Trollbeads Inspiration: Liquid Refreshment

We are in those most precious of days, here on the West Coast.  It’s the hottest time of year here and we are in a gorgeous patch of brilliantly clear, golden and warm days.  It makes us all a little giddy, as we shamelessly gorge on sunshine and vitamin d, playing outside well into the evening on our long, light, Northern Summer nights.

The key is, of course, to drink lots and lots of water.  So important to stay hydrated and refreshed on these hot days… so here’s a bracelet that might evoke an elegantly tall drink, beaded with cool water that slips down the outside of the glass… Or perhaps it’s a deep, round pool of softly green river water, nestled in a shady bend of the forest…

..Or Perhaps it’s something as miniature as a discovered mist of dewdrops on a lush moss in the early morning garden… No matter, whatever inspired it, this bracelet is liquid refreshment on a hot day.

All Beads in stock at Tartooful.  Clockwise from clasp:  “Water Clasp”, “Green Prism”, “Lucky Knot”, “Unique”, “Organic Bubbles”, “Moonlight Bubbles”, “Soft Heart”, “Smoky Quartz”, “trefoil Knot”, “Turquoise Prism”, “Lake Eye”, “Grey Prism”, “Transformation”, “Amethyst”, “Three in One”, “Moonlight Bubbles”, “Organic Bubbles”, “Unique”, “Water”, “Green Prism”.

C.

 

Trollbeads Inspiration: H.E.’s bracelet…

Today’s simple bracelet belongs to a very special person… Its owner is my 91 year old cousin, an amazing lady.  She has the gift of staying interested, even astonished by the happenings of the world, in a way that most people seem to lose by the time they are out of their forties.  She’s gentle, artistic, quietly brilliant, and so full of love you can practically see it shining out of her.  I do love her dearly.

Her bracelet holds a “Rose Quartz”, the stone of love… The “Three in One” is symbolic of her three children, and an “Amber” was chosen for its calm quality.  “Happy Fish”, with its quirky, ancient Chinese expression is very much her.  The limited edition green Jade was a healing stone I sent her after a little health challenge a while back.  The “Lotus” seemed appropriate as she has an interest in alternative approaches to healing.  “Silver Mountain” is for her West Coast home – although in her case it really ought to be silver ocean, as that’s what she sees out her Gulf Island windows.  Finally, “Falling Leaves” was added just today as a little wink to the Arbutus trees that carelessly litter her lovely front courtyard with their big leathery leaves.

In an interesting side note, I was told once that the green jade holds the positive energy of the wearer, and has the capacity to release it again when needed.  Think of it as a battery pack of healing and joy.  Apparently if one’s jade darkens it’s a good sign that one has lots of energy stored.  I happily wore the green jade on the bracelet at left, and it became very richly green while there… so when I heard that H.E. could use a little boost that’s the bead that made its way to her bracelet, as you can see in the photo at the top.  Sometimes a bead out of one’s own collection makes a better gift than a new one – it feels like giving a little part of oneself.

Thank you to SE and HE for spending a little of your precious mainland time with me today… it was wonderful to see you both.

C.

Trollbeads Update: Road Trip!

Today I am leaving for my first, official Trollbeads Road Trip… a journey to the place where the magic happens: Copenhagen, Denmark.  I plan to take long walks through the streets, soak in the atmosphere of the town, and try to scratch the surface of this fascinating place.

Of course, no trip to Copenhagen would be complete for a dedicated Trollbeads collector without a visit to the already-fabled Trollbeads shop at Tivoli Gardens.  This pleasure garden in the heart of the city features the only shops owned by Trollbeads themselves, and are well known for offering uniques, ambers and even stones that are simply unavailable elsewhere.  I’ll be making the pilgrimage with a little list in hand of very special beads that our dearest Trollies have been wishing for.  Hopefully I’ll return with hard-to-find treasures!

However, we don’t have to go that far for inspiration:  every day I’m astonished by the beautiful compositions that our local collectors have created… and they inspire me to constantly re-design my own bracelets and necklace.  After seeing EO’s “Jade & Fresh Cream” bracelet I decided to shuffle my beads and see if I could build something similar:

This is the brilliance of Troll:  even when I’m consciously trying to create something similar to EO’s latest bracelet, I still end up giving it my own personal twist.  While my version may *feel* the same, or have the same aesthetic mood, it’s nevertheless distinctly my bracelet.  The beads that are strung on this chain each have a meaning that is personal to me… a story of who gave it to me, or when I picked it out… on which occasion, or to mark what tiny battle or celebration.  So while I enjoy the new colour combination and feel like I have a fresh piece of jewellery – I still can savour having my dear and familiar companion beads on my wrist.

Clockwise from clasp:  “Unique Green Prism”,  “Brown Dot (retired)”, “Green Jade – limited Edition Chinese Series”, “Etruscan (retired)”, “Organic Bubble”, “Unique Amber”, “Labradorite”, “Smiling Cylinder”, “White Paper Fold”, “Sparrow”, “Picasso Jasper – limited Edition Stone”, “Grey Armadillo”, “Wildcat”, “Bee on Hive (retired)”, “Blue Desert”, “Green Dot (retired)”, “Limited Edition Peacock Pearl”.

Wish me good luck on my Trollhunting Road Trip – and see you soon!

C.

Trollbeads Inspiration: Hints of Spring

The first glimpse of cherry blossoms, sighted today in English Bay, has me thinking that Vancouver’s Spring is just around the corner.  The snowdrops are up in my garden, daffodils are showing green in Stanley Park and today it was warm enough to just wear a sweater.  Inspired, I’ve rearranged my bracelet, replacing dark cozy reds with fresh greens.  I know we’ll have lots more cold, rainy, windy days – but today I was so appreciative of our warm break in the clouds…

C.

Lavender & Teal Trollbeads Inspiration

Teal & Lavender Bracelet

Looking over the Trollbead display today I was struck by some of the unusual and beautiful beads that we have at the moment.  I decided to play and designed the bracelet above, which features lavender and teal as the principal colours.

clockwise from clasp:

large flower clasp, “limited Edition Chinese Jade, lavender”, “Amazonite”, “Two Sides to Everything”, “Limited Edition Haiti Bead, lavender”, “Smiling Cylinder”, “Turquoise Prism”, “Frames”, “Lavender Prism”, “Water”, “Limited Edition Haiti Bead, Teal”, “Origami”, “Limited Edition Haiti Bead, Rainbow”, “Limited Edition Chinese Jade, Green & White”.

This bracelet showcases the rich tones of the jade and Haiti beads, but retains a softness that makes it wearable for everyday… I like the range of textures in the beads; the shimmery rainbow, the opaque jade, the porcelain quality to the Haiti beads and the glittery prism give lots f visual interest.  Keeping this in mind I chose some of the simplest finishes in the silver – the smooth, modern designs of the collection.

C.