Forum Newbie Needs Your Help with Colour!

[Magpie Kate]

Hello everyone,

I was excited to hear about this forum through a Facebook group I am a member of, and I am having so much fun looking at all your amazing bracelets. I have been a trollie since 2008 and the love is still strong! However I am an unusual breed, I suffer from glass bead phobia! I don't know why but I never feel they look right on my wrist, I absolutely adore them on other people. I added a bit of colour with some prisms which worked well but what really makes my heart jump is gemstones! Obviously the prices are higher so I can't afford to make silly mistakes, but I would love to bring my bracelets alive with some beautiful stones.

When I get my beads out to play I just get stuck, I am so used to having loads of silvers that it becomes tricky to see how stones would work for me!

So... is there anyone out there who has been the same in the past? I don't think I have ever seen a full silver troll bracelet other than my own. I need some help to bring life to my bracelets! If you have a particular way you like to make up your bracelets I would love to hear about it, does it work best with a certain number of silvers/glass/stone?

Thanks in advance

[Pandabee(uk)]

This isn't mine, it's just too wonderfully stunning!!
but I think it's what your talking about.
Oh and and

http://www.beadthrilled.com/t7310-new-old-silver-gold

[Catsworld]

Welcome to the forum, Magpie Kate!

not much wrong with an all silver bracelet, from time to time I love to wear that too...

colours.. it depends what you want...
bright bracelet
one that goes with everything..
amber? I love amber..


you will find so many beautiful combos here, I myself have learned a lot here, simply by watching what others may come up with...

[Magpie Kate]

Hello Pandabee thank you, that bracelet is absolutely stunning I was thinking about amethysts, chalcedony, quartz etc but what a lovely idea.

Catsworld - Something that goes with everything really, nothing especially bright I am a purple/blue/turquoise person, I love the neutral colours too, and also greys. I absolutely love amber but the colour doesn't suit my very pale skin! Thank you for posting those pictures, they are all beautiful! I especially love your daisy and the 3 faceted beads!

[Wildthing]

Hi and welcome

I love silver and all silver bracelet or with a little glass or gems.......

Here are some of mine

Silver and prisms



Just silver



Silver and gems



Silver with a few ambers



Silver and pearls



Silver, ambers, pearls



All silver again



Silver and pearls again



Have probably bored you senseless Hope is a little bit helpful

[Catsworld]

I try again, that was one of my first bracelets, goes with almost everything...

[Magpie Kate]

Wildthing I am drooling all over my laptop!! I love them all, I use my prisms in the same way as your first bracelet. It is so nice to see some other full silver bracelets, but your gems bracelet is screaming at me! What is the bright pink one? And they green and grey on the end?

[Catsworld]

Wildthing! I love it... especially the amber bracelets... gorgeous!

[Magpie Kate]

Wow catsworld, beautiful combinations! Do you still wear it? Your amethyst are amazing colours, the ones at my local stockist look very pale in comparison.

[Bluesybeads]

Oh my, such beautiful bracelets in this thread

[Wintertroll]

Gorgeous!

[cottinghamgirl]

Have you tried doing a mini bracelet with a couple of silvers and a couple of glass in your favourite colours and tried wearing it to get used to the effect of the glass? There are quite a few photos of mini bracelets on here for inspiration. If you thought it suited you, you could add a couple more glass gradually until it was a 'full' bracelet. Silver with a few glass/gems/ambers looks lovely as in the photos on here. The pink and turquoise agate beads which came out last year are being sold at 40% off so a few of those could brighten up a silver bracelet at a reasonable cost.
I'm presuming you are from the UK but if not you can always buy beads by post.

[Fairy3]

wildthing I'm totally blown away by your flash on your barrel lab!!!
it's stunning!!!

and I started out with only silver that's because when I started I hadn't a clue that gorgeous glass ones even exited
Just go browse through shops and you'l get the look and feel that is just right for you!! and the precious stones are always a gorgeous match with silver

[trollfinder]

Hi Magpie Kate and Welcome from sunny California

When I first started, I only collected the silvers also. I started a while ago so there were not that many gemstone beads available back then. After finding a forum, I began to fall in love with the glass and now I have way to many I love gemstone beads the most and prefer more gemstones to glass but I like a mix of them all. It actualy took me several years to find my "style" I learned a lot from others designs and trying different ways to combine my beads. There is a lot of inspiration here, have fun!

[splinty]

I'm with you Magpie Kate, my bracelets are always heavy on the silver and I prefer gemstones to glass (the LE gemstones were a dream come true for me, I went mad for them ). I love to see lots of glass on other people's bracelets but I never wear more than 5 or 7 glass/stones on a bracelet, or else all silver (so why do I have so many glass beads?! ). You might like the labradorites if you like neutrals/greys ~ you can find lovely soft grey ones which blend beautifully with the silvers, then seek out ones with different colour flashes of blue, green, gold, peach and mauve; 5 labs with silvers is a fave of mine

[GRUMPY]

wow wow wow .. all those bracelets to help you and give you ideas.. nice.. thanks to all for sharing those photos.. it was really nice seeing all those different shots..

[AquaAura]

Welcome! Lots of beautiful bracelets in this thread - wow!
Macrow have their own range of gemstone beads, that are a bit more affordable than Troll, so would be good for experimenting? I have a couple of lapis, and a labradorite, very natural colours.

[Jan]

Welcome, Magpie Kate! While I love TB glass, I sometimes do all silver. This bracelet was done to honor a friend on another forum when she had open heart surgery. You could do something similar with a gemstone. Since they're expensive, featuring one would let you grow your collection slowly. (Sorry, I can't get the photo to upload. You can see it in my personal album.)

[merrygold]

Wow to all the beautiful bracelets in this thread!!

[cottinghamgirl]

I had another thought, what about the kimono beads? As they are matte, they are not so obviously glass and look nice with jaspers, gemstones, pearls. My favourite one is the white bird on the grey/green background, which is a subtle way of adding a patterned bead to a combination.

[casarobi]

Welcome to the forum!
There are some great bracelets placed here!
So I think you will have plenty of inspiration!

[Magpie Kate]

Cottinghamgirl - I have never tried a mini bracelet, I will have a look around for some pictures in a minute for inspiration. It sounds like a great idea! The agates look lovely but I have never seen them in my local stockists, are they still available online anywhere? My usual websites for troll stalking only have the sets, and none are on sale! I am in the UK though Just seen your post about the kimono beads, really good idea if I can find them sold individually!

Fairy3 and trollfinder - It is nice to hear I am not the only one who went for all silvers in the beginning! I am sure it will take me years to find my style too, there are so many creative people on this forum and I agree the gemstones look beautiful with some glass in there too.

Splinty - Which LE gemstones did you go mad for? I think labradorites are gorgeous, and I definitely need one in my collection soon, I will have to hunt down the perfect one though!

Grumpy - I know! So many beautiful photos, and so many helpful people!!

AquaAura - I have never heard of Macrow, so I am off to google them! I have no problem trying something from a different brand, or maybe even some artisan beads. They do not have to be troll to be beautiful! Lapis sounds stunning, any pictures?

Jan - How do I see your personal album? Your bracelet sounds wonderful, all of my silvers have a special meaning behind them, or a memory. What a lovely idea, it must have bought a big smile to your friends face.

Thank you casarobi!

[Magpie Kate]

Wow so many responses, thank you so much everyone! I have just got the camera out and taken a quick picture of my collection for you. I definitely need to get some photography tips too, the pictures on here are just stunning! Much better than the stock photos troll use - they should be paying you for your shots, I know they would sell more beads! Things I have never even considered before have leapt out at me.

Well here is my bracelet, as I am currently wearing it...


And here are the other bits and bobs I have, minus a second bracelet chain and a fantasy pearl necklace...



And the glass beads I have never worn, that have been gifted to me over my trollie years...

[cottinghamgirl]

You have a lovely collection of silvers.
I bought a turquoise agate last week at the discounted price and the shop gave me the latest TB booklet. On page 25 it says the kits and individual beads are discounted while stocks last, so I would phone /email some of the retailers who sell on line and ask them, a couple(or more) of the lighter turquoises would go with some of the glass beads you already have!
Some retailers might have some individual kimono beads left, I was at my LD this afternoon and noticed that they still had a few. I was collecting a jewellry repair and only looked at the TBs including the new Easter eggs, it is hard just to look.

[Magpie Kate]

Ohhh lovely, I have managed to find a vibrant pink one online for £15 so I have ordered it! I am having a hunt around for single turquoise ones, but not enough websites take the time to post pictures of the actual beads they have. I know what you mean, I always leave with something when I go to my LD.. they are just too beautiful to leave behind.