Spark of Amber - Baltic Amber Necklace

Baltic amber jewelry has been talked about for a while now, though I'm still surprised when people don't realize the versatility of it. When I was given the opportunity to review an amber necklace from Spark of Amber, I thought it would be a great way to help spread the word about Baltic amber jewelry.

So what IS Baltic Amber jewelry?

"Baltic Amber is a fossilized resin. Euorpeans greatly prize this beautiful stone for its claimed 100% natural anti-inflammatory, pain relieving, and calming properties. The healing oils of the Baltic Amber are said to relieve teething pain, tame baby's irritability, and relieve inflammation in the throat, ear, and stomach." - quoted from Spark of Amber's summary on their beautiful teething necklace "The Midnight".

Note that I quoted that from a teething necklace page. Please know that these teething necklaces are not meant to be chewed on, but rather are named as such due to their potential healing properties. They can help alleviate teething pain and symptoms. They should never be chewed on!

Should a child chew on it, or should it break, each bead is individually knotted so they don't have the opportunity to shove a handful of beads in their mouth.

Spark of Amber offers so much more than just teething necklaces, though. You can get amber necklaces, amber bracelets, hazelwood and amber jewelry, earrings, keychains... they seriously have some options! You can even have a custom mother's bracelet made that has beads that represent children's birthstones. To see all their options, check out the "Browse Products" tab on their page!

Are you looking for something natural to potentially help with attention, focus, or hyper-activity? Check out "The Serenity" necklace as a possibility! Lepidolite and Black Tourmaline beads are added between raw Baltic amber beads to encourage calming. The colour of the beads also makes it completely gender neutral, so it will be great on boys or girls.

All of the amber beads used in Spark of Amber's jewelry are from Lithuania due to their high quality.

Since Bobble is not interested in wearing anything at the moment and Squiggle is ready to remove something after mere minutes, Spark of Amber sent me a necklace for myself. I was sent the lovely Luxury Green Adult Amber Necklace "The Meadow":

It arrived in a cute little bag which was quickly confiscated by Bobble to be used for Lego storage (or something like that). Thankfully, I was able to retrieve the necklace before he made off with it!

The colour varies from each necklace due to the nature of the amber resin, and in the direct sunlight this can still look a bit orange or brown. This is one thing I absolutely adore about the necklace, though! I love how it can appear different in different lighting, and I love how each necklace is completely unique because of this natural variation.

A close-up of the clasp closure

Though my camera focused on my actual fingers instead of the necklace, this gives you the absolute best idea of the exact colour of the specific necklace I got. As I mentioned above, this can look a bit different in various settings, and it will vary from necklace to necklace, bead to bead.

The above was taken in indirect, morning lighting, and below was direct morning light. Neither picture has had colour tweaked or filters applied.

The particular necklace I got was polished, and was longer than I would normally wear. I liked that I could tuck it into my shirt and out of sight of Squiggle, though. She tends to grab and pull on things that she likes (read: everything), and would have tried to yank it right off of me!

You can also find unpolished, or "raw", jewelry from Spark of Amber.

The necklace was very beautiful (as you can see), light weight, easy to put on and take off, and was very comfortable. Anyone that happens to have longer hair or lots of little hairs on their necks has likely felt that horrible pull of a hair while wearing a necklace. That hasn't happened with this necklace. Not a single time. The necklace is very good quality!

I'd like to add this little tidbit on Baltic Amber in general: I've used Baltic amber jewelry on both of my children and myself, and various different brands over the last 5 years. From what I have experienced first hand, the effects of the jewelry differ from each person. Granted this is not medicine, the best way I can think of to liken the differences is to compare to a pain reliever. Some people get a migraine and need 2 children's pain relievers, and another person could have a migraine and take numerous extra-strength pain reliever to get the same effect.

Every person is different.

Bobble didn't have any response to the Baltic amber jewelry he had (positive nor negative). He looked adorable, and that was that.

Squiggle seemed to have lessened irritability when wearing hers.

I started wearing some amber jewelry because I have joint pain and headaches. My headaches decreased in frequency, though I didn't wear amber continuously and cannot really attribute the wearing of it to lack of joint pain or not.

No matter what your reasons for wanting to try Baltic amber jewelry, you will be guaranteed a gorgeous piece of jewelry. That gorgeous jewelry might just help with your child's pain caused by teething or earaches, too. Best of all? NATURALLY.

Don't just go off of what I say, though... try it yourself! Spark of Amber has generously offered one of my readers an item of their choice (up to $30 value)! Enter below for your chance to win! Can't wait to see if you won? Check out their store and get some high-quality Baltic amber jewelry with really fast shipping. They get orders out quickly!

Giveaway is for US/CAN only.

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Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was sent the above product for review. This did not influence my opinion of the product in any way. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts of Fluff is not responsible for prize shipment.

Channel your inner geek

I'm a geek. I always have been one, I will always be one. Perhaps I'm a nerd. Maybe both? Either way, I'm a gamer. I've always loved gaming, and even though my gaming days have been limited since parenthood, it never leaves my blood! It's part of who I am.

I was poking around a retail website (you could probably guess which one after the rest of this sentence) a while back, and I saw one of those awesome D20 necklaces. I wanted one, but, as usual, it was out of stock. I got curious and poked around on Etsy.

I found them.

I found LOTS of them.

Not all of them were that great, though. I mean, many of them were okay, but I'm rather picky. If a picture is slightly off-center, I must fix it. I was given a ring (previous boyfriend) that had a marquis stone and two accents... and the marquis was crooked. That was the first thing I noticed, and it bugged me daily. So yeah, not all of the things I found were stellar, but one shop stood out.

PROJECT NERD

This shop had beautiful spiral caged D20 necklaces. I mean beautiful. Other shops had some that were crooked, uneven, etc., but Project Nerd had so many necklaces and perfect spiraling.

I got a necklace for myself, but Bobble got jealous. I got him one, too.

The quality was great both times. Bobble even had his shipped in this cute little box with tissue paper around it. He was ecstatic.

The die comes out easily, though I wouldn't recommend it for young children (like Bobble) who like to tug on things. His necklace got stretched a bit too much (the caging). It still holds nicely, but it bothers my quirky, perfectionist self. Of course, mine looks as perfect as the day I got it, and I've taken the die out numerous times. It wasn't taking the die out that caused the issue, it was a 4 year old thinking he should tug a bunch and stretch it out.

As you can see, he did tug a lot on it. I have taken my die out at least a dozen times, and it has maintained proper shape. I assume he just tugged and tugged. (I say "assume" because he took it to school for show and tell one time... and it came home like this.)

I also don't let Bobble wear his necklace without an adult around, because the die is tiny. Four is plenty old enough to know better, but that doesn't stop him from doing things he know he shouldn't any other time. Better safe than sorry!

Not only has this necklace made me friends that I might otherwise never have met (random conversation starter with strangers!), but it has saved me from a screaming child in doctor office waiting rooms. The die makes a great distraction for Squiggle! I had pictures of that, but they all came out blurry because she was playing and moving around so much.

She also loves it as a nursing necklace.

Project Nerd has more than just spiral D20 necklaces, though! Check out these neat die earrings and the MTG pendants!

Ohhhhh, but wait! The best part! Not only is the craftsmanship fabulous on these items, but the prices are awesome, too! The price varies by the die selected, but they are between $7 and $10 (excluding shipping) for the D20 necklaces.

Did I say that was the best part? I guess I was wrong... because this is the best part:
Project Nerd is going to give one of my readers a d20 necklace of their choice! YES! GIVEAWAY!!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway
Disclaimer: Thoughts of Fluff was not compensated for this post. The items mentioned above were purchased by me. All opinions are my own and may differ from those of your own. Thoughts of Fluff is not responsible for prize shipment. Giveaway is open to US only.