type of agate that often shows up in yellows, oranges and browns and has those banded layers. Mine is mostly yellow with some clear layers. I can see why lace is in its name. It reminds me of yellowing lace on an old dress. 🙂

rockies2

For me, rocks are so amazing. I learned that there are over 4000 types of rocks and minerals. How crazy is that? And each one is so different. I am a big lover of beauty -especially beauty found in nature. I guess that’s part of why I love collecting these gorgeous treasures. There’s so much wonder and joy packed into something that can fit in your pocket!

Surrounding Ourselves With Beauty

Published on February 18, 2015December 11, 2015 by danabuchmillerLeave a comment

rocks1

Hi, everyone! I took a bit of a break from blogging, but I’m back! Today, I wanted to talk about the beautiful world around us, and sharing beauty with others. I feel so blessed to live in a world filled with so many different forms of beauty. From flowers to trees to the sky, to rocks and mountains, nature has so many treasures to offer us. I was just looking at one of my Pinterest boards that has lots of picturesque landscapes and natural wonders. It is just amazing to me how surrounded by beauty I am. I really need to take more time to appreciate it!

I am firm believer that when we surround ourselves with beauty that it rubs off on our souls, and makes us more beautiful in return. This is why listening to beautiful music, spending time in nature, making a beautiful spot in home, and finding beauty in the seemingly mundane tasks in life are so important.

I think sharing beauty with others is always important. This is why I decided to share some update pictures of my rock and gem collection would be lots of fun! To me, it is so amazing that a rock can come in so many colors, shapes, textures, and sizes. Hopefully my rocks will help bring some added beauty to your life! For me, they are great reminder to enjoy all of the beauty and wonder around me.

rocks2

In this box I have azurite, carnelian, fire agate, orange calcite, picture jasper, goldstone, ruby, lodalite, clear quartz, blue lace agate, blue onyx, and sanskrit stone.

rocks3

In this box I have amazonite, dyed agate, dumortierite, black tourmaline, blue aragonite, blue calcite, sodalite, iolite, (manmade) blue obsidian, turquoise, lepidolite, fluorite, blue goldstone, chrysocolla, lapis lazuli, and blue beryl (aquamarine).

rocks4

In this box I have malachite, aventurine, vesuvianite, jade, nephrite, prehnite, citrine, yellow jasper, yellow calcite, pyrite, yellow crackle quartz, emerald, green calcite, kambaba stone and unakite.

rocks5

In this box I have mahogany obsidian, tiger’s eye, tiger iron, tree agate, ocean jasper, brecciate jasper, leopardskin jasper, botswana agate, septarian, brown and black zebra jasper, vogesite, snowflake obsidian, desert rose, dalmation jasper, red jasper, mookaite, garnet, smoky quartz, petrified wood and hematite.

rocks6

In this box, I have opal aura quartz, pink common opal, amethyst and pink quartz.

Lovely New Rocks!

Published on July 5, 2014December 11, 2015 by danabuchmillerLeave a comment

Ben and I stopped by the Magick Cauldron today–a medieval/New Age shop in downtown Houston. While the shop was dimly lit, and the shop keepers were a little sketchy, it was loads of fun looking at all of the rocks they had. I decided on seven, and Ben even got a couple of rocks (he chose Malachite and onyx).

The rocks I chose were amethyst (the purple stone), azurite (the bright blue stone), garnet (the gem cut dark stone), jade (the dark green stone), malachite (the bright green stone), moonstone (the white stone), and sodalite (the muted blue stone).

Amethyst –a stone that encourages peaceful sleep, grounding, meditation, sobriety, and protection from boundary attacks
Azurite –a stone that increases creativity, inspiration, focus, and aids communication
Garnet –a stone that brings gentle grounding, femininity, discernment, purity, eases depression and raises self-esteem
Jade –the stone of abundance, protection, good luck, mental and emotional nourishment, and endurance. Jade is said to be the stone of Ephraim.
Malachite –a stone that gives success in career and business ventures, facilitates balance, leadership, and discernment
Moonstone –a stone that brings wisdom, intuition, emotional healing, an increase in feminine energy, and alignment with lunar cycles
Sodalite –a stone that lends the owner peace, wellness, intuition, balances hormones, prevents nightmares, and brings good sleep

Now, whether or not these stones actually bring this metaphysical healing properties, you have to admit –they’re pretty cool rocks! I really like the moonstone rock. I think the texture looks just like the craters of the moon. The malachite’s green swirls are really cool too -it looks different on every side! Really, I like all of seven of them. Of course, that’s why I bought these rocks!

I also bought a couple of boxes of incense, as they were only $1 each. I got one that smells like lotus, and one called Night Queen, which is supposed to smell like India in the middle of the summer. I can’t wait to burn them this fall!

My 1st Order From Sage Goddess

Published on June 26, 2014December 11, 2015 by danabuchmillerLeave a comment

I love gemstones, and really, rocks of all kinds. I first got excited about them when I visited my first metaphysical shop in Richmond (which I miss dearly). I remember buying a piece of snowflake obsidian, and loving it. Well, I decided to buy some more fun stones as part of meditation, and stress-relief.

I ordered from an Etsy shop called the Sage Goddess, who has found her path as a Native American shaman/ Wiccan priestess. I mainly ordered from her because she is very choosy about the quality of the gemstones that she sells (a lot of Etsy shops will just dye a gemstone such as quartz or agate, and then pass it off as something more expensive). I really appreciate this attention to detail, as I like high quality products.

I received two pieces of lapis lazuli –one tumbled and one natural, and a piece of tumbled chrysocolla. I also received three small perfume samples, of some her oil-based perfumes. The perfumes are way different from any traditional scents I am used to, but they are lots of fun. I have to say that I am really impressed with the quality of the products that I got, and with the care she puts into packaging. She even sent me a sample of one of the soaps she makes.

Since I had so much fun with this order, I figured I’d share with you. 🙂

This is my chrysocolla stone. It’s a fun teal and black color.

This is natural lapis lazuli, striated in granite. It’s very pretty.

This is tumbled lapis lazuli, striated with pyrite. It’s a beautiful gem, and I adore it. This one reminds me of the scripture from Isaiah 54:11 -“O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted, behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy foundations with sapphires.”

Here are the little perfume samples. I like Magic Rosa the best. It’s very feminine. 🙂

—

You can visit her Sage Goddess Etsy Shop, or head over to Sage Goddess.Com, if you’re interested. She also has a really cool Instagram account you can check out.

Note: No compensation was given for this blog post.