Trollbeads Blizzard Bracelet project 2022

Just before Christmas, Akron was blasted with a major storm. For several days temperatures were below zero, roads were iced and the snow whipped over the landscape, egged on by the frigid wind. For our sweet little brick and mortar store, the timing was less than ideal. I had the store trimmed to the top and coffee freshly brewed, and as much hope for Christmas miracles as a grown woman can have. What did I do to comfort myself on days that were supposed to be busy and ended up a bit lackluster? Play with Trollbeads of course!

Every year I do some sort of snow inspired bracelet for our display case. This year’s came out quite beautifully, so of course I thought I would write a blog post to start the new year and share with you! I also found out some of these beads are soon to retire so it felt timely for many reasons. I really enjoy using retired beads in my designs and workin in brand new beads with old favorites, which allows for a lot more design versatility. While seeing a bracelet full of brand new beads is fun, its not the way many of us collect.

For a snowy look there are a few beads I tend to start with every year. Dichroic Ice (soon to retire in 2023), either a round or faceted Chalcedony (which we have very limited supply of) and some snow inspired silver (happy to see some new silver charms in the Winter 2022 release to use here!). While holiday releases often have white with gold/copper items I generally tend stay away from warmer metal tones for my snow inspired bracelets. I feel that this approach keeps the feeling crisp and chilly. The closest I got to a warmer tone here was using a retired Blue Desert, which has some coppery sparkle to it.

Do you ever come back to a design idea per season? Or are you more of a once it’s done its done sort of person? Have you seen the 2023 retired list that’s making its way around Trollbeads circles? Keep your eyes on your inbox for a blog post with more retirement details coming soon!