How To Do It
Making Abundant Love Project stones is easy!
Making your own stones is simple, fun and enjoyable. Aside from the practical instructions it’s nice to picture someone finding your stone and feeling the love you’ve put into it. Your stone is imbued with a very loving energy when you add visualization to the process. Below are the guidelines for making stones, and feel free to make them unique, adding your own special touches.
THE STONES:
Find or purchase some dark grey-black smooth stones. If you don’t live near a rocky beach or river, you can buy 3-5” “Beach Pebbles” online at Home Depot, WalMart and other places. A bag is around 30 pounds and is good for approximately 20 people making stones. You can also check at stores that sell landscape and garden supplies. Avoid stones that have a waxy finish on them. Although they look pretty and shiny, they repel the paint pens. You’ll want the stones to be no bigger than the palm of your hand. We like stones that are oval or circle shaped. Smooth is very important, they are the easiest to draw on. Rough stones can tear up your paint pens quickly and bring frustration when trying to draw.
THE PAINT PENS:
It took some searching, but I’ve found paint pens that I like and
continue to use. Yes, paint pens—not magic markers—and they
are waterproof, smear proof, and permanent. Be careful not to
get them on fabric. Here’s what I like recommend, all are available
on Amazon and in art supply stores:
• White Pen: Sakura Pen-touch, White/Blanco, .7mm extra fine point
• Black Pen: Sharpie Oil-based Paint (NOT felt tip magic marker), extra fine point
• Gold & Silver Pens: Pen Touch by Sakura brand, extra fine point .7mm.
• Colors: UniPosca paint pens, from Amazon, .7mm extra fine point (the rainbow
assortment is our favorite)
Sharpie oil-based pens are also good in white and gold and silver. All of these pens have spring-loaded tips. If you’ve never used one before, you will have to get paper and push the tips down and hold it a few seconds, then release. Do this a few times until the paint starts flowing to the pen tip. Practice on paper before doing your first stone. Allow the pen to lightly glide on the stone’s surface, rather than pushing down on the tip. Compressing the tip will give you a puddle of ink that can’t be washed off, although alcohol can remove it some. The pens do need to be shaken a lot (with the caps on) when using them on stone.
THE TECHNIQUE:
There’s a lot of room to be playful with your Abundant Love Project stones and anyone from age 5 and up can participate. Below are some examples to spark your own ideas. Please do post your original designs to The Abundant Love Project Facebook page to share with others. Our community around the world LOVES seeing what you’ve created.
The final part of making your stone is to handwrite the message: “You are Loved!” on the back of each stone. We don’t sign the stone, since the purpose is that this is an anonymous gift from the universe, made by a secret person (you) who was kind enough to send someone a loving gift at that exact moment.
NOTES:
The last step of making your stone is to attach a pre-printed note to it with a rubber band. Leaving a note your stone helps people discover our community and how this stone came to be made and how it found them. You can download and print our sheet of notes here ( Notes Link )
They are translated into many languages and can be downloaded. Cut them apart and attachto stones with a rubber band, string, or ribbon.
The note lets people know they are loved, they have a unique presence in the world and gifts to offer. It tells about The Abundant Love Project and asks them to share their story on our Facebook page.
HIDING THE STONES:
This is the most fun part! You’ll feel like Santa and the Easter Bunny, hiding surprises and delivering delight to others. Main Rule: “Your stones should be hidden in plain sight in public places.” Parks, trails, benches, on top of fence posts, atop plant containers in public spaces, on low walls and railings…be creative! Please DON’T leave stones inside retail stores and shops. Someone may assume your stone is merchandise for sale, and they will not take it for fear of ‘stealing’. Or it could end up in a Lost & Found, unclaimed. Please leave it in places where it is understood that your stone is a lucky find, and not a product for sale.
We recommend you don’t hideout nearby and wait to see if your stone is found. Why? Because this is a random act of kindness for a stranger, and your stone WILL be found and WILL be appreciated. Part of the magic is trusting and knowing that the synchronicity of the universe and the good energy you put into your stone will attract the RIGHT person to your stone at the RIGHT time. The person who needed it most will find it…how magical is that?! We guarantee it will bring a positive effect without you having to witness it.
FINDING THE STONES:
It’s very exciting when someone finds your stone and posts a photo! And even more so when they post a story about how it affected them so positively. We estimate maybe 5-8% of the people who find stones, post about it. Don’t be discouraged if you make stones and don’t see them posted. Trust that people ARE finding them and it DOES make a difference in their day. We know this to be true.
(photo gallery of people finding stones.)
Thank you for participating in The Abundant Love Project!
Our Instagram page is abundantloveproject and hashtags: #alovestone4u and #abundantloveproject
Facebook: facebook.com/abundantloveproject
