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

      Attention Trollbeads Collectors:

Registrations for TrollbeadsFest! 2010 are going fast and furious! We've already sold out all of the spots for the Sunset Cruise of Historic New Bedford Harbor! (We are trying to arrange another one, so your ship may not have sailed without you!)

The Trollbeads Fest! 2010 exciting schedule of events gets better nearly every day, so make sure you check back frequently! Can you believe that It’s already September, Labor Day is just a Monday away and our summer is over? Got end of the summer blues? We’ve got just the antidote!  Rogers Gallery Rewards! We’ve created a special program for Trollbeads Rogers Gallery friends and it’s pretty simple. Invite friends, family members, co-workers and even strangers to TrollbeadsFest! 2010 by midnight, Labor Day, Monday, September 6th(has now been extended!) and you’ll earn 5 Rogers Gallery Rewards for each sign up. All they have to do is put your name in the field at the bottom of the Registration form and we’ll take care of the rest. Rogers Gallery Rewards can be used in store (no on line orders) and they must be redeemed between October 19, 2010 and December 31, 2010. Perfect timing for Holiday Troll shopping! So shake off those end of the summer blues, start sharing your passion for Trollbeads with others and earn some Rogers Gallery Rewards in the process!This offer ends Labor Day, Monday, September 6, 2010.

We are cooking up some inspiring events to further your knowledge and love of Trollbeads and we are accumulating the most amazing collection of Unique Trollbeads so don't miss it! We have been hording beads for months for this!  Hundreds and hundreds of exquisite Unique Trollbeads!  The $50.00 admission covers so much but just think, the gifts we have lined up for your Troll gift bag alone is worth more than 3 times the price of admissison! Trollbeads collectibles...coming up with them has been the most fun.

Please note (as explained above) these are only to be used at Rogers Gallery and not on-line.

Trollbeads Gallery and Rogers Gallery are hosting the exciting upcoming      Trollbeads Fest! 2010 and we are very pleased to announce the official website has been launched!

http://TrollbeadsFest.com 

This website will bring you up to date on all the happenings and updates for the first of its kind,  a festival for Trollbeads lovers, collectors and addicts alike!

Who is involved? Hosted by Louise Rogers and her Trollbeads Gallery and Rogers Gallery co-workers.  On hand will be the New England group of Trollbeads reps who will help us put on a very informative, inspirational and enjoyable event!

What's on the site? Trollbeads Fest Registration, Schedule of Events, Directions, Direct link to event's hotel, list of area attractions to keep the non-Troll co- traveler entertained, including museums and list of area restaurants.

When and Where? Friday October 15th is at Rogers Gallery in Mattapoisett, Massachusetts where Louise will be debuting the gallery's Trollbeads Museum, a work in progress for the last 2 years.  The museum will be in a special case and will house a collection of very old and rare Trollbeads. Louise also hosts the Retired Trolleads Gallery website and this museum will highlight the history of the 35 year old company's older beads.

On Saturday October 16th the main event is right at the event's hotel in nearby historic New Bedford.  New Bedford is a very active fishing port and was once one of the largest Whaling seaports.  Known as the"Whaling City" New Bedford has a lot to offer. Autumn is beautiful in New England so come and enjoy it! We are close to Providence, Boston and Cape Cod.

How? Just come and let us offer you the largest and most sensational group of Unique Assorted Trollbeads, great sessions of learning how to use the Fantasy Necklaces, the leather bracelets and the 83 variables for the new Trollbeads earrings. We will have specials for you and fun items in your gift bags, how can you say no?

Tickets are limited so please don't miss out on a great event. Follow the link and see what it's all about.  We will be updating it daily so check back!

A charitable raffle! The beautiful "Smiley Bead" Trollbead shown above will be raffled off on Saturday with the proceeds going to the New Bedford Art Museum's Children's Outreach programs.  Donated by Louise Rogers and Rogers Gallery, the Smiley Bead is a rare Trollbead so come and buy some tickets and help put smiles on the faces of the children in New Bedford!  Purchase your Raffle tickets for the Children's Outreach Program and put a smile on the children's faces!

Trollbeads has recently introduced a new group of Glass, Silver and natural Stone Trollbeads.  This new introduction, is referred to as the new “Autumn 2010 Release Trollbeads”. The new beads were  delivered to its top tier retailers, consisting of Platinum, Gold Plus and Gold Premier dealers across the United States.  The Troll collectors responses have been overwhelming and these dealers are already running low.  Each of the top tiered dealers are allowed 25 of each new design to start with and through a few discussions with other Troll retailers I have found the "Golden Quartz" Precious Stone bead and the "Blue Azure" Glass Trollbead are the hottest new beads of the bunch. 

From my standpoint I favor the Golden Quartz.  It is a new addition to the Trollbeads Precious Stone collection and like the other stones in this category it has qualities and features only a natural stone can have.  From a design perspective it is valuable addition because there are multiple tones of gold with this single bead and this makes is so usable.  In our first shipment of the Autumn Release 2010 Trollbeads we received  Golden Quartz in very light gold tines (imagine a light Corona beer) to a very dark gold (imagine a hearty dark ale) and all the tones in between.  Then imagine what you can do with these Trollbeads!  Trollbeads has only about one or two major new bead releases each year and with each new release that come in my first reaction is to see how the new beads can be used by a collector to utilize the older beads.  With each new release there are new and fascinating combinations to be made.  The new "Golden Quartz" will work very well with all of the Amber Trollbeads and especially well with the retired Trollbeads, the Tiger and Tortoiseshell Glass beads.  The Golden Quartz is so neutral yet so warm, I am sure it will be one of the great transitional Trollbeads.   It is also the first of the faceted Precious Stone Trollbeads to have its facets reflect and shimmer, like a bright yellow diamond.

The qualities of the Golden Quartz are as intriguing as any of the Troll natural precious stone beads.  The historical legends of all precious stones make them a perfect material to be used in Trollbeads and the Golden Quartz bead is no different. So much of Trollbeads is about myths and legends.  "Golden Quartz" is known primarily as a stone of success therefore if you are looking to create or grow a business if you wear this stone it will help increase your productivity and creativity. The "Golden Quartz" is a great stabilizer in stressful times and it helps ward off laziness and depression.

You can see in the photo below I have mixed new Trollbeads with old Trollbeads and what a great combination they have made.  Besides the new Trollbeads I have used the "Deep Bubbles" (make sure to find one with light blue bubbles) and "Khaki Stripe", (again make sure you find a "Khaki Sripe" with light blue instead in the stripe instead of Khaki. The blues I have found look great with the new "Light Blue Shadows.  There is always a variety of tones in with each Trollbead so you can find the ones that look best. We can help you with that is you would like!

It has been a hectic week for all Trollbeads collectors and dealers alike! The price increase and the new Trollbeads has been full of highs and lows.  We can all agree this is an amazing release of new beads.  I can't wait to work with the beads and create bracelets using old beads along with the new.

On Trollbeads Gallery Forum our members are sharing their new beads and bracelet designs.  There is one image with warm tones using the new Red Symmetry bead and the retired Tiger bead.New Beads!

The price increase has been a confusing issue for stores and websites and I have discovered that although the price change does not have to be completed until the 30th, we were asked by TrollbeadsUS to make the changes immediately. It was confusing to me as they mentioned the cahnges would go into effect on the 16th  and should be completed by the 30th.  I just read the 30th. In the past I believe we were given one date so there wasn't any confusion before.  My apologies goes out to any Trollbeads website or Trollbeads dealers for not understanding the pricing
schedule (I still don't) but I will be attempting to get the prices changed this week.TrollbeadsGallery.com 's prices will be changing as soon as my webmaster reports in!

As some of you know I was in New York last week on business while all of this was taking place with no internet connection!! Knowing I was not in town, my web assistant loaded the new beads on the site but unfortunately downloaded them all from the Denmark site. This created confusion because the pricing is different and I want to apologize to anyone that was effected by this. 

Regarding Unique Beads:  As you know, when we have released new Unique beads at an assigned time there is a horde of people all trying to buy the same beads and because of the way the site works, it doesn't show as sold until the bead is paid for.  This means one bead can sell at the same time to many people.  To prevent this from happening we will be adding smaller groups of beads and not announcing it as a large release. I will also be adding by ones and twos so keep your eyes on the site!  For my Forum members I will announce new beads "groups" by posting an image of a single unique bead as I did this week. New Unique beads.

Trollbeads Fest is gearing up and more and more plans are coming together. Please remember the event is limited to first come - first serve.  I would hate any of my Forum friends to miss out. We will have many, many unique beads and I'm sure we'll have a few drag down fights over them so that will be fun to watch! (Smile) The collectibles in the gift bag alone makes it worth it!  The dinner on Saturday night can only hold 150 and promises be a great event with fun awards along with a welcome to New Bedford from the Mayor! Register at http://trollbeadsfest.eventbrite.com .  It's coming way tooooooooo fast! 

(Photograph of New Bedford Whaling Museum)

Trollbeads Fest 2010, hosted by Trollbeads Gallery/Rogers Gallery will he held in Mattapoisett and NewBedford, Massachusetts on October 15 and 16th.  Many instructive events are planned and no collector would want to miss. We will update you on a special Trollbeads Fest Website which is being launched very soon.

All events have a finite capacity so go to the Trollbeads Gallery Forum and make your reservations now! Look for the Eventbright App onthe Main page.

 Friday, October 15th Friday is greeting and meeting day. The gallery will be offering lunch from 12-2. Come introduce yourself, play with Trollbeads or just hang out! Friday Evening (5:00 PM-7:00 PM) Come for a glass a wine and toast to Trollbeads Fest! Our New Trollbeads Museum will be on view in the gallery on Friday. Gold Wine Harvest Bead Raffle with proceeds to benefit a local children's charity. (TBA) Complimentary transportation to and from Official Trollbeads Fest 2010 hotel will be offered. Limited availability / first reserved, first served. Saturday, October 16th Saturday (9:00 - 10:00 AM) Registration and light breakfast

Saturday (9:30 AM - 5:00 PM) Trollbeads Fest 2010 @ Fairfield Inn & Suites, New Bedford, MA. (see reservation note below) We will have a variety of different “stations” to keep you entertained: * Fantasy Necklace

* Leather bracelet

* Retired Beads

* Special Assorted/Unique Trollbeads (Large selection with new beads being introduced through-out the day, so no one misses out) Charity Raffles!! (Including a large and beautiful Aqua and Yellow Smiley Bead)

Other events and activities to be announced.

Saurday (Noon - 2:00 PM) Lunch in the Trollbeads Cafe. Saturday Afternoon (5:00 PM) Anyone interested in a Harbor Cruise of Historic New Bedford’s working waterfront? The Whaling City Expedition boat will leave from the pier just across from our recommended Trollfest hotel and the evening's restaurant. Separate ticket required: $10 per person. Limited capacity.

Saturday Dinner (7:00 PM) Buffet dinner at the Waterfront Grille, one of the area's finest restaurants, which is also conveniently located across from the Trollbeads Fest hotel. Separate ticket required: $38.00 per person (Not including Alcohol). Limited seating.

Official Trollbeads Fest 2010 Hotel: If you are traveling from afar, we highly encourage you to stay at the Fairfield Inn & Suites, New Bedford, MA. The hotel is in the waterfront area convienant to many sites. When making your reservations, please make sure you advise that you will be attending Trollbeads Fest 2010 so that you can get the special discounted hotel room rate. You can also book online at www.marriott.com/ewbfi using the following Trollbeads Fest 2010 discount codes:

* Standard double: TRFTRFA $99.00

* Standard King: TRFTRFB $ 99.00 * Standard Suite: TRFTRFC $ 119.00

* Double Harbor View: TRFTRFD $ 119.00

* King Harbor View: TRFTRFE $ 119.00

* Harbor View Suite: TRFTRFF $139.00 This is a brand new hotel located steps away from the New Bedford Whaling National Historic Park in downtown New Bedford.

As many of you know Trollbeads Gallery as well as other U.S. Platinum dealers, will On Monday. August 16th will have the new Trollbeads listed. http://www.trollbeadsgallery.com/

 

 With the release "Autumn, 2010" a new face has come upon the scene and joined the ranks of other extremely talented jewelry designers. In the Trollbeads Book released this year we were given a view into the designers lives and into their creativity.  We got to know them and know their work. Now we have Kim Buck and let me tell you a little about Kim. Kim is a Danish jewelry designer who works for George Jensen, a world renowned silver company with over 100 years of Global recognition.  For an interesting view of the company and to understand Kim's background see the link below.  Buck's work is fresh, exciting and very original. As a Danish artisan he keeps to the Nordic cool, clean and sophisticated line in his designs but manages to work in his detail without the eye even recognising it and when you see his beads you will understand what I am talking about. I am very excited about his new Trollbeads designs, I am sure you will love them too and I can't wait to see his future designs for Trollbeads.

Visit his website and see his extraordinary work. http://www.buck.dk/

Visit the website of George Jensen Global.  Watch the videos!!

If you love Trollbeads and haven't done so, join our Trollbeads Gallery Forum ...we have just listed all the information about Trollbeads Fest 2010.  Join to Register.

More about Trollbeads Fest in a bit!

Word has just come from Trollbeads U.S. that a new Trollbead release will out to Premier Platinum Trollbeads dealers by August 16th-17th. Trollbeads Gallery will send out an email the second we get them in.

We have not been given marketing images yet so I can't show you how beautiful they are but I can give a description.  First, you all know they are re-releasing the beautiful old Earth Bead, designed by Nicholas Aagaard, a member of the third generation of the famous Trollbeads family.  Earth is a large scale Trollbead and quite handsome.  It's a great bead for men but will work well on necklaces and large bead bracelets for everyone! I can't wait to see the Earth bead on the leather necklaces.

The new glass bead sets are wonderfully different.  Two sets of 6 beads each, available separately.  One set has the tones of a "lake in the forest in autumn". Two of the beads have a wonderful thick glass swirl on the surface and two of the beads are Flower beads.  The other set of new glass beads are like tiny canvases of contemporary art.  Red, Green and other strong colors and will be sure to add a spark of color to your holiday bracelets and autumn bracelets.

There is a new set of silver horoscope zodiac beads.  Each bead is a tiny sculpture and they are all very Troll like in their style and detail. The rams head is another very masculine bead and until I see the beads in person, I can't comment on the others but I can't wait to see them!  Also in silver are 3 new "shape" or design beads and I think they will be great for men or woman.

There are 3 new Precious Stone beads.  Golden quartz, which is GORGEOUS!!!!  It is faceted and will give texture, warmth and  sparkle to your jewelry designs.  Chalcedony and Tigers Eye is in the smooth stone finish and the same size as the smooth version of the Rose Quartz bead.  All three new stone Trollbeads are such great additions to the Precious Stone group which like so many other reasons, places Trollbeads so far above any of the competing bead lines. 

It may seem like a long wait in Troll time but in a week's time we will have them!

Thank you Trollbeads for another phenomenal batch of beads!!

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.

Exciting News!!

Another Trollbeads Denmark Contest!! I have just received word that Trollbeads Denmark has sent the notice out to its distributors, dealers  and customers, they have decided to run a 2010 People’s Bead Contest.  They feel that because they received thousands of beautiful and inspiring bead designs for the 2009 People’s Bead Contest, they decided to run it again! This time around there is a very quick time frame and they are asking everyone to submit ideas, drawings and photographs of  your designs for a future Trollbead! The deadline is August 22^nd.  So put your Troll-creativity into warp speed and start drawing! Just imagine a bead you wish was in the line and draw it. It's all about the idea and not the actual drawing so don't worry if you can't draw!

One hundred of their favorite designs will receive a bracelet and a lock with the winning bead as a special gift.  From this group Trollbeads Denmark will pick ten finalists.  From this group of ten all have a chance to vote for the 2010 winner!  We will have a week to vote for our favorite bead.

The winner will have their design added to the collection this December.  As a Trollbeads designer the winner will receive royalties from all the winning beads' sales and the winner will also receive the bead in 18K Gold.

The winner of the Trollbeads 2009 People’s Bead Contest was Suzanne Hopping from Australia with her exquisite design for the “Pax” Trollbead. Suzanne’s design won from over 8000 entries submitted.  Her bead is a dove with its wings around earth holding an olive branch in its beak. It is a beautiful bead in image and in meaning.  Suzanne and her design winning bead is in the large coffee table book “An Icon In Jewellry Design-Trollbeads”.  If you don’t have a copy yet you may want it! 

 Suzanne is now a friend of ours and of many fellow collectors on Trollbeads Gallery Forum and we are very excited because she will be coming to Rogers Gallery/Trollbeads Gallery, all the way from  Australia for a very special event (October 15 & 16,news to come!) and she will be at our event signing the books!   

People's Bead Contest 2010

In 2008 Trollbeads introduced the first release of Precious Stone Beads.   It was the beginning of what would become a very strong category for Trollbeads.   Designed by Lise Aagaard, they are faceted beads made entirely of stone with the standard Trollbeads silver core.  The stone beads are roughly 13 mm x 6 mm which makes them wider than the glass Trollbeads and taller than the Prism glass Trollbeads.   Each facet is cut into the raw stone as a diamond cutter would cut a diamond and for this reason the Precious Stone beads create a totally new reflection for your Trollbead jewelry.  The Prism beads have facets but Prisms are glass beads created in a mold so the facets have softer edges and aren’t as sharp and reflective as the facets in the stone beads.

One of my favorites is the Labradorite Precious Stone Bead.  Although the color of the stone is gray with streaks of black veining, the stone displays an array of colors according to the angle of light refraction.  This is what makes this one stone so much more fascinating to people.  The arrays of colors that “flash” within the stone can be greens, blues, pinks and yellows. The flash is referred to as “Labradorescence”.  Troll collectors are always on the hunt for the flash colors that go with a particular color theme Trollbead bracelet but they end up being more and more charmed by the unpredictability of the flashes and the color ends up not mattering as much.  Each stone seems to speak to the person selecting it.

Labradorite, sometimes referred to as spectrolyte, is a mineral that belongs to the plagioclase feldspar group. The chemical elements are a combination of sodium, calcium, silicone and aluminum. This mineral distinguishes itself through its mysterious and captivating iridescent glow and each Labradorite Trollbead will have it.  I have personally seen all four color families as mentioned above, but I have also seen the exterior of the stone come in light grays to very dark grays.   On the Mohrs Scale, which ranks the hardness of stones on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the diamond, Labradorite is a 6.5.  Labradorite ranks at the top of the semi-precious stones in both brilliance and hardness.

I have enjoyed researching the various stones and discovering the different meanings each stone has.  There is so much legend and lore to stones and I can see why Trollbeads has chosen to add stones to the line as so many of the Troll beads are developed from lore and legends.  For many centuries, the occult used labradorite to relieve conditions such as headaches, depression and anxiety. The curative powers of labradorite heal illnesses associated with the eyes, brain and the intestinal tract.   In today’s world Labradorite is considered a “power” stone.  Having the stone will allow you to see through layers and illusions to determine what your actual dreams are.  It is also believed that labradorite will strengthen your intuitive powers, stimulate your imagination and creativity and also help you to develop new ideas through deeper interest and enthusiasm.  As a talisman Labradorite helps you see more clearly, without distractions, in meditation.  Do you have your Labradorite Trollbead yet? Trollbeads Gallery is happy to hunt for the best Labradorite bead for you and will send photographs if needed.

 From the Trollbeads Description: This stone is also known as the transformation stone, or star stone. It is said to contain dust from the stars and the bluish-green iridescent light that shines from its heart, is the light from a star fog embedded there by alien creatures from strange worlds. It gives strength and constitution.