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

 It seems incredible but it has been a full year since Trollbeads Denmark took over the reigns as distributor for the United States.  On January 25th 2011 Trollbeads CEO Peter Aagaard announced through an email to the U.S. retailers, they had set up operations in Princeton, NJ and were ready to start shipping.  There were definitely some bumps in the road before it became a reality but the majority of the Aagaard's family had been here in the states all committed to making the transition as smooth as possible. They all had been busy working day and night setting up the new hub of distribution and this was just the start of a major shift of how Trollbeads would be seen by the U.S.  It wouldn't long before Trollbeads would be appreciated as a major mover and shaker in the jewelry retail industry.   The newly formed company's fine tuned professionalism began to shape TrollbeadsUS as we knew it into the new Trollbeads-United States as it now is. The prior distributor had under invested in marketing, national advertising and the activity at events on the national stage had been rare. But now that has all changed and with millions of dollars invested in advertising, participating in social marketing and by participating in major jewelry industry and fashion events the new Trollbeads-United States has positioned itself to continue to rise and be acknowledged as a major player in the collectible bead industry. After all Trollbeads was the original player 35 years ago.

Besides creating strong advertising campaigns the changes included many store visits from the Trollbeads core people including the family and the designers. They created a glass bead making demonstration event that many stores have hosted and will continue to do so. Just as Denmark was needing Peter and company to return home, the new CEO of Trollbeads-United States was announced. In mid September Michael Belleveau took over the helm from Peter Aagaard and with a smooth passing of the reigns Peter headed home with the U.S. distributorship in Michael's capable hands poised to continue to grow the brand while staying true to the Trollbeads business Mantra.

With the brilliant new Trollbeads introductions we have seen so far in January I feel assured 2012 is going to be a record breaker and I'm looking forward to continuing to enjoy the ride and I hope you are too!

Louise Rogers

Trollbeads Gallery

The photo above was taken in the gallery when we had Soren Nielsen exhibit his wax designing methods and a visit from Peter Aagaard.  I started the day by showing our Danish guests around Mattapoisett with a ride to the lighthouse and ended the day by enjoying a dinner next door at the local diner!  From left to right Carole, Soren, Kimmie,Louise, Penni and Peter.

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

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As I was deciding what to include in my 2010 Trollbeads summary it astonished me to see how much Trollbeads accomplished in just one year.  Too much, in fact, it will take more than one blog to include all of the special releases that made 2010 such a remarkable year for Trollbeads and Trollbeads Collectors. Thank you Trollbeads!

February 2010 Trollbeads released a Limited Edition of the Crazy Lace Agate beads.  This bead is one of many different colors and forms of agate and is a deep rich pink with veins of purple, gray, rust and black running through the stone which gives the beads a wide variety of appearances.  For the first time there were actually two shapes created.  Europe was offered the smooth Crazy Lace Agate and the U.S. was offered the bead in a faceted version.

Crazy Lace Agate is known as a healing stone.  It provides balance and it protects the wearer.  It brings laughter to its possessor.  Crazy Lace Agate is used to help in making decisions by balancing the energies used in the physical, the emotional and the mental which keeps the possessor focused and better able to make good decisions.

As with all of the limited edition releases, only the Premium Trollbeads dealers were offered the Crazy Lace Agate beads.  Premium Partner dealers are dealers that offer no other competing interchangeable bead line. Crazy lace Agate was only available for a very short time and is no longer attainable through Trollbeads. Trollbeads Gallery sold many of these beads and is always looking for more to sell under our retired Trollbeads line.  We have the beads and will soon be adding them to our retired website. Please email if you have any you would like to part with! http://RetiredTrollbeadsGallery.com

email: Louise@TrollbeadsGallery.com

*Photo taken by Trollbeads Gallery Forum member! The four smooth pick beads are Crazy lace Agates.

Professional photographer Celia Pearson was visiting recently and I handed her the Trollbeads Coffee Table Book to watch her reaction.  Celia is a highly visual person and I wanted to see her reaction from a non Trollbeads collector's point of view.  While she finds Trollbeads fascinating, she isn't a jewelry person.  I always show, discuss and sell the book to Trollbeads collectors and I thought it would be fascinating to hear Celia's impressions.  She has illustrated books with her photography and I was eager to see what her reaction would be.  To understand Trollbeads could she see it from the the pages within this book?  I think she did!  LR

I was visiting Louise Rogers recently and she introduced me to the book An Icon in Jewellery Design: Trollbeads.  She’d already introduced me to Trollbeads. I think they are fascinating and beautiful - so creatively designed. I haven’t purchased any, but that’s only because I’m a person who wears very little jewelry.  When we opened this book together, Louise and I, I was immediately drawn to its strong and vibrant photographs. I am a lifelong photographer, so it was natural that I would notice the images.

All at once I understood Trollbeads better. The story of this family, and its company and designers, is compelling. Just as the beads come alive in the creative and inspired hands of the designers, the story comes alive in the book’s amazing photographs. All are flawlessly composed, and without exception the images are imbued with a sense of vitality and energy. There is life in these pages.

Trollbeads, too, seem to be imbued with this same life (so well described by the book’s stunning close-up photographs of them), and now I see that the vibrancy and integrity of the humans behind these beads is part of that life. They are an inspired and inspiring community and not only do they share who they are in this book, they seem as well to invite us to become a part of them.

This family and company have an unerring sense of and ability to share what I believe many of us want. I believe we want fine things, a sense of the life all around us (and in us), and community. Beauty, vitality, connection. The photographs in this book power that message, and the Trollbeads take on an added significance as they become a symbol for those things.

Thanks, Louise!

Celia Pearson

Celia Pearson Biography

Celia Pearson has been a fine art and assignment photographer for many years. Richard Bond’s lectures in Annapolis, Maryland in the 1970’s sparked a passion that has defined her adult life. Her fine art photographs are collected privately and are in two permanent museum collections: The Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD, and The New Bedford Museum of Glass in New Bedford, MA. Her work has been shown in galleries in Massachusetts, Delaware, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. The Cape Cod Museum of Art has just mounted an exhibit of her sea glass images that will continue through October 10, 2010. 

Pearson’s photographs of architecture, interiors, and gardens have been published in national magazines such as Coastal Living, Metropolitan Home, Southern Accents, and Residential Architect. Book credits include Pure SEA GLASS published by Sea Glass Publishing, with more than 85,000 copies sold since publication in 2004; and Wayne L. Good Architect: Tradition Elegance, Repose, a monograph published in four languages.

As a result of the book Pure SEA GLASS Pearson's work came to the attention of Maryland Public Television and was the subject of a segment on ArtWorks. MPT’s host, Rhea Feikin, described Pearson’s “innate ability to find the essence of an object that resonates with beauty”.

The artist lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

To Celia, Many thanks for looking into my world! Louise

Trollbeads is the original interchangeable bead line and through its 35 years Trollbeads continues to show its collectors why they remain head over heels ahead of the dozens of subsequent copycat bead lines.   Yes, there is at least one other company, Pandora, that has higher recognition in the market place, has higher sales and is many times larger but that is not what being top is all about.  Definitely not in my book because Pandora’s size and sheer volume has made the brand too common. What is there in Pandora to be emotionally committed to? How can you feel passion for a conglomerate making cookie cutter beads?  Trollbeads as a company, as a brand and as a product is so much more for so many reasons.  Is it that Trollbeads is still family owned and run?   Is it that Trollbeads are created by true artists who start with their sketches then moving on to wax models and then to the actual mold? Trollbeads are not computer generated designs like other bead brands. If you think of Trollbeads as a “being”, which many of us do whatever the reason, Trollbeads is the true folk hero of bead lines.  A major category of folk hero is ‘the defender of the smaller populace against the oppression or corruption of the established power structure’.  How perfect is that for Trollbeads when looking at Trollbeads in the bead marketplace today? Trollbeads does not bend to the common marketplace pressure to deliver beads like the other brands do such as cute cartoon-like children, puppies and birthday cakes. The Trollbeads designers continue to have the artistic freedom to create beads they believe in. Throughout the years Trollbeads collectors have contributed to this heroic brand through understanding the true essence of Trollbeads and understanding the deeper personal meaning to each bead. Just look at this year's winning "People's Bead Award" winner "Ice Bear" by Kristi Denning. Almost the whole of the Trollbeads collecting world voted on it because it fits the collection perfectly.  The "Ice Bear" bead truly captures the spirit of Trollbeads, the voters and Kristi's passion for the environment.  Brand new bead!

In October 2010 Trollbeads Gallery and Rogers Gallery presented the first Trollbeads Fest or “convention” of its kind in the United States. Creating the perfect weekend for collectors meant the planning took months of work but it was all worth it. Trollbeads Fest was a huge success. Mary Jo Coe, the National Director of sales at TrollbeadsUS who was present at Trollbeads Fest 2010 said “Incredibly the event was the “essence” of what Trollbeads is all about.”  There is an intangible energy within Trollbeads that brings out a similar energy in its collectors and its this phenomenon that is creating a cult like following for Trollbeads.  It is incredible to be a part of it and to watch it in action. I can’t put my finger on it but it is truly magical and to many of us that is what Trollbeads is all about. If you would like to see more of the Trollbeads spirit you may want to go to the website for the Trollbeads Fest and look through the slideshow of images.

Take a look at Trollbeads Gallery Forum.  It is clearly a very energetic group of some of the most enthusiastic Trollbeads fans in the world.  The Trollbeads Fest became a reality through the Forum and for many of us that are active forum members the closeness we all felt at the Trollbeads Fest was not unexpected.  For many it was a continuation of friendships that have formed through Trollbeads all over the world because of this one shared passion, our very own folk hero beads, Trollbeads.  It may be a shame so many cookie cutter bead brands have sullied the market since Trollbeads were born but the people who truly understand and feel the energy Trollbeads exude, it matters not.

What are your thoughts as a collector? 

Trollbeads Fest! 2010 Very Happy Attendees!

The New Trollbeads release for the Winter 2010 is coming out in the U.S. on November 12th! There are  all sorts of wonderful new additions to the Trollbeads line!!  We are particularily excited to see the 2010 People's Bead Award Winner the "Ice Bear" bead designed by Kristi Denning from Maryland. Kristi was at our Trollbeads Fest! 2010 in October and she had with her the model she made for the contest.  The "Ice Bear" will be a huge favorite, especially for all the people who were lucky enough to meet Kristi at Trollbeads Fest. Below Kristi is holding the model for her award winning design.  Just this weed Kristi received the Gold version of the "Ice Bear" as an award from Trollbeads Denmark.

Another favorite will be the new "Pink Diamonds" bead.  The "White Diamonds" and "Black Diamonds" Trollbeads are two of the more popular beads for Trollbeads Gallery customers.  The new silver Star Trollbead and the new Snowflake Trollbeads look to be a great addition also.  There is one new 18K Gold bead and it looks to be very interesting, I can't wait to see it in person!

The brand new Trollbeads earring components are frosty and fun and interchangeable! Add them to your holiday wardobe!  We have begun to create more earring designs with the interchangeable accessories to much acclaim from our customers and Trollbeads will continue to add fresh components with each new Troll release.

While Denmark enjoys a white Christmas,  the designers at Trollbeads have not forgotten those on the other side of the world that celebrate Christmas with beach parties and blossoming cherry orchards. For Premier Partner Program members, Trollbeads has two Special Edition glass kits - Christmas in Hawaii with blue nuances and Christmas in Australia with patterns of Cherry Blossoms.  These two glass kits will be sold separately and will add a great set of colors for your holiday jewelry designs. 

For those of you looking for a more traditional Trollbeads look please check out the Red Stripe Glass Bead, the Green Stripe Bead which is much darker than the photograph on the website and is perfect with the red stripe!  Also think of adding White Diamonds !  With the old silver Trollbeads favorites like the Snowman bead and the silver Snow bead and the new snow bead we should all be able to make many very unique Christmas designs this year.  Very soon Trollbeads Gallery will be releasing our holiday favorite "Holiday Uniques". We have assembled a huge quanity and are quite excited by our selection! Many beautiful unique (referred to OOAK in Europe) in greens and reds are being photographed as I write this!  We will announce it on Trollbeads Gallery Forum and we will send out an email when they are released!

Trollbeads Fest! 2010

Rogers Gallery /Trollbeads Gallery

New Bedford, Mass.

October 15 & 16 2010

Post Trollbeads Fest! 2010 Letter

Dear Trollbeads Fans,

How can I thank you all enough for everything you each brought to our amazing event? It has been referred to as a truly historical event for Trollbeads in the U.S. and we should all be proud to have been a part of it.  I have tried to imagine what I would say to you but words can’t quite express it.  Having been present, you know what I mean. 

There was something magical in our midst, palpable yet indescribable.  Mary Jo Coe, the National Sales Director for TrollbeadsUS, summed it up by saying what we created and what the event embodied was exactly what Trollbeads is all about.   So I thought I would sum up the event in Trollbeads.

Friendship Bead.  Do you realize that our Forum is only 1 ½ years old and we were more like old friends at a high school reunion? Look at some of the photos and you’ll see why I think that. The closeness we all felt allowed us to” let our hair down” and be who we are and enjoy the moment with friends and with Trollbeads. Our forum had brought together a very real sense of ourselves relating to each other through our hearts.

Pax Bead. Having the designer, Suzanne Hopping and her husband with us from Australia created a sense of the world just as she portrayed it.  Protected by the doves wings we were safe amongst each other to celebrate our love of Trollbeads and our own community.

Waves Bead. How was I to know about the Northeaster storm hitting New England mid-October when I planned the event and the accompanying Harbor Cruises?  Frede got a wave in the face and I know a lot of you other hardy souls did to!

Three Monkeys Bead.  There was definitely mischief about!  The monkeys were busy will pranks and tricks although I would love to name you all, I can’t! 1 monkey would be Maddog, 2 would be his sidekick Mary Maddog and 3 would be Mary Anna the screamer!

Angel and Devil bead.  Dearest Frede, with your smooth southern accent and your tall stature you resemble an angel in all ways…but boy what a devil you are!  Our Soren didn’t know what he was in for!

Lucky Knot bead.  This bead is for luck and happiness and we surely had luck and happiness all covered for our Trollbeads Fest. My face still hurts from all the smiling and laughing.

Harmony bead. Most importantly this bead is about harmony, something our gathering was graced with and out friendships are sealed by.

Victory bead. This I dedicate to New Bedford’s Mayor, Scott Lang.  At our dinner Saturday night Scott gave a great talk sharing his love of New Bedford and its history for everyone to take home and share. Scott has been leading New Bedford to rise again to its past prominence with grace and intelligence, which are two things not often seen in politics.  Thank you to Scott and to his wife Gig, our courageous event planner!

Transition Man bead. I definitely want to give a “Hat’s off” to all the wonderfully patient and enabling spouses.  What amazing men!  I have never seen such supportive men and the best were the ones that ended up sporting their own Trollbeads by the end of the Fest!  You guys are the real men!

Yesterday all of our gang from Rogers Gallery and Trollbeads Gallery assembled for a post Trollbeads Fest meeting.  Before I knew what was happening Carole, Penni, Nate, Marjorie, Ruth and Gig were all chattering about Trollbeads Fest! 2011.    Did you all notice I left Ben’s name out of it… actually we are all on board for next year.  So many people wanted to be there that could not be this time around that for we owe it to them and to everyone else asking for Trollbeads Fest! 2011, we are off and running!!

Please accept my heartfelt thanks to everyone who came and who made the effort to travel to be a part of this amazing event.  We all made it what it was. 

Warm regards,

Louise

PS. If you have not joined Our Trollbeads Gallery Forum do so! You can catch all of the photos from Trollbeads Fest and believe me they are high on the factor!

With only 12 days to go before our Trollbeads get together gets underway we have only to sit back and ponder our plans!  The Fantasy Necklace, Leather Bracelet and New Trollbeads Earrings learning stations are well thought out and well stocked. The teachers are getting their learning stations ready!  The photo above was taken by our Trollbeads Fest visiting photographer, Ginger Hatten from Wyoming.  She will show you how to shoot photos of your collection with clarity and detail so you can be proud of your Trollbeads photographs.

The famous Rogers Gallery/Trollbeads Gallery selection of Unique beads totaling almost 1500 Assorted Unique Trollbeads (referred to as OOAK in Europe) could not be more diverse and more beautiful.  The stunning possibilities for adding to your Troll collection in one place has never been as great.  Trollbeads Fest! 2010 will be the the first festival of it's kind in the United States.

A Trollbeads Trunk Show will be running concurrently with Trollfest offering specials to all attendees. If you purchace 4 Trollbeads of any value you may receive a free Trollbead of equal or less that the lowest priced bead purchased. If you purchase any of the Gold Trollbeads you will receive $100.00 off and if you purchase a Silver/Gold Trollbead you will receive $50.00 off!  The Trunk show specials offer such great savings attending Trollbeads Fest for this alone is worth it! If you need further details call the gallery at 1-508-758-3641.

Purchase a "Pax" Trollbead at Trollbeads Fest and meet Suzanne Hopping the designer.  Suzanne is coming from Australia and will be at Trollbeads Fest signing special Trollbeads Fest presentation certificates for the "Pax" bead so you will always have unique memoriabilia for the first festival of it's kind.  Suzanne will also be signing the coffee table book "Icon of Jewelry Design, Trollbeads".  The 2009 Trollbeads People's Bead Winner is featured in the book.

If you haven't yet signed up for Trollbeads Fest, it's not too late! Join us for a fun filled weekend in the best month of the year in New England!  Enjoy the foliage and the crisp clean fall air with a lot of other Trollbeads fanatics!

Check out the excitement here!

History in the making! On Friday October 15th Rogers Gallery will be unveiling the first Trollbeads Museum of its kind in the United States.  Two years of collecting some of the oldest and the rarest of Trollbeads has produced a collection worthy of seeing!

With the new Trollbeads release of the Autumn, 2010 beads there were 3 new stone Trollbeads added to the “Precious Stone” category. One of the new stone beads is the Tiger’s Eye.

Tiger’s Eye is a member of the quartz group of chalcedonies.  In using the term “Chalcedony” in stones used jewelry you think of the light blue variation with translucency (another new Trollbeads "Precious Stone" bead) but there are actually a few other stones in this group , a few being agates, onyx, jaspers and tiger’s eye. It is one of the chatoyant gemstones. Chatoyancy exhibits a changeable silky luster as light is reflected within the thin parallel fibrous bands. This effect is due to the fibrous structure of the stone’s material.

The Tiger’s Eye stone is mined in Western Australia, South Africa, USA, Canada, India, Namibia, and Burma and it was all originally metamorphic rock. Metamorphic rock is the result of the geological transformation of an existing rock type. “Metamorphic” means a changing in form. While deep in the earth’s crust the existing heat, pressure and chemical changes all contributed to the metamorphism.  Through millions of years of erosion and layers of uplifts the rocks are eventually.  Tiger’s Eye has beautiful lateral striations and depending on how the stone is finished, it can look like miniature landscapes.

As with the other stones that Trollbeads has chosen for its “Precious Beads” group, Tiger’s Eye has folklore and legends associated with its history.  Trollbeads has a strong affiliation with folklore in their beads and the Tiger’s Eye fits well with Trollbeads philosophy for chosingTrollbeads designs and Trollbead materials. Many legends about quartz say that wearing tiger's eye (which is a form of quartz) is beneficial for health and spiritual well being. Legend also says it is a psychic protector.  Tigers Eye is also believed to be great for business and that it helps achieve clarity of thought. One Tiger Eye meaning assures the correct use of power, courage, grace and the ability to see clearly and without illusion. All of which clears the way before you to allow your success to enter your life.  Too often, those that come into money after a long lack of money in their life, tend to be abusive with the power that the new found money brings. These newly rich tend to shun those they knew most of their life and tend to be unkind to those with less money. Tigers Eye healing properties prevents the abuse of power, leaving you better able to get along with everyone involved, which makes relationships with those that work for us much smoother.  Another Tiger Eye meaning creates harmony in your life and is especially suited for anyone seeking peace and calm in their life. Does your mind flit from one thought to another, making it hard to concentrate, impossible to meditate? You should use Tiger Eye to ground yourself because Its presence stills the mind and helps you move deeper into meditation and into being a more calm person.

Tigers Eye Meaning: the best abilities of a tiger

Tiger's Eye (also known as Tiger Eye) draws upon the best qualities of a Tiger allowing you to absorb them into your being to get the most benefit from them.

1) Patience: A tiger can wait patiently for hours or even days until the right opportunity presents itself. In business and in life, patience is a virtue. Often we run head long into a project without doing the proper research or learning and we find ourselves having to backtrack. Allow the tiger eye to bring you clear thinking and insight in to the situation.
2) Focused: A tiger will stay focused on the object he desires for as long as it takes. In business, if we allow ourselves to lose focus, we allow our competition to gain a foothold and we miss opportunities to grow and increase our businesses. A tigers eye Trollbead will keep you focused if you allow it to.

3) Determination: A tiger is totally determined to get what he wants and needs. To be successful in your endeavors you need to be determined and wearing the Tiger’s Eye Trollbead will give you the calmness of mind to be determined.  Learn from the tiger and allow the tigers eye gemstone to help maintain and increase your determination is all aspect of life and business.

After writing this I am going to go put some Tiger's Eye Trollbeads onto my Trollbeads necklace! I could definately use some calmness and order in my mind!