Hello everyone!
Hi Everyone!
So this blog will be about different crystals - not just the crystal healing attributes but the history of how each crystal was found and used in the past! I will also be delving into the geological properties as well.
Firstly though, I feel you need to know a bit about me and what I do! My name is Alexandra Neal and I own a UK company called Aphrodite Designs which specialises in crystals and handmade gemstone jewellery. I also as you can see from this photo own a beautiful basset hound called Louie!
If you told my younger self I would be doing this I would have told you 'no I am going to work in a museum'. My first love is history - preferably ancient history. The Greek myths and legends have fascinated me for years! I decided to follow this path and did an Ancient History and Egyptology degree. I graduated in 2010 - just as museum jobs were being cut. What I didn't realise was that actually a lot of the ancient myths and legends were associated with crystals!
So I just jumped into a warehouse job - better a job than no job. I stayed in this for 4 years.
In 2013, while in the job I had started jewellery making. I had crafted for most of life - started with cross-stitch then at 14 started card-making. I was at the NEC craft show at Birmingham and saw a jewellery making kit for £20 - the 3 basic tools, a bead mat and enough beads and instructions to make a necklace, bracelet and earrings. I decided I would try it out not expecting to enjoy it. I still have that first piece! I caught the jewellery making bug - Most crafters know how easy it is to end up taking on several crafts! I saw a kit on a UK TV Show Jewellery maker - gemstones!
I am an avid lover of gemstones – have been since I was 8 - I am a TOTAL MAGPIE- anything sparkly you can count me in! I also loved learning about where they were from and was fascinated that they all came from the Earth! If i hadn't gone into history, Geology would have been my second choice!
I thought to work with gemstones and make my own pieces.. wow I was so excited. I started making and eventually made so many gemstone pieces that I could not give them all as presents - as most crafters can relate to! So I decided to go to a small craft fayre at Brown Edge and that is how Aphrodite Designs got started.
In 2018, I decided to adapt and began a journey that I am still loving. I began selling crystals and minerals alongside my jewellery and found my niche! I began to learn from my customers about the world of crystal healing, that I had limited knowledge on and I had not expected to bump into Crystal healing! I decided that I needed to learn a bit more about it, first of all to help my customers know about the items I had available, however it soon became a bit of an addiction for myself and helps me understand my own personal collection of crystals.
I began to purchase books and learn more about the crystals I was selling - I knew some general facts about each crystal before from my love of collecting them. I used to show my crystal collection off to kids that my sister was teaching at the schools she was at and did talks on it. It was lovely to see how amazed and excited the younger generation was about what came out of mother earth!
I have now been trading as a business for about 10 years - 3 years in a shop in Leek, Staffordshire and 7 years doing stalls in Leek, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales
I got married in 9th July 2023 to my husband Phil outside in the open beautiful air and made sure i gave crystals to my guests! I am now pregnant with my first child and hoping that they will have my love and fascination for crystals!
So I hope this explains who I am and how I got to my love of crystals. Any questions or items you would like me to help with give us a message or comment and I will try my best! Thank you for reading this and hopefully you will want to read the next one!
Please check out my website www.aphroditedesigns.org or find me on instagram aphroditedesigns88!