Snow and ice

Although we usually get snow early in December, I don’t put together my winter bracelet until January. One reason is that my Christmas designs take precedence in December. The other reason is that, even though I put together a bracelet each year to celebrate winter, there are things that I don’t like about winter. Like the cold. And the biting wind that makes the cold feel that much … colder. So I need a bit of time to get used to the idea of winter, even if I ultimately end up celebrating it.

This year the cold arrived early, in mid November. Although the temperatures rose again in December, it was only a matter of time before they returned. And return they did. The first week of January brought a temperature drop of about thirty degrees almost overnight. It really didn’t inspire me to put together anything that celebrated frosty temperatures! Now that we’re back to our usual (cold, but not mind-numbing cold!) temperatures, I finally put together my winter bracelet.

My white beads get quite a bit of use throughout the year, but my soft blues rarely make it out of my bead box other than for my winter bracelet. Of course, since this bracelet stays together until late March and often into April, they still get quite a bit of wear ;) Previously I’ve intermixed the different colours to give the bracelet a more homogenous look. This year, I had the idea to group the like colours together instead. I started with the blues in the centre and whites on either side, but when I put it all together, it didn’t seem right. I tried a few different arrangements of the colour groupings before giving up and going back to a mixed configuration. But, that didn’t seem right either! I almost gave up on the bracelet, figuring that my heart just wasn’t in it this year, before finding a happy middle ground between the two extremes.

 

The silvers were much easier to arrange. The Snow bead is made for this bracelet and this year I had the Snowball bead to complement it. The jolly little You Melt Me snowman is probably as close as I’ll get to having a dangle on a bracelet. I wasn’t sure if his icicles would bother me, but they’re really quite cute and I can’t feel them when I wear him. And Bah Humbug is my tongue-in-cheek nod towards the mood that the cold temperatures can put me in.

Looking back, this bracelet hasn’t changed that much over the years. As my white beads have multiplied, I’ve phased out the darker beads that were originally in it. And I’ve managed to find a few more pale blues since the first incarnation of this bracelet. The silvers have changed the most – three of the four silvers are new this year! If I came across another pale blue I wouldn’t turn it down, but overall I think it’s at a place where I won’t tinker too much with it each year. It’s just the right thing for a cloudy winter day. Or a sunny one!

6 Comments

  1. Love the two beads either side of Bah Humbug in particular and love the way you’ve grouped the beads together, it’s really cohesive.
    We actually had some snow last night, first time in absolute ages, but only baby stuff compared to your snow!
    Mars xx

    1. Thanks! Despite how hard it was to get them right, in the end I like the way that the grouped beads look. I usually spread them out a bit, but I feel like it makes the colours pop more on this one. It might even entice me to try groupings again at some point :D

      We have *piles* of snow here. But it has accumulated over a few weeks, so at least the roads and sidewalks aren’t too bad. And the bitter cold has gone (for the moment *knockonwood*). We live in what is called the “snowbelt” so we get quite a bit of snow when it does snow. Of course, I didn’t know that until I moved here :D Last year was much worse though, so this year seems easy in comparison!

      But I always love the first snowfall. It always seems magical :)

    1. Thanks Martha! I definitely need the pops of bright colours when it’s grey and overcast here. Particularly in March, when everything turns to slush, or if we get a late season snowstorm in April, it certainly helps take the sting out of the weather outside :)

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