Silver & Mud - How to wear great jewellery in a field

Having spent a wonderful few days at Bearded Theory Festival in the beautiful setting of Kedleston Hall, near Quarndon in Derbyshire, all in the name of music, friends and yes, just a little bit of mud, I was mindful of capturing a little splash of silver to bring back to Curling Stones.

As much as I love Trollbeads, a potentially muddy field where you need to keep your valuables with you at all times and lack of bathing for 3-4 days is not really conducive to full on Troll mode.  I had thought to wear a leather bracelet, then I remembered all the elements that it might have the opportunity to soak up during the festivities and I decided against it.  

However I never go anywhere without my rings, I favour big chunks of silver, or white gold, with or without stones and as I love to indulge my passion for rings - this year I decided to ask people if I could take some photos of their hands, and the occasional ear or even an arm to bring some snapshots back to you of what appeals to me about other people's jewellery.

First spotted was the amazing thumb ring of my friend who had popped in for a cuppa, well it was the least we could offer him after he'd kindly saved a spot for us as we were going to be a bit late to the party!

Also popping in for a coffee was another neighbour and friend, in fact this lovely lady gifted us a kettle many years ago, a "sister kettle" to hers, after my photo of her kettle below won us four free tickets to another festival in a sunny/muddy field in Devon.

Both kettles are still going strong 8 years later... although maybe not quite as shiny... the original above and the copy 8 years later below!

And so the weekend was off to a great start, more tea is always called for - then time for another wander...

These rings were a great surprise, not because of the actual rings themselves but because they belong to a lovely lady who almost didn't make the festival, my opening words on spotting her earlier were "oh what a fab surprise, I didn't think you could make it" which I think she must have heard 100+ times that weekend...

Jewellery could be found in many places, there were a lot of photos I didn't take, as I was there after all to have fun and not just on a blogging mission, more a blogging meander.  A lot of rings came to me and I was lucky enough to get a quick snap in.

As the weather turned a little chilly on Saturday it was the peek of some silver in amongst all that wool.

I love the photo below and what a fabulous collection of rings, also impressed that someone still has a perfect manicure after a several days in a field.

Not everyone had a ring to show, and boots can be just as colourful, I love the filigree ring in the centre of the photo, if it's not a chunk then this style works for me too.

Or you can go for a more secure form of jewellery, no problem in keeping your valuables on you with this design...

Next on my travels and last jewellery photo of Saturday night belonged to another friend

As I discovered, a few people I photographed are also keen jewellery fans, it was sometimes necessary to take another photo as the rings had multiplied in the space of 24 hours, check out the new rings below!

I wasn't completely immune to this either, I went for a walk to get some pizza (goats cheese and red onion in case you were curious) and came back with a new ring myself. 

So that was almost my festival over as far as the jewellery photos went, the last day was gloriously sunny and we even had to use the suntan lotion we laughingly had thrown into the huge pile of stuff we take when we camp. 

To the left are some rings that had been hidden by gloves the previous day, the owner having now shed her many layers and spotted enjoying a bit of late afternoon sun...  You can tell I was also a bit tired at this point as I didn't get a large close up of that beautiful ring on her little finger, suffice to say you can take my word that this is a stunning ring, one of my favourites of the weekend.  

In order to take a photo, when I explained that I blog about jewellery, I kept my explanations brief - "I write a blog, it's about jewellery, would you mind if I took a quick shot of your hands/ear for the blog?" as I didn't want to take up too much of peoples time.  I always showed the person a photo of their jewellery, if they were interested, to see if they were happy with the picture.  

My final photo was taken just as the last but one band were playing on the main stage.  The lady concerned was traveling with a friend of mine and I asked if I could take a shot of her hands, a question I had asked many people over the course of the weekend.

The last person was interested in my new phone as she was in the market for one and I showed her the photos I usually take for the blog, imagine my surprise when she immediately identified random bead shots as Trollbeads.  Turns out her sister is a fan too!

It was a pleasure to finish on this pair of hands, the jewellery being worn has great sentimental value and in particular the second ring in the photo which she has had since she was a little girl.  When the band broke on the ring it cost many times over what the original ring cost to get it fixed but worth every penny.  Reminded me of the time I crawled around in the rain and dirt under my car to recover my favourite thumb ring rather than risk losing or driving over it by moving my car.

So that was the end of my jewellery shots, just the rest of the festival to enjoy... don't mind if I do!