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Monday 29 June 2015

Hugh Rice Blogger Event Goody Bag - 10th April 2015

It's not only been a busy month for me, but also for Hugh Rice...

Congratulations on winning Independent Retailer of the Year, as awarded at the UK Jewellery Awards on 17th June, well done!

Photo Credit: Retal Jeweller, UK Jewellery Awards 2015

Clearly this was all part of my plan, delay the post until the winner was announced.... it's been a long wait as the shortlist was announced back in February!

Or, a'hem, I might have just been super busy myself; no industry awards to win though, just normal busy... still enough of my ramblings and excuses, and on to the question.  What was in my Blogger Goody Bag?

Whilst Blogger Events will traditionally give a goody bag as a way of both thanking bloggers for their time and providing potential products for review, it's still something that takes me by surprise - probably because I tend to blog about what I buy, or what I'm thinking about buying, or more commonly what I've done with it once I've bought it!

Photographing the photographer photographing the Goody Bags

There was so much in the bag, it took a while to unpack... which was huge fun for me as I love jewellery packaging and I like to see how different brands present their jewellery and their paraphernalia.

Daisy Earrings
Daisy started out as one shop on London's Portobello Road selling imported Mexican Jewelley by the founder Noel Boyd, and from that small start, Daisy London is a now global brand.

The Chakra Collection is the idea of James (Noel's son who has been overseeing the business since 2009) and my goody bag contained the Brow Chakra earrings in silver from this Collection.  All the earring designs from this collection are available in a gold plated and rose gold plated finish as well as the sterling silver.

Daisy Brow Chakra Earrings in Sterling Silver

I was really fascinated by the closure on these earrings as they click into place which I thought was a neat touch and I really like the range, I think the Heart Chakra earrings in silver were my favourite.
Now for my confession... although my ears are many times pierced, I don't wear pretty earrings! 
Due to the large collection of holes in my ears I tend to stick to studs and ball closures otherwise I'd just look like an earring display stand... if you could see them under my hair that is... 
However I do *love* earrings, and if I ever cut my hair short again (or decide to sport another mohican) I would return to using the lowest hole for pretties... in fact I still have lots of my favourite earrings from this time.
Hugh Rice Earrings
These are Hugh Rice's own brand, great packaging and very well protected; did I mention that I really like seeing how jewellery is packaged?

Hugh Rice Heart Earrings in Silver

My husband was really surprised when I said how much I liked these as hearts usually send me running for the hills, but there's something about this pair that really appealed, so much so, that I broke my studs and ball closure earring rule and popped one in, in place of a stud!

Yes, I did look like a real life earring display stand but I didn't really care, they're pretty!

(I would have done the same with the Daisy earrings only ball closures are a pain to get the ball back in and I am rather lazy!)

Hugh Rice have a range of their own brand jewellery so there's lots to browse if you fancy a peek in their online shop!

Thomas Sabo
Our Thomas Sabo gifts were a limited edition range of temporary tattoos in silver, gold and rose gold to match their jewellery along with a make up bag, nail polish and nail file.

Thomas Sabo Temporary Tattoos and Nail Polish

Although I don't wear make up I am a fan of nail polish and this one lasted surprisingly well.

I say surprisingly, as all nail polish I wear normally manages to chip on my thumb nail in the first 12-24hrs and by Day 3 looks rubbish... not so with the Thomas Sabo polish, it didn't chip until Day 3 which really shocked me.  It has quite good staying power, but the green does stain the nail a bit - so my top tip is don't wear this the day before you need super lovely nude nails!

Mi Moneda
Mi Moneda is a brand I love but have yet to indulge in, no surprise that what caught my eye was their modular system for pendants.  Beautifully styled in the accompanying magazine and these are still on my wish list of pendants I want to wear but haven't yet bought!

Mi Moneda modular coin jewellery and cord bracelet

Mi Moneda means My Coin in Spanish and is known as an interchangeable coin brand, the choice of coins is huge and there's definitely something for everyone, even me!

In our goody bag was a sweet little cord bracelet, and again lovely packaging; it came in a little bag tied with Mi Moneda ribbon... love this way of packaging jewellery!

Diamonfire
Finally from Diamonfire we were gifted this lovely pen, it's actually quite short so has been a great one to throw in the handbag for blog notes!

Just perfect for blogging on the move!

Thanks to Hugh Rice and all the brands for my goody bag - it was a lovely event and
I'm always pleased to have any excuse to pop into Hugh Rice!
Not that I need an excuse... it is a Jewellers after all

Spotted any favourites from these?
What would you choose?

Sunday 14 June 2015

Blogging, buses & beads!

Searching for some more of that blue sky!

Hi everyone

Hope you're all well and fabulous on what is a very grey, wet and dull day here in our little corner of Yorkshire.  I just thought I'd pop in to say sorry for the delay with the goody bag post, I really didn't mean to leave you in suspense for this long!!

Enjoying some time away...

I went away for some adventures in my bus shortly after the last post, resulting in some great "over a glass of wine" tales of "you wouldn't believe what happened next", followed by some fantastic sessions with fire (lampworking, not the bus thankfully!), combine all this with a busy day job, and it's left me little time for writing.

If you follow me on Twitter, or Instagram you might have seen some sneak peaks of what I've been making... if you don't... here's a pic!

Trollbeads Copper Bangle & Stoppers
with one of my beads!

So, in my absence, I hope everyone has enjoyed World Trollbeads Day, indulged in some City Beads, bagged the gorgeous Ohm's Limited Edition Cave In bead, picked their favourites from the Sunbeam Kit (haven't they sold out quickly in a lot places - caught me out this time!), got excited by Ohm's new stoppers, enjoyed looking at Elfbeads new releases coming up, got excited by Turquoise rubber X and been experimenting to see if you do, or do not react to copper! And, er, anything else I've missed whilst I've been away!


I shall be back once I've caught my breath, and decided what to write about first... although I think I better finish that goody bag post this month before somebody lynches me ;)

Speak soon,
Mars xx