On July 2 a new glass Ohm Bead will be coming out called Cairn. The Laboratory Assistant for the design was my close friend Patricia McClure, otherwise known as @the_mcctrish on Instagram. She runs an account to show a ‘lighthearted look at beads, shoes, fashion and accessories the #mcctrish way’. Which is to say, she takes pictures of beads with her shoes showing in the picture. Others are invited to do the same, and she re-posts their pictures. It’s a little tricky to do a #mcctrish but here is a short video (one of my all time favourites!) of Trisha showing Julia of True Beadz how to do it.

Anyway, at Beadmas a while back Trisha won a contest where people were asked to describe a bead that would represent faith. Trisha talked about smooth, stacked rocks as a faith symbol and thus a bead was born.

Stacks of rocks, or cairns in Gaelic Scotland, have been built since prehistoric times as trail guides, burial monuments (or markers for buried food and treasures), as astronomy charts, as military defenses, or for ceremonial rites in sacred places. An old Gaelic blessing of friendship states, “I’ll put a stone on your stone.” Coastal cairns, painted white, were used to warn ships of rocky shores or travelers of dangerous cliffs. In South Korea, hikers stack stones for good luck in tribute to the Mountain Spirit.

Today, stacking stones are often used as a meditative practice. The rugged durability of stones represents the soul–or truth itself–that which is eternal, yet the carefully balanced rocks can easily topple, which represents the impermanence of life and all our temporal efforts. The act of stacking and balancing stones requires focus, patience, and profound stillness of the mind–each carefully placed stone is a prayer or thought of gratitude–a meditation on the oneness of self with the vibrations of the stones and the surrounding environment.

Our OHM CAIRN will add a subtle, carefully balanced hue of color to your bracelet, reminding you of the precious impermanence of each day, the gratitude you feel for guideposts along your journey, and the friendships you share that stack blessing upon blessing. “I’ll put a stone on your stone” and a pebble of good luck too!

The bead has an off white core, with dots of ivory, taupe and burgundy. It’s below in the middle of the bangle. The beads pictured left to right are Fog, Royal Blood, Cairn, Metal-ation and Fog.

I tried making a larger bracelet using some of the Rawr glass beads, because of the taupe colours.

This is a bit of an unusual colour combination, but I quite like the result!

Lately I’ve been addicted to Animal Crossing New Horizons, so had to make a themed bracelet. I used the silver Who Dead because it looks like Blathers! I also used the Dreamtime bead because it looks like a little gecko is on it. If you want to see more Animal Crossings bracelets, check out my friend April’s blog post here.

Lastly, I used a couple of Labradorite beads from Andrea of Sticks & Stones Beads. The bead on the far left uses dichroic glass (which I LOVE) but I can’t remember what this bead is called.

So, I hope you enjoyed a quick look at the Cairn bead! Trisha and I have long enjoyed beads n’ coffee together, and so I was really happy to see this bead that is so special to her! This sample was provided by Ohm Beads.