Showtime: 2024 UFO/Paranormal Summit

Greetings friends!

Just a quick update with some photos from our latest event: Although it was on very short notice, we packed up the "shop" and headed for Ocean Shores, Washington for the 2024 UFO/Paranormal Summit during the first weekend of May.

We were delighted to have been invited to the "reboot" of this event after our last time there in 2019, before Covid!

Sarah was one of the presenters in the main conference hall, while I kept the Alchemy Stones tables in the vendor area.

Because the event was announced with relatively short notice, we lucked out and got a "double table."

This has long been our favorite "niche event" and it is put together and run by some wonderful folks, and the attendance is typically very large, drawing from both metro Seattle-Tacoma and metro Portland. This year was no exception, and we're really glad to have this even back on the show calendar!

Overall, I am just really happy that it seems like "going to events" has pretty much recovered to the point we were at, by the end of 2019. It has been a few strange and turbulent years for independent arts and crafts people, particularly if you're primarily depending on face-to-face events for the bulk of your sales, as we do.

Although Alchemy Stones do photograph quite well, part of the appeal comes from simply being able to hold them in your hand.

Anyway, we're hoping to come back to this event next year, although you never know! Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth to say hello, and thanks to Johnny Manson and crew for putting on a great event!

Happy New Year From Alchemy Stones!

Greetings everyone, and welcome to 2024!

We hope you have had a great Holiday season, and would like to thank everyone who took the time to come out and see us at the various Christmas Fairs we attended at the end of 2023!

It was really nice to see some old friends and make some new ones... and we were really happy to see that people finally seem to be "getting out again" in the wake of Covid scares.

At the moment, we are working to update our Etsy shop for 2024, making it the primary sales outlet for Alchemy Stones. Whereas we will continue to maintain a presence on eBay, its importance is declining on account of the giant marketplaces' growing emphasis on servicing large corporations rather than individual sellers. It's a shame, since eBay owes its success to individual sellers...

We're excited about the new year, and hope to bring lots of beautiful new items to you over the coming months.

This year, we will particularly be focusing on the metaphysical and healing aspects of Alchemy Stones... an area we have increasingly been getting positive feedback about!

Scan below to visit the Alchemy Stones Etsy Shop!

Show Season 2023: Thanks to All Our Friends!

Last few weeks have been very busy, but now we have finished Alchemy Stones' 2023 events schedule, and it's time for some well-deserved rest, and time with family!

This year, Alchemy Stones traveled to Port Gamble, Washington as vendors at the Port Gamble Ghost Conference for the first time. It was a lovely event, and it is fun and rewarding to meet an audience that is different from whom we usually see at Arts & Crafts fairs. 

Our booth at the Chimacum Arts & Crafts Fair

Without a doubt, we will be looking into doing more "niche events" in the months and years ahead!

Of course, our "Big" show of the year was the Chimacum Arts and Crafts Fair in December! This 36-year old event always draws large crowds, and we really like it because the quality of the merchants is kept very high. 

Since it is local to our area, it is also a great way for us to stay in touch with our local customers, many of whom became friends while we had our gallery in downtown Port Townsend, back before all the COVID chaos. 

As always, we did extremely well with small "pick up gifts," selling out of several items. I think a lot of people who visit our web sites and online shops aren't always aware that you can get a hand painted Alchemy Stone for for under $10!

We got to catch up with a number of old friends, which was lovely... several of whom we had not seen since the 2019 show season. It's good to renew old friendships.

Our booth at Chimacum

All in all, it's just really nice to feel like people are feeling safe to be "out and about" again!

Quite gratifying is also the fact that we're starting to see a few Alchemy Stone "collectors" who have been following my work through the years and how have whole "displays" in their homes! That's far beyond anything I had ever hoped for... and I have much gratitude!

We're going to take a well-deserved rest now, but look forward to another year. I'm already thinking up new ideas and design styles.

I will be posting a schedule of 2024 events we'll be attending sometime in the spring... or when we get some sort of sense of when we'll be where! In general, though, we recommend visiting the Etsy shop as it is always "in stock!"

In the meantime, we'd like to wish everyone a very Happy Holiday season!

Showtime: First Time at the Port Gamble Ghost Conference!

This year, we expanded our horizons a bit by including more "niche" events in our show schedule.

Alchemy Stones tend to appeal to a very wide audience, and we have long had a strong "fan base" within UFO-Paranormal-Metaphysics circles. 

So, for the second weekend in November, we returned to historic Port Gamble, Washington for the 2023 Port Gamble Ghost Conference. Although we have previously been at a Steampunk event in Port Gamble — a decade ago — this was our first time to be part of this particular event.

The event — well, the part where the vendors were — took place in the history Port Gamble Theater. 

One of the things we really enjoyed was that the vendor tables were in the same auditorium as the presentations, so we got to participate, while also showing off the stones to a new audience.

We had a really enjoyable time, and the weather also cooperated reasonably well!

I'm adding a couple of photos of our table from inside the main theater, but they are a bit dark and grainy. It is, however, a very cool old building... as is all of the town of Port Gamble.

Pete Orbea and crew put on an excellent event, and it was quite well attended. As I said before, we have a fairly large "fan base" in the world of the paranormal, and this was no exception. We got to see quite a few familiar faces, and we made some new friends, as well!

This was a fun event, and we definitely hope to be back next year. We might even have two vendor spaces, as Sarah is hoping to give a presentation, and she will have her Spiritus Mundi Oracle Deck ready to sell by then.

 

Alchemy Stones 2023 Holiday Show Schedule!

Here's our current schedule of 2023 Holiday Fairs and Festivals we will be attending with Alchemy Stones (and sometimes Faery Howses), and we hope you'll come by and visit us in person!

November 10-12th: Port Gamble Ghost Conference

Port Gamble, Washington

December 1st-2nd: Festival of Lights

Unity Spiritual Center, Port Townsend, Washington

December 9th-10th: Chimacum Arts & Crafts Fair

Chimacum High School, Chimacum, Washington

December 17th: Last Minute Holiday Fair

Palindrome, Port Townsend, Washington

We'd love to see you in person, and Alchemy Stones are definitely best seen in physical space where you can actually pick them up and have a closer look. We will have lots of new designs for you, for Holiday giftgiving!

Otherwise, Alchemy Stones are always available through our Etsy shop — open 24/7! — just click the link below, or scan the QR code with your phone!

Alchemy Stones Etsy Shop

Other online stores:

Alchemy Stones on eBay

Alchemy Stones on Amazon

Alchemy Stones on Facebook Marketplace

We look forward to seeing you, this holiday season!

New Category of "Petite" Alchemy Stones now on Etsy!

When we take Alchemy Stones to events and shows, the most popular thing on offer are usually our "petite" stones.

Not surprising, as they are still entirely hand made, but they are also a "quick and easy gift" between $6.00 and $10.00.

So far, I have not had any of the petite stones in the online shops, primarily because I don't keep a detailed inventory of them and when shopping online, we usually want "the one in the picture."

Given the time needed for individual photography, photo processing and listing a single item for sale, I have not previously explored this particular avenue.

However, I also know that "times are tough" for many folks and these are our most popular stones... so I have now created a new "Category" in the Etsy shop where you can find individually painted "Petite" Alchemy Stones, priced at just $9.00 each... and it's just in time for Mother's Day!

These are only available online, and are actually a little more complex than the stones we offer at outside events!

Meanwhile, I also have plans to find a way to create something similar for small Chakra Stones, which are also very popular at shows.

Stay tuned!

10th Anniversary and Valentine's Day Special Offer!

As mentioned a few weeks ago, January 2023 marked the 10th anniversary of Alchemy Stones “formally” becoming a thing. Yes, I have been painting mandalas on stones for longer than that, but prior to 2013, it was just "an occasional hobby."

As a special Thank You to the many who have supported, encouraged and otherwise been part of the Alchemy Stones journey, we’ve created an Anniversary/Valentine’s Day offer: 

Visit the Etsy Alchemy Stones shop and use the coupon code “23IN23” when checking out and get 23% off your purchase! And if you spend $35 or more, you also get FREE SHIPPING (USA only)!

The Etsy store is freshly loaded with many previously unseen stones I painted during the “Pandemic Period” during which we didn’t go to shows, including heart stones, pendants, sets and much much more… with new items being added daily!

But don’t wait too long! Everything IS one-of-a-kind, and the offer expires at midnight on Valentine’s Day, February 14th!

Happy New Year 2023!

Well, the calendar page has flippped over to a new year again — and now we write 2023!

Happy New Year to everyone who has been part of the journey, and who has supported Alchemy Stones over the years!

2022 was a year of "rebuilding" for us, primarily in the form of our return to doing outside face-to-face shows and festivals. Due to the pandemic, we did not attend any in-person events between December 2019 and July 2022.

It was really nice to feel that it was "Safe to come out and play again!"

It was also lovely to see some old familiar faces, as well as to make new friends! Hopefully 2023 will allow us to continue taking Alchemy Stones to shows so we can meet you all in person. 

Naturally, we still rely substantially on the Alchemy Stones online shops, in particular on eBay, Etsy and Amazon Handmade. Yes, you can buy Alchemy Stones on Amazon!

Wishing everyone a beautiful and prosperous 2023!

Showtime Again! Chimacum Arts and Crafts Fair 2022

And so, we have come to the final event of 2022, as well as one of our favorites: The annual Chimacum Arts and Crafts Fair!

It was my intention to post well in advance of the show, but "the usual" happened: We get really busy ahead of events, so we get caught up in making items rather than writing blog posts.

So instead we'll share a few impressions from the show... which also capped off our first year "back" on the show circuit after what we now think of as "The Covid Years."

All in all, it was a good show, and we were happy to re-meet some old familiar faces, as well as make some new friends! There's little doubt that many people are experiencing challenging economic times, and it was primarily "the little things" that were the hot sellers. 

Of course, every show has its own unique character!

Somewhat noticeable — on a more personal level — is the fact that the whole "Community Rocks" craze that took off around 2016 or so has somewhat died down. 

When I originally started painting Alchemy Stones (almost 15 years ago!), it was a very esoteric artform and there were only a few dozen other people in the US that I was aware of doing it. 

The whole landscape changed with Community Rocks projects springing up in every town across the nation and abroad... and suddenly "painted rocks" became quite commonplace.

It seems like Alchemy Stones have now become more "interesting" and unique again... and I'm happy about that!

Meanwhile, Sarah's Faery Howses and Alchemy Stones are becoming more and more integrated as a "joint but individual" venture. Not so long ago, we acquired the domain "Sticks and Stones" which will take over as the "umbrella" over our creative projects... but Alchemy Stones and Faery Howses will continue to be their own "brands," as well. 

Like many things, it'll be a slow and gradual process to meld it all together!

We'll try to post updates as we progress, but Alchemy Stones and Faery Howses are only part of our creative lives, so it'll take time!

As always, we are very grateful to the organizers of the Chimacum Arts and Crafts Fair who always put on a great event! What was particularly nice about this year's event was that we are now able to set up on Friday evening, which is a lot better than having to get up and put together a booth at oh-dark-thirty in the morning!

Last but not least, thanks to the many who came by and visited the booth during the two days of the show! We hope to see you again at future events, or via our online stores!

Christmas in July: First Show in 2 1/2 Years!

We usually take Alchemy Stones to a number of fairs, shows and festivals every year. It's a great way for us to meet people, and for folks to actually see (and touch!) the stones in person!

Because of the Pandemic and the attendant health risks, there pretty much were no shows during 2020 and 2021. All we ended up with was a list of cancellations, and then an empty events calendar.

Of course, that's perfectly understandable: a large group of people attending a show in an enclosed space would pretty much have been what they label a "superspreader event."

So we stayed home and did our best to share Alchemy Stones online.

The opportunity to finally "get back on the show circuit" presented itself here in July, when our local Unity Spiritual Center had their first event after the pandemic... a "Christmas in July" arts and crafts sale, featuring primarily local artisans.

It was nice to get back out, and we enjoyed a very nice event!

It was also the first time the growing collaboration between Sarah's "Faery Howses" and my own Alchemy Stones came together.

From this point forward, you can always expect to see the two quite different — but complementary — creative endeavors side-by-side, when we are doing outside shows!

Our next major show will be one of the biggest on our calendar: "Crafts by the Dock" here in Port Townsend in September. It's one of the longest running events in our area, and runs in tandem with the annual Port Townsend Wooden Boat Festival, which draws tens of thousands of visitors to our town, every year.

As always, thanks for stopping by, and we hope to see you at the next event! In the meantime, why not visit one of our online shops to see the latest Alchemy Stones and Faery Howses?