Guest: Erin Noel — copper artist, author, and creator behind It’s Beautiful and the guided journal Whispers from Sandy.
What we cover
The white-feather moment that sparked Erin’s surrender and creative rebirth
Alchemizing grief into joy—and how Sandy’s legacy lives in every piece
Patina as a life practice: trusting time, atmosphere, and slow transformation
Journaling as a lifeline: from raw pages to Whispers from Sandy
Working with copper: vertigris patina, flame-painting, and hand-etching
Rituals in the studio: shamanic drums, sage, and knowing when not to force it
Motherlines, anchor moments, and listening for signs (hello, repeating numbers)
Parenting an old soul and modeling courage through creative work
The courage to create at the pace of the soul—without hustling your gifts
Stay to the end
Erin does a mini show-and-tell: vertigris cuffs, flame-painted copper, etched feather earrings, and how she seals color. She also shares her dream to host come-create-with-me classes where stories and making happen side by side.
Where to find Erin: Substack | Etsy | Instagram | Facebook | sandyib444@gmail.com
Also at 1023 Commerce Street in Lynchburg as a meeting space and pop-up when she is not busy with festivals.
🎵 Music credit:
Intro and outro music: Madre Ayahuasca by Arkawa
Used with permission. More at arkawamusic.com
🌐 And as always, visit www.goddessintraining.online for more tools to support your intuition journey
🙏 Support the show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/goddessintrainingpodcast
Hi, welcome back. Today’s conversation is a love letter to slow transformation.
Erin Noel creates copper pieces that look like they were kissed by ocean weather and holy fire—verdigris blues rising where salt, vinegar, and time have their quiet say; rose and gold tones coaxed out with a torch and a steady hand. But what I felt most in our talk wasn’t just craft. It was legacy.
Erin’s art began, in many ways, with a moment of surrender—stepping off anxiety meds and straight into feeling again. She describes that first rush of sensation, color, and aliveness with a simple mantra that kept returning: It’s beautiful. Later, during a night of prayer on a back deck, a white feather fell and something in her life rearranged itself toward truth. She moved back in with her parents. She and her son got one more sacred season with her mom, Sandy—best friend, cheerleader, beach-comber, and lifelong maker.
When Sandy passed, Erin went to the basement—the darkest corner of the house—and started to work. Day after day, she shaped copper the way grief shapes us: by hand, by breath, by patience. First with files, then with a torch and Dremel. Silence came. Then peace. Then purpose. In her words, copper became teacher, mirror, and altar.
That practice now lives beside her writing. Whispers from Sandy gathers prompts, affirmations, and open pages for the moments when words are the only bridge from the heart to the day. Erin doesn’t prescribe a rigid ritual; she listens. Some pages are raw, others luminous. Together they reveal a pattern we rarely see while we’re inside it.
We also talk about raising an old-soul son, trusting anchor moments we can’t miss, and the way signs seem to increase when we dare to believe in them. (If you’re seeing repeating numbers lately, you’re in good company.)
Most of all, we talk about pace—creating at soul-speed instead of algorithm-speed. Patina won’t be rushed; neither will becoming. Erin reminds us that transformation is both chemistry and grace: a reaction you start, a mystery you let finish.
At the end, don’t miss her show-and-tell of favorite pieces—and the detail that made me tear up: every order ships with a seashell for Sandy, because beauty is a lineage and love travels.
Thanks for listening, for feeling, and for trusting your own patina in progress. All of Erin’s links are in the notes above. If an idea or piece from this episode speaks to you, tell us in the comments—I’d love to hear what’s “quietly alchemizing” in your life right now.
With love,
Sarah
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