The Other Side of Us

Pitre, the Original Crystal Cat

The Other Side of the Sun started with humble (and innocent) beginnings on eBay under the user ID Talenyn. Back in 1999 we were just dabbling with the internet selling various things here and there. We started off basic, really basic, our first pictures were taken as freeze frames with a camcorder hooked up to a PC! The picture on the right is from one of our first crystal listings! It's a jasper sphere and can you believe we actually sold it! Needless to say things progressed from these simple beginnings and we continued to slowly grow, mainly as a hobby for extra income. Our mainstay at the time was jewelry with some crystals and minerals. One thing led to another as these things do and in August of 2001, Mary went full time selling on eBay.

Our first import of crystals and minerals from Africa was a complete shock to our systems! The entire house was turned into the business. Our receiving area was our formal sitting and area and was covered in rocks! (The cats however thought all the tissue paper was a blast!) We had no idea what we were in for! With this first import we transitioned to selling mainly different types of quartz crystals with a few minerals for variety. Below is a tidied up version of a new shipment of goodies!

Through lots of hard work we managed to obtain Power Seller Status on eBay, with over 1300 unique feedback comments, and 100% positive rating!  However eBay took much of our time and harbored a lot of frustrations. We had auctions pulled for minor rule infractions, competing with other sellers who were less than honest with their listings, eBay fees and much more. We were ready for something different, but afraid of making the leap. With much encouragement from friends, family and customers we took that leap of faith to transition completely to the website. Our site has gone through many evolutions, and is a constant work in progress. (For a fun, if not quite accurate snapshot of our site from the past, you can see the internet archive. Please note, these results are not maintained by us) In 2001 - 2002 the website received varying degrees of attention as eBay was still our main focus. However, in early 2003, we began the move from eBay and concentrate on our own website. We are truly grateful for everyone's love and support.

So why do we use evans-lambert.com? Well it started with an innocent Christmas present. Christmas 2000, Mary's cousin Neal gave us the gift of the a domain name evans-lambert.com. We thought it was neat and kinda cute as it is the melding of our last names. However this little place in cyber space was ignored for many months except for a few personal pages. Then Jennifer had the bright idea of using the web space we had for extra inventory! Thus a website was born. We now tease Neal that this site is all his fault. :-) Its the gift that keeps on giving!

A little background on Us

Mary has always loved rocks in all their forms and she was always picking up something interesting. Her grandmother's farm in upstate NY had a quarry that she spent many hours in looking for rocks. Jennifer found her appreciation of rocks and crystals from Mary. Both Mary and Jennifer studied at the university of Miami majoring in Marine Science and Biology with a minor in Chemistry (which is how they met!). Jennifer has the equivalent to an associates in Science degree after studying Biology, Chemistry and Physics for 2 years in England. We've come a long way from our scientific backgrounds. You may well imagine that we approach what we do with healthy skepticism until we have some proof.

We believe what we sell and actively work with many different crystalline spirits. We do not sell crystals because it is the "new-age" thing to do.  We truly believe in the healing qualities of crystals and minerals. A car accident was the catalyst of our crystal exploration. The accident had left us both with a lot of pain, and willing to try just about anything for relief. This prompted an impromptu massage session with a sphere which permanently changed our perception on crystal healing.  After the massage the 2.5" quartz sphere was almost impossible to pick up. We also noticed that the sphere was now very cloudy as a result of being over traumatized. To the left is the actual sphere we used. Of course we now know there are better crystal types to assist with pulling out pain! This experience was the spark that caused us to re-evaluate what we though we knew about crystals and thus began our work with crystal healing. After many hours of research and experimentation, we have no hesitation with promoting crystals as the wonderful healing tools they are. With our educational background having been focused heavily on the sciences, that is saying something!

In 2003 both Mary and Jennifer underwent training to become Reiki Masters. Jennifer continued her education in the healing arts and became a licensed massage therapist in 2005.

Our policies

Our customers are our number two priority, right after the crystals! Without them, we wouldn't have you! We strive to provide the personal touch, so you always know you are dealing with people.  Our web pages are created individually adding our personal touch to each crystal.

Our offerings are hand picked as a part of our commitment to quality. Each spirit has something remarkable about it. We pick not only for beauty but for their energy too. Each listing will have multiple pictures in the effort to give you an accurate portrayal of the crystal. Unlike many crystal and mineral sites, what you see is what you get. The crystal you order will be the crystal you receive.

Also, unlike some other crystal sites, we devote a whole page to each individual crystal so that you may see exactly what you are buying. I have purchased crystals online myself, and have often been disappointed by an aspect of the crystal that was not mentioned, and poorly photographed, or the colors were off, etc. For all of our crystals, what you see is exactly what you get. We make every effort to give honest descriptions of a crystal’s physical condition and energy, including any flaws if there are any. And we strive to carry high quality crystals. We have been online since 1999, and as the proprietors, we have no shame in telling you that the number of unhappy customers we have had, in 7 years, can be numbered on one hand.

Because we take such care to accurately represent the crystals, our customers are rarely if ever disappointed with their purchases. Our return policy has rarely ever been used but is as follows:

If you’re not satisfied with your purchase, please email us within three days of receiving it. You may return the item at your own cost. Item(s) must be returned in the in the condition that they were shipped. We advise returning via insured mail. Once we receive the returned item, we will refund the item price less a 15% restocking fee of the retail value. Shipping and insurance fees are non-refundable.  If items were damaged during shipment, please let us know immediately so that we may submit a claim. Please keep all packaging materials as you may need this for the claim.

We respect your privacy. We do not share our mailing list with anyone, period. Your contact information is for our use only. Unless you have indicated, you will not receive emails from our mailing list.

We will not advertise on our website. There will be no flashing banners, annoying pop-ups or other commercial advertising, ever.   This is our space that we devote to the crystals we love, and we will not demean them with extraneous distractions.

What We Offer

We provide many services including our online store. We teach workshops and classes on a wide array of subjects. These include crystal healing, Reiki, stone identification and much more. Both Mary & Jennifer give Reiki and Crystal Therapy sessions in the Southwest Florida area. Jennifer is also a licensed massage therapist, and incorporates the stones and energy work for a session that will leave you relaxed, painless and rejuvenated.  If you are in the SW Florida area, and are interested in an appointment, please feel free to email her for details or visit her Massage pages for some handy information.

Our Customers

We have customers all across the world, including:

 

Australia Belgium Canada China Denmark France Germany Hong Kong Indonesia Japan Mauritius

Myanmar Netherland Antilles Netherlands New Zealand Poland Singapore Slovenia South Africa Spain Thailand United Kingdom

For our testimonial page, click here.

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In this parched place of desolate wilderness,
This war-torn, hate-split world, oh, who will bless,
Bless and redeem the blood-stained, tear-drenched ground
So once again the healing sun will blaze,
The small birds sing, the flowers be found,
And lion and lamb in loving joy may graze?

Who is there left the truth of love to guess?
How shall we stand the violence of the sun?
How hate redeem, how brother's love confess?
What will be left when wind and fire are done?
Only on love's terrible other side
Is found the place where lion and lamb abide.

by Madeline L'Engle from The Other Side of the Sun - Inspiration for our company name.

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