Seven of Nine - Hammered Bangle & Stoppers from Cottingley Treasures

Well after some enthusiastic letterbox camping on my part, I was duly rewarded with my 7th bangle; my very first package from Cottingley Treasures from GirleGo.

A beautiful hammered silver bangle with matching stoppers, with an extra set of mini-stoppers for good measure - I love wearing multiple stoppers!

I'm a bit of a sucker for well packaged jewellery that's "just right" and not excessive and this ticked all my boxes, everything was beautifully presented without being over the top.

Not only did I get half my stoppers for free (in an introductory deal whereby a refund is given on the original purchase price) but they also sent out a free amber bead, and a cleaning cloth as a part of the package which was a fabulous surprise.

I was keen to compare this with my current bangles which are all by Trollbeads, as I know that particular shape and size work well for me.

Comparing Bangles

The photos above show from Left to Right, my Cottingley Treasures hammered bangle on top of my smooth silver bangle, my hammered bangle next to twisted copper and smooth silver bangles, and finally one of my smooth bangles on top of my hammered bangle.

As you can see from the pictures the shape and sizing is almost identical, and from wearing this over the last couple of week, it's also just as comfortable.

I used the lovely free amber bead from GirleGo with my Trollbeads Decorative Bee Stoppers and paired with my Eske Storm Dragon Claw on some smooth bangles.

I've seen a lot of positive social media chatter about these bangles over the last month or so, indeed it was thanks to a UK based facebook group that I had come across the brand.

GirleGo are still offering the introductory price and stopper deal throughout March on these bangles.

I liked my hammered silver bangle so much, that after a few scant hours of testing (passed with flying colours) and where I gave myself a good talking to about budgets and sticking to my limits, I threw away my restraint and ordered the brass and copper hammered versions too!

Guess I need to do some more letterbox camping...

So what have you thrown away your restraint for recently?

...and on the 7th day, I'm waiting for the 7th bangle

I've been having a love affair with bangles ever since I plucked up the courage to try the Trollbeads bangle.

Trollbeads Carved Amber with the first Trollbeads Day beads
on the silver bangle

I've never really worn bangles much before this, the odd cuff that could be bent to my super small wrists, or perhaps the 80's fashion of multiple stacked metal bangles but generally bangles don't suit me.

Then there was an oval shaped one that did, and the rest is history.

3 silver bangles with Summer Stones

Very quickly I acquired 3 silver ones, who doesn't like to stack?

Rebeligion Skulls, X Jewellery and 2 silver bangles

Then came the copper version... Then the twisted silver and copper versions, add to this copper and dark oxidised stoppers followed by decorative stoppers and I barely wear anything else.

Copper, silver twisted and silver bangles

Copper and Silver Twisted Bangles

So what is the 7th bangle?

Well you'll just have to wait as although I'm camped by the letterbox it hasn't arrived yet...

Do you stack your jewellery?

Is it piled high, or artfully aranged in it's simplicity?

Budgets and Decisions... and a pre-order discount!

Bank Holiday Weekend in the UK and I have a rather sedate time planned.  

The weather is somewhat grey today, and as I had unexpected expensive expenses this month (as both my car and my fridge/freezer needed repairs and replacement respectively) - you can imagine some online shopping for beads with my budget next month seems super exciting by comparison!

I've actually been really good over the last few months and have been underspending my budget which is practically unheard of, plus it means I have a bit extra to spend for September.

So what to choose? 

As a fan of Ohm's Bead of the Month I've been given a break as I was less keen on August and September's offerings, lovely charms just not for me!  The new Trollbeads release is ready for pre-orders for September delivery and X Jewellery have just released details of their new collection, oh, and I did rather like the new Thomas Sabo Karma release and it's not long before details will emerge on Redbalifrog's next release, Enchanted Glade.  Plus at the end of next month it's Endangered Trolls first release partnered with the fabulous Alex of ACA Kreations. 

I was going to wait to see what Redbalifrog had to offer, and I definitely wanted a Troll from Endangered Trolls and Alex's collaboration, so I thought my spending would be at the end of September... but I have been tempted down a different path a bit earlier than planned.

New twisted bangles in silver and copper from Trollbeads - release date 9th September 2016

Trollbeads 15% off Bank Holiday Weekend deal via Acotis, who are offering the 15% on new pre-orders as well as existing collection, spend over £100 and you can throw in a free travel case too!  

I had to stop at just Trollbeads as they are offering the deal across all brands!!

My choice?  One of each of the new twisted bangles and lots of stoppers are on order... I still can't get them until September but it will be something to look forward to next month!

What's tempting you at the moment?

J is for Jewellery

One of my pleasures is seeing photos of beads I create when they are used in Jewellery, which is after all what they are made for.

As well as beads I also make glass rings, my favourite one was this one, but sadly I had an accident shortly after it was made before it could be annealed to make it strong enough to wear... it's on my list to try and recreate something similar as I made this one for me!

Here are some others that did survive to make it to the kiln...

Today's post is mostly lots of pictures of jewellery ready to wear - the bangle, silver beads and stoppers that feature in so many of the photos are made by Trollbeads, the bangle is a solid silver cuff and when customers send me photos of beads more often than not they are on a Trollbeads bangle!

Personally, my bangle is my most used accessory as it's really quick to change the beads around for a different look, if you are interested in reading more about this, I did a whole post about it here.

Do you have a "go to" piece of jewellery that gets used time and time again?

Double, Double Toil and Trouble

I'm having a Victor Meldrew moment here... a glorious 5 days of feeling much better after Lurgy 1.0 finally gave up defeated after our epic month long battle, and then I went down with Lurgy 2.0 on Friday...

An unexpected visitor who came to see
what I was up to last week... I think he heard about
my new Redbalifrog Lock!

So far it appears to be a faster, quicker version so I'm hoping it's also a shorter version and that I might be sane & healthy by the weekend.  I really don't fancy another 4 week stint - I have plans and a life to get back to!

As a result of Lurgy 1.0 I indulged in my Redbalifrog Wishlist starting with the Dragon Lock that's been at the VERY top of my lock wishlist for years.  This was shortly followed by the Frog Lock from the 2014 Me'Lange Collection and two of the charms from the Myths and Legends Collection that debuted earlier this year: Book of Spells and Cyclops Skull.  Which you might notice is doing a headstand for the photo, bear with me, it's been one of those weeks!

Look what happens when you're stuck at home ill!

In the background you can see I'm catching up with my rubber links from X Jewellery, the not so new but gorgeous Khaki colour, with more on the way now I've seen the colour in person!

I also wanted to show you what's been on my wrist this last week or two, a slightly belated delivery of beads that have gone straight from parcel to bangle.

Scott Bouwens Glass Beads

Two gorgeously deep red and black beads from Scott Bouwens - if the name sounds familiar to Trollbeads fans, Scott was the designer of the Rocky Beach Kit!

These weren't the only beads that arrived, nor my only Scott beads... but it's time to have another Lemsip and I'm flagging a bit.. so I'll leave you with just these for  now!

What new things are you looking forward to?

Trollbeads Wave of Dreams Bangle

Trollbeads Wave of Dreams was released as part of the Fall Collection 2012.

I think I was on a bit of a roll for using beads that I feel guilty at keeping in the bead box for far too long!  It did help that last month I picked up a particularly gorgeous unique that happens to compliment both Wave of Dreams and a unique I picked up last year.  Throw in a pair of zodiac stars and voila!

Do you have a particularly fine example of a production bead

that you've neglected in your bead box?

Purple & Green Stone Bangles with a twist!

I adore the Trollbeads Summer Stones Limited Edition Collection that was released in May 2013.

It was the first "special to me" collection that had been released since I started collecting that I could participate in from Day 1.

I wish I'd been collecting when the LE 2009 Chinese Silvers had their debut!

I went a bit nuts at the time, but even so I've not been adverse to adding a few more pieces here and there, namely a couple more of the African Amethysts that I've since found (yes of course I need 5, who doesn't?!) and an extra Canadian Jade - as out of the 3 I bought originally, one permanently lives on my Winter Beach Bracelet, along with my 2 red mud jaspers come to think of it (hmm could do with extras of these too).

So without further ado, and with extra amethysts and jades in hand, I thew in some Inner Glows (the twist) and voila!

Purple + Green (my two favourite colours) + Stones = Happy Mars

I didn't make these bangles with a view to pairing them with anything else.  However once they were made up I realised there was another bracelet that these might suit; my fabulous Bus Bracelet!

The bonus?  I often forget I'm wearing glow in the dark beads so when the Inner Glows start to do their thing as the night draws in, it never fails to make me giggle.

Do you have a favourite collection or set of beads that you really went to town on?

Trollbeads ~ Autumnal Bangle

Well I couldn't design two bracelets and a necklace without working on a complimentary bangle at the same time.

So the final one of my recent Autumnal themed designs makes use of a wonderful glass unique I found only last month.

It's a simple bubbles bead that has an incredible amber colouring and a "depth of colour" that is simply stunning - it was love at first sight when I saw this bead.

Autumn Bangle

I've paired it with my two artisan faceted carnelian stones and a pair of Trollbeads Trefoil Knots.

I love wearing my bangles with a pair of matching beads flanking a pair of matching silvers and a centre bead, it's a pattern you'll see me repeat time and time again, stones, glass or silver - it's all good as far as I'm concerned!

As you can see the bangle compliments everything else I made in that session; by the way I'm not wearing them like this all at once, this was just a photo I took to show a friend at the time.

I'm always curious as to how other people match, or don't match their jewellery, so do tell!!

Do you match your jewellery, go for complimentary pieces,

big and bold, small and discrete or not given it a second thought?

Bangles: Orange, Pink or Purple?

A few weeks ago we had an invite to go to dinner with some lovely friends of ours.  Dining out at home is one of my favourite things to do, food, wine, good company and when we can walk there, no arguments discussions about who's driving!

A lovely balmy summer's eve, just right for a rather eye catching patterned summer top I own from the now defunct Principles (original, not it's subsequent reincarnation) in vivid tones of orange, pink & purple!

Of course I couldn't miss the opportunity to make up a bangle to match... only whilst my top has managed to combine these three colours beautifully, that was more than could be said for me, as I attempted to mix the colours onto a bangle!

As I valiantly attempted to get all 3 colours onto 1 bangle, my other half reminded me that we really needed to leave, so defeated I gave up trying to combine all 3 colours and settled for 3 beads that combine just pink and purple, but oh so beautifully, in each bead.

I normally don't blog my "outfit bangles" as they change on a fairly regular basis.

However I realised that not only has my central bead on my chosen bangle for the evening, the Limited Edition "Be My Valentine"  never been worn or blogged before... but the pair of orange uniques on my discarded (but pretty) orange bangle have also never been featured... therefore, unusually, I give you not 1, but 2 of my recent outfit bangles!  

Even if the orange one didn't get worn that evening; there's always another time!

All My Amber Trollbeads

Regular readers will know that I love Amber, I never tire of how it looks and whilst I make and break bracelets all the time, I *always* have an amber one made up.

Recently I discovered I could make another amber bracelet without breaking any of my others up.  I love mixing amber colours, sizes, designs and textures, which is a good job as the amber beads that were in my bead box are all different, but I was stunned at how co-ordinated and deliberate this bracelet looks!
.

All Amber Bracelet (new)

It's been a while since I made my Amber and Amethyst bracelet in March, it hasn't changed in 4 months, not even a little tweak!

Amber and Amethyst Bracelet

I now have enough beads to have two full bracelets made up if one is mixed with other beads.  Awesome discovery!!

That's with still being able to have my Carved Amber Indulgence Bangle and Fantasy Necklace Set made up from May.

Carved Amber Bangle

Carved Amber Onyx Fantasy Necklace

...and there's still 3 stray Amber Beads in my bead box to play with... so by my current reckoning of making something amber up every other month, I'd check back in September to see where these 3 end up?!

Spare Amber?!

Did I mention I *really* love amber beads?!

All the Amber!

I would love to have an amber bead with an insect in, but failing that, I want to collect some more of the more opaque light ambers, and I'm always on the look out for unusual shapes!

Are you an amber fan?  With or without insects? Pop by & let me know!

P.S.  If you've ever wondered how the amber is made into beads...

Copycat Combos: Carved Amber Fantasy Necklace & Bangle Set

When Victoria from Endangered Trolls posted her giant carved ambers on a Fantasy Necklace (FN), they were so fabulous, I knew I had to copy the idea!!

Carved amber & silver combo on an onyx Fantasy Necklace

I've never put any of my ambers onto a FN before; probably because all my other ambers come in a myriad of shapes, sizes & colours and I think it might look a little odd.  The 3 carved ambers I've used here are all tea-coloured and similar in shape so they work really well as a co-ordinated combo.

I've had this made up for a while now and originally my bangle design was just my Rose carved amber (I told you this was a copy cat combo), the only difference was I paired mine with Trollbeads "Two Sides to Everything" silvers to create a tapering effect to the stoppers.

This is actually my favourite version of my carved amber bangle; but a delivery yesterday led to my Carved Amber Indulgence Bangle.

Rose carved amber bangle

We were sat in the kitchen at the back of the house when the arrival of the postie was announced by the clang of the letterbox flap falling off, I dared to hope, but didn't actually think my new amber beads would have got here that fast - I think it is fair to say that yesterday was a good mail day!

I did tell you that I have no off switch where carved ambers are concerned didn't I?  I couldn't resist adding these two to the bangle as well!

Carved Amber "Indulgence" Bangle: Rose, Turtle & Ladybug

My turtle is lighter than my other carved ambers and is just beautiful, when I first saw the carved ambers appear a turtle was quite high up on the wishlist of beads I wanted; wish granted!

A ladybug was also on my wishlist, and this one happens to be extra special - whereas most carved critter ambers have 4 of everything, mine is quite a small bead but with 3 very plump ladybugs instead of 4 small ones!

Close up of my new beads: A 3-ladybug bead and I love the turtle crawling up over the ridge of the middle bead!

I couldn't be more pleased with my new additions, or how I'm wearing them.

Clearly huge thanks go to Victoria for showcasing the giant ambers on a FN in the first place as I wouldn't have naturally paired my ambers with my FN and it seems such an obvious match in hindsight!

Carved amber FN and Bangle Set

I love the carved ambers, I would happily eat beans on toast for a month to acquire another/others; not so sure my husband feels the same way (he likes the ambers but hates baked beans).  For me, I put these on the same level as the LE Chinese Silvers of 2009, yes I love them that much!

I don't believe I've indulged myself this substantially since I collected a full 2nd set of the Zodiac Birthstone Stars after they'd retired from the Collection.  I think it's true to say that I threw my budget out of the boiler shaped hole in my wall!

What have you indulged in?  Any tales to tell?  

Hit the comments and let me know I'm not the only one... 

or am I?