Wanted 2/ The Pandora Star Ring!

I can not get this little ring out of my head ever since it caught my eye in Pandora. It is so pretty in reality and catches the eye. There is something about stars which draw me in (my tattoo is three stars). So yes, this one is on my Christmas list!!!

What is on your list? 

Charm bracelet (Chamilia and Pandora)

So, this is my new obsession. . .

xxx The Charm Bracelet!xxx

I am sure you will see a lot more of this bracelet in future posts but I wanted to do a little post today about the bracelet for two main reasons

Firstly, I just want to show you how beautiful it is and show off how quickly I'm filling it up. I haven't even had it for long at all yet but isn't it growing?! I feel like I've given birth to it.

Secondly, I wanted to let you know about the offer I spotted in H Samuels. If you buy over so much worth of Chamilia charms then you get a free bracelet to home them on. I think, it was £75 in store to be spent but the website says £100 so it may be best to check with the H Samuels branch local to you. I also asked the staff of mine about when the offer ends but nobody seemed to know though I wonder if it might be Christmas Eve. I would also not be surprised if other jewellers and maybe even Pandora themselves might be doing some kind of equally competitive offer. The free bracelet I got is currently being sold for £55 so that is quite a saving!

Now admittedly as cute as the Chamilia charms are, some of the Pandora ones got my heart too and the main reason I got the Chamilia charm bracelet was the bracelet offer and the fact that you can put Pandora charms and many other charms (not all the Troll ones though) on a Chamilia bracelet, mixing it up a bit.

Obviously my bracelet is in the making and nowhere near ordered or complete yet (but well, it might not take so long given my enthusiasm and all that ; ) ) however, here are the charms and beads I have so far.

1 The Chamilia Kaleidoscope Bead. I love a bit of glitz. This was the first bead I chose and it instantly makes the bracelet. The sparkle from this bead is beautiful and could easily form a beautiful bracelet on it's own. It also reminds me to sparkle, sparkle, sparkle and never to lose my sparkle! Its meant to make me smile every time I look down on it

2 The Pandora Perfume Bottle When I heard that there was a retired Pandora Perfume Bottle Charm, I obviously was straight on to EBay trying to track one down. Scent has always been a big part of my life and I can remember exactly what I was wearing when da da dah  happened and blah de bla bla and I've often spent more time choosing what scent  I'm going to wear then I have choosing what clothes to wear!

3 The Pandora Duckling was my first Pandora bead (woo!) and reminds me of two gorgeous little children in my family that I don't get to see so much anymore. We always used to go and feed the ducks and few trips have ever made me happier.

4 The Frog Prince This charm is what the charm bracelet was all about for me. The Frog Prince is so cute and how one little charm can have so much character is amazing. Look, at that cheeky smile! : )
I HAD to have him and a bracelet to home him. I'm not sure if  my Frog Prince is a genuine Pandora one, I got him from EBay and have my doubts but I love him just the same. He has the same cheeky smile, crown and mischievous eyes. When I look down on him, he makes me laugh 'cos I fear I once knew a frog who claimed to be a Prince but wasn't : / This little charm helps me to see the funny side in it all. It also reminds me that nothing is ever what it seems, there can be two sides to every character/story and depending on my mood, this little charm reminds me that every prince can be a frog or maybe that I shouldn't overlook a frog for he may be my Prince. I don't know, I guess this Frog Prince intrigues me and I can't help being attracted to that.

5 The Pandora Shopping Bag This charm reminds me of several things. Firstly, it is for my Mum, a big fan of bows and somebody who has spent hours keeping me company and window shopping (Note: That IS "window" shopping as we told Dad . . .) with me these last few months. This charm also reminds me why I work on those bad days (though on the whole, I love my job) and encourages me to do those few extra hours when I'm inclined to feel a bit lazy and say, 'No'. This little shopping bag is like a little incentive to work hard, reminding me that I might just reap some rewards!

6 My Chamilia Heart lock I wanted a lock so my beads weren't running up and down. Being me, a big softie, I also wanted a heart on my bracelet  ASAP 'cos well, the heart is always important and this one sparkles too. The way it stands out makes it so much more then a lock. Bonus!. 

I never really "got" the idea of charm bracelets until a couple of weeks ago but these charms are so intricate. The character and overall result is amazing and more often then not so adorable that I can see it is going to be hard to narrow down which charms actually make it on to "my" bracelet. I LOVE that, this is my bracelet!!! I'm going to build it up and each thing on it will have meaning to me and sort of tell my story. I just LOVE that idea! 

Have you got a charm bracelet or anything? What is your favourite charm? I hope you have all had a fab weekend.

Yay, coming home (blogging) again!

So . . . it has being a lonnggggg while but well, you know me, I always end up back here eventually.

Yes, I could give you lots of excuses as to my latest hiatus - I sure believe that I've got lots of genuine ones, 2013 has been the craziest year ever and that is official - and maybe I will share some of it with you another time but for now, thank you if you are reading this. Thank you to those that have hung around *massive grin* and thank you to you newbies, I know it is going to be nice meeting you! : )

Since it is kind of like a new start/chapter and we're talking happy times and beautiful things etc, this might be the time to share with you the latest addition to my wish list.

This little 'Stay Positive' troll bead is absolutely gorgeous and I love the whole meaning of it. Beads and charms are my new 'thing' at the moment. Until a fortnight or so ago, I never really got the whole charm bracelet thing but now I'm frantically trying to put together a bracelet which not only tells my story so far but brings in to my future, all the things I aspire to and for.

Whichever way you turn this troll bead, 'you will always have a plus sign smiling up at you', a reminder that there is always a bright side or a light at the end of the tunnel. I love the notion of this and I'm not sure yet exactly how (since it costs £312) but this beautiful charm WILL sit on my wrist one day, a constant reminder that no matter what is happening, everything can eventually be ok again. In fact, even better! While I'm waiting for my little bead and the bank account to cooperate, I'd love to hear if anybody knows of a nice dupe or anything similar around.

I hope 2013 has been the best year for you all yet and though I've shirked the blogging. I may not have missed as much as you might think, I've still been following a few of you lovelies. 

Yep, there are some absolutely amazing blogs out there but tell me, has 2013 been as good to you as you deserve? Oh and the shopaholic in me is screaming to know what your best purchase (beauty, fashion, bead, charm or otherwise) has been? What possessions mean the most to you?

The River Island Rose Gold watch!

You may remember, back in June, my little haul of jewels. I mentioned in that post that there was one more jewel to come and that I would dedicate a post to it.

Well, finally here it is. . .

A little post dedicated to my lovely new(ish) River Island Rose Gold watch.
I'm sure that many of you have seen it before as it has been hyped as a good dupe for the infamous Michael Kors' watches.

Yes indeed, it is oversized; masculine; chunky; rose gold and friggin' gorgeous. I have barely been without it over the last 6 weeks and it still looks brand new and much more expensive then the £25 that it actually cost.

Back when the watch was first delivered, I was very disappointed as the watch was wayyy too big and links needed to be removed so a little visit to Timpsons was required but the little extra wait was worth it as I adore this watch and have yet to find an outfit that it doesn't compliment.

What dupes do you love? Are you in to the rose gold trend? Are you lucky enough to have a real Michael Kors watch?

X

Jewel Candy!

So these are a few of my recent new purchases.

Yep, it seems that I'm going through a bit of a jewellery phase at the moment.

I've been here before and quite often what I impulsively buy, is worn once or twice before inevitably breaking or been relegated to the bottom of my jewellery box, forgotten and unloved. Awh :(

It takes a lot for me to fall for a piece of jewellery, the Sideways Cross and the Blue ring I've talked of before are the only jewels I reach for regularly. Still, I long to create a jewellery collection of my own that I love, especially after watching the recent Elizabeth Taylor documentary and it may just be that I finally came up trumps during my recent jewellery frenzy as I think, though cheap as chips. I will be wearing at least four out of five of my new pieces again and again over the coming months.

My favourite has to be this Interlocking Hearts necklace from Top Shop. It is so simple and cute (Oh and I think, this one would be quite difficult to break, not really many bits to fall off. Phew) .  The pendant is just wire yet there is no denying how feminine this piece is. I love the way the two hearts are joined together and the fact that although both so alike, as hearts, their individual wire work differs a little. One is twisted. I want to say it reminds of the whole Yin Yang vibe but maybe I'm just a bit of a romantic. This is the first necklace that I have reached for instead of the Sideways Cross (shock horror!). I really rate it and although it only cost four pounds (!), I think that I would pay double for this beauty if I had to.

Like the Sideways Cross, the next couple of purchases I'm going to talk about were influenced by recent blog trends, an Evil Eye bracelet and a Hamsa one. Again, both of these pieces are very pretty and they sparkle . . . a lot!

I expect that the Evil Eye from River Island is actually a very simple manifestation of the whole Evil Eye trend and the foreign originals but it is enough for me. It is so tiny and all silver apart from the 'eye' (the blue diamante in the middle) and it is amazing how often my eye is drawn to it and in fact, just how many people have noticed this small addition to my wrist. See, I'm sure somebody told me once that size isn't everything!!!

As for the Hamsa, this was a purchase from Ebay. The Hamsa is another mythical pendant that is supposed to protect the wearer and bring them certain good fortunes (Yes, please!) The fact that this is gold with silver stones makes it an excellent piece to pull silver and gold pieces together. It works the wrist well in line with my Evil Eye.

I was very impressed with how quickly my economy delivery arrived from this seller and the cute little red organza bag it came in. However, you may notice that there are a few stones missing on my bracelet. Now I can not be sure that they were not there when my bracelet arrived. I was too excited to inspect it properly when it first arrived! It may well just be my excited state and careless treatment dislodged the stones.

Whatever!

I'm not too bothered by the missing stones as this pretty little bracelet was less then eight pounds and the missing stones add some originality and an asymmetrical dimension to the piece. Interestingly, a true Hamsa is not meant to be symmetrical as that does not reflect true hands and you know what, there is no doubt that as my Hamsa is now not 'perfect', it is in fact that little more bespoke and more mine!

Finally, we have the Top Shop Peace necklace, the one that has not quite won my heart yet. For some reason the mix of silver (dirty grey) and gold (towards bronze) this time grates with me and I think, the pendant almost looks like it needs a good scrub. I'm also not as fond of the longer chain length but who knows, given time or the right look to work with, this little piece could find a place in my heart too.

What jewellery are you currently wearing? I may need to keep stocking up if this awful hay fever continues, my eyes look awful (Let me say it again, thank goodness, for the Valentinos!) and I need as many distractions from them as possible. Oh and remember I said that I had five new purchases?! Well, the last one I'm saving for a post of its own!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!:)

X

TopShop shoppitdy shop!

So yesterday I shopped (or should I say hauled?!) big time. What can I say? I had some good news and I have not shopped so much lately so when I finally got out there, I couldn't really control myself!

TopShop!

When I was a student, I was the TopShop girl. Head to toe. I spent far too much in there.

Evantually with the store card paid off, I realised I should probably cut my TopShop spending down and somehow I actually more or less cut it out completely. I had moved away from student towns and cities with big TopShops. Consequently my local TopShop seemed pretty poor in comparison. Occasionally I will buy an item in there but not like I used to and the card, that has gone!

However a new, bigger TopShop has opened where I was haulling yesterday and when I went in for a little peek, well to be honest, I was quite impressed.

First because they are winking at me, let's go to the bling.

A beautiful light gold leaf cuff. Now bling may be quite a new obsession but I've always been a fan of bracelets, bangles, cuffs and such wrist-like ornaments. So this is going to be one well-loved addition to my collection. I think that it will be especially nice in the autumn, add a little class as the leaves start to fall and the nights get darker.

Carrying on with my green fingers theme. I also got this long flowery ring. You will all remember my Tanya Burr big gold dancing ring (http://essjay23x.blogspot.com/2010/06/my-dancing-ring.html). Well I wanted big in the opposite way this time and when I saw it, I knew that this was what I had been looking for.

This ring may not be the showiest in the world but it is delicate, pretty and comfortable. My dancing ring can get a bit heavy for my poor fingers sometimes.

Oh and the TopShop ring was only £1 when I got to the till. Happy, happy, happy . . !

I'm very impressed with my TopShop jewellery. In fact, I picked up many more items before cutting it down to these two. Now I want to go to an even bigger TopShop and see the Gogo Jewellery that Holly http://www.ymbeautyblog.com/2010/07/gaga-for-gogo.html  has gone Gaga about.

I also got this lovely leather purse. I thought that it was about time that I got myself a proper purse. I've never really being one for purses with lots of pockets and card holders before. My last few purses were just little coin-like ones and I would just ram whatever I could in there. They were also all black. Time to change it up and get a little colour. There were lots of colours to choose from and I nearly picked a classic brown but the little girl in me picked up the pale mint colour. It is really cute. Hopefully now, I will finally be able to find my slightly larger purse in my massive bag without emptying everything out at the tillpoint!

I also got one of these boyfriend type blazer things and a cream tunic dress. I spotted the dress and remembered seeing it in a post from Laura (http://www.lollipop26writes.com/2010/07/little-outfit-of-day-type-thing.html). She suggests combining the very girly dress with a more masculine blazer to balance the look. I want to learn to think like that! At the moment, when I am trying to put an outfit together, all I normally do is throw a couple of things I don't hate on and hope for the best. However, Laura's explanation made sense. Balance sounds good so on spotting the dress, I decided to experiment a little.

Now I was only going to try the combination on but it really did look good and much better then a lot of the other things I'd picked out myself to try so yes, I have invested!

If you get a chance, try this dress on. Honestly it made me feel so light and there is something about the way it falls. I just want to skip around and I think it is just about long enough to twirl around and around in!

As for the blazer. . ! Well to be honest, these boyfriend blazers have never appealed to me. They look great on everybody else but on a hanger, they just look so masculine and mundane. And since I know that I can barely pull anything off from outside my comfort zone, I have never even tried one on (or even wanted to). However, it worked with the dress (I think it helped that it was from the Petite session. I had a quick look at some in the normal section and the arms looked way too long) and now I'm inspired to see what else I can pair it with. Rumour is, these blazers are quite versatile if you're daring enough.

Funnily enough one of my favourite tops which I'm sure I've shown you on this blog before, is a TopShop one from about three years ago. It, too, is cream and conceals the tummy area well. This top is like an old friend but it is a chore to iron. Yep, it looks great creased but only in the right places. I do cherish this top though and it has had a lot of wear. I hope that I can say the same about my more recent TopShop purchases in three years.

So do you like TopShop? Brought anything interesting lately? Are you in to a certain look at the moment? How do you work the Boyfriend blazer?

X

My new necklace+ a very pretty ring!

Look, I got my very own Sideways Cross necklace. Yeah, yeah Lollipop26 http://www.lollipop26writes.com/ style. You all know what I am like, so orginal!!!

I'm really pleased with it though. I've never had a necklace which makes me feel so grown up.

I'm not sure how easy it is going to be to keep it sitting straight - it took a bit of a play to get the shot above- but I quite like the slightly tilted thing in real life. It gives it that mismatched 'cool' effortlessly Kate Moss/Sienna Miller edge. Makes the classic a bit more bohemium! In the same way, the cross been sideways does in the first place.

Usually I am more of a bracelet person. I have got away without many necklaces for so long by wearing tops with interesting necklines.

When I have worn necklaces they tend to be the run of mill heart or initial pendant type ones, a little longer then this one or very occasionally, shorter ones full of beads since my family have a bead shop but until today, necklaces have been a special occasion thing for me.

However, I feel that this one is delicate and discreet enough (yet still contemporary) to wear everyday. Well, I don't think that I will be taking it off for a week or two anyway. Ha, this bling bling obsession does not seem to be subsiding.

I ordered my necklace from this seller on Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop/classicdesigns?ref=seller_info . I made the order on the Sunday before last (27th of June) and it arrived this morning all the way from Texas so I can't fault the service. There are several variations of the Sideways Cross on her website. I brought the Sideways Cross Necklace - The Original 14K Gold Filled Horizontal Cross - Handcrafted by Theresa Mink.

Theresa has some other Etsy stores and I do like (but must be good and not buy) A Summer Place, a beautiful cocktail ring inspired by the sea. I've borrowed this pic from her listing http://www.etsy.com/listing/50400292/a-summer-place-aqua-chalcedony-and

So is jewellery key in your own personal style? How do you work the bling? Ooh and have you ever made any of your own pieces, where can I check them out?

X

Daisy, daisy . . !

They are so pretty and yet, they seem a little bit edgier then traditional charm bracelets or their more contemporary offsprings.


What am I talking about?

Image from Google Image Search http://www.coolrocks.co.uk/news/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/daisystackrings.jpg

Daisy Stack rings, of course!

Basically you buy a ring from the collection and then another one and another one. Then you stack them altogether on your finger and flaunt.

Image from Google Image Search http://www.jewellerystudio.co.uk/_images/_daisy_stacks/01b/heaven.jpg

A charm bracelet but in ring form.

Image from Google Image Search www.thenorthgate.net/.../2007/03/trollbeads.jpg

Troll bracelets and Pandora ones have always been there on my wishlist but they have never made it to the top and now I’m glad that this is the case because just maybe, I was born to stack.

Stacking is ‘cool’ and a bit easier for somebody like me ie. somebody without a built in style radar, as I believe that all the rings in the collection are designed to be mixed and matched within any stack. Yay, I’ve always been envious of those people who can throw outfits, accessories and even different necklaces together without a thought and look so stylicious. Well now if I choose to create a little Daisy Stack, it could be my turn to become a fashionista.

Of course, money means I would not be able to start with a stack. I would only be able to start with one ring but then every stack has to start somewhere. I might have to do it slowly but stack, I may well do.

You can check out the Daisy Ring website here http://www.daisyjewellery.com/

UPDATE: Since writing this, I have had a look around and I think this ring idea may not be as unique to Daisy as I thought. I think Pandora and other businesses are offering similar products. Let me know if you have heard of anything like this or indeed, if you are so lucky enough to have already begun stacking.

Also check out my latest You Tube video here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7P7M2ACZo

This one is a bit of babble (with a tiny bit of share the love) about future plans and me. I have also recorded two more today which I enjoyed loads as I got to play with possibly my favourite things in the world, Perfume. So watch out for these later this week!

X