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

The newest limited edition beads released by Trollbeads are the Malawi glass beads.   For Trollbeads this is another more effort by the Aagaard's to use their talent, their ideas and their where with all to help a country that is in great need but the Aagaard's take it further to a whole new and very essential step.

Just as Trollbeads brought a self sustainability to the Tibetan refugees living in diaspora in India they have given the people of this community in Malawi the tools, the studio and the training to allow them to move forward. With this gift they can work to sustain their families in a culture so in need of this.  I can't imagine a gift to give back more effectively than this. This particular group/release of beads is limited in number but they are already creating unique beads for us in many other diverse designs so although this release is limited the craftsman of Malawi are working hard for their future and for the future of our collections! 

To understand the endeavor in full here's a little background information on Malawi for you.  Malawi is a country in Southern Africa that was originally colonized by the migrating Bantu peoples in the 10th century and in the late 19th century they were colonized by the British but then again in 1953 by the CAF, the Central African Federation and in 1964 the land was given independence and called Malawi. The country is very pro Western and has a working relationship with many independent countries. Malawi is among the least developed countries and has a very low life expectancy but while the government is working on increasing healthcare the people are in dire need of finding ways to sustainability and what Trollbeads has accomplished is something that makes us all so proud to be a part of this organization.  This past month top retailers were awarded Hero Awards from Trollbeads and while very meaningful to the winners, in reality the Aagaard's are the true heroes here, over and over again.  Below is a photo of Lise and Isabel Aagaard on one of their visits to train the glass makers.  Look at the beads they are all wearing!  The smiles they are wearing are as broad as the horizons these people are now seeing thanks to Trollbeads and in a very small way we are a part of this.  So buy your Malawi Trollbeads and wear your Malawi bracelet with pride!  The dresses both Lise and Isabel Aagaard's are wearing were made in Milawi as was the fabric.  Look closely and you'll see colors within the natural dyes that they have brought out in the Malawi beads!

I am busy listing the Malawi Trollbeads and will continue to do so for as long as I can get them! You may have noticed the beads come in a number of designs and the designs come in multiples so if you missed a bead you wanted it may just come around again!

In a description on the Trollbeads retailer site:

They are young, artistic and surrounded by an immense mix
of colors. the talented glass artisans from Malawi create the most
intricate and playful glass beads. each of the beads’ inspiration
can be found in the everyday lives of their designers; from a pattern
of a woman’s vibrant dress on the street, a combination of exotic
fruits in the marketplace, or a peculiar flower in the grasslands.
once trained by Lise Aagaard, Trollbeads, these skilled artisans
are now running a flourishing business by designing glass beads
for collectors across the world.
The Trollbeads project in Malawi was set up in late 2010 with the goal of helping the challenged youth of the African country. Using the same overall formula as with a similar project in India, Trollbeads gave a group of young men and women the opportunity to learn the artistry of making glass beads over an open flame.
Besides providing financial backing for the project, Trollbeads also trained the staff in all aspects of running a successful jewelry business, including supply-chain management, production, design, and marketing.
Today their local operation employs around 12 people and is on the way to becoming completely self-sustainable.

From Trollbeads

Our Responsibility
"At Trollbeads, we believe in two things;
operating from our hearts and maintaining
a social responsibility. These values are
essential factors for us when running a
global business, just like they were when
we first began selling beads from a small
store in Denmark over 35 years ago.
As we have grown, we have embraced
new sets of challenges and opportunities.
One of these has been to help people
in developing countries in setting up
self-sustainable businesses of their own."

This is a question I was just asked by a social marketer working with Trollbeads. This was after he realized I didn’t really want to talk about Facebook, Twitter or my Pinterest page. I work with those social sites but I only wanted to talk about the forum. There’s a big international Trollbeads event next month and I was asked to speak to him.  He will be talking to the Trollbeads distributors from around the world and to the U.S. dealers during this event and he wanted to talk to some dealers about their efforts.  Thinking about the answer brought me to thinking about how it started and why I knew the Trollbeads collectors wanted and really needed the forum.   I had Trollbeads Gallery, my Trollbead website for more than 3 years and I was overwhelmed communicating with collectors directly and trying to help them with information through emails and on the phone. For the sake of being more effective it seemed a better way had to be out there.  I needed to find a platform on the internet where everyone could meet and discuss the passion they so obviously wanted to share.  It had to be a give and share situation for all of us.  Sharing photos was definitely a tool it had to have.  It took a little research to find Ning and it seemed like a good fit.  I developed the account and worked on the design and declared it open.  The first day we had our first small group of members and we were off and running.  By the end of the first year we had 1000 members, end of two years 2000 members and now we have reached our third year at 3000 members.  The Forum is unique in that I'm a dealer and though I promote my own website I also remind my members to seek out their local dealers as well. My store is in a small  town and I know the importance of doing business locally.  I remember a comment made on a blog in Europe negatively saying I was “self-promoting” … well I should hope so(!) as I am in business and for this to succeed  I need to have it work out financially and I let people know I am a dealer.  The cost of keeping this forum is more than $1000.00 out of pocket each year and if we all still want it to keep going promoting my site important.

Watching over the Trollbeads Gallery Forum from a dealer’s point of view has me acting as manager but I still feel a part of the forum's family. I don’t count the hours spent monitoring the site because in the process I have met hundreds of Troll friends from all over the world and I wouldn’t give it up for anything.  When you have a passion to collect you need to trust the people involved in what you collect.  Being an authorized dealer brings with it trust as our legal agreements with Trollbeads assures it and my reputation promises it.  My position has been to keep information correct, to the best of my knowledge and to provide a supportive and positive place for collectors to gather.

To make the Forum's description less one sided I have asked a few of our members to give a brief comment from their point of view. I have only included where they are from and have omitted their names for privacy reasons. I will be including more in the next blog.

Wyoming: "The forum has been a great place to make friends who share my passion for Trollbeads.  Everyone is upbeat and encouraging.  There is none of the negativity that I have found on other foums.  I send my Trollbeads customers to the forum so that they can connect with other Trollies around the world.  We are one big family!"

New York: "This forum is important in reminding me that there are other people besides me who go gaga for little pieces of glass - that they're more than glass, but art! It's a little slice of heaven. I love being in such good company! I enjoy going to the forum to see all the wonderful creations of others and get some inspiration for my own!"

England: "I love this forum because it is a warm and friendly place, where many interesting things can be discussed. Louise has a very light hand on the helm, enabling a true  freedom of expression I have not found on other forums. The member's pictures are a constant inspiration to me. There are a number of  groups available to join, and the chatroom feature is unique to this forum, a brilliant place to be.

Pennsylvania:Trollbeads Gallery Forum gives me a chance to make new friends from all over the world.  I love sharing ideas & photos with people who love Trollbeads as much as I do and speak "Trolleese". Having secret partner gift exchanges is a blast, too.  I also love Trollbeads Fest--where you can meet and party with friends from the forum.  There are also talented artists and designers from Trollbeads.  It's a weekend of "Troll Bliss" hosted by Louise and her staff in a beautiful seaport town.

Tennessee: I live in an area where the closest TB shop is over an hour away and though it's nice, it's a small shop with not a huge selection or knowledgeable sales people  so my TB education has been solely here on this Forum.  I came to TBGallery Forum because I was captivated by the beautiful Trollbeads, but it wasn't long before I was captivated by the Forum members themselves who are such a great group of interesting, kind, fun and creative people and some have become my friends in the truest sense of the word.  This Forum means a lot to me....it's a unique place I can escape to where I can lose myself completely among the photos and share my thoughts with friends with whom I share a number of interests.

The photo above came from the photographs our members have shared on the Forum. There are over 18,000 photos to be inspired by.

To join us go to Trollbeads Gallery Forum !

If you collect Trollbeads and haven't yet checked out the most positive gathering place for Trollies...Trollbeads Gallery Forum you are missing something.  Put in the most simplistic terms it is an online dialog for Trollbeads collectors to learn all things about Trollbeads and to converse with other Trollbeads collectors from all over the world. 

This forum is going into its third year this spring and we are nearing 3000 members and we have over 17,000 photographs of our member's Trollbeads collections.  What better way to find out about a brand then to hear it from the hundreds of collectors?  The environment is one based on friendship, honorable dealings (if you venture on to our swap group) and a deeply routed interest in Trollbeads.

Our members are collectors of all kinds.  Some members just like retired Trollbeads, some just want one bracelet although that is rare and then there are some who have dozens of bracelets and who would sell their mother to get more! With joking aside we are a group of Trollbeads fanatics who want to share (with anyone!) our love and interest in Trollbeads. Below I have written about our gatherings and will be writing more interesting forum aspects on the other features in future blogs. If you would like to write about your experience on the forum please write a story and I will publish it here as a guest blog.

Gatherings: Since its inception Trollbeads Gallery Forum has been the conduit between many "meetings" large and small taking place all over the world.  Many members in the U.S. will plan a meeting place, usually at a local dealers, and meet and greet the friends thay have had on-line for a long time in person for the first time.  As a dealer and as the forum's founder I have hosted 2 Trollbeads Fests during the last two autumns here in Massachusetts with notable guests from the People's Bead Award winners to Trollbeads designers from Denmark to the CEO if Trollbeads Worldwide, Peter Aagaard.  Each year at out gathering based aournd our forums membership, we display our Trollbeads Museum which has many of the retired Trollbeads from years past and that are now hard to find.  Every chance we get we love to learn more about the history and we love to share [our knowledge at these gatherings.  In the photo above you will see me (the shortest in the front row) in Copenhagen, Denmark at a gathering of the forum's members when I traveled there in early December 2011.  They were wonderful to me and treated me to lunch and to a fun group of Troll type gifts. It was an amazing day for me and as you can see from the back row Soren, the original Trollbeads silver bead designer joined at the Tivoli Trollbeads store.  If you are a member have you planned your next gathering?  We will be releasing information on Trollbeads Fest! 2012 soon so check the site in a little bit. Trollbeads Fest

Thank you for reading our blog!  Louise Rogers

 What an amazing time the last few months have been for Trollbeads!!  Starting with the Anniversary Coin, on to the remarkable Autumn release and now to the brand new just released Christmas 2011 Trollbeads.  Phew it has been a busy time for Trollbeads and forTrollbeads Gallery/Rogers Gallery.  While all of these releases were occurring we managed to host the second Trollbeads Fest! (which although on paper it is only a two day affair... but with people coming early and leaving late it ended up a whole week long!) and just this past weekend we had a very busy Special Event at Rogers Gallery.  It’s true Trollbeads is more professionally advertised by the marketing team at Trollbeads-United States but also by the retailers who have received a lot of support from the graphic design team at Trollbeads-United States.  While the newest beads were just released and while the stats have only given them 4 days to perform but we have one of them already showing up on our top 10!! I have included links to each bead so you can quickly check them out if you don't know about them!

1. Anniversary Coin –hands down this bead is the biggest selling bead we have ever had in 6+ years!!
2. Rolling Waves    (2011 People's Bead Winner)
3. Organic Bubbles
4. Silver Whorl
5. Purple Armadillo
6. Lake Eye
7. The Diamond Bead, Blue   (shown at left)
8. Coral Flowers
9. Autumn Splendor
10. Purple Wave

 
The New Christmas release has been very well received and the two limited edition kits have been exciting a lot of collectors.  The solid red and blue beads with the gold on them are outselling the other beads and I think that the other beads in the kit are being overlooked because everyone is so head over heels in love with the glitter. So if you haven't focused in on the other beads go do it now as you're missing out. 

The green flower on red looks like it is literally floating in water! It's sensational.  The bead from the blue set that you need to focus on is the one that looks like stained glass.

The Red Tiger Eye is another winning Precious Stone bead to add to the other great stones.  I adore it as did many that we had at our special event this past weekend!

Of course the new silver Mistletoe is already a favorite but I expected that knowing how sentimental Trollbeads collectors are! 

The Amber and ANniversay Coin photo was taken by Ginger from Trollbeads Gallery Forum.

 This is a blog by our guest blogger from the Netherlands, Anna Teresa Bellinzis. Below she is standing next to our sign on Trollbeads Fest 2010, Day 1!

Memories of Trollbeads Fest 2010

When I see Louise's announcements for Trollbeads Fest 2011 I just have to think back to October 2010. Because I was so lucky to be at the first Fest and that was a great experience. When I joined the Trollbeads Gallery Forum I never even thought of going to Mattapoisett. That was something unreachable. But then, one day, I received a mail from a great, great friend who asked me if I would like to come. I looked at my husband and was speechless. What should I say, I asked him. Go, if you want to, my husband said. We sure can manage a few days without you. So I wrote back a big YES, my tickets were booked and I found another lovely friend who wanted to share a hotel room with me. Then the waiting began. Six long months in which I saved money to buy wonderful beads; the happy universe was number one on my list. I bought some souvenirs for my friends in The States and thought night after night which outfits I should bring to the fest. Because they had to match my beads of course! And then there was the day I flew to Boston were I met Chuck and Mary. I was a bit nervous: would we like each other in real life as we do on the forum? After a big hug I knew the answer. Yes we would have a great time together. I felt instantly safe with them. After a few hours we arrived at New Bedford and saw other forum members. More hugs followed and it was as if we were relatives that hadn’t seen each other for a long time. It felt trusted, like family. We laughed, looked at each other’s beads and talked for hours. The following days were great.

We met Louise and her staff at Louise's great gallery. We could look at beads as long as we wanted and if we needed a certain color we could choose from so many beads that were in store. Penni was so patient with me looking for the perfect color when I wanted to buy a deep bubbles with pink and a real dark amethyst. Do you remember Penni? And there was wine and cheese and a raffle and we had a lot of fun with plastic skeletons that Chuck brought with him, with a nod to the Trollbeads silver and gold Skeletons that had jsut been released in Europe. (Pictured at the end of the blog)

Louise also organized a day with even more beads, Australian pax designer Suzanne Hopping signing the Coffee Table Book, there were demonstrations, balloons filled with beads, a boat trip and a superb diner. And I think I can say that everyone present felt proud to be at this Fest that turned out to be a great success. And no: it was not all about the beads. It was about seeing friends and talking without the passion we share. And celebrate that passion with even more Trollbeads!

Now I remember something funny. At the hotel I saw other (non-Trollie) guests looking at us as we were all dressed up with as many beads we could wear. What were they thinking? Well, at least that we were a very happy bunch of people. This year I am not able to go to the Fest, but I recommend to everyone who is still doubting, to go. If you want to have a great time and meet all your Friends from Trollbeads Gallery Forum, the weekend of September 23 and 24th is one you can’t miss.

                                The skeleton crew in 2010!

Many of you have already discovered the new Trollbeads Gallery and for those of you who have not yet, let me tell you about it.  The changes are all about making your experience buying Trollbeads as pleasant as owning them! I love it and I hope you do also.  I have spent months building it along with Peter, my trustworthy adviser, thank you Peter!

I have added hundreds of Unique beads of all kinds including Glass,
Amber, Picasso Jasper, Pink/Turquoise Agates and Trollstones.  My favorite new feature is the magnifying ability.  For some it is difficult to see a Unique bead on a website and choosing beads on line has been challenging.  Now when you move your cursor over the bead it becomes magnified to the point of seeing much more of the bead than you would if you held it your hand!
 Another feature which gives a special view of Uniques, is the ability to show you more than one photograph of each bead.   To see this feature at its best look at the Unique Amber Sets.  The details of each 50 million year old particle entrapped in the amber beads become visible!

You can now track your order and its progress from looking up your account. It will update at each of its step from initial order to its shipment.  We also send emails along the way but the ability to follow its progress is giving you more control.

We are now ipad, iphone and mobile device friendly! From the great comments we’re getting I know this has been a strong benefit to many of you. I love that you can check out new beads while riding the bus to work!

The Wish List is a favorite and the site gives you the
chance to decide whether you want your list open to the public so someone (hint,hint) can view the list!  How great is that?

You will now find all of our Retired Trollbeads listed on this site nowin their own category.  I decided to combine both sites and maintain one site for many reasons but the main one being you can now check out just once!  We work very hard to offer you the most comprehensive retired Trollbead collection in the world and plan to continue to do so! We have some very special and very rare retired Trollbeads and where the rare beads don't last long check the category as often as you can.
 
The “Compare” feature is also new for our site. A “Compare” button is available with each bead and you can click on it to compare your selections before you buy or just compare beads for the sport of it!

As always we will always be adding new Unique beads and new Retired beads and you can track this very easily by checking our Home page.  Eight of the most recently added beads show on the home page but be sure to follow the category as we tend to add more than eight each time.

I welcome any comments and suggestions so please let me know what you think, after all this website is for you.

Other things:

Trollbeads Gallery Forum continues to offer collectors a place to gather for chat time, add inspiring photographs, we are now close to 14,000 photos in total!  If you haven’t yet, please join us on the forum to learn and enjoy your Trollbeads!  The “Groups” have a wide variety of Swaps and State/Country groups to keep up with the activities in your area.  The month of May maked it 2 full years old. Looking back at the friendships formed I can't tell you how thrilled I am.  Forum members all over the world have met each other and it has been so much fun seeing the connections move past to internet stage to "in real person" stage.  The group from Denmark were strangers to each other but have met and have enjoyed a few Trollbeads get togethers.  The U.S. members-forget it I couldn't even begin to mention how many times they have met in real person!

Trollbeads Fest!2011 promises to be even better than last year’s event (can you believe it?) and our planning is well underway.   Our Trollbeads Fest website will soon be up (yeah Peter) and offering the information you will need along with the ticket purchasing option.  Below are images from Trollbeads Fest 2010 to get you excited about 2011!! The photo below is my own personal paparazzi at Trollbeads Fest 2010 and a very happy Kristi Denning showing her winning "Ice Bear" model! Lower shot: Our Penni working hard.

Many exciting plans for the future of Trollbeads are underway and I am so excited to be a part of this continuing saga and I myself very fortunate to be able to share it with all of you.

Louise Rogers May, 2011

...but were afraid to ask!

Part 1. It's All in a Name

The Unique glass beads by Trollbeads are undeniably the one category of Trollbeads that is open for all kinds of interpretation depending upon your own experience with and knowledge of these incredible beads. To begin this discussion let’s start at what to call  these beads as this is one area that confuses many collectors. I remember a couple of years ago having a debate with our Trollbeads Gallery Forum members on what the best name is and it was really quite arbitrary with the name being different on different websites and in different countries. 

Lund (our past U.S. Distributor) referred to them as “Assorted Beads” but that name was too vague for me and we were permitted to call them anything that fit but not "OOAK".  Many dealers in the U.S. chose to call them "limited edition" beads but for me this didn’t work either.  Owning an art gallery my idea of a limited edition is something that has a finite end and I’m sure no one has been counting the beads as they were being made. Another problem with calling them limited edition is that Trollbeads had actual limited editions such as Brilliant Hearts and later Crazy Lace Agate, for two examples. Calling them "Limited Edition" would surely confuse the collector because these releases had nothing to do with Unique beads.

In Europe the dealers were selling these beads as “OOAK” beads  (which is  an acronym for "one of a kind") but as I mentioned Lund did not allow us to use the term due to legal ramifications. They believed the term to be misleading, where most all of these beads were not one of a kind.  This difference in the terminology may not seem like a big deal yet it was for the U.S. dealers.  At this point in time collectors the world over would run computer searchs for the term “OOAK” Trollbeads and where we could not use the term, it cut us out of a lot of internet searches. This was a big drawback for the U.S. dealers but I also understood the issue involved. The discussion I mentioned on our Trollbeads Gallery Forum brought up interesting points but I remember one of my Forum members telling me that “Unique” literally meant one of a kind and she was right of course but my use of the word was more about something being different from the norm. Since we had been using the name on Trollbeads Gallery since the early days, people had come to know the Unique beads on Trollbeads Gallery were in fact the same as the OOAK beads in Europe.

So call them what you want but on Trollbeads Gallery they will always be known as Unique!

In future blog articles I will be discussing the styles, values and origination of the Unique Trollbeads. Please contact me if you want anything specific or have anything to add!

The photograph above was taken of the Unique Trollbeads I was sent for Trollbeads Fest 2010.  I can't wait for the Unique beads to arrive for Trollbeads Fest 2011!

 How I met Trollbeads!

I have always loved jewellery. I am a Leo and like to express myself. With my outfits, my hair, my accessorizes. About eight years ago I started to make my own necklaces and bracelets. I sat in my living room with beads and tools all over the table. Every spare moment I had I was busy with beading and creating. I think I have an eye for color and design: people really liked my items. So I sold them to my sisters, friends, colleagues and even jewellers.

Then I became pregnant with my first son. I adored him and soon my hobby was driven to the background. I was a mother now and with my job as journalist I had no time for other things. Son number two followed quit quickly and in June 2009 I welcomed my third son to the world. In my first years as a mother things had changed in my life. I noticed that I needed a tidy house to keep overview. So all the stuff I collected in my life little by little made room for baby stuff. I didn’t mind. I only kept what was really important to me: photos, diaries, jewellery.  And the box with beads and tools was moved to the attic.

On a Saturday in july 2009 my mother took me to the jeweller to buy me a gift for becoming a mother again. We bought earrings with pearls. The salesgirl wrapped the gift and gave me a little brochure from another brand. At home I took the brochure and I turned over the leaves over and over again. What I saw where beads in sparkling colors and great designs. I was attracted to them, could not believe I did not know about this brand that was called Trollbeads. I did some research on the internet, called for my husband and said: what if I would buy one of these. And I did. One week later I was the proud owner of a silver necklace with an antique flower, dolly (retired), drop black (retired) and a flower lock.

Since that purchase I discovered more and more about Trollbeads. I read on sites and forums about the Aagaard family, retireds, unique, designers and the story behind the beads. I started visiting dealers and soon knew everything about the brand. I don’t need to say that all that research  involved buying more beads. But that was all for a good cause. After years of being a mother, a wife and a journalist I had found a new hobby that I could easy combine in my busy life. It gives me a great new way to express myself. Playing with the beads is relaxing after a long day of work and best of all: my new love doesn’t cry, doesn’t wear diapers and fits in a small box!

Anna Teresa is a journalist and lives in The Netherlands. Anna Teresa is a member of Trollbeads Gallery Forum and a good friend to many of her fellow forum members!

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

Our Trollbeads Gallery Forum is quite simply a very special place to be if you love Trollbeads.  Our members are from all over the world and it was only about a month ago when we hit 2000 members on our Trollbeads Gallery Forum.  With each member our collective knowledge grows exponentially and our members are both adding to and benefitting from this knowledge base by being a part of it. We have an amazing group of collectors and it is growing stronger!

Our newest benchmark was hit today, Trollbeads Gallery Forum hit its 12,000 Photograph!  Our Forum format allows members to add photographs in a stream, based on when a photo is added.  We limit the subject by allowing only photographs of Trollbeads and by keeping the photos on target we are making sure our Forum is the best format for both serious collectors and for new collectors.  The photograph section allows photos to be featured and I try to change these daily. The serious collectors are always interested in seeing other collections and the new collector becomes easily inspired by seeing all the different uses of Trollbeads.  Trollbeads are very visual and by sharing our passion through photographs we all connect through what we love. Another reason our forum photos are so popular may be how they allow our members to communicate to each other even though we may speak dozens of different languages.

One of our members Ginger is a phenomenal photographer (Ginger conducted a very popular photography seminar at the Trollbeads Fest!2010)and she has added a group on our Forum where she has given her techniques and tricks for taking good Trollbeads photos.  I advise everyone to visit and review her ideas. The better the picture, the better our Forum! You can ask her questions and easily follow her advise and become a super photographer. Don't be disappointed if your images don't come out perfect the first time. The photography of jewelry is very difficult but with Ginger, you have a great teacher. To be a member of her group you will need to join our Forum but here is a link to Ginger's Photography Trollbeads Gallery Group.

The image above is one of Ginger's photographs. Thank you Ginger!

If you're not a member of Trollbeads Gallery Forum, please join and travel through our photos and transport yourself to Trollbeads Nirvana!

Below is a brand new photograph from Ginger!  I had to include it!