Trollbeads information that can inspire your creativity with your own Trollbeads collection. Share your thoughts, be involved and please leave comments!

  This article has been written by Anna Teresa Bellinzis, a Trollbeads collector from the Netherlands and our own Trollbeads blog contributor! This is her third article! Thank you Anna Teresa.

Trollbeads fans can be divided in several groups. The ones that immediately pop up in my head are young mothers who start collecting after their first child is born. They buy beads that really have a special meaning for them. I think of baby boy, baby girl and hope. And also the letter beads, cherub, baby and one of the Horoscope signs.

There are people that wear Trollbeads as the modern bead that it is. They buy beads at specials moments. Graduation, a new house or job, birth of a child, anniversary or birthday. They collect bit by bit beads and their bracelet grows quietly to a piece of jewelry with a great story behind it.

There are grandmothers who buy a Trollbead bracelet for their grandchildren, having the Trollbeads as a part of their relationship makes them closer.

There are men who want to express their creativity and love with a Trollbead bracelet that is really personal and that can express how they feel. You know there are men that need help in that area!

There are collectors who are attracted like bees are to honey to the gorgeous beads that are like little pieces of artwork. Of course the meaning of the bead matters, but the color, the shape and the detail really stand out.

They can’t pass a jeweler without peeking in the bead case. Stare and drool all over a single bead as if it is their first one.

Collectors that can stare and drool all over a single bead as if it is their first one. I guess I belong to that last group collectors. I see Trollbeads as a finishing touch of my outfit. And since I like to wear every day another outfit, I like to wear different beads every day. Some days I like to wear serene outfits and make a matching ton-sur-ton bracelet and necklace . Other days I really want to sparkle and shine and make a splashing bracelet. So I have beads in almost every color and every style. Before I go to bed, after putting my clothes ready for the next day, I take my bead box and start making my bracelet. Of course I can change my mind in a minute. So when I pull out the bracelet after brushing my teeth my husband starts laughing out loud and asks: Are you going to wear something else, dear? But sometimes I ask myself: why bother? Who cares which beads I wear? Do you get compliments every day about your designs? But I know people do notice, my mother for one. Last night sitting at her kitchen table she took my wrist and looked for minutes at my beads. She really liked the purple flower mosaic, adored the fairy and loved the happy universe. She said that if she had Trollbeads she would play with them every day. Her pleasure is a real compliment for me and the money I put into my hobby. But even without compliments like that, I will always wear my beads. Just because they make me feel pretty.

Photographs (and beads) are from Anna Teresa!

With the introduction of the Spring 2011, Trollbeads also released a limited Edition at the same time.  The Limited Edition was Agate beads, in Pink and in Turquoise.  These beads were very unlike the Crazy Lace Agate Trollbeads released in 2010 so the release was brand new and totally unexpected.  These Trollbead stones are finished with a very high polish and are very smooth and have similar outlines to the Jasper and Picasso Jasper Trollbeads.  No facets just smooth rock.  The two colors also came in 2 choices, solid and striped.  While the solid Agate Trollbeads offer you a very drenched color, the striped Agates add pattern and intrigue to your jewelry.  Once again a hard choice to make and my advice would be to choose what you like and decide where you will use them later.  Photo below and the set at the end of this post shows a solid Pink Agate and the set at the top shows the solid Turquoise set.

Collecting Trollbeads is always about choices but making decision based on what other beads you have to use it with will stifle your collection.  Think about your Trollbeads collection as a painter’s palette, one you have all the colors spread across, and start from scratch designing new creations.  Ok, now think about the beads you said no to because they just didn’t work with what you had?  Your palette would be boring and you chance at self-exploration would once again leave you once again at the boredom door.  Is this where you want to be?  No, I know you don’t because if you did you’d be collecting some other bead brand!  So go back to your local dealer or back to the website of your choice and choose the wildest of the Agate Stripes and know your collection will always lead you to exciting places where you can reinvent yourself through Trollbeads!

The striped Agate has a very interesting story behind its development.  Like many of the interesting varieties of stones, Agates are formed from volcanic activity.  There are nodules or cavities within volcanic rocks that have had layers of silica type materials have form in regular spaces and some are thin and others wide.  These agates when cut opposite to the grain, or transversely, shows the layers as they occurred in time and it is these layers that give our Striped Agate, its name.  Hold the striped beads up to the light and you will see the light through the bead.  (Notice the bead to the right.)

The lighter silica striations go from white to a cloudy but light clear. Sometimes called banded Agate, it is the most exciting to me as a Trollbeads dealer and collector.  When you look at these new Trollbeads remember to purchase for its beauty and then be concerned as to how you might use it.  Don’t give up the chance to own something so strikingly beautiful because you are afraid of its use.

 For interesting ideas of what to use your Agate LE Trollbeads with join us on Trollbeads Gallery Forum and see what collectors are doing!

Also join us on Facebook and continue your Trollbeads journey by learning and seeing what the rest of the world is doing with their Trollbeads! http://www.facebook.com/TrollbeadsGallery

I have a unique perspective from a Trollbeads collectors point of view and this has helped me understand something.  Not only am I a Troll collector, I have a Trollbeads store , I am a seller of Retired Trollbeads, a Trollbeads Gallery Forum moderator and manager, a Trollbeads website manager and that's just the tipof the iceberg.

My perspective is one of experience, research and personal friendships to the largest and most enthusiastic collectors of Trollbeads around the world.  Some of these personal collections rival the inventories of many authorized Trollbeads stores. But these collections aren't created by greed or by the  "have to have more than so and so" thoughts, they are created by a depth of passion that goes way beyond many of the "collectables" of recent decades. Compare it to other subsequent beads lines, all of todays bead line are subsequent to Trollbeads so pick any of them and make a comparison.  There is none.  No other line has the depth of colors and materials Trollbeads has not do the silver and gold beads have the fine artistic quality to them.  There just isn't another bead that can muster this much passion and when one starts collecting them  they just can't and won't stop.  There are over 500 beads in todays offerings but that doesn't even begin to describe the color families of glass or the color families of jade, pearls, aventurines, you name it.  The best part of this unparalleled selection is that collectors join in the creative process and design bracelets, many of them, based on themes,color ways, personal meanings and eras of the beads themselves.  When there is 35 years of Trollbead history, there are plenty of eras from which to create and to draw from for the many ideas you may have.

When working on your Ocean or water themed Troll bracelets make sure you visit our Retired Trollbeads Gallery to see the Flounder bead! Hurry before he gets away!  Or when you start working on your pale blue themed Trollbeads bracelet check out the Light Blue Stripe.

So don't ever consider your bracelet finished if your chain is full, it is only the beginning of your Trollbeads Journey.