Kelly Parke and Sugar talk about all things about the creation of her book series about Mineral Fairies.
Kelly's passion for drawing and rock hunting led her to create books to teach kids about mineralsc
Oquirrh Mountain Fairies result from Kelly Parke's lifetime love of drawing and cartoons. To engage students, she also creates coloring books and lessons about minerals.
Look for her Oquirrh Mountain Fairies online. Kelly also creates pendants from rocks she hunts in the areas around her Utah home. There is so much information!
Listen and enjoy!
Find Kelly's website at https://oquirrhmountainfairies.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hi, welcome to jewelry as your side hustle. And this is gay
(00:07):
is worth. And I'm so happy to be here. She goes in the house.
And today we're going to be talking to Kelly Park. And
Kelly has a really unique product and idea. And I just can't
wait to hear all of her thoughts about how she got to where
she is because this is unique people. This is not like what
you've seen before. So hold on. Here we go. Let's get started.
(00:31):
And welcome to my podcast. Kelly, take it away. Tell us who
you are and give us the kind of the basic one little paragraph
about you. And then we'll want to hear what you have to say.
Well, thank you for inviting me. My name is Kelly Park. I am a
(00:54):
creative. I've been a creative since I was four, a little bit
of a prodigy with illustration since then. And I eventually
became an accidental author and author of the ochre mountain
fairies, coloring and story books. But from that, I started
(01:14):
to make pendants and necklaces. I just sent a link. And hopefully
I can bring that up on the screen. Are you able to see that?
Yeah, we know what you know what I did do is I did go on your
website and I think it was so now you just answered my first
(01:35):
question. Do you do all that art?
I do everything. Yes, I'm the illustrator. And in fact, I
published it myself. I was flat on my back for two months from
my copyright came in, because I was mangled in a car accident.
I just sat there like, Okay, I have this copyright. What am I
(01:55):
gonna do with it? And but yeah, I got my first copyright in
2019. And I spent five years drawing over 200 illustrations.
But I had this idea. And I used to be a steam teacher. So
science, technology, engineering, art, and math. And so, and you
(02:17):
know, I even though I had 500 students a week, I still wanted
to not only inspire the kids, but I also wanted to help the
teachers, because it's hard to come up with curriculum hard
hitting curriculum, very difficult when you're put in
charge of your own curriculum. And I know a lot of them turn to
different sources. So I gave I created a from from the books I
(02:42):
created a teacher pack a steam infused teacher pack, which is
great fun. I saw the whole tab for for teachers and I thought
brilliant, like I get where she's going with this. Yes. And so
because I'm a rockhound. So not only do I create the artwork and
the design and all that. For the necklaces, I go out and hack
(03:04):
the minerals out of the earth myself. And are they readily
available? Because they are you have to know where to go.
Okay, let's talk about first of all, where are you? Because I'm
coming your way. I'm in Utah. Oh, of course. Lots of geological
fun. easily available because you don't have all the grass
(03:27):
covering everything. It's wonderful place. It's it's
really they've got some very unique minerals here and I've
hacked out. I've hacked out some beautiful gems. Tell me tell
me your favorites because you know, I'm I've been working all
week with my head in a Selenite collection, which is really
(03:47):
have been a fun collection. I saw that. Yeah. And I just got
some Selenite. Have you ever found it in the wrong because
it's there. It's available in the rough. I have now I went to
what we call an urban rockhounding where there are
some folks who mine and they bring it all back and I sell it
(04:08):
raw. So I found some Selenite there but I I just wrote about
Selenite and book number three. It's very fun. Um but um I
think one of my favorites um lately has been the piratized
type of um no no almost anything piratized. It looks
(04:34):
almost. Yeah. It's so beautiful. It's um you know,
Amethyst is always a favorite because of the purple
sparkles. Um but it's so funny because I can't think of
what what did your Selenite look like? Was it a log? Was it
or is that like a actually I use it. Um I get it in hex
(04:57):
hexagonal cutouts so I can place other minerals on it but
you know, you have to be careful with handling Selenite.
That's when I saw it. I thought, oh, I hope she's wearing
gloves. Why? Because tell me, I know that it's not very good
with water. Yes. Yeah, there's a couple things that aren't
very good with water but um it's considered um it's
(05:20):
considered um part of your like CMag it and let's see. I'm
looking at I'm looking at all my stuff. No, it's not one of
the I was thinking of Soda Light. Sorry about that. Yeah.
Soda Light. I know the the white and blue. I know Soda
Light. Yeah, I was thinking of Soda Light because that's one
of the um silicates that I and you can find a lot of
(05:43):
silicates here in Utah like um there's quartz of course. Of
course. Um Turmaline, Topaz, Soda Light, Opal, Garnet,
Jasper and Chalcedy. Um and what and what have you found
out of all that? Because of course, it's like Utah, Arizona,
like those are like the two prime. Well, one of my favorites
(06:05):
in Milford, Utah, I found Fluorite. I love you. You did
like tell me was it like a chunk? It was like crystal
white. Yeah. And you can see them on my website on my
blog. I show pictures of my mineral hunting and um there's
uh so Fluorite's probably one of my favorite. Was it green?
(06:27):
Because it comes in different shades, right? Like blue. I
found greens but purple is also very yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Very beautiful but something very interesting
about a place um in Wendover. So, right before you get to
all the casinos, there's a whole bunch of hills and up in
there's some formations up that that you climb up and
(06:50):
there's what you call seam agate. Okay. Seam agate is
beautifully transparent and you can almost it's like a
clear rock and it has at the bottom what we call plumes.
They look like flowers at the bottom. In in book two, I
(07:11):
talk about this quite a bit. I got a chunk this big like and
so materials from that one chunk are gonna last me another
couple years. I already sold all the necklaces. Most of the
necklaces. Those are on your website too. Yes. While some
necklaces. Yes. And you can you can kind of see in book
(07:33):
number two, I actually do it. Yeah, I drew it. You're so
talented. Like that's a skill I did. I did not master and you
know why? Because when I was in sixth grade, my art teacher, I
did a sunset out of tissue paper. It was beautiful. It matched
the sunset really like how it goes into like the you know,
(07:56):
darker colors to the sky. Yeah, she said, no, that's the
worst sunset she's ever seen. So, I never picked up art again
until I got to college and that is a true story. I was like,
all my sisters all did it. My mother was an artist. Everybody
was like, no, not going there. Not interested. You know that
happened to a friend of mine. She was told by an art teacher
she should never go into design. That's really all teachers
(08:19):
out there. Never, never, never, never, never tell somebody
that they should never do anything because I just said
something.
It's like the reverse but to cripple a teacher, a student
can cripple somebody like I don't think she had any idea but
my sisters were really good artists. So, she expected a
(08:39):
little bit more out of me, I thought but you know, right?
The only one that kept up with the art after I found myself.
So, that's okay. I'm glad. But let me tell you about your
drawings because when I was looking at them and I thought
of all and and that you're combining rocks and minerals
with the stories. Now, have you had any feedback from
(09:00):
teachers that are saying, ah, we got some new rock counts
because of you because I I would want that. Well, the way
it works because I mix science. Yes. Geological science.
Art. Fantasy. And just magic. I think it's mad. I think you
(09:23):
definitely show magic in your work. Like that's that's a
theme, right? Yeah, the feedback I got, the the biggest
feedback I got from teachers is they love the hands on
because I have them make the molecules out of candy. Oh,
they're actually even though I'm not trying to go real far
with the molecules, it does introduce them to the concept
(09:46):
of deep science. Um all the words in my books actually use
real science words. One time I got some feedback that said,
don't you think you should water down the words? I'm like,
no, I want them to learn the real words in a fun way. And
so, here's the biggest feedback of all which I captured on
(10:08):
video when I was doing footage for my commercial and my ads.
So, they learn about the properties and the characteristics
of let's say calcite. Big, big mineral here in Utah,
especially in the Great Salt Lake. Um so, they're learning it
like you do and I make it interesting and steam like but
(10:30):
here's what pulls it together. So, with calcite when it comes
in contact with acid, it melts. So, when all the fairies are
running from the bad guy, acid ion, calcite's especially
afraid and that's when the kids are like, it's because it's
acid. So, they automatically get it because of the fairy
(10:55):
character because the characters themselves have taken on
characteristics of the minerals. So, of course, you would be
afraid. So, they all relate to her being afraid and they
never forget that characteristic of calcite. That is a great
story. That is a great story. You're so clever. And to the
(11:18):
mineral, also talking about each of the molecules really
kind of goes into the conversation of the hardness
of that. Most hardness, yes. Yeah. Stale of hardness and when it
comes to calcite, it's a pretty good level like fluoride.
Fluoride's very soft and I learned that the hard way. So, I
(11:40):
went out to Milford. Now, you said how hard you know, you
asked how hard it is to get some of this. Well, some locations
have claims on them where you have to pay. Yeah. Yeah. Others
like Bieland land and and other areas. I just have a
certificate that I'm an official rockhound with the club.
I'm insured and I can go and rockhound to my heart's content.
(12:05):
They might have limits to how much I can take off the land,
but it's essentially free. But for fluoride, I had to pay a
hundred bucks to get on there and that gives you all day. I
found what's called bubble opal with the fluoride.
Bubble opal is an amazing stone. Have you ever seen it? I'm
(12:28):
not sure. Does it have a bubble in the opal that with walks?
It's got so it's like a clear white but transparent too, but
it has all these bubble facets in it. Almost like a bubbly
diamond and it catches the light. I saw all but one of my
bubble fluoride pendants that I made. They they're amazing.
(12:50):
You get them and they look just like this horrible little
poop rock. Right? Yeah. They throw it in a tumbler for a month and a half
and it comes out like a gem. Okay now wait so you talked to me about
tumbling because you're the only person I ever know that tumbles rocks besides me.
You actually put them in there for up to a month and a half like to really get
them shiny. In different stages. Yeah yeah of course.
(13:13):
Oh yeah yeah. Um but yeah like. Final stage where it shines it up.
Right the first one where it gets all the roughness off and I even have a
vibrational tumbler as well. Um and two three regular
tumblers because I I got all new material this year so so I can't wait
(13:33):
but um what happened was when I got all that beautiful fluoride
I didn't understand how how soft it was and I tumbled it so long. It disappeared.
I almost didn't get anything. Problem. Like they tumbled the dust and I'm like yeah.
(13:55):
He just washed it down the sink with the sand.
Not down the sink. I don't best stuff outside. That's blurry. It's bad for your
pipes. Yeah yeah of course of course but I I was like in in tears because I
love fluoride. It's so beautiful. So so pretty and transparent and um I looked
(14:16):
forward to making pendants and I ended up I think I might have one.
Well you can always go back and go get more rock maybe. Oh yeah.
In a box but you know I had a huge piece of fluoride while you're grabbing that.
That was a brilliant blue. I mean brilliant turquoise. That's not even what I was saying.
Brilliant purple. It was like the most beautiful amethyst you would think. Let me
(14:40):
see your piece. Look how tiny that's. Yeah I know honey. It's so tiny.
It's like this little baby butt. Here's the thing.
The pendants that I make just these fun ones. Yes.
Um all the pendants um. Oh you got it one caged in there. I see that. Oh that's
all little baby fluorides. That's no that's so cute. I used to be like this big.
(15:06):
I know I know I'm sorry. I gotta hook you up. I gotta hook you up with a poxy sculpt girl.
A whole lot of the way of doing pendants. A poxy sculpt. Oh my god I make so many of them.
Yeah. No no no no. It's a poxy clay and you can like turn those things like into little
(15:28):
acorn bead caps and you know you can put powders on them or gold leaf or whatever and then it just
becomes do I not have any in here. I don't think I have any pendants in here but I
certainly use a poxy sculpt for everything so we'll we'll talk about that maybe offline and I'll
you know I've written two books and they're pretty much on epoxy clay because it's such I
(15:51):
used it today like it's kind of one of those things once you're you're grooving to it you're like oh
no this is more fun. In fact those the solodon pieces that I was using I did a bead cap on a
14 millimeter bead and then I put little moon stones in it and you know then you put the like the
(16:11):
little circle at the top and you run the little wire down it to begin with because it's a bead so
then you have a little dangle at the bottom and you have this bead cap and it's not going anywhere
and uh it's really fun it's really it's like a game changer it opened up my jewelry because I
was a wire I loved wire but after that I was like never going back. I thought about wire.
(16:34):
I thought about this year I've been thinking of new ways to make it even drilling some holes because
the necklaces I make aren't high end like yours. Right there's little there yes yes yes.
For kids and teens it's like the teenagers love this little where I have the little gems. Yes
(16:55):
that's what they want just something that's adorable oh and how cute you have the price
this is a 3d print of one of my illustrations oh that's so cute I have a 3d printer I have not
gotten into that yes and got into that and so here's that agate that I got oh I love it and then
(17:21):
so the triple they can wear them all together because a couple years ago that was the trend
yeah um and now they just take them apart and wear them separately and the the teens love the
little yarn ones with the little okay now I saw black you had black like rib it what was your
black that was on no no on the oh the when you had the whole thing of them oh just the black cord
(17:46):
because you know another thing that I've done in the past it's really eco friendly is go to the
tire shops bike shops I love those what is that that is obsidian yeah did you know there's a rainbow
obsidian yes a sparkle to it it's in yeah it's amazing I've seen it in person I haven't seen it I
(18:09):
only saw it it's just beautiful yeah your guesses because I did pick up some obsidian when I was in
Guadalajara in tequila but anyway go to your bicycle shops then they have big dumpsters pull out the
old tires open them up clean them all out and then you can just with good sharp scissors make little
ribbons and it's like easy peasy costume nothing and one tire you can have it for it'll last I don't
(18:34):
know I have a bucket of it still yeah that that you know it's it's you know it's recycled inner tube
tire and that's really good for the environment because this shook sooth used to be on inner tube
tire but it's high moved it's friction because seriously yeah we need to hang out more I love
(18:55):
all your rocks it is it's not glamorous because I find a real rock on what's that oh what happened
Donnie so part of being a rock hound is it's great to find the big chunks but you have to
slide them and I missed and got my that hurts that hurt it did it did but it's healing fast but
(19:17):
it's my first you know injury I did that to a piece of Malacate which was actually really hard
and that stuff I put that in a tumbler and yeah it turned out pretty good not as good as I was
thinking because I probably need to tell more but you quickly it quickly starts shrinking down so
much I kind of got scared I was like I'm gonna take this out again for a little bit I don't know
(19:41):
like it's a fine line right it's smooth I like it shiny and it's hard I even do it to my I have a
lot of landscaping glass rock chunks oh okay and when they break up and they kind of sometimes do
if they have a lot of natural cleaves in them and then you put those in there but I haven't
(20:01):
ever been able to get it shiny I've just been able to get it matte and then I top it with a coat of
resin because I'm too quick for that I'm like no I can't I did I did spray some of them because I
found out that fluoride is very difficult to get shiny it's so soft and so I did spray it with some
(20:21):
sparkly we're artists I don't think that there is a problem with using fingernail polish I use
fingernail polish on something today oh it was something I needed to make a mold up but I really
wanted it to be shiny at the end so I'm like it was an ancient Roman ruin but you know who cares
that I'm bringing up all of that I can always take it off it's metal it's like whatever when I
(20:45):
when I do a show at our annual mineral show um that you know the collectors they they really care
about if you chemically altered it but the carrot yeah they don't care they don't care so and you
know even turquoise today it's all got wax and color on it like the real turquoise that comes out
(21:07):
of a mine is pretty hard to find but it's so soft that they do something to make it make sure it
doesn't fall apart on us because yeah I've definitely had things I had I definitely had things fall
apart like rocks and so you're like okay well yeah I was dicking around with something the other day
and it kind of went into a million pieces I'm like okay well that sucked we had a bunch of
(21:31):
pyrite that we were looking at and when you when you tried to grab it it crumbled into little cubes
it's actually kind of cool but nobody really likes to buy little cubes oh I'm sure we could
figure out some way to do something with it I throw it in a bottle and sell it yeah and your
little bottles were cute those little bottles so they have a big enough top that you can yeah the
(21:56):
cork so that that I use I don't let any of my minerals go to waste so after I'm all done tumbling
yeah I have a teeny colander strainer and I dump them in there and pick out all the teeny pebbles
and put them in those little jars yeah because I I totally believe oh you know what I'm doing for
a friend who has a bra shop I'm making little clips with and it spells out words it's that acronym
(22:23):
word jewelry you know and a piece and you know all different kinds so you could put your minerals
on your bra and wear them close to you and then it's going to spell out like I don't know there's
all these different words I put it through chat gbt I'm like okay use you can use any of these
letters I went through all the letters I'm like okay I don't have x yz there's a few letters like
(22:46):
not very many just like six and and give me all the positive current words because that was a common
thing in the victoria times but we don't really use the words that they were using you know they
were using different words than what we use so it's a cute little project you know sometimes though
(23:08):
like um my my whole approach is kind of old-timey even my animation is a little bit old-timey um
it takes you know a person back to probably the 70s and 80s when they used to sit in front of tv and
do cartoons I don't know if you saw my definitely that I kind of felt that I kind of felt like
(23:30):
yeah I mean here I was to think back and go well what does it look like a little bit of scooby-doo
yeah a little bit and the words though um in my first book I used there's some bad guys there's
one bad guy and he's followed around by these little bubble goons and I call them goons because
they're thugs you know and that's because I'm older that's yeah from my time you know goons and
(23:57):
um my daughter who's you know half my age and younger reminding me that you know the terms you
use have changed you might want to check that I'm like no I think I'm gonna be okay just because
it's an old-timey kind of style and I hope that people get that it's not a slur of any kind it's
(24:19):
just you know if you're a bad guy you're a goon if you're picking on people you're a goon right yeah
yeah yeah that's okay but terms you know terms change and and I try to stay real in the books I try to
keep it based on friendship and inspiration and how we help each other and our human connection
(24:41):
I think that's why the kids relate to it because like one of the I made a board game and I did a
couple um prototype parties for it and the kids right away said well if if the queen is out there
helping all the other you know fairies and I'm with her so they connect to the character right
(25:03):
away. Positiveness of a little fairy nothing bad about a fairy yeah now you also have coloring books
too right? That's what yeah that's where everything originates from is it's a it's not you know how
most coloring books have just like a little bit of copy and it's all color well mine's kind of a
lot of copy and some coloring too so they read you're telling a story so yeah it's an adventurous
(25:28):
story and I did get some feedback um I got some feedback where other authors said they really
like what I'm trying to do with it but I should think about a chapter book so book number five
is going to be a chapter book because then I'll get to expand on all the little things
(25:49):
that held me into the format of a coloring book right yeah so that's what's exciting you know and
I think that's a way to because I'm a writer too I've written two books that have been
published blah blah blah you know that's that's my thing I'm and I've written a novel and so
it's hard to get those published and then but I realized really the best way to get something
(26:13):
published is to write another book like in that genre you know I'm actually a full-time tech
writer for a global giant but um so I I do love writing it's definitely something that I really
enjoy oh I had to tell you something fun about my little project that I'm doing for Niagara
(26:34):
it's an Niagara Falls gift center that's coming up new it's going to be a new gift center on the
US side and I used to live in that area and I know the area very well my husband's from up in that
area we spent a lot of time so I lived in the Canadian side but he lived in the US side so it's
very much like I had an address in Niagara so you get it I'm there and and I had just been doing a
(26:55):
podcast about the in the 1800s sorry I was looking to see if my notes were here but they weren't
but um George Coons was a rock rock and mineral hunter back in the 1800s and all of that virgin
earth that had been pulled up for the Erie Canal and all those earthworks and they even strained
(27:18):
out the the Niagara Falls at one point to make it a power station and so and then the locals were
able to find chunks of selenite and they would then chip it down and then sell it to the tourist
saying that this is the foam from Niagara that solidified and they're called Niagara pearls
(27:38):
so this whole collection is called you know Niagara foam pearls but they're not really they're you
know because you have to realize too I think this is something as as beaters fabricers like people
that are rock counts is that China started carving you know jade which is just like one step
(27:59):
underneath diamonds and they only this is before we had metal and they were able to cut that jade
with bamboo and water so the fact that they're the world's outlet where beads are made and India too
it's you know a lot more glass over there but they do minerals too almost everything goes to
China becomes a that's a mineral comes back to us as beads because they have the technology for
(28:25):
10 000 years on how to deal with these beads which is too bad I can't it's hard to find
mineral beads that are actually made here because it takes a lot of equipment and all that yes I
know people who do spheres big spheres and oh yeah but selenite is actually fun to carve it's
(28:46):
easier to carve than it is to tumble because it's so delicate um yeah yeah in my I just
it's just so much in my garage but I have a chunk of selenite because my goal is to carve the
selenite sword in book number three oh are you gonna start off with a log and then shave it down
(29:16):
so I have a chunk that I got urban rock hounding and I'm going to carve it down into the sword that
I drew in my my little book about mineral power so I was up by um Mount Rushmore up in that North
(29:37):
Dakota North Dakota Montana area great mineral rock and they had a whole mine there by the side
of the road it was just like tons of these logs and I brought back one and I use it oh it's at my
ranch but you know that I'm thinking about it maybe I should move it out of the where it could get a
(30:00):
little bit of water on it but yes I I mean I'm and I bought more and I bought more and I bought more
and I bought but that piece is like it's it's such a special piece because it holds that memory of
I did a cross country trip across Canada and back through the US and just buying rocks and minerals
and I came back with my car full it was like the best thing I ever did for myself because
(30:25):
I didn't have to ask anybody I didn't have to do anything it was just like oh go there
like I didn't even know what it was like I'm like oh at the time you got it you didn't know it was
yeah it was a good long time ago but yeah I'm seriously I I they're very precious if you came
(30:45):
to our ranch I saw the discovery zone on the porch it's all the way around the porch are fossils
minerals and gems inside too but on that it's for the grandkids you know so that they can come and
actually hold a piece of copperlight or hold a piece of whatever that's what I do for the teacher
kits as I put actual minerals in the kits so I know did you know that's when you were little kids
(31:09):
were you did you have this little boxes that you could go oh you know you would go to a trading
post that's what they had back then right you know the trading post and there'd be a little
cellophane cover and there'd be a little piece of sultry a little piece of something yeah back
then I was more interested in candy however I have collected rocks since I was little and it's
(31:32):
funny because when all this started my husband's like since when do you like rags I'm like you
don't really know me do you honey after 30 years I had them in my pockets I had them I just never
really expressed myself with them until my mineral fairies came about and and as I opened up
(31:56):
about those because I've always been interested in science geology all kinds of science
um it's I've been a nerd with a lot of things and so having that come out and blossom has been
enriching yes you have like yes you probably can't see it but it's my mini museum yeah did you buy
(32:21):
that somewhere I did it was several years ago and I have the oldest matter ever collected that
oh four billion years old or something I have a lunar rock a Martian rock are you kidding a meteorite
I have a couple meteorites um palm tree from Antarctica a dinosaur egg shell I have vertebrae
(32:45):
from dinosaurs and I oh I gotta give me one of these yeah Dracula I have Dracula's uh castle
I have from the Transylvanian Alps I have stuff and where did that come from where did you find
that that's um fine that's something you find four years ago um four years ago there was a kick
starter when kick starter was fun yeah um and this guy had collected all this like like you and I
(33:13):
would just gathered the things we like over the years and he realized he had just all of this
amazing stuff like stuff he hunted down stuff really precious stuff that you you just don't find and
he's like well I'd like to bring a museum to you and when I saw that my jaw just dropped I'm like
(33:37):
I'm getting that I just had to have it it doesn't matter what it costs it's something
that feels better knowing that we have something that we can look at and appreciate like I do I
look at it all the time and I just I'm I'm marvel about the history of this earth and and that's
(33:59):
you know partially leads into how much I love the minerals because I I sit in awe that they were
created thousands of we're wearing pendants like these little minerals these are these are cheap
little minerals um you know they're they're thousands of years old a thousand and they come
in natural colors that are just unbelievable it's just I just uh the shapes I'm just amazed
(34:24):
and the creativity um there is where is it um I think it's now I like I'm inspired by different
things and that's a lot of my inspiration helps me to write my books but it's not just um like
there there was a photo I saw from some some photographer I never knew and immediately I
(34:51):
started thinking about why no exactly how that will fit in my next book and it's this gigantic
rock that basically points to the sky and he got it with all the stars and I thought so I paid him
for that photo so I can draw it and incorporate it into my beautiful and so that's how it works with
(35:12):
me I a giant piece of assault coming on the earth is that what it's like uh it's like it's like uh I
don't even know you know most most of rock most of what we see are the um how do I explain it in my
my lessons um you know there's three different things that have been washed away well you know it's um
(35:37):
um you know there are a lot of places where you can see the layers of sediment over the years but
this particular rock looks like um it has a matrix of probably four five different types of
the you know the categories that you find in rocks there's let me think I can test myself I
(36:01):
hope they edit this part out because no we're not gonna edit anything out but you know I have a minor in geology
like it's like you know yeah it's from TCU and they're they're the repository of all the
asteroids that hit the earth that hit the US they all go there to be studied so I was surrounded by
(36:22):
and tectide and like you know vissuvia's side or whatever it's called like seriously like it's it's
definitely I don't know I've I've been a rock person since early like you like we were born
artist right like we were born yes we were we really were I had my little rocks from early on
(36:44):
well I'm thinking of because most of the rocks that we actually balk on are the sedimentary rocks
that's why I was trying to think of was the three different types of rocks the igneous which is like
obsidian which is almost like glass it's like like you know the actual lava that just kind of cool
off and then you have the metamorphic which is a combination of the igneous and the surrounding
(37:13):
rocks and minerals so it's combination and then the sedimentary you'll notice and that's what this
big rock formation reminds me of shale and sandstone limestone and calcite falls into that
category where that's what you're walking on that's the matrix of most of the the land that you're
(37:34):
walking on right there is the sedimentary rocks you know you you need to come to my
right I need to come to your place and you need to come visit me because at our ranch was an
ancient peoples and I haven't found any any points but the handmade tools are just prolific
(37:55):
they're everywhere I mean you pick up a rock and it's like oh my god this fits perfectly oh look
it has a tip oh look when I look at my hand it's like oh my god like look at that or it's a been
carved to look like a duck or it's been carved to look like they were there for you know 10 000s of
year so on our little piece of property we really we I don't go anywhere without a rock pocket I have
(38:18):
a little purse can I make right rocks and rocks everywhere just have piles of rocks folders cans
of rocks everywhere because we're like crazy because it's like how can we not pick them up
they're so every time the rain comes it brings up more rocks so oh you know that place in
(38:41):
Milford where I got the fluoride and the bubble opal that's also a burial site it was yeah and you
can actually see arrowheads and and things that were buried with folks and so when we the the rule
is because they actually own that land out of respect they just put it back where they found it
(39:08):
um just because you know when they I think when they agreed to put the claim on that I know the
claim owners um and when they they told me that um when they bought the claim they agreed to honor
the burial sites I guess it was one of those uh deal breakers that they wouldn't have got the
(39:28):
claim if they did not honor those areas so um yeah yeah and I did I did see a couple while I was there
but I didn't pick them up there used to be a show it was on I think it was PBS and it was like the
mineral collector did you ever see that and he goes all over the world and goes into these like
(39:48):
really deep mines and goes into like all of the stuff it might still be online I mean she could
still find it he actually had a he has a place in Dallas where he sells his minerals like he's
a known name and but it was it was the best show like you actually got to go into the mines with him
and see some of these really rare places where they they risk their lives to go down into these
(40:15):
yeah you know very small little caves it's really that's give me a show about that and I don't need
anything else I am happy I am I am watching my shows like no those are some of the the jewels
and the minerals that they pull out of those places they just make me drool they just because oh
(40:36):
you find some of that here like when I was talking earlier my big thing right now is that um
piratized petrified wood you get a piece of a petrified wood and it's got pyrite all over it so
it's been piratized it looks like something out of science fiction I hope I land my hands on one of
(40:57):
those I just okay so one of one of my dear friends and I say that he's dear I'm his wife is dear and
I send her free jewelry every time she buys something I like me I just made her an amazing necklace
but they are the ones that do that ginormous saikora saikora petrified trees that are like
(41:21):
you know 12 feet across and they put them in museums I met him at the Tucson Juman Mineral
Show I came back I just saw him in February and I'll hook you up on Russell Russell something
is the name um anyway I'll I'll hook you up on on Instagram or Facebook because it's amazing to see
(41:43):
what they do to you know dig those pieces up and transport them he actually his um where he
where he polishes everything and you can you imagine polishing that these gigantic pieces
and he has a lot of work it's really amazing like I bow to him that that was a job and a half
(42:05):
and he's around yeah he yeah well yeah but he actually works out of like Maine they have an old
and he has a really old building that he bought in Maine that had it was like you know some kind
of a foundry or something so it had all the pulleys and it oh no this is out here yeah and if you
look at his stash of what he has you know the the logs that are you know they're it's big as you
(42:31):
can imagine as big as a refrigerator they're gigantic like they're as big as a car and you know
so he digs that up and hauls it across the US and they they coat it in concrete first and and big
huge metal straps so it doesn't fall apart because it is a little until they can get it together and
put it all up but fascinating world of petrified wood and he's the one that explained to me how
(42:55):
it was made and he's written a book and you know he's really kind of at the the pinnacle of the whole
petrified wood thing but it all there's Utah and Arizona like that's where it's from to find I used
to live in Tucson I used to live all over Arizona but I wasn't even a rock on that I was just this
young kid but it got in you it got in you it got in yeah now you've been back to the Tucson Jim
(43:21):
middle from I just get distracted you know life life has its way of yeah acting you it's hard
it's hard to go especially if your pockets aren't full I ended up going you know I I was a seller I
was a vendor at the Tucson Society shows and and I love that show because you know but there's nobody
(43:42):
really like me there so I'm a bit of but they the media did their news their daily newscasts
from my booth because it was gonna nice yeah we love all that like you and I would have been crazy
we would have been like oh my god look at that oh my god look at that yes and there's you know I'm
fortunate here um you know soul sister like yourself you and I really kind of get it I belong to a
(44:06):
club a mineral club and that's how they are they're just salt of the earth people just they just love
going out and getting the rocks and you know we go to Tucson but see they also run the gem show and
the gem show that we do is really we do for the kids we make these little rock bags and the latest
(44:29):
video that I posted um on my Facebook page um it shows everybody hammering that's the day I busted
my my thumb but the the idea is to make all these little wonderful little bags of rocks
we put in everything we found this year we break it all up we we grabbed some stones some
(44:52):
polished stones that we buy from Tucson probably that show and we put those in the bags we put
some of those little pendants that you saw that I hung up we put one of those in like every third
bag or something as a little surprise we and they only cost a buck for this little bag of rocks and
(45:13):
imagine how we were as kids to have a treasure like that and that's what we do it for we we just and
the kids all around locally all in Tula County they all sew bags the teachers teach them how to sew
and they sew the bags so they're all looking for their bags when they come to get the rocks
(45:36):
oh how cute so it's this real community connection the kids are all involved in it and they just love
coming to that show and I I have a blast I love to talk about the mineral fairies and they they love
my little dinky necklaces you know it's just so much fun to see their faces light up and
(46:02):
there's so many different subjects so many different kinds of kids yeah stop at my booth and
that's another thing I made sure that the teachers know is that those kids that are neurodivergent
they always find something in my books it's not just for the creatives it's for a lot of
a lot of different types of kids so um that's my joy right there is when they come up and
(46:27):
they they are inspired I totally understand that I totally I totally feel that just with you just
talking to you I'm like I could be that kid again I wanted to share with you too I had a shaman
one time who told me that rocks do talk they just talk really slow I was like okay who knows
(46:50):
so maybe your fairy can slow down her talking and talk as like as slow as a rock that gives me
an idea for another character for my character I know I'm thinking it too I've seen it and so now
you're gonna remember about the inner inner recycle inner tube tires because there's tonsil
let me just go to buy another great for little kids because they cost no money you don't have to buy
(47:13):
a chain there's a little bit of wire closes it up and I really hope that you and I will connect again
and just it's just you have filled me with joy because I've been working by myself all week
and I did a little thing loving working with sell and I didn't really never really did much with it
(47:34):
before which is really interesting because I have cat's eye and I also have cello night and if you
put the two of them together they look pretty similar and I'm like I don't even know if they'd
even know the difference between cat's eye and cello night oh well maybe so I'm not here but it's
like fiber optic you know fiber they call it cat's eye beads but you know it's fiber optic and has
(47:55):
that same striations the same you know luminosity when you hold it up the same I'm like I don't think
I could see the difference I don't have that flaky like layer kind of thing going on because
someone I'm famous for that it is and and I do know what you're talking about that kind of a bit
(48:16):
of a roughness not as smooth but definitely yeah I don't know you really have to be fun to see what
you come up with oh I came up with all of this so it's it's about I kind of did it first thinking
well the tourists are more you know from overseas and you know it's kind of like trying to get into
the head of because I was a jeweler for the sea and tower for four years I kind of was going back
(48:39):
into that time and then a guy goes no let's do it all like it's like the turn of the century like
the you know late 1810 or something like okay I'm on that so I made a whole different collection
just finished photographing it and sending it to him as little videos and then I'll go back and
pricing is tricky isn't it it is it is you know it's funny is you made me think about
(49:01):
how I met my husband tell me that story and then we'll wrap it up for the day I want to hear
I met my husband when he sold diamonds I work next door at a place that sells what you make
not as nice but same idea they call it custom jewelry back then yeah and so I will walk by to
the food court and flirt with him he ended up teaching me everything I knew about diamonds and
(49:28):
I did sell diamonds for a brand name that dealt with New York at one point in time so maybe that
kind of you know because diamonds you know that's a pure mineral that's just as pure as you can get
it and and I used to sell them very well a long time ago in fact I was in tech quite a bit but
(49:54):
I made a decision to to keep more in touch with my creative I still do tech you know still playing
around with a 3d printer and using tech to make sure I you know print my illustrations no one else
is so that means I have to slice it and do the tech myself but I I like keeping in touch with
that little creative girl so I made a decision a purpose to purposely a decision to go that route
(50:22):
and I think my life is much happier because of it but it started with you know flirting with the
diamond guy I love it well we all have to start somewhere but you know I'm we're we're really
so similar you know I think that at my age if you hadn't kept up with tech you would be so
(50:45):
behind the curve because everything changes on a every other day basis pretty much in tech
so you know there's so many ways that we use tech now but that's a whole other conversation
and we have reached our hour but you and I are now bonded forever so I'm so I'm isn't this like
(51:07):
a great little hour that we just spent just like feeling our love of rocks into our soul like it
just catching up with an old friend really you are you are now you're an old friend or a new old
friend or at least it's just a new friend so nothing is so funny because last time we tried to meet
(51:28):
I had a razor blade in my tire couldn't get home today because I still have a day job I am a
marketing guru coding and designing and marketing I do that by day but I ran out of gas
and I I came home on with maybe five miles left of gas okay dang how close is the closest gas
(51:59):
station was it is it within five it's not far from my house but I have to go all the way around
the ochre mountain and so there's a there's at least 20 miles well you can't go anywhere so I'm
like you know praying for gas vapors because I would have missed it again if I had to stop
(52:22):
is that the craziest thing it's like I hope your husband can get you or you can get put some gas in
there before you take off he's got a gas can yeah just in case I mean but isn't that crazy
it's just okay it's just it's just what it is like just it was just meant to be that today was the
(52:43):
day because now I've done all that selling night work for an entire you know week you know actually
a little bit longer because I don't you know deal with it all so now we had something even fun and
now I'll I'll show you those selling night pieces and I look for out of you and I would love to do
another one we should talk again because we could talk all about diamonds I have so much to say about
(53:06):
all diamonds and maybe you know we can share notes about some new ways I want to do some pendants
like I've I've really done them in a very simple way so but well not for these these are not simple
but the other pendants are and I'd like to kind of take it to the next step I'm gonna show you some
(53:27):
I'll email it to you or else or I'll or on Facebook I'll get them to you okay all right well you're
a deer and say okay so say it again says Kelly Parker with a P and your name yeah Kelly Park
P Kelly Park yeah with an E and I saw that E but I didn't see the R so you're right but you go by
(53:47):
I'm on Instagram you are actually they shut down my Instagram okay no Instagram for you so it is
Facebook and it's just if you type in ochre mountain fairies like OQIRRH it's a different way
but it's the only ochre in the whole world right but if you type just that word and you will find me
(54:13):
on Facebook okay the mineral fairies you'll find that so yes and then I have my website I was like
mineral fairies oh my god they're really marital fairies like I want to know them oh I'm glad you
took I'm glad you invited me on it was I think we just don't get enough time to connect like this so
(54:35):
thank you I agree this has been the best thing for my soul is to get to spend an hour each week
with somebody new and really like just dig in and just find other connections because there's so many
how many how many have you done how long I think well this is like number eight or nine or something
like that so you're fairly new but we're good there spread the word yeah I just started doing
(55:00):
little videos just yesterday so but not podcasts so well if you need to have some help on all that
I pretty much get it all that too you know whatever we'll chat we'll definitely because we've learned
and we've learned I could do a little thing for you okay well we've gone past our time and then my
little my little Omar gets mad at me he's like I want to have her time how am I supposed to do that
(55:24):
don't worry about it okay well thank you and now we're friends forever we are we thank you again
and I I wish you had the best rest of your day and go get some gas
Hi, welcome to jewelry as your side hustle. And this is gay
(00:07):
is worth. And I'm so happy to be here. She goes in the house.
And today we're going to be talking to Kelly Park. And
Kelly has a really unique product and idea. And I just can't
wait to hear all of her thoughts about how she got to where
she is because this is unique people. This is not like what
you've seen before. So hold on. Here we go. Let's get started.
(00:31):
And welcome to my podcast. Kelly, take it away. Tell us who
you are and give us the kind of the basic one little paragraph
about you. And then we'll want to hear what you have to say.
Well, thank you for inviting me. My name is Kelly Park. I am a
(00:54):
creative. I've been a creative since I was four, a little bit
of a prodigy with illustration since then. And I eventually
became an accidental author and author of the ochre mountain
fairies, coloring and story books. But from that, I started
(01:14):
to make pendants and necklaces. I just sent a link. And hopefully
I can bring that up on the screen. Are you able to see that?
Yeah, we know what you know what I did do is I did go on your
website and I think it was so now you just answered my first
(01:35):
question. Do you do all that art?
I do everything. Yes, I'm the illustrator. And in fact, I
published it myself. I was flat on my back for two months from
my copyright came in, because I was mangled in a car accident.
I just sat there like, Okay, I have this copyright. What am I
(01:55):
gonna do with it? And but yeah, I got my first copyright in
2019. And I spent five years drawing over 200 illustrations.
But I had this idea. And I used to be a steam teacher. So
science, technology, engineering, art, and math. And so, and you
(02:17):
know, I even though I had 500 students a week, I still wanted
to not only inspire the kids, but I also wanted to help the
teachers, because it's hard to come up with curriculum hard
hitting curriculum, very difficult when you're put in
charge of your own curriculum. And I know a lot of them turn to
different sources. So I gave I created a from from the books I
(02:42):
created a teacher pack a steam infused teacher pack, which is
great fun. I saw the whole tab for for teachers and I thought
brilliant, like I get where she's going with this. Yes. And so
because I'm a rockhound. So not only do I create the artwork and
the design and all that. For the necklaces, I go out and hack
(03:04):
the minerals out of the earth myself. And are they readily
available? Because they are you have to know where to go.
Okay, let's talk about first of all, where are you? Because I'm
coming your way. I'm in Utah. Oh, of course. Lots of geological
fun. easily available because you don't have all the grass
(03:27):
covering everything. It's wonderful place. It's it's
really they've got some very unique minerals here and I've
hacked out. I've hacked out some beautiful gems. Tell me tell
me your favorites because you know, I'm I've been working all
week with my head in a Selenite collection, which is really
(03:47):
have been a fun collection. I saw that. Yeah. And I just got
some Selenite. Have you ever found it in the wrong because
it's there. It's available in the rough. I have now I went to
what we call an urban rockhounding where there are
some folks who mine and they bring it all back and I sell it
(04:08):
raw. So I found some Selenite there but I I just wrote about
Selenite and book number three. It's very fun. Um but um I
think one of my favorites um lately has been the piratized
type of um no no almost anything piratized. It looks
(04:34):
almost. Yeah. It's so beautiful. It's um you know,
Amethyst is always a favorite because of the purple
sparkles. Um but it's so funny because I can't think of
what what did your Selenite look like? Was it a log? Was it
or is that like a actually I use it. Um I get it in hex
(04:57):
hexagonal cutouts so I can place other minerals on it but
you know, you have to be careful with handling Selenite.
That's when I saw it. I thought, oh, I hope she's wearing
gloves. Why? Because tell me, I know that it's not very good
with water. Yes. Yeah, there's a couple things that aren't
very good with water but um it's considered um it's
(05:20):
considered um part of your like CMag it and let's see. I'm
looking at I'm looking at all my stuff. No, it's not one of
the I was thinking of Soda Light. Sorry about that. Yeah.
Soda Light. I know the the white and blue. I know Soda
Light. Yeah, I was thinking of Soda Light because that's one
of the um silicates that I and you can find a lot of
(05:43):
silicates here in Utah like um there's quartz of course. Of
course. Um Turmaline, Topaz, Soda Light, Opal, Garnet,
Jasper and Chalcedy. Um and what and what have you found
out of all that? Because of course, it's like Utah, Arizona,
like those are like the two prime. Well, one of my favorites
(06:05):
in Milford, Utah, I found Fluorite. I love you. You did
like tell me was it like a chunk? It was like crystal
white. Yeah. And you can see them on my website on my
blog. I show pictures of my mineral hunting and um there's
uh so Fluorite's probably one of my favorite. Was it green?
(06:27):
Because it comes in different shades, right? Like blue. I
found greens but purple is also very yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Very beautiful but something very interesting
about a place um in Wendover. So, right before you get to
all the casinos, there's a whole bunch of hills and up in
there's some formations up that that you climb up and
(06:50):
there's what you call seam agate. Okay. Seam agate is
beautifully transparent and you can almost it's like a
clear rock and it has at the bottom what we call plumes.
They look like flowers at the bottom. In in book two, I
(07:11):
talk about this quite a bit. I got a chunk this big like and
so materials from that one chunk are gonna last me another
couple years. I already sold all the necklaces. Most of the
necklaces. Those are on your website too. Yes. While some
necklaces. Yes. And you can you can kind of see in book
(07:33):
number two, I actually do it. Yeah, I drew it. You're so
talented. Like that's a skill I did. I did not master and you
know why? Because when I was in sixth grade, my art teacher, I
did a sunset out of tissue paper. It was beautiful. It matched
the sunset really like how it goes into like the you know,
(07:56):
darker colors to the sky. Yeah, she said, no, that's the
worst sunset she's ever seen. So, I never picked up art again
until I got to college and that is a true story. I was like,
all my sisters all did it. My mother was an artist. Everybody
was like, no, not going there. Not interested. You know that
happened to a friend of mine. She was told by an art teacher
she should never go into design. That's really all teachers
(08:19):
out there. Never, never, never, never, never tell somebody
that they should never do anything because I just said
something.
It's like the reverse but to cripple a teacher, a student
can cripple somebody like I don't think she had any idea but
my sisters were really good artists. So, she expected a
(08:39):
little bit more out of me, I thought but you know, right?
The only one that kept up with the art after I found myself.
So, that's okay. I'm glad. But let me tell you about your
drawings because when I was looking at them and I thought
of all and and that you're combining rocks and minerals
with the stories. Now, have you had any feedback from
(09:00):
teachers that are saying, ah, we got some new rock counts
because of you because I I would want that. Well, the way
it works because I mix science. Yes. Geological science.
Art. Fantasy. And just magic. I think it's mad. I think you
(09:23):
definitely show magic in your work. Like that's that's a
theme, right? Yeah, the feedback I got, the the biggest
feedback I got from teachers is they love the hands on
because I have them make the molecules out of candy. Oh,
they're actually even though I'm not trying to go real far
with the molecules, it does introduce them to the concept
(09:46):
of deep science. Um all the words in my books actually use
real science words. One time I got some feedback that said,
don't you think you should water down the words? I'm like,
no, I want them to learn the real words in a fun way. And
so, here's the biggest feedback of all which I captured on
(10:08):
video when I was doing footage for my commercial and my ads.
So, they learn about the properties and the characteristics
of let's say calcite. Big, big mineral here in Utah,
especially in the Great Salt Lake. Um so, they're learning it
like you do and I make it interesting and steam like but
(10:30):
here's what pulls it together. So, with calcite when it comes
in contact with acid, it melts. So, when all the fairies are
running from the bad guy, acid ion, calcite's especially
afraid and that's when the kids are like, it's because it's
acid. So, they automatically get it because of the fairy
(10:55):
character because the characters themselves have taken on
characteristics of the minerals. So, of course, you would be
afraid. So, they all relate to her being afraid and they
never forget that characteristic of calcite. That is a great
story. That is a great story. You're so clever. And to the
(11:18):
mineral, also talking about each of the molecules really
kind of goes into the conversation of the hardness
of that. Most hardness, yes. Yeah. Stale of hardness and when it
comes to calcite, it's a pretty good level like fluoride.
Fluoride's very soft and I learned that the hard way. So, I
(11:40):
went out to Milford. Now, you said how hard you know, you
asked how hard it is to get some of this. Well, some locations
have claims on them where you have to pay. Yeah. Yeah. Others
like Bieland land and and other areas. I just have a
certificate that I'm an official rockhound with the club.
I'm insured and I can go and rockhound to my heart's content.
(12:05):
They might have limits to how much I can take off the land,
but it's essentially free. But for fluoride, I had to pay a
hundred bucks to get on there and that gives you all day. I
found what's called bubble opal with the fluoride.
Bubble opal is an amazing stone. Have you ever seen it? I'm
(12:28):
not sure. Does it have a bubble in the opal that with walks?
It's got so it's like a clear white but transparent too, but
it has all these bubble facets in it. Almost like a bubbly
diamond and it catches the light. I saw all but one of my
bubble fluoride pendants that I made. They they're amazing.
(12:50):
You get them and they look just like this horrible little
poop rock. Right? Yeah. They throw it in a tumbler for a month and a half
and it comes out like a gem. Okay now wait so you talked to me about
tumbling because you're the only person I ever know that tumbles rocks besides me.
You actually put them in there for up to a month and a half like to really get
them shiny. In different stages. Yeah yeah of course.
(13:13):
Oh yeah yeah. Um but yeah like. Final stage where it shines it up.
Right the first one where it gets all the roughness off and I even have a
vibrational tumbler as well. Um and two three regular
tumblers because I I got all new material this year so so I can't wait
(13:33):
but um what happened was when I got all that beautiful fluoride
I didn't understand how how soft it was and I tumbled it so long. It disappeared.
I almost didn't get anything. Problem. Like they tumbled the dust and I'm like yeah.
(13:55):
He just washed it down the sink with the sand.
Not down the sink. I don't best stuff outside. That's blurry. It's bad for your
pipes. Yeah yeah of course of course but I I was like in in tears because I
love fluoride. It's so beautiful. So so pretty and transparent and um I looked
(14:16):
forward to making pendants and I ended up I think I might have one.
Well you can always go back and go get more rock maybe. Oh yeah.
In a box but you know I had a huge piece of fluoride while you're grabbing that.
That was a brilliant blue. I mean brilliant turquoise. That's not even what I was saying.
Brilliant purple. It was like the most beautiful amethyst you would think. Let me
(14:40):
see your piece. Look how tiny that's. Yeah I know honey. It's so tiny.
It's like this little baby butt. Here's the thing.
The pendants that I make just these fun ones. Yes.
Um all the pendants um. Oh you got it one caged in there. I see that. Oh that's
all little baby fluorides. That's no that's so cute. I used to be like this big.
(15:06):
I know I know I'm sorry. I gotta hook you up. I gotta hook you up with a poxy sculpt girl.
A whole lot of the way of doing pendants. A poxy sculpt. Oh my god I make so many of them.
Yeah. No no no no. It's a poxy clay and you can like turn those things like into little
(15:28):
acorn bead caps and you know you can put powders on them or gold leaf or whatever and then it just
becomes do I not have any in here. I don't think I have any pendants in here but I
certainly use a poxy sculpt for everything so we'll we'll talk about that maybe offline and I'll
you know I've written two books and they're pretty much on epoxy clay because it's such I
(15:51):
used it today like it's kind of one of those things once you're you're grooving to it you're like oh
no this is more fun. In fact those the solodon pieces that I was using I did a bead cap on a
14 millimeter bead and then I put little moon stones in it and you know then you put the like the
(16:11):
little circle at the top and you run the little wire down it to begin with because it's a bead so
then you have a little dangle at the bottom and you have this bead cap and it's not going anywhere
and uh it's really fun it's really it's like a game changer it opened up my jewelry because I
was a wire I loved wire but after that I was like never going back. I thought about wire.
(16:34):
I thought about this year I've been thinking of new ways to make it even drilling some holes because
the necklaces I make aren't high end like yours. Right there's little there yes yes yes.
For kids and teens it's like the teenagers love this little where I have the little gems. Yes
(16:55):
that's what they want just something that's adorable oh and how cute you have the price
this is a 3d print of one of my illustrations oh that's so cute I have a 3d printer I have not
gotten into that yes and got into that and so here's that agate that I got oh I love it and then
(17:21):
so the triple they can wear them all together because a couple years ago that was the trend
yeah um and now they just take them apart and wear them separately and the the teens love the
little yarn ones with the little okay now I saw black you had black like rib it what was your
black that was on no no on the oh the when you had the whole thing of them oh just the black cord
(17:46):
because you know another thing that I've done in the past it's really eco friendly is go to the
tire shops bike shops I love those what is that that is obsidian yeah did you know there's a rainbow
obsidian yes a sparkle to it it's in yeah it's amazing I've seen it in person I haven't seen it I
(18:09):
only saw it it's just beautiful yeah your guesses because I did pick up some obsidian when I was in
Guadalajara in tequila but anyway go to your bicycle shops then they have big dumpsters pull out the
old tires open them up clean them all out and then you can just with good sharp scissors make little
ribbons and it's like easy peasy costume nothing and one tire you can have it for it'll last I don't
(18:34):
know I have a bucket of it still yeah that that you know it's it's you know it's recycled inner tube
tire and that's really good for the environment because this shook sooth used to be on inner tube
tire but it's high moved it's friction because seriously yeah we need to hang out more I love
(18:55):
all your rocks it is it's not glamorous because I find a real rock on what's that oh what happened
Donnie so part of being a rock hound is it's great to find the big chunks but you have to
slide them and I missed and got my that hurts that hurt it did it did but it's healing fast but
(19:17):
it's my first you know injury I did that to a piece of Malacate which was actually really hard
and that stuff I put that in a tumbler and yeah it turned out pretty good not as good as I was
thinking because I probably need to tell more but you quickly it quickly starts shrinking down so
much I kind of got scared I was like I'm gonna take this out again for a little bit I don't know
(19:41):
like it's a fine line right it's smooth I like it shiny and it's hard I even do it to my I have a
lot of landscaping glass rock chunks oh okay and when they break up and they kind of sometimes do
if they have a lot of natural cleaves in them and then you put those in there but I haven't
(20:01):
ever been able to get it shiny I've just been able to get it matte and then I top it with a coat of
resin because I'm too quick for that I'm like no I can't I did I did spray some of them because I
found out that fluoride is very difficult to get shiny it's so soft and so I did spray it with some
(20:21):
sparkly we're artists I don't think that there is a problem with using fingernail polish I use
fingernail polish on something today oh it was something I needed to make a mold up but I really
wanted it to be shiny at the end so I'm like it was an ancient Roman ruin but you know who cares
that I'm bringing up all of that I can always take it off it's metal it's like whatever when I
(20:45):
when I do a show at our annual mineral show um that you know the collectors they they really care
about if you chemically altered it but the carrot yeah they don't care they don't care so and you
know even turquoise today it's all got wax and color on it like the real turquoise that comes out
(21:07):
of a mine is pretty hard to find but it's so soft that they do something to make it make sure it
doesn't fall apart on us because yeah I've definitely had things I had I definitely had things fall
apart like rocks and so you're like okay well yeah I was dicking around with something the other day
and it kind of went into a million pieces I'm like okay well that sucked we had a bunch of
(21:31):
pyrite that we were looking at and when you when you tried to grab it it crumbled into little cubes
it's actually kind of cool but nobody really likes to buy little cubes oh I'm sure we could
figure out some way to do something with it I throw it in a bottle and sell it yeah and your
little bottles were cute those little bottles so they have a big enough top that you can yeah the
(21:56):
cork so that that I use I don't let any of my minerals go to waste so after I'm all done tumbling
yeah I have a teeny colander strainer and I dump them in there and pick out all the teeny pebbles
and put them in those little jars yeah because I I totally believe oh you know what I'm doing for
a friend who has a bra shop I'm making little clips with and it spells out words it's that acronym
(22:23):
word jewelry you know and a piece and you know all different kinds so you could put your minerals
on your bra and wear them close to you and then it's going to spell out like I don't know there's
all these different words I put it through chat gbt I'm like okay use you can use any of these
letters I went through all the letters I'm like okay I don't have x yz there's a few letters like
(22:46):
not very many just like six and and give me all the positive current words because that was a common
thing in the victoria times but we don't really use the words that they were using you know they
were using different words than what we use so it's a cute little project you know sometimes though
(23:08):
like um my my whole approach is kind of old-timey even my animation is a little bit old-timey um
it takes you know a person back to probably the 70s and 80s when they used to sit in front of tv and
do cartoons I don't know if you saw my definitely that I kind of felt that I kind of felt like
(23:30):
yeah I mean here I was to think back and go well what does it look like a little bit of scooby-doo
yeah a little bit and the words though um in my first book I used there's some bad guys there's
one bad guy and he's followed around by these little bubble goons and I call them goons because
they're thugs you know and that's because I'm older that's yeah from my time you know goons and
(23:57):
um my daughter who's you know half my age and younger reminding me that you know the terms you
use have changed you might want to check that I'm like no I think I'm gonna be okay just because
it's an old-timey kind of style and I hope that people get that it's not a slur of any kind it's
(24:19):
just you know if you're a bad guy you're a goon if you're picking on people you're a goon right yeah
yeah yeah that's okay but terms you know terms change and and I try to stay real in the books I try to
keep it based on friendship and inspiration and how we help each other and our human connection
(24:41):
I think that's why the kids relate to it because like one of the I made a board game and I did a
couple um prototype parties for it and the kids right away said well if if the queen is out there
helping all the other you know fairies and I'm with her so they connect to the character right
(25:03):
away. Positiveness of a little fairy nothing bad about a fairy yeah now you also have coloring books
too right? That's what yeah that's where everything originates from is it's a it's not you know how
most coloring books have just like a little bit of copy and it's all color well mine's kind of a
lot of copy and some coloring too so they read you're telling a story so yeah it's an adventurous
(25:28):
story and I did get some feedback um I got some feedback where other authors said they really
like what I'm trying to do with it but I should think about a chapter book so book number five
is going to be a chapter book because then I'll get to expand on all the little things
(25:49):
that held me into the format of a coloring book right yeah so that's what's exciting you know and
I think that's a way to because I'm a writer too I've written two books that have been
published blah blah blah you know that's that's my thing I'm and I've written a novel and so
it's hard to get those published and then but I realized really the best way to get something
(26:13):
published is to write another book like in that genre you know I'm actually a full-time tech
writer for a global giant but um so I I do love writing it's definitely something that I really
enjoy oh I had to tell you something fun about my little project that I'm doing for Niagara
(26:34):
it's an Niagara Falls gift center that's coming up new it's going to be a new gift center on the
US side and I used to live in that area and I know the area very well my husband's from up in that
area we spent a lot of time so I lived in the Canadian side but he lived in the US side so it's
very much like I had an address in Niagara so you get it I'm there and and I had just been doing a
(26:55):
podcast about the in the 1800s sorry I was looking to see if my notes were here but they weren't
but um George Coons was a rock rock and mineral hunter back in the 1800s and all of that virgin
earth that had been pulled up for the Erie Canal and all those earthworks and they even strained
(27:18):
out the the Niagara Falls at one point to make it a power station and so and then the locals were
able to find chunks of selenite and they would then chip it down and then sell it to the tourist
saying that this is the foam from Niagara that solidified and they're called Niagara pearls
(27:38):
so this whole collection is called you know Niagara foam pearls but they're not really they're you
know because you have to realize too I think this is something as as beaters fabricers like people
that are rock counts is that China started carving you know jade which is just like one step
(27:59):
underneath diamonds and they only this is before we had metal and they were able to cut that jade
with bamboo and water so the fact that they're the world's outlet where beads are made and India too
it's you know a lot more glass over there but they do minerals too almost everything goes to
China becomes a that's a mineral comes back to us as beads because they have the technology for
(28:25):
10 000 years on how to deal with these beads which is too bad I can't it's hard to find
mineral beads that are actually made here because it takes a lot of equipment and all that yes I
know people who do spheres big spheres and oh yeah but selenite is actually fun to carve it's
(28:46):
easier to carve than it is to tumble because it's so delicate um yeah yeah in my I just
it's just so much in my garage but I have a chunk of selenite because my goal is to carve the
selenite sword in book number three oh are you gonna start off with a log and then shave it down
(29:16):
so I have a chunk that I got urban rock hounding and I'm going to carve it down into the sword that
I drew in my my little book about mineral power so I was up by um Mount Rushmore up in that North
(29:37):
Dakota North Dakota Montana area great mineral rock and they had a whole mine there by the side
of the road it was just like tons of these logs and I brought back one and I use it oh it's at my
ranch but you know that I'm thinking about it maybe I should move it out of the where it could get a
(30:00):
little bit of water on it but yes I I mean I'm and I bought more and I bought more and I bought more
and I bought but that piece is like it's it's such a special piece because it holds that memory of
I did a cross country trip across Canada and back through the US and just buying rocks and minerals
and I came back with my car full it was like the best thing I ever did for myself because
(30:25):
I didn't have to ask anybody I didn't have to do anything it was just like oh go there
like I didn't even know what it was like I'm like oh at the time you got it you didn't know it was
yeah it was a good long time ago but yeah I'm seriously I I they're very precious if you came
(30:45):
to our ranch I saw the discovery zone on the porch it's all the way around the porch are fossils
minerals and gems inside too but on that it's for the grandkids you know so that they can come and
actually hold a piece of copperlight or hold a piece of whatever that's what I do for the teacher
kits as I put actual minerals in the kits so I know did you know that's when you were little kids
(31:09):
were you did you have this little boxes that you could go oh you know you would go to a trading
post that's what they had back then right you know the trading post and there'd be a little
cellophane cover and there'd be a little piece of sultry a little piece of something yeah back
then I was more interested in candy however I have collected rocks since I was little and it's
(31:32):
funny because when all this started my husband's like since when do you like rags I'm like you
don't really know me do you honey after 30 years I had them in my pockets I had them I just never
really expressed myself with them until my mineral fairies came about and and as I opened up
(31:56):
about those because I've always been interested in science geology all kinds of science
um it's I've been a nerd with a lot of things and so having that come out and blossom has been
enriching yes you have like yes you probably can't see it but it's my mini museum yeah did you buy
(32:21):
that somewhere I did it was several years ago and I have the oldest matter ever collected that
oh four billion years old or something I have a lunar rock a Martian rock are you kidding a meteorite
I have a couple meteorites um palm tree from Antarctica a dinosaur egg shell I have vertebrae
(32:45):
from dinosaurs and I oh I gotta give me one of these yeah Dracula I have Dracula's uh castle
I have from the Transylvanian Alps I have stuff and where did that come from where did you find
that that's um fine that's something you find four years ago um four years ago there was a kick
starter when kick starter was fun yeah um and this guy had collected all this like like you and I
(33:13):
would just gathered the things we like over the years and he realized he had just all of this
amazing stuff like stuff he hunted down stuff really precious stuff that you you just don't find and
he's like well I'd like to bring a museum to you and when I saw that my jaw just dropped I'm like
(33:37):
I'm getting that I just had to have it it doesn't matter what it costs it's something
that feels better knowing that we have something that we can look at and appreciate like I do I
look at it all the time and I just I'm I'm marvel about the history of this earth and and that's
(33:59):
you know partially leads into how much I love the minerals because I I sit in awe that they were
created thousands of we're wearing pendants like these little minerals these are these are cheap
little minerals um you know they're they're thousands of years old a thousand and they come
in natural colors that are just unbelievable it's just I just uh the shapes I'm just amazed
(34:24):
and the creativity um there is where is it um I think it's now I like I'm inspired by different
things and that's a lot of my inspiration helps me to write my books but it's not just um like
there there was a photo I saw from some some photographer I never knew and immediately I
(34:51):
started thinking about why no exactly how that will fit in my next book and it's this gigantic
rock that basically points to the sky and he got it with all the stars and I thought so I paid him
for that photo so I can draw it and incorporate it into my beautiful and so that's how it works with
(35:12):
me I a giant piece of assault coming on the earth is that what it's like uh it's like it's like uh I
don't even know you know most most of rock most of what we see are the um how do I explain it in my
my lessons um you know there's three different things that have been washed away well you know it's um
(35:37):
um you know there are a lot of places where you can see the layers of sediment over the years but
this particular rock looks like um it has a matrix of probably four five different types of
the you know the categories that you find in rocks there's let me think I can test myself I
(36:01):
hope they edit this part out because no we're not gonna edit anything out but you know I have a minor in geology
like it's like you know yeah it's from TCU and they're they're the repository of all the
asteroids that hit the earth that hit the US they all go there to be studied so I was surrounded by
(36:22):
and tectide and like you know vissuvia's side or whatever it's called like seriously like it's it's
definitely I don't know I've I've been a rock person since early like you like we were born
artist right like we were born yes we were we really were I had my little rocks from early on
(36:44):
well I'm thinking of because most of the rocks that we actually balk on are the sedimentary rocks
that's why I was trying to think of was the three different types of rocks the igneous which is like
obsidian which is almost like glass it's like like you know the actual lava that just kind of cool
off and then you have the metamorphic which is a combination of the igneous and the surrounding
(37:13):
rocks and minerals so it's combination and then the sedimentary you'll notice and that's what this
big rock formation reminds me of shale and sandstone limestone and calcite falls into that
category where that's what you're walking on that's the matrix of most of the the land that you're
(37:34):
walking on right there is the sedimentary rocks you know you you need to come to my
right I need to come to your place and you need to come visit me because at our ranch was an
ancient peoples and I haven't found any any points but the handmade tools are just prolific
(37:55):
they're everywhere I mean you pick up a rock and it's like oh my god this fits perfectly oh look
it has a tip oh look when I look at my hand it's like oh my god like look at that or it's a been
carved to look like a duck or it's been carved to look like they were there for you know 10 000s of
year so on our little piece of property we really we I don't go anywhere without a rock pocket I have
(38:18):
a little purse can I make right rocks and rocks everywhere just have piles of rocks folders cans
of rocks everywhere because we're like crazy because it's like how can we not pick them up
they're so every time the rain comes it brings up more rocks so oh you know that place in
(38:41):
Milford where I got the fluoride and the bubble opal that's also a burial site it was yeah and you
can actually see arrowheads and and things that were buried with folks and so when we the the rule
is because they actually own that land out of respect they just put it back where they found it
(39:08):
um just because you know when they I think when they agreed to put the claim on that I know the
claim owners um and when they they told me that um when they bought the claim they agreed to honor
the burial sites I guess it was one of those uh deal breakers that they wouldn't have got the
(39:28):
claim if they did not honor those areas so um yeah yeah and I did I did see a couple while I was there
but I didn't pick them up there used to be a show it was on I think it was PBS and it was like the
mineral collector did you ever see that and he goes all over the world and goes into these like
(39:48):
really deep mines and goes into like all of the stuff it might still be online I mean she could
still find it he actually had a he has a place in Dallas where he sells his minerals like he's
a known name and but it was it was the best show like you actually got to go into the mines with him
and see some of these really rare places where they they risk their lives to go down into these
(40:15):
yeah you know very small little caves it's really that's give me a show about that and I don't need
anything else I am happy I am I am watching my shows like no those are some of the the jewels
and the minerals that they pull out of those places they just make me drool they just because oh
(40:36):
you find some of that here like when I was talking earlier my big thing right now is that um
piratized petrified wood you get a piece of a petrified wood and it's got pyrite all over it so
it's been piratized it looks like something out of science fiction I hope I land my hands on one of
(40:57):
those I just okay so one of one of my dear friends and I say that he's dear I'm his wife is dear and
I send her free jewelry every time she buys something I like me I just made her an amazing necklace
but they are the ones that do that ginormous saikora saikora petrified trees that are like
(41:21):
you know 12 feet across and they put them in museums I met him at the Tucson Juman Mineral
Show I came back I just saw him in February and I'll hook you up on Russell Russell something
is the name um anyway I'll I'll hook you up on on Instagram or Facebook because it's amazing to see
(41:43):
what they do to you know dig those pieces up and transport them he actually his um where he
where he polishes everything and you can you imagine polishing that these gigantic pieces
and he has a lot of work it's really amazing like I bow to him that that was a job and a half
(42:05):
and he's around yeah he yeah well yeah but he actually works out of like Maine they have an old
and he has a really old building that he bought in Maine that had it was like you know some kind
of a foundry or something so it had all the pulleys and it oh no this is out here yeah and if you
look at his stash of what he has you know the the logs that are you know they're it's big as you
(42:31):
can imagine as big as a refrigerator they're gigantic like they're as big as a car and you know
so he digs that up and hauls it across the US and they they coat it in concrete first and and big
huge metal straps so it doesn't fall apart because it is a little until they can get it together and
put it all up but fascinating world of petrified wood and he's the one that explained to me how
(42:55):
it was made and he's written a book and you know he's really kind of at the the pinnacle of the whole
petrified wood thing but it all there's Utah and Arizona like that's where it's from to find I used
to live in Tucson I used to live all over Arizona but I wasn't even a rock on that I was just this
young kid but it got in you it got in you it got in yeah now you've been back to the Tucson Jim
(43:21):
middle from I just get distracted you know life life has its way of yeah acting you it's hard
it's hard to go especially if your pockets aren't full I ended up going you know I I was a seller I
was a vendor at the Tucson Society shows and and I love that show because you know but there's nobody
(43:42):
really like me there so I'm a bit of but they the media did their news their daily newscasts
from my booth because it was gonna nice yeah we love all that like you and I would have been crazy
we would have been like oh my god look at that oh my god look at that yes and there's you know I'm
fortunate here um you know soul sister like yourself you and I really kind of get it I belong to a
(44:06):
club a mineral club and that's how they are they're just salt of the earth people just they just love
going out and getting the rocks and you know we go to Tucson but see they also run the gem show and
the gem show that we do is really we do for the kids we make these little rock bags and the latest
(44:29):
video that I posted um on my Facebook page um it shows everybody hammering that's the day I busted
my my thumb but the the idea is to make all these little wonderful little bags of rocks
we put in everything we found this year we break it all up we we grabbed some stones some
(44:52):
polished stones that we buy from Tucson probably that show and we put those in the bags we put
some of those little pendants that you saw that I hung up we put one of those in like every third
bag or something as a little surprise we and they only cost a buck for this little bag of rocks and
(45:13):
imagine how we were as kids to have a treasure like that and that's what we do it for we we just and
the kids all around locally all in Tula County they all sew bags the teachers teach them how to sew
and they sew the bags so they're all looking for their bags when they come to get the rocks
(45:36):
oh how cute so it's this real community connection the kids are all involved in it and they just love
coming to that show and I I have a blast I love to talk about the mineral fairies and they they love
my little dinky necklaces you know it's just so much fun to see their faces light up and
(46:02):
there's so many different subjects so many different kinds of kids yeah stop at my booth and
that's another thing I made sure that the teachers know is that those kids that are neurodivergent
they always find something in my books it's not just for the creatives it's for a lot of
a lot of different types of kids so um that's my joy right there is when they come up and
(46:27):
they they are inspired I totally understand that I totally I totally feel that just with you just
talking to you I'm like I could be that kid again I wanted to share with you too I had a shaman
one time who told me that rocks do talk they just talk really slow I was like okay who knows
(46:50):
so maybe your fairy can slow down her talking and talk as like as slow as a rock that gives me
an idea for another character for my character I know I'm thinking it too I've seen it and so now
you're gonna remember about the inner inner recycle inner tube tires because there's tonsil
let me just go to buy another great for little kids because they cost no money you don't have to buy
(47:13):
a chain there's a little bit of wire closes it up and I really hope that you and I will connect again
and just it's just you have filled me with joy because I've been working by myself all week
and I did a little thing loving working with sell and I didn't really never really did much with it
(47:34):
before which is really interesting because I have cat's eye and I also have cello night and if you
put the two of them together they look pretty similar and I'm like I don't even know if they'd
even know the difference between cat's eye and cello night oh well maybe so I'm not here but it's
like fiber optic you know fiber they call it cat's eye beads but you know it's fiber optic and has
(47:55):
that same striations the same you know luminosity when you hold it up the same I'm like I don't think
I could see the difference I don't have that flaky like layer kind of thing going on because
someone I'm famous for that it is and and I do know what you're talking about that kind of a bit
(48:16):
of a roughness not as smooth but definitely yeah I don't know you really have to be fun to see what
you come up with oh I came up with all of this so it's it's about I kind of did it first thinking
well the tourists are more you know from overseas and you know it's kind of like trying to get into
the head of because I was a jeweler for the sea and tower for four years I kind of was going back
(48:39):
into that time and then a guy goes no let's do it all like it's like the turn of the century like
the you know late 1810 or something like okay I'm on that so I made a whole different collection
just finished photographing it and sending it to him as little videos and then I'll go back and
pricing is tricky isn't it it is it is you know it's funny is you made me think about
(49:01):
how I met my husband tell me that story and then we'll wrap it up for the day I want to hear
I met my husband when he sold diamonds I work next door at a place that sells what you make
not as nice but same idea they call it custom jewelry back then yeah and so I will walk by to
the food court and flirt with him he ended up teaching me everything I knew about diamonds and
(49:28):
I did sell diamonds for a brand name that dealt with New York at one point in time so maybe that
kind of you know because diamonds you know that's a pure mineral that's just as pure as you can get
it and and I used to sell them very well a long time ago in fact I was in tech quite a bit but
(49:54):
I made a decision to to keep more in touch with my creative I still do tech you know still playing
around with a 3d printer and using tech to make sure I you know print my illustrations no one else
is so that means I have to slice it and do the tech myself but I I like keeping in touch with
that little creative girl so I made a decision a purpose to purposely a decision to go that route
(50:22):
and I think my life is much happier because of it but it started with you know flirting with the
diamond guy I love it well we all have to start somewhere but you know I'm we're we're really
so similar you know I think that at my age if you hadn't kept up with tech you would be so
(50:45):
behind the curve because everything changes on a every other day basis pretty much in tech
so you know there's so many ways that we use tech now but that's a whole other conversation
and we have reached our hour but you and I are now bonded forever so I'm so I'm isn't this like
(51:07):
a great little hour that we just spent just like feeling our love of rocks into our soul like it
just catching up with an old friend really you are you are now you're an old friend or a new old
friend or at least it's just a new friend so nothing is so funny because last time we tried to meet
(51:28):
I had a razor blade in my tire couldn't get home today because I still have a day job I am a
marketing guru coding and designing and marketing I do that by day but I ran out of gas
and I I came home on with maybe five miles left of gas okay dang how close is the closest gas
(51:59):
station was it is it within five it's not far from my house but I have to go all the way around
the ochre mountain and so there's a there's at least 20 miles well you can't go anywhere so I'm
like you know praying for gas vapors because I would have missed it again if I had to stop
(52:22):
is that the craziest thing it's like I hope your husband can get you or you can get put some gas in
there before you take off he's got a gas can yeah just in case I mean but isn't that crazy
it's just okay it's just it's just what it is like just it was just meant to be that today was the
(52:43):
day because now I've done all that selling night work for an entire you know week you know actually
a little bit longer because I don't you know deal with it all so now we had something even fun and
now I'll I'll show you those selling night pieces and I look for out of you and I would love to do
another one we should talk again because we could talk all about diamonds I have so much to say about
(53:06):
all diamonds and maybe you know we can share notes about some new ways I want to do some pendants
like I've I've really done them in a very simple way so but well not for these these are not simple
but the other pendants are and I'd like to kind of take it to the next step I'm gonna show you some
(53:27):
I'll email it to you or else or I'll or on Facebook I'll get them to you okay all right well you're
a deer and say okay so say it again says Kelly Parker with a P and your name yeah Kelly Park
P Kelly Park yeah with an E and I saw that E but I didn't see the R so you're right but you go by
(53:47):
I'm on Instagram you are actually they shut down my Instagram okay no Instagram for you so it is
Facebook and it's just if you type in ochre mountain fairies like OQIRRH it's a different way
but it's the only ochre in the whole world right but if you type just that word and you will find me
(54:13):
on Facebook okay the mineral fairies you'll find that so yes and then I have my website I was like
mineral fairies oh my god they're really marital fairies like I want to know them oh I'm glad you
took I'm glad you invited me on it was I think we just don't get enough time to connect like this so
(54:35):
thank you I agree this has been the best thing for my soul is to get to spend an hour each week
with somebody new and really like just dig in and just find other connections because there's so many
how many how many have you done how long I think well this is like number eight or nine or something
like that so you're fairly new but we're good there spread the word yeah I just started doing
(55:00):
little videos just yesterday so but not podcasts so well if you need to have some help on all that
I pretty much get it all that too you know whatever we'll chat we'll definitely because we've learned
and we've learned I could do a little thing for you okay well we've gone past our time and then my
little my little Omar gets mad at me he's like I want to have her time how am I supposed to do that
(55:24):
don't worry about it okay well thank you and now we're friends forever we are we thank you again
and I I wish you had the best rest of your day and go get some gas
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