It's the small things... (update to Share a Christmas Card 2012)

...that make me smile the most.

This was my first year of taking part in the Share a Christmas Card 2012 event and whilst the prize draw element of the event ends today with the 2 final winners getting a glass Christmas Kit each, the full event continues until 1st February 2013.  I've viewed the winning results as my very own electronic month long Trollbead Advent Calendar, I've really enjoyed looking at the winners each day to see who is the lucky winner (or winners) and what is their prize?  Reading through the greetings, sending my own thanks for cards arriving here and receiving news that my own cards have got through have been the highlights of the event.

7 of my 10 cards have been received / registered, I've no idea whether the last 3 cards have got lost, or whether they will still arrive, but as the event continues until 1st February 2013 I'm really hoping the final 3 will be registered so I know they've arrived safely.

Over 15,500 cards have been registered to date, I've now received 7 cards from trollbead fans around the world, and my 7th card made me smile a lot...

I'm a big fan of coincidences, those moments when you think, "Oh how cool is that?"

So what was it about my 7th Share a Christmas card that made me stop and go "Oh how cool is that?"  

(Actually it made me jump up and down with glee firstly; then I stopped and went "Oh how cool is that?"  

In my defence it was a very bouncy day for trollbead related glee - I had an email that morning to say that my leather bracelet had arrived at my local dealers, my second retired pink prism also arrived the same day and I got extra sale discounts when I went to pick up my stuff!)

Given how many people take part in the Share a Christmas card event I figured the chances of it being someone I knew to be very slim, the chances of it being another blogger even slimmer... so which lovely blogger drew me as one of their people to send a card to?  Coincidentally also posting the card on the day of my birthday?

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It was the lovely Leann at www.charmsaddict.com!  So a big thank you to Leann for being part of making the 28th December a very bouncy smiley day indeed :)

Grey Wolf Bracelet

Having blogged about some impulse buys recently, I thought it was time to showcase the bracelet combination I put together for Boxing Day using another another impulse buy from a few months ago, Grey Wolf.  I was also able to use some of my new silver beads and some older beads that were among the first beads I chose.

L-R: LE Christmas Kit 2011, Waves, Brown Desert, Lucky Knot, Grey Wolf, Lucky Knot,
Golden Cave, Big Planet, OOAK Brown & White Harlequin

I like the use of the double silver lucky knots here, one of my first multiples of a bead to be acquired when I bought the luck and joy starter bracelet, since then I've acquired 2 retired pink prisms and another multiple of a different prism on the way!

L-R: Grey Wolf, Lucky Knot, Golden Cave, Big Planet, OOAK Brown & White Harlequin, Yin and Yang,
LE Jasper, Zodiac Birthstone Star, OOAK Brown, grey and white.

I love this bracelet, it's one of my less vivid combinations, worn on the day with an amber pendant and a tigers eye and other "stone bits" bracelet.

L-R: Ebay stopper, Baltic Gold Amber, Transformation, Grey Squirrel, Endless,
LE Christmas Kit, Waves, Brown Desert, Grey Wolf

Lock with Buds

The new Lock with Buds also had an outing, I'm still having a bit of trouble with the smaller end as I don't always remember to check it will go on that particular bracelet until after I've assembled the full bracelet - d'oh!

What happened on the way home from a gig...

...or how I can buy trollbeads literally in any circumstances.

Top to Bottom:
Cozy, Taurus, Golden Cave

Last August my live-in geek and I took an impromptu trip to Bristol's Cribbs Causeway on the way home from a festival; so when we made a similar off the cuff detour to Sheffield's Meadowhall to look for more tech on the way back from a gig in Nottingham I should have suspected how this was going to end.

Last time I was in a shopping centre I left a lovely pink hued Golden Cave in the shop, which I've slightly regretted ever since.  So when I saw another one in this Beaverbrooks, even though I already have a regular Golden Cave, I wasn't going home without it.

Actually, this was the second bead I'd picked up... as the assistant had left me alone with the beads whilst she went to box silver Taurus, a bead I'd ignored from the stock photos but really liked when I saw it in real life.

She must have figured this was a good sales technique as I was left alone again and I picked up a Cozy, my first bead from the Autumn Collection 2012 to complete my trio!  What then followed was a game of hunt my till receipt as it wasn't printing out where it was expected to and I had quite a wait until it could finally be reprinted. 

By this stage however my live-in geek had come to find me, and realising the financial danger I was in, he didn't let me look at any more beads whilst the assistant left to hunt my receipt for the second time lest I succumb to further temptation!

What is in your pocketises?

My Birthday, a day off work, The Hobbit and a bit of shopping planned courtesy of Beaverbrooks. 

(The "spend £50 get at least £20 off" Christmas gift card promotion)

Unfortunately I was cutting it a bit fine when I swung by on the way to see The Hobbit.  I chose a brown leather bracelet, which had to be ordered (as I take the smallest size which a lot of stores don't carry in stock judging by when I bought my blue leather bracelet) and a bead off my wish list that caught my eye on the day... Pink Desert.  

Being in a rush I left all the packaging and bags, bar the pouch, on the counter, as I just stuffed the bead in my purse as I was running out of the shop to make the film in time, I did attempt to explain why I was in a rush...  I was probably their weirdest customer that day?!

Thinking of the blog I duly took a photo of the Pink Desert... in the pub!!

Yesterday morning I received an email to say my bracelet had arrived, so off I went to pick it up - oh no, they had a sale... another bead off my wish list was acquired, this time IN the packaging and I wasn't in such a rush.  

What was even cuter, well apart from picking up Silver Trace, Green - Turquoise for £20, was that as my bracelet was now in the sale, they sold it to me at sale price, which meant I had a further £12 discount on the bracelet too.  

The shop have the new boxes in so I have more of my favourite design of box (first seen by me when I ordered my Lock with Buds from the Christmas Collection), with even smaller boxes for little beads.  Cute!

Yesterday was a very good day all round; as you might have noticed there are THREE boxes in the photo.  The sharp eyed amongst you might even have noticed the middle sized box is a slightly different design, this box came all the way from the US and contained my second retired pink prism.  Keeping the discount theme in mind, I had had a $25 discount voucher I had actually forgotten about from the lovely people at Trollbeads Studio from my last order with them, I used this and got my second retired pink prism for $6! Bargain.

So that was what was in my pocketises!

Another OOAK? Don't mind if I do...

I really like my OOAKs (Uniques) and so it was no surprise when another caught my eye.

This one came from Blue Ridge Mining Co and was a leftover from a facebook bead party that hadn't been claimed by anyone.  It has beautiful glitter bumpy dots and is a lovely deep blue on white with a hint of purple.

It arrived just before Christmas and whilst I've not had chance to use it yet I keep picking it out of my bead box to have a another look!

Artisan & critters bracelet

Some fun bead play with my new beads led to what I think of an artisan and critters bracelet...

L-R: Green and blue ooak, Porcupine, green ooak, Luccicare turtle, green ooak, trollbead stopper, Swan Lock

Another Luccicare bead between the 2 blue and green ooaks

Penguin & Baby Christmas Collection 2012 silver bead on the chain

All the silver beads and lock are creatures/critters as well as having a glass turtle in the combination

The three central beads are all artisan, purple and cubic zirconia is another Luccicare,
the two either side are unknown.

Sometimes you just have to hope and wait...

...that the bead you can't afford, that is the perfect match to one you bought last month, will still be available to buy next month when you get paid!

See sometimes I can be good and wait!

In my ooak post from last month I showed you the first bead (below left) and I've waited all month until I could replenish my bead fund (boosted by my birthday money) in the hope the second one would still be available.  I went back to check, it was still available (just) and now it's reunited with it's bead partner!

My second bead is another ooak, or unique, in similar colours but a very different style to the first bead I bought, I'm so glad I got the chance to go back for it!

Artisan Turtle by Christa at Luccicare on Etsy

So, given that I was disappointed not to receive silver Turtles earlier this month I made plans for a replacement and decided to go with Artisan bead maker, Christa Keizer and one of her glass turtle beads.  I was already a fan of Christa's beads having bought my first ones last month.

As much as I like trollbeads glass turtle beads (which can a bit hard to get hold of) I must admit I actually prefer Christa's turtles, the detail on them is incredible and whilst I've been admiring them for a while, it was this fella with his shiny spots that made me take the plunge.

This won't be the last turtle I buy from Christa although I haven't decided on what colours to go for next, if you fancy one why not pop along to her shop on Etsy, there's one just like this available right now, but if you miss it and you can't see what you want, you can always get in touch and ask for your own choice of colours!  Christa is a delightful and talented lady to buy from and very accommodating to her customers, she comes highly recommended from this blogger!

Birthday Penguin from the Christmas Collection 2012

When Trollbeads released pictures of the Christmas Collection 2012 and it contained a penguin bead I knew then that it was destined to find me as a birthday present from my live-in geek.

I can't even remember when or where the penguin theme came from, just that there has always been one. 

A friend of ours who works with animals sent us some photos of baby penguins that were being reared and we later went to meet one of these babies when he was all grown up.  

Live-in geek was very happy and I had to double check the car before we left just to make sure he hadn't snuck Murphy in the boot!  

It's continued over the years and we often get penguin related presents, not ones for big Christmas decorations we have a tree ornament that's a metal winter penguin that hangs from a window handle all year long... and now is a good time to also confess my love of fairy lights; but that happens all year round, fairy lights are not just for Christmas you know!

  

Sure enough come my birthday we welcomed another penguin into the family.  This silver bead depicting a Penguin and her Baby is beautifully detailed as you can see above, even down to the detailing on the feet shown above right.  

What I particularly like is that the hole for the bracelet has been designed in a sympathetic way to the two penguins so it looks more like a gap between them than a hole.  This does mean the bead sits a little lower on the bracelet at the bottom which may bother those who crave a bit more symmetry on their bracelets, me? I like quirky!

Pieces of Eight

Er, well it was 10 actually!

L-R: The Hare and the Tortoise, Transformation, Big Planet, Sandi, Lighthouse, Berry (small),
Ladybird/Ladybug, Yin and Yang, Porcupine, Scarab

10 lovely silvers all the way from the US... I was doing quite well after the Steffans convention and had no plans to get any more beads, as regular readers will know, every time I say this... without fail, some amazing bead or deal comes along.  This time the trollbead community grapevine rippled directly into my inbox via private message from another collector!

I should just resign myself to my bead habit and not fight it so much! (Not that I've put up much of a fight when it comes to temptation but you should have seen the beads I didn't buy!).  So what was so amazing about this deal you might be asking yourself?  It was a stock liquidation sale, as well as a "Black Friday Sale" on some beads so the prices were super crazy, and just to match the prices I went super crazy and ordered 10 beads!

Several of these beads are wish list favourites: Porcupine, Yin and Yang, Big Planet and Berries (ever since I bought Lock with Buds).  The others were there and just sparkling at me!  Lighthouse was on a special offer and the design reminds me of my time living near Roath Park Lake, which bizarrely has a lighthouse on the lake with a clock!

The Hare and the Tortoise was an error by the shop - as they sent me this instead of Turtles!  I already have The Hare and The Tortoise.  Hopefully I can find a new home for it as I've already ordered a replacement bead...  but more on that another day!

Retired pink and other prisms

In my last post, Odds and Sods, I was extolling the virtues of the prism beads, I'm becoming quite the fan as I love their shape, their colours and they are so useful in bracelet combinations.

So when the trollbead community grapevine started to ripple I was all ears; someone whispered that the retired pink prism was available to preorder, I then read all about it the following day courtesy of Endangered Trolls and with more information appearing on Charms Addict I was fully informed.

By then I'd already put my order in!

Scroll forward to early December and a little package went plink through my letter box.  It's everything that fellow trollies have said it would be, it's a lush pink colour with flecks of gold, a mix between pink and purple and has a lovely cloudy effect.  I've shown it below next to the current pink prism, and I'm already wondering if I should have ordered multiples, well at least another one!  I can see why it's been such a sought after bead, I'm very pleased to have had the opportunity to purchase one at retail price.

L-R: Retired Pink Prism, Pink Prism

L-R: Purple Prism, Retired Pink Prism, Pink Prism, Turquoise Prism, Bright Red Prism, Red Prism

All my prisms in a row, lovely aren't they?

I never get why the Turquoise prism is called that given it's half purple and half green?  Ah to answer my own question I went to look it up... www.trollbeads.co.uk describe it as "A mix of blue and green, turquoise has sweet feminine hues, while the darker teal shades add lively sophistication".  I still think it looks half purple... and whatever shade you yourself see, I still desire another one!

Odds and sods

So some random bits from the last month...

Bracelet stoppers (or how to stop your beads from catapulting across the room when you wrench off your Lock with Buds)

I find the price of troll stoppers at £16 to be quite prohibitive; even when I pick them up at great preloved prices it still stings a bit.  I've been experimenting with cheaper, non-troll stoppers bought off Ebay recently so I can spend my cash on beads rather than stoppers.  To show you the difference the Ebay stopper is shown below on the right, next to a genuine Troll stopper for comparison.

L-R: Genuine Troll Stopper and Ebay Stopper

Over the course of a couple of weeks I won 3 separate Ebay auctions to get 4 non-Troll stoppers from Lithuania, they are not as pretty as the official trollbead ones as they are slightly chunkier, but they do the job in keeping the beads in place! (At less than £4 a stopper) 


Always package your beads well before sending them through the post (or what happened to me with an Ebay bead last month)

I won a delightful Light Turquoise Prism on an Ebay auction; unfortunately it arrived damaged - as a small amount of bubble wrap and an ordinary envelope didn't really provide much protection through the post.  You don't need to go to the lengths that I do when packaging beads, which verges on paranoia! (Tissue paper to prevent scratches, bubble wrap, sometimes a pouch and/or a plastic ziplock bag, padded envelope and sometimes I sellotape the bead to the inside in case it rips, then sellotape the corners anyway... this is the point I usually remember I've forgotten to put the note inside)

Fortunately I was dealing with a splendid Ebay seller so it all got sorted out with a refund which was a relief.  It was a bit disappointing as it's a charming bead and I definitely want one for the future, great colour!  I love the prism beads and intend to get more some day.


Always double check the details before you buy (or don't assume you know what someone else means when they say the same thing as you)

My 17cm bracelet... that turned out to be 15cm in length

I bought another "17cm bracelet" which would have taken my bracelet tally to 6 in total, but it just goes to show that you need to clarify details when you buy from other collectors, as 17cm to her meant 17cm in total when a standard lock is added (i.e. the bracelet is 15cm in actual length) whereas to me it means that the bracelet is 17cm in length.  So I now have a bracelet that I can get 1 bead on with 2 stoppers...

Half of me thinks that if I do eventually get the Redbalifrog dragon clasp that I love (which is a bit longer than standard Trollbead locks) I might be able to get 3 beads on with stoppers for a special feature bracelet.  The other half of me thinks I may just put this bracelet on Ebay for someone who is looking for a very small bracelet!


Homes for your beads (or where I currently keep mine!)

After the Steffans Online Convention my beads have expanded once more but I was lucky enough to be able to buy a preloved stacking travel case.

  

I was chatting to another collector when we were buying from the Steffans Online Convention and said I was going to buy another layer or two for my existing case when I was offered a full case by itself!  This is actually an early Christmas present but as I had beads spilling out of my existing case I've been allowed to have it early!

November's treasures from Steffans Online Convention

Writing a blog often means you have lots of lists on the go, beads you've yet to blog about, ideas for posts, blogs you've written but not yet finished, blogs you've finished but not yet published... all to ensure the posts make sense so that someone can read one article on it's own, or for those who read each article so it makes sense chronologically; for example I don't normally show a bracelet combination unless I've finished any blog articles I'm intending to write about any new beads that might be on the bracelet.

So when I sat down to do my leather bracelet combination from the weekend (random, colourful and not well matched but looked fab with what I was wearing - dark blue jeans & black, as it really showed off the bracelet), I realised that I've still got quite a few beads to write about from November.

Steffans had a Trollbead Event on Sunday 4th November in their store, sadly I was not able to make it as it's quite a trek from where I live in the UK.  Later on in the month they held an "online convention" which meant that myself and other fans were able to participate in some of the bargains available.

L-R: Viking and Waves

Firstly I picked up 2 new silvers in mid-November including the lovely retired Viking bead, half price, from the online Steffans convention.  Waves is a wonderful bead that I was lucky to get at a great preloved price from another collector around the same time.

L-R: Rainbow, Green Rainbow, Purple Fusion, Green Shadow and Red Stripe

Myself and some fellow collectors used our collective buying power to take advantage of some great deals on the glass bead kits from Steffans Online Convention which were also half price!  We each chose the beads we wanted and negotiated where they were clashes or unloved beads and bought 4 kits between 7 of us originally (although there was more buying and selling once the kits arrived)!  My haul was 5 beads which was probably rather greedy but at less than £11 per bead I was able to tick off a lot of beads from my old wish lists.

From the Transparency Kit I was finally able to get Rainbow and Green Rainbow, from the Contemporary Kit I snagged Purple Fusion and Green Shadow and from the New Red Kit I added to my red beads with red stripe.  Quite a haul, and lots of fun with us posting our beads to each other (yet another dash to the Post Office before it shut due to my work travels).

November was a pretty awesome month for sale beads!  There are still a few left at Steffans online sale, go here for details, but be quick!

Share a Christmas Card 2012

In the 2011 Share a Christmas Card event 11,690 cards were registered with Trollbeads Universe as being received by fellow trollbead fans, I only became aware of this phenomenon when Pauline wrote about it in her Guest Spot.  

I decided to join in the fun for 2012 and to have my own cards made; unfortunately they didn't arrive until the 27th November, and as I was going away for work the next day for the rest of the week, I posted them without taking any photos for the blog as I was cutting it very fine for the cards to get there in time (and for me to get to the post office before it shut)!  I used the photo to the left on the front of the cards and a personal printed message inside from me.  I also wrote another message inside the card and as a last minute thought added my blog url in case anyone fancied a read!

The 2012 event details can be found here for anyone who wants to still join in.  Essentially you register your details to receive 5 names and addresses from all over the world, you then send those people a Christmas Card (or a postcard) with your message and your unique Troll ID which you receive when you register.  Your name and address will be sent to 5 others who will be able to send you a card too.

When that person receives your card, they will (hopefully) register your card on the website and this in turn gives you a "lottery ticket" for the draws that take place every day from 1st - 31st December 2012.  When you receive a card, you in turn register their Troll ID and you can write them a greeting in return.  The returned greetings and winners are also posted on the website.

  

So far I've received 2 cards (both from Italy) out of the 4,042 cards received worldwide.  3 of my cards have arrived; 2 to the Netherlands and 1 to Austria.  I pre-registered for the event so was lucky enough to be given 10 addresses in total, so I am eagerly awaiting news that the other 7 have arrived - 2 to the US, 1 to Canada, 2 to Italy, 1 to Germany and 1 to Lithuania.  I'm really pleased I received a name and an address from Lithuania as that is where my favourite World Tour bead designs came from.

It's nice to be able to read the greetings people send each other when they receive their cards and it's fun to see who has won the draws and what bead they are going to receive.  I think of it as a Trollbead Community Advent Calendar that lasts the full month of December!

Jewellery I love!

As you might have guessed I quite like trollbeads... certainly enough to start a blog about them!  I also love pendants and rings and thought it would be fun to show you some of the jewellery I love and wear with my beads.

I regularly combine this bracelet with some amber to compliment my Baltic Gold bead (from the World Tour Collection).

Up until my recent holiday I didn't have an amber ring, although I've been on the hunt for the "right one" for many years.  Last month when I found this splendid chunk of amber in silver in a little shop in Gaois Harbour I was delighted.  I've seen a great many beautiful rings in my search for "my" amber ring but I find with jewellery I instinctively know when I've found the right piece for me.

The necklace pendant, by contrast, is quite a delicate piece, (and has it's own bracelet to match for when I need something delicate to match), it was only when I brought the ring home did I realise the twist in my necklace and the shape of the ring were a great pairing.  My pendant has huge sentimental value because it was a present from my parents-in-law, shortly before my father-in-law passed away.

In this blog post I made 2 more bracelets that have remained made up ever since, the first one I think of as my dragon bracelet.  This tends to get worn with another favourite of mine, labradorite.

I can't remember when or where I found the pendant, but Wales is probably a good guess!  This was the second labradorite pendant I bought, the first wasn't quite the right one (but still lovely) but at the time I bought it, many many years ago, labradorite was quite hard to find in jewellery, or at least it was for me.  The ring I found on a jewellery stall at a festival a few years ago, I love the strong, bold silver setting.

The next bracelet was a multiple attempt at using up leftover beads to create a colourful combination that I was inspired to make by seeing a rainbow bracelet made by another collector.  Whilst I wasn't trying to copy the design I wanted to create my own kaleidoscope of colours.

With this bracelet I tend to wear my all time favourite pendant, this one gets used so much and nearly always creates a comment from other people, there seems to be a great need to touch this stone and I too find myself caressing it's surface when I wear it.

The ring was bought earlier this year when I met a very old friend for lunch in Wales and we did a bit of shopping before parting company; just like old times when we were teenagers.  Just like now, I often bought a ring, or pendant, in some lovely independent shop found in a little side street tucked away from the main shopping areas.

Another pendant that I sometimes wear with this bracelet is my amethyst one, which in turn matches my wedding ring shown in the photo to the left.  My wedding ring was found in a jewellers that specialised in clocks!



The blue/green opal ring shown above also gets worn with this bracelet, (it really is a very versatile bracelet), I found this beauty whilst on honeymoon in Greece.  I'm also wearing this as I finish this blog piece, along with my wedding ring and the silver footprint thumb ring so I'm having a strange visual experience of seeing double from hands to screen.

I've had my silver footprint thumb ring for many years, where I discovered it, well that has become lost in the mists of time.  I'll take another guess at Wales though!  I almost lost the ring a few weeks ago when it fell off after I'd managed to knock it getting into my car outside a restaurant.  I heard that "plink" and then I could hear it roll away, on a very rainy night in a dark car park in Newcastle...  I'm not sure what passing folk must have thought when I was scrabbling around on my hand and knee in the rain under my car trying to balance on them like I was playing a solo invisible game of Twister.  Thankfully I did find and retrieve it; I would have been so upset to lose this ring, it's not in any way valuable, just precious to  me.

These are all pieces of jewellery that I love, and are some of my absolute favourites.  Those who know me well will not be at all surprised to see which pieces I chose to show you in my blog today.  In reality it was very hard to write this article and to bring it to an end as I have so many other pieces that could have been included too.  Maybe I shall write part II some day.

Teal Luck and Joy Starter Bracelet (Imagination)

These were released in mid-October 2012 as limited edition starter bracelets, you get a silver chain, plain lock (smaller than the regular plain lock), silver lucky knot and the Colourful Joy bead which comes in a range of colours but is limited to only being available to buy as part of the starter bracelet.  Here is the link to the official UK Trollbeads page regarding colour choices in the UK.

When I first saw these I thought they were very pretty, but I'm not a massive fan of polka dot beads, I already have silver lucky knot and whilst I wanted a plain lock for my leather bracelet I wasn't in a rush for one.  It was something that I thought I would get at "some point".

Bead wise I always thought my love of purple would come to the fore, but teal is a colour that isn't that widely available across the range and I couldn't resist.  Actually I fully intended to resist full stop, even chatting with fellow blogger Victoria over her review of this bracelet that I would like one "one day", fully believing I was talking metaphorically not that I was measuring out the approximate amount of time it would take for me to buy one.

So what happened over the course of next 48 hours for me to do another about turn?  A very attractive deal, that's what!  The bracelets retail at £75 which is an excellent price for the starter bracelet as the debut bracelets (with 2 glass beads) have started at £99 but they also offer one of the upgraded locks such as knot, flower or lace.  I'd done my homework and sourced new bracelets from other retailers that worked out slightly cheaper, but then another collector had a few new ones in for even less, and that is what prompted me to go, oh never mind the boiler fund... I'll do my "one day" tomorrow then.

The bracelet surpassed my expectations, I was expecting to like the bead, especially the colour and be happy about the extra bracelet, the extra lucky knot and finally getting the plain lock... but this really is a great starter bracelet and whilst I was typing this blog up a friend showed me a photo of her bracelet picked up on the weekend with the red bead - now I want another one and I've not even finished blogging about this one yet!

The bead is lovely, a very clear and defined translucent teal colour with the spots being an opaque pale mint/teal on cream that sit on the surface of the bead.  The bead is slimmer than some of the standard production beads and is one that you definitely notice.

When I was playing with some combinations I did get the urge to go source some teal uniques (OOAKs) to go with it but have resisted, well for tonight at least!