Trollbeads Inspiration: Lightly Into the Dark

Today, November 1st,  is a cluttered black square of type in my calendar… It’s the first day of the month, with all of the financial deadlines and chores that accompany a fresh month…it’s the day after Hallow’een, so we are all just a little groggy from sugar overload and a sleep punctuated with fireworks and firecrackers.  It’s also All Saints Day in the Christian calendar, or Samhain in the Celtic Pagan calendar.  No matter what your cultural background, here in the Northern Hemishphere there is no questioning the shift in light that accompanies the beginning of November.

Gone are the memories of Summer – we are well and truly into the dark months of the year!

The beginning of November feels like a shift.  Suddenly we expect the nights to be long, we expect the days to be cold and we look to the days of Winter ahead.  I awake in surreal darkness, convincing my skeptical body that it really is time to get up… and on rainy days it sometimes feels as though it never really gets fully light.  Curls of slate  coloured clouds catch on the curves of our local mountains and lazily hang there waiting for a breath of wind to push them along.  No wonder, then, that just now the veil feels thin between the world of the living and the world of those who have gone before.

So what are we to do?  Shiver here in our dim, grey existence?  Hardly!  We North Westerners have perfected our strategies for warmth and light. We celebrate the contrast of light and dark in thousands of tiny ways.  Some examples… You’ll find brilliantly uplit, spectacular trees in most gardens in my neighborhood.  That pop of green light is even more beautiful for being embraced by darkness.  we light our houses more and more as the very darkest time of year approaches, and by Christmas the entire city is aglow.  Inside you’ll find candles and fireplaces are de rigueur to banish the November chill and in the very darkest months I’ll even light candles at the breakfast table!

In the same way, I seem to gravitate to warmth and light in my personal objects and jewellery… a little more warm metal: a touch of bronze, copper and gold just feel wonderful at this time of year.  Amber has a natural golden glow that is irresistible, particularly when blended with warm metals and some black or grey for contrast.  This leather bracelet is just the thing to have a touch of sunshine that can be carried with me through my day!

C.

 

Trollbeads Inspiration: Spiced Amber

Yum.

With Autumn closing in quickly… the warm sunny days fading to cool & grey – we are finally facing the reality that Winter really is coming.  In fact, there is a snow warning out for Vancouver for the coming weekend, which should really throw us all for a loop, as Vancouverites are always completely

unprepared for any amount of snowfall.  I may not have salt in my shed, or have any idea where to look for my snow shovel… but most importantly I have made up a nice warm and spicy amber bracelet, just right

for the snowy season about to arrive.  The truth is that Vancouver really only has to deal with snow a couple of times each Winter, so even the municipalities are a little laid back about making expensive preparations for those few days of the year.  The result is streets that remain unplowed, traffic chaos for those fools who rush out anyhow, and tons

of people just take the day off.  It’s sort of like when you were back in school – snowflakes means an impromptu “Snow Day” where everyone claims to be working from home.  But in fact we’re out rolling around in a scant inch of damp snow with the dog and our kids.  With so many hills – North Vancouver is on the side of a mountain range –

It doesn’t take much slush on the ground to create a traffic nightmare.  No worries here… I can walk up to the gallery and will keep warm with this amber and gold confection.

In this bracelet we combined caramel tones with beautiful ambers and glittering touches of gold.

Think “spiced apple cider” or mulled wine”… We found some lovely uniques that help to give a little depth to the design, as they incorporate not only some rich glitter accents, but also some nice deep purply blacks.  It’s the time of year for dramatic jewellery, so

we’ve pulled out all the stops on gold, and even added a limited edition Christmas tassel to the golden flower lock.  I like to add these tassels to the small side of a decorative lock, layered on before the bracelet chain.  This keeps the tassel neatly in one spot, and adds interest to the clasp which often lays on the top of the wrist.

Get cosy… We’ve popped all these ambers and uniques into our online shop so that you can enjoy browsing them even if you’re snowed in!

C.