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

Yesterday I made our newest category on Trollbeads Gallery go live...and within half an hour 14 Trollbeads had been sold!  With no notice my very quick customers caught on and took advantage of a new product category created JUST for Trollbeads collectors who can only shop via the internet.

"Trollbeads:With a Twist" is the name of the new category and that is exactly what it is.  They are standard glass Trollbeads that have some noticeable difference from the bead it is supposed to be. From color, design and size! The really big versions or small versions of the standard Groups 1,2 and 3 will also be included in this new category. Have you seen those great Azure Bubbles with green streaks or the Blue Deserts that are red or even yellow? The Trollbead to the left is a striking rendition of the new White Cap Trollbead. How about the Khaki Stripes with Pink in the khaki area?  I know for a fact that many collectors who are close to Trollbeads stores love to collect these beads and go around hunting for them. Notice the pink in the Khaki Stripes below!

Whatever the bead is the price is it's original retail price. Also shown here will be the precious stone beads that are very light compared to the standard stone bead or very dark.  The extremes of the stone beads makes them beautiful when used all together.  The dark Aventurine looks like deep emerald.

Another precious stone Trollbeads to keep your eyes out for is the very light Golden Quartz.  It looks like a yellow sapphire! The one below is a beauty but they

come in even lighter than this one!

The beads like Azure Bubbles (above) are good to buy from this category because where they are all so different at least you can choose the one you want. Do you like it with brown? With Pink? With light green? The Blue Desert (below) is certainly a beautiful bead but it definitely is not blue!  I will be posting more and more beads here so stay tuned!

Our guest blogger has once again written a personal and engaging article about her Trollbeads. Anna Teresa is from the Netherlands and is an active member of Trollbeads Gallery Forum.

We are thrilled to hear more from her!

Making bracelets that go with my mood and outfit, that is what I do. There are combinations that I have worn only once or twice in the almost two years that I collect Trollbeads. And the thought of having a bracelet that I would not take apart anymore didn’t cross my mind.
Although I have seen many beautiful bracelets from other collector that were gorgeous and meant to stay the way they were. Sometimes with a greyhound lock, so that they could not be taken apart anymore.
But when I got more and more beads and I had more than one bracelet I thought it would be easy to have a lovely ‘permanent’ bracelet with a serene, classy look that I could were every day. So when I was in a hurry in the morning I just had to grab that one and I would be looking great.

And so I made one as pretty as I could and it stayed that way a few weeks. Because permanent is not really permanent for me. So now and then I just have to change a bead or two. Not that I am not satisfied with the combination at the time, but because I buy a great other bead or because the time of the year changes. In the winter I tend to wear other colors than in spring or summer.
And so it happened that my ‘classy’ bracelet which I started in oktober 2010 has had a few different looks until now. The base is the same every time. Deep bubbles, khaki stripe, pink desert and retired Julian. But the other beads can vary: labradorite, peacock pearls, kimono and today I put  gemstones on it.

The past month there were a few other combinations that I didn’t take apart anymore. For practical reasons. But I discovered that being practical kills my creativity. Because I didn’t make new combinations anymore. Keeping a particular bead in a combination means that I cannot use it for something else.
So last night I did something liberating. I took all the beads of my bracelets (three silver and two leather) and my two necklaces and put them in my boxes. Then I sat down on the couch and as a kid in the candy store I just started from scratch making new combinations. That was so much fun that I decided that I do that much more often. In an hour I had made about five new combinations and realized I don’t need new beads every week to make something new. I just need to start everyday with a fresh start.

My love for Trollbeads is everlasting, but my tenability of my bracelets is not!

Ps. Don’t want to forget which combinations you made? Take pictures!!

For a clear and easy lesson on how to photograph your Trollbeads go to Trollbeads Gallery Forum "Groups" and join the Photography group.

At  the time of this writing Trollbeads has released a total of 11 Precious Stone beads.  Our last Trollbeads Gallery Blog article was all about Labradorite and this article will be about Aventurine.

Of all the green Trollbeads , Aventurine is the richest and the most variable in respect to color and translucency.  From the picture I have featured here you can see the wide variety of tones which makes it a fun Trollbead to hunt for.  I am personally collecting as many tones of Aventurine Trollbeads as I can and I plan on using them on a bracelet starting with the lightest to the darkest.  When you read more about the stone, I’m sure you’ll want more than one because as far as folklore and features, there isn’t much it can’t do.

While Trollbeads only uses green Aventurine, it actually exists in a fairly large assortment of colors and within each color, a large assortment of tones.  Besides the green and blue-greens, Aventurine comes in blue, brown, yellow, orange and red.   Because Aventurine can have semi-transparent tendencies  if you look close in the right light, an Aventurine Trollbead will sparkle deep within the stone. (see photograph) The sparkle effect, called aventurescence, is due to small particles of reflective minerals such as mica, which is silvery.  Our darker toned beads tend to show it more but that is due to the contrasting tones between the silver mica and the deep emerald green.  The hardness on the Moh’s scale is very similar to Labradorite, at 6.5.  Aventurine has been mined from all over the world.

The name “Aventurine” comes from the Italian phrase “per avventura”, which translate to “by chance”.  The story is that in the 18^th century  glass workers in Venice were working with molten glass when by accident some copper shavings fell into the vat of glass.  The effect was beautiful as the copper sparkled within the glass and this all happened “by chance”.  The aventurine stone looks just like this glass, so the stone was assigned this name.  I love the connections that occur within the Trollbeads world and this stone’s very name has a direct connection to Italian glass and so many Trollbeads are made from Italian glass. 

Due to its lengthy history and worldwide availability, Aventurine has filtered into many cultures and like many stones has centuries of folklore and benefits attributed to it.  I have compiled a list of some of the stones attributes.  Like I said before, apparently there isn’t much this stone can’t do and I am very glad I am making a whole bracelet out of it.

• Tibetan Folklore says that aventurine cures myopia and invigorates creativity.
• Aventurine brings prosperity into your life.  A talisman for fortune.
• A general good luck stone, it has been used in games to the holder the extra power to win.
• Provides emotional well being by reducing stress .
• It helps you to see past the roadblocks in your life by helping you to recognize solutions.
• For centuries it has been used as a fertility charm whether it be for a child or a fresh idea.
• Is used for success in goals involving wealth, strength and independence.
• Assists in helping you give up old fears that hold you back from success.
• Will help you heal from emotional trauma and the wounds left behind.
• Has been said to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.
• Relieves allergies and migraines, calm the nervous system and strengthen the heart.
• Placing it your garden and in your home will proteck you from geopathic stress caused by underground water and fault lines.
• If you wear this stone it will protect you from environmental pollution.
• Protects the heart chakra.
• Very good for your lower back (sciatica). 
• Decisiveness: - Assists one in making the "right" decisions.