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!