Frequently I am distracted by pretty shiny things, and Star Dancer Designs, by Jeanie Hay Sternbach, has been catching my eye for quite a while.
Whether it’s at Martha’s Vineyard Fashion Week, Citrine or pop-art shows on the Island, her creations pique my interest. This is unexpected because many of her pieces have crystals.
I haven’t worn crystals since the early 90’s. However, I could’t help but admire her work.
Finally at the last show where I saw Jeanie, I said that I’d love to meet and learn more about her and her jewelry. We set a date and time, and she invited me to her studio in her Oak Bluffs home.
Her studio is full of beautiful, colorful stones and crystals. She works with about 40 different kinds. There was so much to look at, and I felt like I had a lot to learn.
So Jeanie and I got working on my eduction and learning about how she began her journey.
Star Dancer Designs is more than eye candy, it’s jewelry that’s created to help you as an individual. For centuries, people have believed in the power of certain stones and crystals. How did Jeanie start working with them?
Jeanie moved to the Island when she was nine months old. Her parents wanted to raise their child surrounded by natural beauty.
Ever since Jeanie could remember, Sunday was Family Day, when she and her parents would spend time hiking and taking in the beauty of Martha’s Vineyard. Because of this, and her parents love of the outdoors, Jeanie has always felt a connection to nature.
From an early age, Jeanie felt a calling to be a healer. She answered that by becoming a massage therapist. Working in Vineyard Haven and at Integrated Health, she has been able to help many people work through physical issues, but she felt like she could do more.
How do crystals tie in? Well, for years she had this image of what’s called an Amethyst Cathedral, a large arch of the beautiful stone surrounded by rock. She didn’t do anything about it, but knew that one would find her.
While at a trunk show at her friend Patricia Cliggott’s house, the founder of Loving Kindness MV, she saw an Amethyst Cathedral that matched her vision.
Patricia’s partner, Eric, is a crystal dealer, and so began her introduction to crystals and stones, and the healing properties they possess.
Massage and Crystals
As Jeanie learned more about how crystals can assist you, she began to carry them with her. She would use them on herself before she gave someone a massage.
She found she was more centered and focused, and ready to give so much of herself to the person she was giving a massage to.
Then, Jeanie began introducing crystals into the massage itself.
There are a number of different ones she used, but the three main ones, were Rose Quartz, which assists with emotional release and calming, Amethyst which is for clarifying, calming, and is a universal healer, and Clear Quartz, which assist with balance.
Her clients felt a difference and this became part of her massage therapy.
Creating Star Dancer Designs
Since Jeanie always wanted to have a crystal with her, she began to make jewelry with them. This way, it was easy to have it with her.
Her friends started to comment and want their own pieces, and so she began creating and selling her pieces. Jeanie calls them offerings because so much attention and part of herself goes into each piece.
Each crystal has its own healing property. Some of Star Dancer Design pieces have one type, some have a combination of crystals that complement each other, in its assistance to the person wearing it.
Her jewelry designs come to her while working with the stones, designs come naturally. She has several styles but there more to come.
She is taking her time growing the her jewelry line because at this point in her journey, she wants to create each piece.
Jeanie said she doesn’t have to sell her jewelry. The pieces sell themselves. Different things appeal to different people.
She says it’s their intuition that helps them choose the right one. Their body gravitates towards what it needs. Each piece of jewelry comes with a corresponding card that provides information on the property of each stone used.
Many people that buy Star Dancer Designs reach out to Jeanie for custom pieces to help them with areas that might be troubling them in their lives. The right combination can offer some much needed support.
Jeanie calls her work, gifts of healing. She is hoping to help people with each piece she creates. She enjoys being able to help and send healing energy to people she may never meet in person but can help.
When she asked me what spoke to me, I wanted to say something interesting like Amazonite or Blue Jade, but the one that I gravitated to was the Clear Quartz necklace that was on a leather strand. Totally not my style, but there was something about it.
As I had learned from Jeanie, the Clear Quartz is really quite powerful. It’s a balancing stone, balancing you and the people around you. Being a bit of a Type-A personality and a multi-tasker, I often feel so out of balance.
I am hoping that perhaps this necklace will help me on some level, and I am open to the possibility.
I have to admit that talking and leaning about about crystals and powers initially seemed a little “hippie dippie” for me, but at the end of our two hours spent together, it seemed like what she was talking about is possible, and quite frankly many of us can use all the help we can get.
Wearing jewelry can make you feel better on it’s own why not wear something that might be helpful?
Properties of Crystals
Each stone has it’s own healing power and can be used as a way to assist people whether spiritually or physically. Not that the crystals do it for a person, but are there to help a bit.
Jeanie will be hosting a series of educational posts on Star Dancer’s Facebook page and Instagram page. This will give people the opportunity to learn more about the crystals she works with and how they offer assistance. She is sort of demystifying the complexity of crystals, helping navigate what might help you.
After working with crystals for years and creating her jewelry, she has seen people experience success, and there is more of a demand for her gifts of healing.
You can find Star Dancer Designs at Citrine, Revive, Integrated Health Care, and soon at Craftworks, all on the Island.
Jeanie is such a kind person to talk with. She is centered and has a willingness to nurture. It doesn’t come as a surprise that she is a healer.
She also is a yoga instructor. You can learn more about her and Star Dancer Designs on her website and Facebook page, and there is so much more you can discover.
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These jewelry looks are so pretty, I like it so much.