Unofficial Controversy

Although the links to the People's Bead 2011 finalists show unconfirmed finalists & semi-finalists, there is already controversy raised on a couple of the designs. First the "Star" submission is a photo of a ring from Sylvie Meis' jewellery collection, that ironically enough, was released in the Netherlands (corrected from: Denmark.)

http://sieraden-tassen-uiterlijk.marktplaats.nl/ringen/420764254-orgineel-zilver-nieuw-pure-ringen-van-silvie-meis.html

The picture may have been borrowed, but the design is already owned by Sylvie it seems. More about Sylvie can be found on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sylvie_van_der_Vaart

And a poster did an interesting comparison on FB of the Acorn submission to the "Ohm" brand silver Acorn bead. The similarities are startling. But, decide for yourself.

Photo source: http://i55.tinypic.com/357oms5.jpg























Check the discussions out yourself on Trollbeads - The Official Page, on Face Book: https://www.facebook.com/trollbeadsofficial

2011 Semi-finalists

Some familiar names in here... congratulations all! (Note: these are unconfirmed.)

http://www.trollbeadsuniverse.com/global/en-us/events/peoples-bead-2011/__semifinalists

What is this???

Sad, So Sad!

Chamilia's Limited "Royal Engagement Bead"

I have the saddest news for anyone who's been hoping for a Royal Wedding bead like Chamilia and Pandora have put out to mark the occasion of Prince William and Catherine Middleton's wedding in April. It's rather embarassing actually, I don't really want to tell you about it. Trollbeads - (and/or Trollbeads UK, not sure) mustered up a heart engraving on the old Scroll bead, with initials & wedding date. That's it.

Its a sad day because Chamilia came out with a rather stunning design with zirconia in Sapphire Blue and clear, and Pandora reworked a heart but also put a lovely Sapphire zirconia in the middle with initials on the back. Would have been a great opportunity for Troll to put out something fresh, non-cliche & collectable. I think they've really missed the boat on this one and allowed the other brands to fill the niche in the hearts of the hopeless romantic bead collectors out there.

With their international market reaching out to many Commonwealth countries including United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia to name a few, I hoped that a little more attention would have been paid to the event. Maybe it was too quick for them to design & manufacture a bead, or maybe they didn't want to set a precedent of celebrating this type of event. Maybe People's Bead takes over in importance, which I can agree with, and if that is the reason, then I can forgive the overlook easily.

People's Bead 2011! My favorite time of year!!!

Hooray! The People's Bead competition for 2011 has started!!! You have until April 26th to submit your idea for a bead design. Follow the link below to read the rules & deadlines for the contest. One important note for those in North America, (or anywhere else behind the Denmark timezone), make sure you leave plenty of time for your entry to be submitted just in case you have problems uploading your photos & ideas. It's nice to have an extra day in case that is the moment your internet connection misbehaves.

http://www.trollbeadsuniverse.com/global/en-us/events/people

There is only 2 more painful days- wait, just 1 more now in most places - to find out just what lovely beads lie in store for us with the UK World Tour release. OK, OK, OK. I must confess I have seen microscopic blurry pictures of the beads & at first glance I think most people will be quite pleased with most of them. If not, don't worry, I'm sure they will grow on you like most of these beads seem to do. Then they almost magically appear in our beadboxes whilst we scratch our heads wondering just what the heck happened???

And for your daily inspiration, a photo of what I did with my new South Africa World Tour beads. 2 of the "Africa" glass and the "Drum Beat" silver.