Luna - OHM Bead of the Month - May 2016

Well now that I've drank my tea and cleared the table I use for photos, it's time to tell you about the splendid May offering from OHM Beads.

Only 555 released worldwide, in 2 versions, 455 in a light silver oxidation and just 100 in a dark silver oxidation.  Everyone, bead fans and retailers alike didn't know which version was in which box as they all came sealed in a space style package.

Crazy stuff - my first Luna was one of the 100 Dark Lunas!

After the beads starting arriving in their new homes, OHM Beads via Social Media said they would share a fun fact about the Dark Lunas if more than 10 people posted their Dark Luna pics.

They revealed that EACH one of the 100 Dark Lunas is actually unique and truly one of a kind, as there are small differences in the craters on the surface,  This was not only unexpected but really blew me away!

I have to confess here, that secretly, I'd been hoping for one of the more common light silver Lunas. 

As genuinely excited as I was to have a dark Luna, I mean who doesn't love a rare Limited Edition, from wearing my jewellery everyday point of view, I knew I'd get more wear from the light silver version.

Another collector pointed out I'd be swamped by people wanting to swap... however I really didn't want to let my Dark Luna go, just because I'd get more day to day wear from a light silver one, didn't mean I wanted to give up this one.

However, now they were sold out everywhere!

Here's where I got crazy lucky for the second time; a case of right time, right place.  One online retailer hadn't taken pre-orders as they were away, and they came back after release day and had a few left.  I checked, they were sold out (no surprise there) then they said they hadn't sold out, it was just their website uploading slowly!

I ordered and I got one of the few remaining, now I was holding my breath for this to arrive in the hope it was a light silver one!

But alas!  The shop had put a wrong number on my address...

...however my regular postie realised this, and after an extensive discussion with my neighbour (I wasn't in), put the package through my door anyway - I owe that postie a few pints!!

By now I knew that Dark Lunas came in white boxes, and Light Lunas came in black boxes... so opening up was just as exciting but also a bit tense; did I have a white or a black box inside my moon sample package?

Yay it was a little black box with a lovely light silver oxidised Luna within!

I really can't believe how lucky I've been with the whole Luna release, not only to have a dark one with my first order, but to find a second available after everywhere had sold out, for the postie to take a chance and for it to be silver too. Wow!

I'm one very happy, very lucky Mars!

So what did I do with them once I'd got them... Silver Luna went straight on to a necklace.

I love this bead, the detailing in the light oxidation is wonderful, and it may swing the balance to me ordering the OHM necklace that's designed so you can wear your RAWR skulls or your Luna bead vertically, as I think I would get a lot of use out of one - but as I'm spent up that'll have to wait for now.

With the Dark Luna, I wasn't sure how to wear it at first.  I tried several cominations using Trollbeads Fantasy Necklaces, but I wasn't 100% happy with how it was sitting (yep another vote for the OHM necklace) so I moved onto my bangles.

My copper bangle was the first one to hand; I really like the contrast between the two metals.  After dismantling a Fantasy Necklace to retrieve a pair of silver beads, I finished off with the new(ish) Trollbeads oxidised stoppers and voila!

I think Dark Luna is better in real life than how it photographs sometimes, the pic on my wrist is more true to the colour and finish - as some of the other photos make it look a bit dull.

So there you have it, two Luna beads, one of each, and a new bangle and necklace to wear, that'll do nicely!

Which would you prefer; the light silver or the heavily oxidised LUNA?

What do you think of the blind ordering method?

There's still some more tea in the pot...

I should be writing this whilst overlooking some lovely East Yorkshire countryside.

The campsite was duly booked, plans made, and then we looked at the weather forecast...

Now weather is not the biggest consideration when you have a bus, she's watertight, has a fire on board and a kettle which is pretty much all I need for a good time (oh how times change) but it was set to rain, and rain hard, all with a bit of blustery wind thrown in for good measure, all weekend, so campsite has been duly unbooked and plans unmade.

Instead I have been tackling the kiln excess problem (long story), the mountain of washing up (there's only 2 of us - where does it all come from?), the clothes washing pile I've been deliberately ignoring since I got back from Wales mid-week and I'm currently trying to uncover the dining room table...

I know the table is in the dining room somewhere, it's one of two, but it seems to have got buried under a pile of bead debris and spun facts about whether the UK should stay or go, and despite how much I think it, The Clash do not mysteriously come on the radio at this point - although in fairness I don't have the radio on, so if they did I might have a mild freak out.

I don't really "do" housework, it's something I ignore until either I physically can't move around the house or we have guests due!

Now that I've partially uncovered the relic that is our dining room table, I've been able to take a step back and consider the last few months of bead purchases.  It's been steady but relatively sane, a few sales items from Trollbeads, some preloved pieces from both unknown artisans and X Jewellery and TWO lovely Luna's from Ohm's Bead of the Month from May, lucky me as I got one dark and one silver!

I'm just waiting for one package at the moment, a quartet of some of the new Trollbeads Spacers, as despite thinking I was all spent up, I really couldn't resist ordering.

I can't show you any photos of these yet, that would involve uncovering the 2nd table near the window (my photo table) - which is now harbouring some of the overspill from the 1st table.  You'll just have to imagine them for now, but it's okay, there's still some more tea in the pot... I might be able to clear it in time for tomorrow!

OHM Bead of the Month - Love Cage

My justification for still being on budget despite buying this with February's budget in January was... well, it won't come until February as it's pre-order, so that's okay then!

OHM's Bead of the Month for February - Love Cage

This is my 3rd Ohm Bead of the Month purchase and they just keep getting better... the packaging was sublime and beautiful all by itself.

The bead came inside a cage, inside an Ohm pouch.  The cage opened up and included the bead info that also acts as your Limited Edition Certifcate showing your bead's number (only 555 beads were made globally) along with a white feather, the leather bracelet and a lovely little bird dangle charm also in silver.

I put it straight on when it arrived, and to be honest, it's not really been off my wrist since - winner!

Have you indulged in any Ohm yet?

A Delirious Ramble and a Budget Blown

Just so we are clear; let me start by saying how thoroughly fed up I am.  I've just dragged my arse into the shower to try and freshen up from the most malingering bug/virus I've had since October 2009...

Somewhere in Wales - from my sick bed

Obviously I wasn't writing a blog in October 2009 or I might have told you about it at the time in between hacking up my lungs and wondering if there was enough oil in the tank to last the week.  If I had been writing a blog back then, this is the photo I would have shown you, taken from my sick bed during the year we spent living in the middle of nowhere, it was great - the place not the bug.  At least now I can drag myself a few yards to the corner shop to stock up on more meds; back then it was a 6 mile drive to the nearest corner shop!

What does this have to do with beads, or a blown budget you might be wondering?  Will she get to the point?  Almost there... bear with me!

Festival Nights

Today I should have been on my way in my little bus to a festival, one that I've been looking forward to since I didn't go to it this time last year - ticket bought back in December, and the fact it coincided with a certain significant birthday (the bus's not mine) was all the more sweet.  Making time to catch up with old friends, make new ones and just chill out in what has been a busy year so far.

So I've been chilling out, but not in the way I imagined, I'm literally chilling out, then boiling out and then repeat.

So beads & budgets, where am I going with this?  I'm not sure, other than having been able to sell my festival ticket at the last minute (I was hanging on with grim determination in the hope I would be better) I had some unexpected funds in the bank.  Add this to the rather large amount of diesel I now don't have to put into the bus, along with some spending money I won't be spending and a large amount of time where all I can muster the energy to do is look at the Internet... and guess which Rabbit Hole I fell down?

Photo by Samantha Marx

Yep the bead one!

It all started innocently enough with OHM's Bead of the Month announcement for October.

For those of you on planet Earth who haven't cottoned on yet, the wonderfully creative and quirky OHM team have been releasing Limited Edition Bead of the Month beads for a few months now...

OHM beads - Bead of the Month - August 2015 - Black Sheep

I have one already, have coveted a few more, and have just bought my second, the very wonderful Deadhead - a cross between a pumpkin and a Day of the Dead Sugar Skull, my kind of bead!

Of course once that was in my virtual shopping cart... I suddenly realised that if I was putting in an order, I might as well have a browse to see what else I fancied as I was shopping with one of the retailers who stock lots of my favourite brands... 2 locks and 2 more silver beads from Redbalifrog and some rubber X Jewellery links later (and some deleted Bali Clicks items where I'd gone a bit overboard and seriously overspent the overspend) and I was done.

Now to sit back and wait for the pitter patter of tiny packages hitting the mat... although sadly, despite my love of jewellery, I really wish I was hearing the pitter patter of tiny raindrops on my bus windows instead.

Come join in with the misery...

What have you looked forward to for ages, only for it not to happen?