Here’s to 05/07/13.

So 5^th July 2012 was the day I started my blog and up until now I have had over 7000 page views! That is completely mad and I can’t say thank you enough for taking the time to read my ramblings and leave your comments.
 

I would love love love to get to 10k views by the time we reach the milestone that is my 1^st anniversary of blogging. In order to try and hit that milestone  (2200 hits in 3 months! Eeeekk)I have lots and lots of new posts in the pipeline!! :D

 If you have anything you would like to see more (or less) of please let me know.

Thank you again for having a gander.

Mike!

xx

I wanna see your Peacock

So following on from the very exciting parcel from Denmark holding my cherished Chess Lock I have to tell you about another very special bead that has had a very long journey. The bead went from Trollbead HQ in Denmark to Rome to Holland and then to me (thank you very much special Troll Fairy!)

This bead (that is amazing) is part of a limited edition collection of Unique beads called Small and Beautiful. There have been 800 kits of 6 beads created, and there are about 27 beads in the collection. Check out this post for a really cohesive list of the beads, with photographs, thanks Leann!

The reason this bead had to make such a long journey was because there was only one retailer in the UK selling these beads and due to their popularity the site crashed!

So... Without further ado here is my Small and Beautiful Peacock Bead!

This bead really appealed to me as it reminds me of my mum who collected Peacock feathers from Fiji when we went to visit family in 1996. It also reminds me of visiting my grandparents who have Peacock feathers in their house.

The beads are much very small (and you can now get some called Big and Beautiful with a Unique core which are normal sized) I tried to find a few beads which were standard sized so you could get an idea of the size so here it is with Amazonite and Blue Agate.

The colours are amazing, I love beads that have lots of colours and details in them; it means that closer you look the more details you can see. I'm afraid the pictures don't do it much justice. 

Here's a side view, I think that lots of these S&Bs have internal bubbles in them, but I don't notice it much when I'm wearing it:

I wanted to showcase my Peacock bead and was in a bit of a rush as I was going to see my family in Birmingham so I picked a few beads and grabbed my leather bracelet and this is what I created. I spaced out the beads with small silvers so that the Peacock doesn’t look too small.

I never wear my leather untwisted so I had to tuck it around itself to keep it tight.

I hope you like it!

xx

Check Mate! :D

Excitement has run through the Trollbead Collecting community as a Very Very Very (yes it needed capitals) Rare bead has made its way to 3 Danish Retailers.

The bead in question is actually a Chess Lock. The thing that makes this lock so precious is that is has never been officially released. Trollbeads HQ in Denmark have run Trollbead Academies for a few years now. They invited retailers to visit them and find out more about the Brand, how they make the beads and what makes Trollbeads so special. As a special gift they were given the chance to make decorations on a plain clasp. The idea was that it gave retailers an idea of some of the work that went into making Trollbeads. They were then allowed to keep the clasps. In later Academies they were given the clasp as a gift, but don’t make them.

The only way to get hold of a Chess Lock was to be invited to an Academy or be given a clasp by someone who didn’t want the one they had. Chess locks have been sold for in excess of £400 online!

Recently Trollbeads gifted a small number of Chess Locks to said Danish retailers and they were made available for just a little bit over the cost of a regular lock (£45 - £50ish) I jumped at the chance of owning a piece of Trollbead History and a couple of days after placing my order on a Danish website a very special parcel arrived on my doorstep!

The lock really appeals to me as it isn’t floral or an animal, decorative without being feminine. It’s slightly smaller than regular locks, it’s the same size as the new plain clasp and the new Seahorse and Dolphin locks (I think all the locks are going to start being this smaller size now) Many people have commented that the locks were quite bulky, so this may appeal to them. It does mean that bracelets are going to feel a bit tighter when on though.

The distinction between the squares isn’t as great as I would like it to be, this lock is quite shiny, I would’ve liked a bit more oxidisation, but that being said, I love it!

I’m waiting for a very special bead to arrive before I put together a combination with this lock, but until then here it is compared to my Mexico Lock and with the lovely Danish Pouch in which it arrived.

Let me know what you think of it?