Thanks for your emails commenting on the photo, the loving family, the beautiful jade bangle. Don't we just love photos! That's a reason why we have the Pinterest and Facebook. I've been researching about iPhone apps for photo and connecting to Facebook, and have some ideas for the the future, so we can all share our photos of our jades. Maybe in October we can get this going. By the way, it's Full Moon, so be sure to wear your absolute best jade. September 29

A jade-loving blog reader told me a story about going to the beach and meeting a Chinese woman who admired her jade bangle. But she cautioned her about wearing it on the beach, not exposing it to sand, because it would get scratched. If sand would scratch your jadeite bangle bracelet, then it might not really be jadeite, because jadeite is harder than sand. I wear my jade bangle to the beach, and it gets loaded with sunscreen, lotion, salt water and general debris from a hot beach day. And I wear it in the shower, where it washes clean and looks just fine. The Chinese woman's other caution was about heat damaging the jade stone. I have often cautioned about not leaving your jade in direct sunlight, or boiling jade, exposing it to heat. But heat that doesn't burn you while you are wearing your jade bangle, isn't going to hurt the jade, either. Here's a photo of a woman wearing a Ying Yu Jade bangle purchased by her mother in law when she got married. She wears her jade bangle all the time, and it looks great, has not been damaged by all the duties of mother hood, and life. If you are a blog reader, you have seen photos of this jade bangle loving family in the past. September 27

I had to dress quickly and get out with my husband this morning. While I was in the car finishing getting "together", I noticed my jade bangle looked awful. My first thought was I might be getting sick because the color was dull and yellowish. I rubbed my jade bangle and realized it was covered with body lotion, spray on hair mousse and hair sprayd. I leave my jade bangle on all the time, so it can get quite dirty at times. I have seen information on some jade sellers sites warning that you shouldn't get these kinds of products on jade, that it will damage the jade. Not true. All genuine and natural jade needs is a soap and water wash to get all the daily grime off. Even nail polish remover, alcohol and perfume won't damage natural jade or jadeite. But if the jade has been bleached with acid to get color enhancing, it becomes porous and brittle, and these products will cause it to change color, lose its finish. Genuine natural jade holds up not only through daily life, but through decades, and centuries.. September 23

We had a surprise visit from my mother-in-law today. She and her husband are "winter" Florida residents and recently returned from summer in Indiana. She couldn't wait to check out the "jade room". We had given my husband's sister in Pittsburgh a three legged jade money toad when we visited this summer. She's starting a business and I explained that you make sure Toad points into your home or office, so "money goes in", not out. She has been amazed at how lucky she's been, the contracts she got after playing with her little jade Toad. Mom wanted one for her home, too, to make sure they get good returns from their investments for their retirement. She also loved the lavender jade elephant pendant and "fortune" pendant, and she went home loaded with jade. Everyone was very skeptical when I went to China and fell in love with jade in 1999, but jade is a wonderful thing, and the Chinese tradition for a jade business is to be honorable to have good luck from it. New customers are often skeptical also, and is "is your jade real". To have had the good fortune of this business, of course it is real, and bought and sold honorable. September 22

After soul searching as well as consulting with our associates, we decided we would continue to take offers on jade bangle bracelets and/or larger jade orders for our repeat customers. After all, it's fun, and repeat customers are highly valued and deserve special deals. However, the discounted items will require payment by cash: checks from USA customers, Western Union payments from customers outside of USA. Cash payments mean we don't have the costs of credit card processing and can pass savings on to you. The way credit card companies for merchants has changed regarding fees means that some small brick and mortar stores will also offer a lower price for cash payments, rather than a "penalty" for credit card payers. A recent ruling has caused merchant credit card service to increase fees, and the differentiation between credit cards, debit cards, higher reward credit cards like American Express, international payments and other and hidden factors is confusing and expensive for merchants. Jade is a cash only business in China. The jade markets never accepted credit cards, only cash. Since YYJ is a traditional jade business, we will also happily accept cash for offers. September 18

The question I had before going to the trade show was about the prices of YYJ items. My associates in China and Hong Kong have been urging me to keep prices to around what they retail for in China and Hong Kong. A problem I have had by leaving some of them low is that customers question if the low price means the quality is not very good. Long-time YYJ customers know I like to sneak in some real "steals", very high quality at very low prices just for fun. If you find it and get it before it gets marked to the regular price, then you got a great deal. But the business world has changed. Having fun causes business problems. The "no good deed goes unpunished" is true. The way things change to affect small business makes my jaw drop sometimes, unbelievable. And these new rules and government regulations hurt a business like YYJ, which is not a tiny business, but not a big business either, that can absorb the costs of complying. Perhaps you heard that over the weekend, amazon.com is now required to collect sales tax for California residents. And there is a movement for all the states to require online business to collect and pay sales tax to the states. I spend half a day every quarter just working on Florida sales tax report and payment. Small businesses will need a full time accountant just to manage sales tax for 50 states. And you can guess what that will do to prices. And "having fun" selling jade online. It's fun having my jade business, running it mostly myself with help of husband, sometimes friends, contracting with photographer and web master, But adding all the government regulation will require a more business-like way of doing things. It will mean the end of "bargaining" for your jade with me. So I decided to still have fun while I can, set my prices the way I want to so I can enjoy selling jade, and customers can enjoy buying it along with the personal contact many of you enjoy with me, as I with you. September 17

The trade show was quite interesting, as usual. I took a friend who works with me so she can learn about buying. She knows what I have to sell, the prices, and how we do business. We were looking at jadeite carvings, very nicely done, one was similar to Carv-44, and she thought we should sell those, so asked the price: $1600. More people telling me YYJ prices too low! One of the vendors brings me jadeite and she had 12 bangles in larger sizes, 60-66mm. She said they were all A grade, but I could tell most were not, and she truly believed they were, so even some jade "experts" can't agree what's natural and what isn't. But the problem was that 10 had big inclusions lines that some customers complain are cracks, and one had polish imperfection, so I didn't buy any of them. Her partner told me they can't get the good jadeite like the bangle I was wearing, that's "old" and hasn't been available for a few years in the good fine grained quality. And larger than 59mm jadeite bangles are almost all commercial grade now, so I was very happy and lucky to have purchased YYJ larger ones years ago. This seller also makes customer jade and pearl necklaces for YYJ, but I told her customers are not willing to pay the price for the jadeite pendant and pearl necklaces she made for me last time, so I wouldn't be purchasing any. We all agreed that jade has gone the way of precious metals, gold and sterling silver, in the jewelry business. The prices for the real thing have become quite high, and customers are settling for non-precious metal, gold and silver plate. And settling for fake and color treated jade, because that's all that's available at prices most people want to pay. More in tomorrow's blog. Sept 16

Jewelery and gem trade show today. This is an opportunity for me to purchase from vendors who I've been doing business with and set aside jades for me because they know I am one of the first ones there on the first day! One of the vendors has an order of jade one-of-a-kind necklaces that we discussed at the last trade show, and I am looking forward to seeing the finished product. It's also an opportunity for me to consult with jade and jadeite sellers to keep up on current retail prices. I get told every few days by my suppliers that our prices are too low, so I will see for myself and make decisions. If you have had your eye on a jade or jadeite bangle or pendant on YYJ, I suggest you purchase it because some of the item prices will be adjusted after my visit to the trade show today. September 15

The Daily Special is a jade gua sha tool at a discounted price. These are used throughout Asia for centuries, and today, a scraping tool to move blood to heal aches, pains, colds, flu and more. There is a link on the photo that takes you to more information. We sell a lot of these to alternative practitions, including massage therapists, chiropractors, and holistic healers. Last week we received an order for a Frown Ease wrinkle reducer kit and a gua sha tool. I added a note as a comment to not use gua sha on the face. Unfortunately, jade gua sha is being promoted for purposes that can actually be harmful, including facials and for breast health. The benefits of gua sha come from the scraping that raises the blood. To do this on the face will break the tiny blood vessels and may cause permanent vein damage and discoloration because the face is so tender. The breasts are also tender, and can cause damage to veins and the breast itself. But, if you use gua sha as intended, it can reduce pain, and help you get well and/or prevent colds. The jade carver told me his mother would use gua sha when any of the kids in the family started sniffling. She would scrape the body protrusion area at the top of the spine by the neck until the kids howled in pain. But they got better. Gua sha outside China is more gentle, but possibly less effective, than inside China. When I got gua sha treatment, it was painful, and just when I didn't think I could tolerate it anymore, it was done. And I wore what looked like a bruise for a couple of days. But it sure relieved my jet lag, and fibromyalgia. So if you want to try gua sha, I chose a good general shaped tool for a Daily Special at a reduced price. September 13

Received an email from a woman who bought a jade bangle in a Chinatown. She wanted to know what wrist to wear it on for good luck and fortune. Since jade qi energy and body qi are very compatible and feed off each other, I wear my jade bangle on my left wrist. My left is also my non-dominant wrist, and it's probably safer for me to wear the jade bangle on that wrist where it gets less action in my busy life. The left arm is closer to your heart. And from experience, I think the jade worn on left wrist shows your body health. My jade bangle loses its beauty when I'm not well. The white gets yellowish, the green seems to hide. When I am well and happy, the white looks very "flowery" and the stone glows, and the green seems to spread out more. However, for luck with money, I suggest a jade money toad. And point the head of the three legged money toad towards the inside of your home and office, to keep the feng shui luck flowing in. When I go to a trade show, I often put a little jade money toad in a pocket, just to help me "shop". September 12

June 2001 I went to China for a couple of weeks to work on making YYJ a "real" business by making contacts and connections with the jade carving community. It was a very busy, fascinating trip and I did a lot of traveling. In the evenings I would try to find an English channel on television with CNN to keep in touch with what was going on at home and in the world. China has always had great control over internet and media. I kept hearing on CNN about threats of attacks on USA, and I called my husband to find out what was going on. He assured me that he heard nothing about what I had heard on British CNN. When I got home, he had saved our county newspapers, the Wooster Daily Record, for me. I I was stunned to read an article about someone named Bin Laden threatening to attack the USA soon, and that the president and other USA leaders had been briefed about it. But when I asked around, no one had heard anything and there wasn't anything on the news about this. And there was no further news about this threat. We all know what happened September 11, 2001. Every September 11 I remember having heard the warning on British CNN and in the Wooster Daily Record, and still feel disgust that our country didn't do anything about it. I have learned not to trust only USA news to find out what's going on in our country. I also read BBC news on my iPhone daily which still has news that I never here in USA news. So when our government criticizes China for their strict controls over media, and points their finger at them for lack of freedom, I know there are three fingers pointing back at our USA government, which is certainly guilty of controlling what news we get. I am appalled that our government leaders from that administration are not held accountable for risking our country to terrorist attack. September 11, 2012

I blogged about the icy jade bangle that got cracked during some work we were having done. We had windows replaced throughout, and I had to move things away from each window prior to their working on them. Most of our home isn't cluttered, so it wasn't a problem except for "the jade room" where I keep all the current inventory. Look at all the products on the web site and then think about each one carefully stored in a box, numbered so it can be found. Well, I have just started putting everything away, and of course found odds and ends of things that fell behind boxes or furniture, and I'm going to put them in a box on my desk to include with orders of $75+, while they last. Write "gift" in the comments box on the order form, and I'll include a "little something" with your order, and the higher the order, the better the gift! September 7

I personally own some watches that have jade set in the bracelet bands. They are very unique and pretty, and women comment on them when they see me wearing them. I acquired them second-hand, so I don't know how old they are. I jade loving friend sent me a link to an article about jewelers using jade and jadeite to make the watch itself. It's an interesting article not only about watch making, but about the jade itself. If you would like to read it, click here. September 6

I have been upset since yesterday when a fabulous small jadeite bangle had an accident and got a small surface crack. I was cheering myself up over the possibilty that since it is my size, I can wear it! You readers know that I buy and sell the kind of jade that I personally love to wear, so it's difficult to sell some, but after all, it's a business, not just my private collection. Anyway, this morning I was writing to a customer about a jadeite bead I am setting aside for her so she can pay by check, and it occurred to me that it might fit on my Chamilia European charm bracelet. All three of the barrel pendants on this page fit those kind of bracelets. When I travel somewhere special, or do something meaningful, instead of a regular souvenier I like to buy one of those European style charms to put on this bracelet to cherish. So my broken heart due to the cracked bangle is healed by the joy of adding these precious jade beads to my very special bracelet. (Yes, you can wear jade bangles with a crack. Even cracks that are deep and all the way through, if it's natural untreated jade, they probably won't break, and may even heal themselves) September 4

A girlfriend was showing me where she got her botox treatment since it's the end of summer and she squinted a lot and got a bigger forehead wrinkle. I had thought something was "off" about her face, she also got some fillers and she didn't seem as lively and animated. I also spent a lot of time outdoors during the day, but I use my Frown Ease Power Pak regularly to help reduce the wrinkles all over my face. And I like the Frownies patches that I sell with the Power Pak, because you wear them at night and they help re-train those frown muscles. I notice being more aware during the day when I squint or frown, and immediately use the visualization of "smooth" and remember what the patch felt like. As is the case with most of our products, I developed them for my own use, then share them with others. The Daily Special is an extra 8 Frownies patches with the Power Pak. Help erase some of that frown line before you start wearing your fall fashions. September 2

The Calm Spirit / Ying Yu Jade complete September newsletter is available online now, click here. This month features Chinese medicine wellness information for September regarding balance of body, mind and spirit. There is information about what kind of jade to wear this month if you wear jade for your health, and more.September 1

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