At Tartooful, there’s nothing that we love better than throwing a party…
…and there’s no better excuse than a big, beautiful shipment of unique glass beads and the most exciting carved amber designs that we have ever been privileged to see.
These are some absolutely drop-dead beautiful beads, and any one of them would instantly be the jewel of most collections. We are thrilled to be able to present them to you! This alone would be cause for celebration, but add to that a menu of classic trunk-show specials, and it becomes spectacular.
The fine print:
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Purchase one item, get the fourth item of equal or lesser value as our gift
or
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Purchase a decorative lock and receive the sterling bracelet chain as our gift
and
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Every purchaser is entered into a draw to win a coveted 40th anniversary jewellery box.
Our event kicks off Oct 17th and runs until Oct 23rd, so we are looking forward to catching up with all of you in the Village! Not in our neck of the woods? No worries. We will be posting our unique beads on our Facebook page, where they may be easily browsed, even if you don’t have a Facebook account. For regular collection orders, be sure to check into our online shop, and simply let us know in a note what item you’d like for your fourth item free. We are also happy to work with you via email at tartooful@gmail.com, or give us a ring at 604-924-0122 for a friendly consultation by phone.
So… dust off those wishlists, bring us your partly completed projects and get ready to be inspired!
C.
Casting an eye over our selection of uniques today I noticed that we have an absolutely marvelous collection of raspberry pinks in stock at the moment. I decided to have a bit of a play with them, but thought I’d give the design a little twist and try my hand at a crimson-to-pale pink ombre composition….
together it was bound to be a fantastic bracelet. I really think that with these beads it would be impossible to make the bracelet look anything but gorgeous.
At the two extreme ends of this bracelet design you’ll find some of the opaque unique beads that are such a delight to true collectors. The rich red and glittery one shown above has actually been tempting me for my own collection! So luxe and utterly delicious. At the other end of the bracelet be sure to note the beads that have elegantly formed flowers traced on milk glass backgrounds. These have been such a lovely fresh addition to the design oeuvre of glass Trollbeads uniques. I’d love to see an entire bracelet made up of these delicate beauties.
Clockwise from clasp: “Lace Lock”, All Glass beads uniques. Silvers: “Spiritual Ornament”, “Elderflowers”, “Spiritual Adornment”, “Wine Harvest”.
We’re delighted to present a very special Event for Collectors of Trollbeads Amber… kicking off this Saturday, the 17th of September, until Wednesday the 21st. Come enjoy an extraordinary selection of these unique Baltic jewels, and be amazed and the endless variations in colour, tone, cut and texture.
Have you felt it in your part of the world? Here on the West coast of Canada, there’s been a subtle shift in the light these last few days. Even until last week, I felt as though I was in the middle of an everlasting Summer. The days were long and warm, with bocce games that stretched into the evening. The light was bright and clear, and the skies were blindingly blue. One day recently there was a little wind winding through the garden that played a scattering of pale, dry leaves off our dogwood tree, and suddenly I could see the first signs of Autumn.
It wasn’t really the leaves on the pathway, that alerted me to the upcoming change in the seasons… there other clues as well. There has been a shift in the angle and colour of the light that unmistakably whispers “Autumn”. The light is still bright, but it’s just a bit more golden and mellow. The sky is still brilliant blue, but there’s a bit of a haze in the morning and evening. Night falls much earlier now, and after dinner we are more likely to be having a sunset stroll than struggling to spot our bocce marker in the dusk.
As always, seasonal change suggests a change in the way we dress, the colours we wear, the textures we enjoy in our homes… and of course, a change in the way we wear our Trollbeads. I set out to design a bracelet that felt just right for this time of year, when we are still enjoying lots of Summer warmth, but are looking ahead to the Autumnal months that are just around the corner.
I blended those watery blue greens with a selection of inky blacks, most of which have an element of earthy texture or glitter. That little touch of warmth helps to keep the feel natural and not too terribly stark. Many of the aqua beads also have an earthy element that I enjoy… for example, the ribbon of stone texture that wraps around the “Traces” bead, or the marvellous green and stone textured unique at left.
The pair of stones that I have employed in this design are the smooth, retired form of “Chalcedony” and a treasured, very translucent “Dendritic Agate”. I’ve had the Chalcedony for many years, but the Dendritic Agate is a very recent addition. I came across it just before the Challenge began, so it managed to slip into the collection just in time. Dendritic Agate is a variety of Chalcedony Quartz, and is often found with deposits of other types of Chalcedony. This relationship is easy to see in a translucent example such as this, where the two stones are nearly identical, save for a few traces of Dendritic Agate’s distinctive fern textural markings. Imagine how difficult it must be for stone cutters to predict how to cut and facet these stones to best display their hidden branchlike patterns… years of experience and well honed instincts must be required!
I adore cranberry red, even more so when combined with other saturated tones such as raspberry, pink, coral, goldenrod yellow – or in this case all of them! It’s a “Singapore sling” bracelet with juicy sunset colours that range from soft pink and peach down into egg yolk yellow, raspberry, tomato red and claret. These riotous colours all play together nicely, partly because they are all in the warm red family, but also because the textures and patterns of the glass are of a similar complexity and mood.
So today, I decided to dive into the case of current bead stock and see what sort of “Day to Day” bracelet design I could play together. I’m quite delighted with the result. I started by combining two “Triple Pearl” beads, one an inky blue-grey and the other a perfectly clean white. These are large-scale beads that combine both pearls and detailed silver hydrangeas for lots of drama, so they needed companions that could stand up to them. I centred a silver “Big World” and framed it with a nicely marked “Dendritic Agate” and a stunning Sapphire.
tartooful 