Custom Ceramic Worry Stones

As your local ceramic artist, I’m bringing this peaceful new creation into the world : custom made ceramic worry stones. Well, it’s not exactly new as we’ll see. I’ll also sculpt and paint a whole collection of joy spreading calming ceramic worry stones with fixed designs and animals ! YAY ! But before heading to the shop for a custom ceramic worry stone or a regular calming stone, let’s explore the world of worry stones : what they are, what they mean and how these have been (probably) made for centuries.

What is a Worry Stone ?

Worry stones probably date as far back as the human urge to grab a pebble from the beach and play with it has existed. They probably have existed in many cultures throughout the world independently. It’s commonly used for meditation and stress relief, hence the name !

To be perfectly honest with you, I found a Wikipedia article with a bunch of references to ancient Greeks and other cultures but it doesn’t seem backed up by any scientific paper or archeologist references so let’s just say it’s a fun little trinket ! It’s also close to the use of rosaries and worry beads which are actually a thing in Greek culture nowadays but it’s not 100% the same thing.

So it’s really just a natural human behavior : grab a trinket and keep it in your pocket, touch it for comfort. Our sense of touch is super developed, important and we can definitely soothe ourselves and that’s proven facts ^^

A Worry stone is like a fidget toy, a stress ball or any other stim gadget except ceramics worry stones are durable, customizable and very cute.

Why create Ceramic Worry Stones ?

I thought about creating ceramic worry stones or calming stones while touching some of my porcelain decorations and finding it super calming to just hold them. The round organic shapes allows for a playful hold around the naturally irregular but smooth shapes.

Ceramic Worry Stones hold several key features that make them better, imho, than regular gemstones.

Ceramic Worry Stones vs. Gemstones :

• Gemstones are mined in far away countries and are often +very+ unethical (child labor, exploitation, ecological disasters, transport etc)
• Ceramic Worry Stones like mine use local Clay – I work with Canadian Clay only and my labor is what you pay for.
• Ceramic Worry Stones are customizable and can be painted on, made to a certain shape and hold a few words
• Ceramics is a mineral, so the weight, smoothness and warmth holding are the same than with a gemstone
• Ceramic Worry Stones an be used for your rituals and in any belief system, however, stones do not have healing capacities, none of them do. This is a no-bs space and I will never lead you to believe anything not actually proven by science here. More about Gemology.

Ceramic Worry Stone are smooth and textured at the same time

One thing that I absolutely love about porcelain is how smooth it can be. It will be very sleek on the glazed size and a little bit more textured but still smooth on the unglazed side. This is due to the fact that glaze can only be applied on one side, otherwise my little trinkets would stick to the kiln shelf. If you’d like to know more about the glazing process, by the way, I wrote a whole blog post about this : a Beginner’s Guide to Glazing Ceramics.

I asked my customer’s opinions about this new creation and some people asked for more textured / sandy pieces. This is why I’m also offering black and red stonewares as well as speckled stoneware. These clays are rougher and more textured, they can be smoothed on one side to achieve a more lustered aspect but will never compare to the feeling of a glazed porcelain.

Ceramic Worry Stones Hold Warmth

If you keep your Worry Stone in your pocket, it will keep warm. Placed on a desk or a shelf, it will cool down and be nicely cool to the touch, storing your warmth when you take it in your hand. Warmth put into the stone will radiate back for a few seconds and some people will find it grounding and calming. Others will like the cool calm of a stone resting on a shelf. You can put it in your freezer if you like, it will keep cool longer. It will not break from thermal shock unless put from the freezer to boiling water for example so don’t worry about it.

Ceramic worry stones are also heavy, these pieces are not hollowed.

Ceramic Worry Stones with a hole in them for a little cord will be more fragile around this area. But on the other hand if you keep them on a string it should prevent most falls ! Maybe it evens out 😀

Durable and Unscratchable Ceramic Calming Stones

Ceramics are extremely durable, bordering on eternal. So much so that it’s one of the first things archeologists will find when digging for ancient civilizations. One of the earliest piece found dates back to -29 000 years BC. So while today’s tableware might not last this long, a ceramic worry stone will last for at least a few centuries.

Ceramic Calming Stones are not scratchable, it would take a diamond drill to make a dent into the design or inscription on the back and you can drop it quite a few times before it actually breaks. Convex pieces will probably be the hardest to break, concave stones are a little bit thinner but should withstand a drop from your table height. Your worry stone will be with you forever and you can gift them to your people too.

What’s the use of a Worry Stone

A worry stone, or calming stone, is just a little trinket used to ground yourself. You can meditate with it, play with it like a fidget or stim toy. It’s what you make of it : it can be a calming presence, you can think of your pet while touching it and how you will be happy to greet them when you go back home. It can hold the thought of a loved one, a mantra or proverb that you hold onto, something that motivates you and that you want to remind yourself of regularly.

My Ceramic Worry Stones have an animal on one side and a quote on the other. The animal can be a fox, a bunny, a bear, a raccoon or anything else depending on my inspiration. My first quotes are Worry Not, Keep Calm, Breathe because these are the ones I need on a daily basis ^^

Customizable Ceramic Worry Stones

While my Ceramic Worry Stones Collection is available in limited numbers and will return regularly when sold out, one can also consider a Custom Ceramic Worry Stone. This product is more expensive, but it allows you to pick all the options you like :

• Shape (Convex, Concave)
• Size (finger or palm sized)
• Glaze (Glazed or Not)
• Hole for string (string included)
• Smooth, dotted or spiraled
• Porcelain (smoothest), Red Stoneware, Black Stoneware, Speckled Stoneware (roughest)
• Coming soon : Little handmade velour bag option !
• Custom Animal (1 animal)
• Your Quote (20-25 characters max including spaces / heart / star symbol)

Worry stones take about 6-8 weeks to make – mostly because they’re included in my regular commission schedule. I think it will actually take much less time but I don’t want to be too optimistic yet !