Russ Troll Bead

I wanted to share something fun with you today as well as a great success story! I recently received the Russ Troll Bead from Rings&Things and while I am a customer and "read" the catalog fanatically, I wasn't as familiar with the founder/owner of the company.

Russ Nobbs certainly has an online presence! I was able to find him in lots of places such as facebook and a wide variety of forums. At the end of this post is the wonderful success story that was posted on the Bead & Button Forum site. Since I have received this bead, I see that while the real live Russ is off traveling and procuring beads all over the world, the Russ Troll Bead is busy as well.

Every time I turned around he was up to something else, I'm beginning to think he is a workaholic! He promptly moved into our solar powered lighthouse and set up a workshop.

I took a quick peek inside and found Russ giving a pep talk to some of the 5301 Swarovski bicones which are being retired to make way for the new 5328 Swarovski Xillion.

It appears the Russ bead came across some gnomes out in the yard and was supervising one of their craft painting projects.

I then found him in a flower bed hanging out with some miniature garden gnomes, but I was a little concerned because a lot of these little guys carry dangerous tools and I'm not sure if they can be trusted.

Russ didn't seem to mind. I discovered why the Russ bead had no fear of some of the garden gnomes....he's got a pretty good sized protector in this garden kitty cat! : ) You can find other Russ sightings on this Rings & Things page.

About Russ Nobbs
Russ Nobbs is the founder of Rings & Things in Spokane, Washington State, USA. Russ started in the jewelry industry in 1965 with sales of gold wire name pins and beaded earrings at western US and Canadian fairs and festivals. In 1972 he opened a tiny store in the 2nd City mall in Spokane. Rings & Things grew in size, added a bead store, expanded into a fine craft gallery and moved several times. In the back rooms and background, wholesale sales of beaded earrings, southwestern turquoise jewelry, beads and findings supported our growth.

In 2000 Rings & Things closed the last retail store to concentrate on the wholesale bead and findings business supplying craftspeople and manufacturers around the world. In 2005 Rings & Things moved to their own building with room to properly support more than 90 one day trunk shows each year across the US.

Russ Nobbs and his partner Dee Mueller travel extensively in Asia sourcing beads and findings for Rings & Things and learning about the production methods used in Asia. When at home in the US Dee works in her garden and volunteers with a garden club. Russ has served on the boards of several arts organizations and coordinates recycling efforts at the annual juried Artfest and other regional events.