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

At the end of this past February the distributorship of Trollbeads in the United States changed.  The new distributor is Trollbeads-United States a company based in Princeton, NJ completely owned and managed by the parent company, Trollbeads Headquarters and the Aagaard family.  The past month has been a busy one for the Aagaards and Trollbeads-United States from setting up their ordering and shipping processes and hiring management and support staff.   Many of the U.S. Trollbeads stores have been eagerly waiting to see the changes implemented and to find out what the changes will mean to both retailers and to our customers.  While the drama is still unfolding I can tell you, as a retailer, the changes worth noting are all positive.

One change that is most notable is the availability of Unique Beads and the quality of the Unique Beads.  The original U.S. distributor offered the Unique beads only to the premier dealers and limited them to a certain number each month.  Unique Trollebeads are now available to the retailers wanting to offer them and their quanitities are not limited. The beads themselves are altogether different and in time this change of style will create a time frame for collectors to judge the date of these beads.  To accelerate the sales and clear the stores of the old style Unique beads, Trollbeads-United States has allowed it’s dealers to run a special price event for the month of April.  Both our website, TrollbeadsGallery.com and Rogers Gallery,our actual store, is offering 3 Unique beads for $75.00.   There are many "old" familiar styles going away and they will be missed so check out your local stores and the websites and get them now before they are gone!  A sample set from Trollbeads Gallery is shown on the left.

Replacing the old beads will be the beads we have become familiar with through the European sites but are now available to the U.S. dealers.  The new Unique Trollbeads are extraordinary and are works of art showing more detail and more degrees of difficulty to create.  Isabel Aagaard, who is working in Princeton on a temporary basis, just visited Rogers Gallery during our Special Event* and she spoke about the new Unique beads explaining how some of the designs are executed which of course left us all wanting for more! Our attendees listened with focused attention as Isabel, who is the owners’ daughter, explained how she creates Unique glass beads. Isobel was also the designer for the “Origami” Trollbead.  This leads me to one more important change in the United States.

Based on availability, Trollbeads designers will be visiting the U.S. stores during Special Events and will be sharing how glass beads are made, to the extent of eventually having them make glass beads at the event.  Demystifying this process will only serve to support our love of these beads and will make collectors want more.  I know I do.  We plan on having the glass bead artists at Trollbeads Fest! 2011, in September.

Now in its second month of operation, Trollbeads-United States has shown us the promise of a great future for Trollbeads here in the United States and this discussion will be continuing in another blog soon!

 *Shown above at Rogers Gallery is Isabel Aagaard, Louise Rogers and Kristine (from Denmark Trollbeads).

This is Anna Teresa Bellinzis' Second Guest Blog. To read about Anna Teresa, go two articles back.

Have you ever tried to explain to someone, not Trollbeads connoisseur, what you like about those “little glass beads”? Because that is what they are in the eyes of the uninitiated. Beads that look similar to other brands and are too expensive. Many people have gaped at me after I told them what the beads cost. And that I am on different forums discussing the ‘little glass beads’, driving miles and miles to get a retired item, make hundreds of photos of them and wear every day different combinations... People know about my hobby but don’t understand how a jewellery brand like Trollbeads really can grab you. Well, it did and I have to admit there have been days that I could not speak two sentences to my husband without mentioning the word Trollbeads. And there have been moments that he really could not hear the word Trollbeads again. But this addiction, or should I say passionate hobby, has brought me so many good things. For instance. I have Trollfriends all over the world. From Australia to America. Friends that I have met in person. Friends that I have helped obtain special beads, friends that help me go through tough moments. We understand each other. Help each other make our collection even more beautiful than before. I can even count jewelers to my new group of friends. We email, phone and share information. For me Trollbeads doesn’t only stand for buying beads. It is the complete package that brings me joy. Find that one perfect bead. Make a stunning bracelet with it. Capture the beauty of it in a photo and share that with sympathizers. Like I said before: playing with beads is like meditation after a day hard work.

I like to share my happiness with other people. Specially with my family. (Also very handy to make your husband partner in crime.) So I have bought my husband a leather bracelet with freya lock and different (retired) beads like tupilac mouth, lucky knot, happy fish, triangles, anniversary Viking, four frogs and the retired letterbeads of me and our sons. (His bracelet is pictures above)  My oldest son (6 years old) has his leather bracelet with elephant lock waiting for him. When he gets his swimming certificate he can enjoy his retired clown, tupilac mouth, tupilac big, anniversary faces and turtles. Beads that I picked with much care for him because every bead has his own story that stands for my son. Every night he enters my room and wants to see his ‘funny faces’. His joy fills my heart with so much love. Below is my son's bracelet and a photo of him with his Trolls.

So when I talk to people about my  hobby, they may not understand my love for those funny looking trolls, but they see the spirit in my eyes and hear the enthusiasm in my voice because that is what Trollbeads brings me.  

ATB 3/2011

When it comes to our Trollbeads collections we are always trying to come up with a new way to use our beads and to get the most mileage we can with the beads we have. Ideally you would like to use your Trollbeads with as many colors as you have in clothes in your closet. Am I right?

I think this exercise is particularly useful for new Trollbeads collectors. With a basic group of say 10 glass Trollbeads in black and whites and only 3 larger silver Trollbeads you have the core of many, many very useful bracelets. As you can see from the featured photograph we have used 5 distinct color groups and used only 4 interchangeable beads on each bracelet to create a unique look. There are so many colors within Trollbeads to work with and so many different medium options. From the glass you can branch out and use Amber, Picasso Jasper, the new limited edition Agates and so forth. Then once you have completed this collection you can move on to pulling out the black and replacing them with browns and taking out the white and using the off whites. The core beads still consist of a neutral palette but a warmer one. With this warmer core you can add aqua blues, which are sensational with browns, olive greens and a host of other warm colors.

Glass Trollbeads  

This is a good reminder for all of us to enjoy our Trollbead bracelets  in many different ways. One of our Trollbeads Gallery Forum members noted that this is an ideal way to bring your Trollbeads on vacation!  One Trollbead Bracelet with many looks!