Tag Archives: lampwork

Tribal Trollbeads and a Bonus Combo!

Posted on by Cathryn Cook
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As I’ve been offline for a week I thought it only fair to treat you to two Trollbeads combos! The first is to complement a fantastic vintage amber necklace I found at the car boot sale this morning. It’s also partly inspired by the tribal theme that’s all over the fashion magazines at the moment – hope you like!

Clockwise from Flower Lock: artisan stopper, artisan silver, tibet ornament, ooak, Tupilak (big), alabaster amber, Grey Wolf, Lions, jasper, ooak amber, china LE silkworm, ooak amber, china LE white jade, Koala, Fur Animal, alabaster amber, winter, brown bud, vivienne, tupilak (small).

The second is more playful, inspired by the orange dress/purple leggings combo I’m wearing today – I teamed it with my most precious gold and silver beads to give it a classy twist…

Purple Orange Trolls

Clockwise from Mexico lock: Fairy, stopper, tibet kyang, Orange Armadillo, G, Silver Trace (Pink), space, ooak, around the world, khaki stripe, daisy, Purple Stripe, gold endless, ooak, Planet (small), LE crazy lace agate, C, striped bud, ooak, Lucky Knot.

Get your Trollbeads bracelet from a UK stockist here.

Summer Trollbeads Inspired by Catalogue

Posted on by Cathryn Cook
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I’ve always loved the bracelet on the cover of one of my Trollbeads catalogues, so yesterday I decided I’d make a bracelet inspired by it!  I’ve used similar colours, which have a real summery theme – perfect for the blistering hot weather we’re having in England at the moment!

Summer Trollbeads     Summer Trollbeads     Summer Trollbeads

Clockwise from Small Flower Lock: Tibet Kyang, Summer Bud, LE Tulip, Dark Blue Dot, Rose, Lions, Tibet Green Lilac Armadillo, OOAK, Wisdom, Pink Silver Trace, Tibet Green Lilac Armadillo, Koala, OOAK, LE Crazy Lace Pink Agate, Forget-me-not, Striped Bud, Red Pink Prism, Smiley, Safety Chain.

The day I met the Trollbeads Beadmaker!

Posted on by Cathryn Cook
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Late last year I had a very special invite to a UK Trollbeads event, where I was able to book an appointment to ‘Meet the Beadmaker’!!  I was told that the beadmaker herself is the longest standing employee of the Trollbeads company and she flew over all the way from Copenhagen especially for these events.  I was allowed to ask for any design I wished for, so I went for my dream bead – an Anniversary Caterpillar in purple!

         

Above you can see the colour was vibrant while hot but changed when cooled – the final colour of the bead can be seen below.  For comparison, it’s very similar to Purple Stripe - I think the glass colours must be the same.  If you’re interested to see how Trollbeads are made, there’s a great video on YouTube here.

Trollbeads from Tibet

Posted on by Cathryn Cook
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In 2006, Lise Aagard (CEO of the Trollbeads company) ran a project in Tibet, teaching refugees to make glass Trollbeads as part of a Self Sustainable Business Project.  

The beads produced in Tibet were purchased and later sold as a set – you can read more about the project here.

I have been lucky enough to collect five of the six beads – Green/Lilac Armadillo, Ornament , Kyang, Takma and and an OOAK Cappuccino.  I don’t wear these beads as often as I should, but I recently purchased the Summer Rose Debut Bracelet and they make a nice addition as a spring/summer bracelet:

Clockwise from silver Flower Lock:  Tibet Kyang, OOAK Tibet Cappuccino, Lions, Rose, Fur Animal, Forget-Me-Not, Silver Trace - Pink, Green/Lilac Armadillo, Wisdom, Green/Lilac Armadillo, LE Valentines Agate, Koala, Grey Wolf, Tibet Takma, LE Tulip, OOAK, Tibet Ornament, Smiley.

Sadly the Tibet set is now retired, but sometimes they pop up in stores when you least expect it!  All of mine were bought in UK stores from 2008-2009 apart from one of the dillos, which was kindly sent to me by a fellow collector.  If anyone knows where I could get hold of the actual ‘Tibet’ bead to complete my set, please get in touch!!