Z is for Zodiac Birthstone Stars

The final day of the A to Z Challenge!

It seemed fitting given that my theme was Addicted to Beads to finish on the one set of beads that I am known for being very addicted to... Zodiac Birthstone Stars from Trollbeads!

These are a set of 9 silver beads with a gemstone set at the centre of the bead to represent a birth sign, some of the stones are doubled up hence you have a set of 9 not 12.

As you can see I have at least 2 of each and more of some of the zodiac stars.  These were retired (no longer made) when I started collecting and it's taken me quite a while to get the first set, let alone the second or the multiples!!

I really love this set of beads.

Now if you'll excuse me... it's time to catch some Zzz's - but before you go...

THANK YOU, THANK  YOU, THANK YOU!

Congratulations to those taking part and huge thank yous (above) to all the lovely people who have popped by Curling Stones for Lego People on the way to read, leave comments and generally just cheer us all on!

Final question of the Challenge from me:

What has been your favourite bit of the A to Z?

Troll with gems

I've had Troll with Gems for over a month now and when I came to take photographs for the blog last night, I was reminded just how amazing this bead is.

Essentially it's a weighty chunk of silver, carved (well cast but the original model must have been fun to carve) with 2 trolls of different sizes/aspects, a spiral and other marks set with 3 gems, amethyst, garnet and opal.  The stock photos show the stones in different places so I guess they do vary where on the bead they are placed... I never noticed this until comparing the stock photos with my own, oh no, now I want more with stones all in different places!!!

Troll with Gems: My big troll face has the amethyst as the top of his bead, and garnet for his chin

Troll with Gems: My big troll's chin of garnet showing the spiral and you can see the opal peeking out

Troll with Gems: My opal is under the spiral and being grabbed by the smaller troll underneath

These photos were all taken with the bead the same way around, i.e. starting at the big troll face and just spinning the bead on it's axis, the next photo is with the bead the opposite way so the smaller troll with more body detail is the right way up.  On my bead they both share the amethyst as the top of their heads.

Troll with Gems: smaller troll right way up sharing his "amethyst head"

Troll with Gems: Better detailing of his arms shown from the side

As you may have gathered the 2 black stoppers are there as the bead is bumpy so I needed something to hold it in place to photograph it, it has quite a big hole so my guess is it may fit thicker bracelets than Troll (but don't take my word on it as I'm only guessing!), side photos below showing all that lovely detail around each hole.

Troll with Gems: Side view 1

Troll with Gems: Side view 2

If you're ever thinking of splashing out on the more expensive beads I think this is definitely my new favourite one to recommend, I adore it's quirky nature.

Over the last month or so, I've been a lot more strategic when a flash sale hits, as much as you can be given the nature of them.  I've taken the opportunity to purchase 1 (or sometimes 2) more expensive beads rather than a handful of Price 1 glass or silvers for the same spend.  Troll with Gems was actually my first "strategically bought" bead.

I've already blogged some of the others

Naughty Dragon and Silver and Gold (2 tone) planet shown above

just click on the name link if you missed them first time around.

Silvers on Sunday ~ Pearl Zodiac Birthstone Star (and what happened to my haggis)

Last weekend I was all set to enjoy a Sunday afternoon at home when we randomly popped out for a goodbye drink with our near neighbour who was in the process of moving house.

After a few drinks I decided that this was a good time to attempt to cook the haggis from our Troll Date and as haggis takes rather a long time to cook, I used the time to catch up on some blog reading - if you want to see what I like to read take a look at my new Blogroll, it's at the bottom right hand side of my page.  You can click on any of the links to open that particular blog, most recently updated blogs appear towards the top of the list thanks to a nifty gadget I discovered on Blogger!

Whilst I was catching up with some of my favourite blogs last Sunday I discovered this post just published by Endangered Trolls alerting me to the fact that Perlen had some retired trollbeads zodiac stars in stock, including the pearl star!

The zodiac stars are a bit of an obsession of mine, I adore this set of silvers with semi-precious stones, and although I have two full sets I recently decided that I wanted 4 of the pearl stars and 4 of the garnet stars to complete my collection.

So with this in mind I put in an order for my fourth pearl star, alerted all my trollbead friends to this opportunity and still had time to choose the Redbalifrog Silvers for my beach themed bracelet - all before the haggis had had time to cook.  So glad we didn't opt for a quicker meal last Sunday :D

Four pearl stars sitting on a bangle - full of possibilities!

When two is never enough - Pearl Zodiac Birthstone Star

Speaking of multiples as we were in the last post, I was recently offered the chance to buy from another collector's set of zodiac birthstone stars.

Regular readers will know how much I love this set of silvers having recently completed my 2nd set as part of my New Year's Bead Resolutions.  Therefore I was feeling fairly satiated, or so I thought.

My tribute bracelet for Valentine's Day featuring my RAFBF Bead and my original pearl stars

When I was offered the chance to buy more I had to really think about what I would do next, as after helping a friend search for some recently I know that it's becoming a lot harder to source certain ones, particularly at reasonable prices.  After several days of thinking this over, I decided I really couldn't pass up on the opportunity of another Pearl Star, Cancer and Pisces.  I'd used my original two on my tribute bracelet above so I could see that I would also get good use from a third.

Pearl Zodiac Birthstone Star No. 3

I've also set myself a new goal for the stars, as I know I don't want another full set - which would be overkill even with my passion for this collection.  I would however like to have 4 Pearl Stars and 4 Garnet Stars in total.  I can really see me using these on a single bracelet together by type, or just enjoying having these as multiples to use.

Triple Stars... just one more to go!

But not just yet... Day 21 and still not bought any more new beads!

Pretty in Pink IV - Silver with Garnets, 3 Raspberry OOAKs, Thor's Hammer & a new bracelet design

I love Twitter, you can find me as The Trollbead Troll @TrollbeadBlog if you're so inclined...

Why the sudden declaration for Twitter?  Well it led me onto my next 2 beads... courtesy of Paul Gentile Jewellers in South Wales tweeting about their store in Cwmbran and alerting me to their sale!  I received fabulous customer service when I popped in, and I will certainly be returning next time I'm in the area as the staff were so lovely; it's great to visit a store where the staff have such a passion for Trollbeads...

Top - Thor's Hammer
Bottom - Silver with Garnets

When I returned  home from my trip a few days later, there were 3 more beads waiting for me courtesy of another favourite retailer of mine, Goldmine...  If you like a bargain you really should check out their Trunk Show which starts today and runs until the 29th April.  4 beads for the price of 3, $40 off the Aurora Bangle Limited Edition Set, the usual free bracelet with a decorative lock and a free travel case with orders over $125!

So, Silver Bead with Garnets and Thor's Hammer, combined with 3 new OOAKs from Goldmine and all of those Retired Red Pink Prisms and a new bracelet was conceived.

L-R from Lock: stopper, Retired Red Pink Prism (RRPP), Thor's Hammer, RRPP,
Raspberry and Glitter Heart OOAK, Scorpio and Aries Birthstone Star, RRPP, Raspberry Glitter Python,
Silver with Garnets, Raspberry Glitter Fern, RRPP, Scorpio and Aries Birthstone Star, Raspberry OOAK,
RRPP, Viking, Raspberry Armadillo, stopper, Freya Knot Lock.

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend coming up, I will be keeping my fingers crossed for good weather for a wedding tomorrow - have a lovely day girls!  There are all the People's Bead finalists to vote for and I shall also be writing some more blog posts for the last weekend triple of April whilst trying not to spend a fortune with all these lovely tempting offers!  Have a great one folks!!

One more little star... and ta-daaaaa!

No. 2 from my New Year's Bead Resolutions was to pick up multiples of the birthstone zodiac stars whilst there were still some available to find.  I have to say that this has been one of my best ideas yet; I've used so many of these stars as multiples on bracelets that I really do wonder how I managed without them!

I had one more star left to find to make up my second set, it was Leo, and I didn't actually find it, my dear troll friend who send me the lovely liquorice and Scottish tea-time recipe book found this one.  So my last star was sent to me by a friend, a lovely way to complete my second set of stars.  Fitting that it was the orange one as that is her favourite colour too!

So that is the second set complete, I really do love this set of silver beads... twice over!

More stars???

From the photos of the magnificent packaging I think you might be able to work out which stylish retailer was having a sale!

So what was in the box?

Gemini Zodiac Birthstone Star

My search for more retired Zodiac Birthstone Stars, or my New Year's Bead Resolution No.2 as I like to call it,  had struck lucky with my Australian Trollangel (what happens when a Trollfairy gets a promotion; she actually goes by the Earth name of Jenny, but she has long since ascended this title in my eyes).  I hadn't quite completed my mission as I simply didn't have the required Bead Funds to stretch to the final 2 stars; to be fair I didn't have quite the Bead Funds to stretch to 7 but knew these opportunities are rare.  I figured it would save a lot of money in the long run (given I was going to buy a 2nd set anyway) by buying more during the half price sale price, and it would also save a lot of searching to try and find some of the more hard to source stars... indeed a recent search on behalf of a friend to source some stars, whilst eventually successful, took a lot of different trollfairy hours and hard work and the price was full retail (which was lucky as it could have been retail plus given there just aren't as many about of some).  I am still on the lookout for 2 more stars for another friend but at sale or preloved prices and I just haven't found any of these - not even at retail prices.  

So my lovely readers, what I am saying is if you do want any of these beauties, and you see one, and it's a good price that you like, then grab it!  For reference, I'm finding that the harder to sources ones now are Cancer and Pisces (Pearl), Capricorn (Onyx), Libra and Sagittarius (Dark Blue) and Aquarius (Light Blue).  A bit harder but were available for longer and still to be found are Taurus (Light Green), Leo (Orange) and Scorpio and Aries (Red).  Still seen for sale regularly are Gemini (Brown) and Virgo (Dark Green).  Even when you have one set I've still found some lovely variations between the stones on the same stars, when I've completed my second set I will do a full blog post with photos of all my Zodiac Stars, and probably cut and paste some of the info across all the blog posts so you have it all in one place!

My second star of this blog post was preloved and one of those beads that are pesky to photograph.  Again this is another bead I've had on a wish list for while but I wanted to buy preloved or during a sale so I've been waiting for this to come along at the right price.  I've had to show you a sneak preview of a new bracelet yet to be blogged to find the only half decent photo I've managed to take of this lovely Sparkling Star!

L-R: Lake Eye, Sparkling Star, small and beautiful Koi Pond, Green Ridged and Stepping Stones.

I can't show you the whole bracelet yet, just this hint as I've not yet told you about another special bead on here... but I love the way you can see the close up details on the ridged small and beautiful bead and the green and orange in the Koi Pond.

Just so you don't think I'm being too mean teasing you with sneak previews... I thought I'd leave you with one of the first bracelets I've made with a small and beautiful bead and some Harlequins.

Spectacular mail days! (Part 3 - Trollfairy in the Stars)

Like most people I love receiving packages in the mail, and as I buy many beads from overseas (as well as the UK), I never quite know when they're going to arrive, and in what order... it becomes a bit of a lottery as to what will arrive first and I love surprises.

This is the third post of three that spanned only 2 days and what made it spectacular wasn't just the beads (although they are ALL stunners) but all the surprise extra bits and pieces that were included in with the beads.  How to turn a great package into a spectacular one!

I've saved the best for the last of this series of posts.

As regular readers know I'm a BIG fan of the retired silver birthstone zodiac stars, I go slightly nutty over them and have been heard to say that if I could only have one collection of silver trollbeads it would be these.

I was so excited when I completed my collection of stars last September that when I was writing and thinking about my New Year's Bead Resolutions for 2013 my No. 2 resolution was to start to pick up some multiples of these before they disappear completely.  It's fab having the full collection but sometimes it would be nice to have 2 of the same stone to use on a bracelet...

(Hands up how many of you noticed the multiples of the Cancer and Pisces 

Zodiac Birthstone Star in the Valentine's Day Bracelet post?!)

Enter my Trollfairy from Australia... not only did she tell me about a lost treasure trove of zodiac birthstone stars (and other beads) in her Local Dealers, but waited until there was a massive sale that included retired beads, and went to the shop several times to photograph their entire stock, and reserve items, and come back and show photos, and go back to the shop to handpick out certain stars, and then send photos of the final choices... Then to pay and pick them up and send them (along with Angles Tip, another silver bead I've been searching for) all the way to the UK, with extra bits from Australia.  And, as if this couldn't get any sweeter, she did the same for several of us all at the same time!!  Halfway through this process we decided she needed to be promoted to a Trollangel because as fabulous as fairies are, this was way above and beyond the already excellent standard of Trollfairy.

As much I desired it, I couldn't stretch to the full set in one go (stretching to 7 was hard enough),
so I had to make a choice as to which 2 would get left behind this time.
I finally made a decision based on the current colours of the beads in my collection.

Not only did I get a great set of beads, but the wrapping was superb, an Australian flag napkin which also revealed other goodies...

There was a limited edition Australian Afternoon Tea and a coaster on which to rest my mug of tea!

I was delighted with the whole package and couldn't believe how she'd managed to fit so much into such a small package!

As you can see it was less than the width of 3 trollbead pouches, best use of space I've seen in a packet!

I will leave you with a few more choice shots of the beads, as after all, these were what all the fuss was about.

Silver Wisdom (and a peek at Gold!)

"Five precious stones that together symbolise wisdom.  An opal for loyalty; an amethyst for peace of mind; a garnet for devotion and grace; a turquoise for courage and success, and a lapis lazuli for competence."

Wisdom photographed by Pauline

That is the official description for this next bead, Silver Wisdom.  I've been really lucky to be able to secure this bead for my collection, and at a really great price, this was down to luck, timing, a lovely seller and a helping hand from Grandma in the form of Birthday and Christmas present money to help me out!

I'm really glad that it was my Grandma that helped me buy this bead, I enjoy having beads that remind me of experiences, friends, families and stories.  It was my Grandma who taught me to read before I went to school which started my lifelong love of reading, she did the same with her children before they started school, and with all her grandchildren and she's now making a start with her great grandchildren!  So for me, Wisdom, is a very apt bead to have come from my Grandma!

Here are the different sides of my wisdom bead, showing all the stones.

As soon as I got it I started playing around with combinations to see what it would look like with different beads, as it has several colours and some very different stones there is quite a lot you can do with it, here are some snapshots of what I tried...

  

However whilst I had fun playing with mostly glass beads, what I really intended was to make something with my zodiac birthstone stars.  

Here is my Wisdom & Stars bracelet, I opted to include a lot of colour in this one and I think it will remain a keeper for quite some time, unlike my usual make, wear and unmake approach to finished bracelets.

Wisdom as worn by my Trollbead friends!

Wisdom is such a versatile bead that I asked a few friends if they would allow me to show you some of their bracelets and necklaces using Wisdom.  They kindly photographed their creations for your viewing pleasure! 

(Warning - you may experience some pleasurable bead envy looking at these photos as they have some fabulous beads in their collections, I just love looking at these and including them has been my pleasure!)

Bracelet featuring Gold Wisdom, photo and bracelet by a Trollbead friend

Wisdom Bracelet "Perfect Purples" and photo by Anne

Bracelet featuring Silver and Gold Daisy and Wisdom, bracelet and photo by a Trollbead friend

Wisdom, photo and bracelet by Jules

Wisdom Bracelet and photo by Pauline

Wisdom Bracelet and photo by Jules

Wisdom Bracelet "Ferns" and photo by Anne

Wisdom bracelet and photo by a Trollbead friend

Wisdom necklace and photo by Jenny

Gold Wisdom bracelet and photo by a Trollbead friend

Wisdom bracelet "Teals" and photo by Anne

I love all of these combinations; the bracelet immediately above also contains beads from one of my favourite artisan bead makers, Christa Keizer at Luccicare, Christa makes some lovely beads so it's not a surprise to see other trollies making such good use of them!