Yesterday I drove down to America to attend the grand opening of a Trollbeads store at a mall in Michigan, just north of Detroit. The reason I drove the 5 hour round trip was to see Scott Bouwens, who designed the Rocky Beach Kit. You can read all about his work on his website here. He was demonstrating how to make glass beads and explained how the process works. There were also goodie bags for the first 25 people to arrive (that included a travel case and bead!), drinks, food and lots of beads to look at. The store has the coolest moss walls and beautiful displays. We really need one of these stores in my city, ha ha! One of the most fun parts of the day was being able to chat with other bead collectors!
Here’s what I wore to the event-my bedazzled Doc Martens (ha ha ha!), a bangle, the Ring of Change and a full bracelet. I wanted to use the full Rocky Beach Kit of course!
Here are a couple of photos of Scott making beads. It was so interesting to see the glass melted and pulled into stringers which he then would use to place little dots of glass on the bead. It was also neat to see the silver leaf be incorporated into the melted glass.
I only bought one bead, a Neptune’s Promise, but it’s quite gorgeous. What fun to be at my first (but hopefully not last) bead event! I hope these pictures give you a feel for what it was like to be there!
Disclosure: On this blog some products I use I have received as samples.
What an amazing day the must have been! I find it hypnotic the watch the process of lamp wound beads. The bead you bought is beautiful and so are your photos. I wish there were a shop like that nearby , too. Thank-you for sharing your beautiful day. You’ve put me in the mood to buy another Troll bead, tomorrow…
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Thanks Sarah! It was so interesting and also such a treat to get to see all the beads, rings and bracelets displayed. It’s so hard to judge the size of things online sometimes. Hmm…imagine if there was a store at White Oaks Mall? π
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What a beautiful day!!! And you have chosen such a lovely bead to remember it! Thank you so much for sharing! And you idea with beads on Martens is BRILLIANT! Trendsetter:)
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Thanks Julia! I hope people have fun looking at the photos. I think in England they have these events all the time, but it was new to me!
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That’s amazing! I wish I could have been there, I’ve never been to a trollbeads store before bec there are none where I live and I find it hard to pick glass without actually seeing it. I love watching glass
Making. It’s a really cool idea to put your beads on your laces as well!
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Thanks Judie! I’m glad you enjoyed the pictures. I’ve been to 3 Trollbeads stores now and each time it’s been so exciting to see all the variations in the beads, which we online buyers never get to see!
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