Great Aiste's Story and her SHOP...

I grew up surrounded by nature and crafting -- my grandmother grew all kinds of decorative trees and knitted lovely scarves, warm gloves and socks. She also dressed my mother in her youth and her clothes taught me elegance and a sense of uniqueness in otherwise bleak soviet fashion.
My grandfather was an amber craftsman (and a national artist craftsman with some prizes to his name) -- his workshop always smelled of wood, resin and amber, his amber jewellery and souvenirs instilled a sense of wonder and amazement in me -- such wonderful things born of hard and precise work and love of crafting and art.

 Amber has been used for jewelry since the stone age, from 13,000 years ago. Amber ornaments have been found in Mycenaean tombs and elsewhere across Europe.
First written mentions of amber are found in Greek philosophers' work from as early as 4th century BC and the amber they mentioned was Baltic amber.

 Prehistoric commercial routes between Northern and Southern Europe were defined by the amber trade. The Amber Road was an ancient trade route for the transfer of amber from coastal areas of the North Sea and the Baltic Sea to the Mediterranean Sea. As an important raw material, sometimes dubbed "the gold of the north", amber was transported from the North Sea and Baltic Sea coasts overland by way of the Vistula and Dnieper rivers to Italy, Greece, the Black Sea, Syria and Egypt thousands of years ago, and long after.
If you are interested in reading more about amber -- check out my blog: aistesjewelrybox.blogspot.com

These days we have our own trade routes and they criss-cross the world freely. Let me introduce a little bit of history and tradition into your life's trade route with natural Baltic Amber!