Tsunami of Beads (continued)

Next to arrive was another Colourful Joy bead, pink this time, from the luck and joy starter bracelets...

Then via a Bristol trollfairy came some preloved beads from the US, another Milan and the smallest, cutest, most difficult to photograph ooak... none of the photos I took quite show the ooak right which is dark green in daylight with small glitter "flatter than usual" bumps.  I've had 2 sessions trying to photograph this ooak but I think I've officially given up for the time being, will have another try when I reorganise my beads but here's the best I could manage in the meantime!

So now I have 2 Milans; I bought the second one with a particular project in mind... but more about that on another day as I'm still at the prototype stage!

So this was the last but one set of beads from January, I have just one more post to show you before we finish January's Tsunami, and I promise you that it's one that is worth waiting for.

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!