Troll Beads...maybe TMI???

     So I've had visions of Troll Beads flying around in my head since our visit to the exclusive Troll Bead retail store (usually they are sold in jewelry or gift stores) yesterday afternoon (I literally had to get up and take a pill to get to sleep...but maybe that was the double cap at 3p from the Starbucks)?  And who have thought it would be in Mashpee MA???  Katy and I were visiting our favorite friend Dot, who lives about 3 minutes from Mashpee Commons, a lovely shopping 'village.'  According to the engaging sales woman Judy, who was excited to have 3 addicts in her store and no one else to wait on, there is no other Troll store like this one...guess they are trying it out to see how it goes.  It has been open less than a year.  It is similar to a Pandora store if you have seen those.  Anyway...I have been so tired of looking for a new release bead or rare issue and never finding them in the stores around here...and we have learned by trial and error that shopping on the websites often results in bead miscommunication.  So the best way to buy beads is to see them in person.  Not to mention the wide variation in terms of size and coloration there can be in a single bead...so you always want to choose YOUR bead from the ones offered.  To see ALL the beads currently in production, not to mention ones like the above picture, which represent an exclusive release I hadn't even heard of called 'Christmas in Australia,' was truly breathtaking!  Katy chose the bead on the front left (white, mauve and black) as her early b'day gift from Dot (our shopping host and very good friend) while I was very intrigued but the cherry blossom one, front right (so easy shopping for me for Valentines day Kirk...already ready in its little box..alone with another silver one with hearts on the inside that I had to have)! I treated myself to the new 'Ice bear' which is a polar bear...just fell in love with him when I saw him as a new fall release...but no one around here had him.

Another cool set we didn't know about was 'Christmas in Hawaii,' shown below:

     The whole 'Christmas In...' name comes from the fact that these were limited release 'kits' of 6 beads, offered at Christmas time in the areas mentioned.  This store broke up some of their kits and offered to sell the beads as singletons.  I'm really impressed with the Hawaii ones b/c I love the colors...altho thought the Australian ones were more unique looking.  But I could be tempted to purchase a few of the above beads....
      It seems like a strange addiction...but there is something very zen like about disconnecting all the beads from my bracelets and then spending time mixing and matching the colors and silver to create a new bracelet.  With the beads I currently have, I can create seasonal and celebration combinations...which I'm more likely to do than to try to match an outfit.  Katy and I aren't Troll purists...there are Chamilia and Pandora and Lovelink (and even Kohls...altho Katy seems to draw the line at that...but if I see a bead with the same quality as the better brands as part of Kohls new line...for 50% off and I have a 30% coupon...it is a no brainer for me) on our bracelets...but Troll is still my favorite line b/c of the artistic flair to many of their glass and silver beads.  I never tire of them...maybe it takes me back to the days in the mid 70s when stringing beads on a leather string and wearing them as a necklace to match your clothes was all the rage...for guys and gals.  I still have my little 'kit' of string and beads somewhere....