Charm Campaign

Apologies

Sorry for the delay in posting new articles to the blog.  I've had a crazy week, it appears my boyfriend has had enough of us travelling back and forth to be together and asked me to marry him.   As you can imagine my week has been a bit of a whirlwind, changing tickets & trying to arrange a wedding in a foreign country.  A nightmare of paperwork, medicals & interviews for heavens sake people don't even consider this if you can avoid it, elope to a country with more demand for immigrants.   Hell Australia is begging for people as qualified as my boyfriend but can I convince him to move to a country with beautiful beaches and no need to dig your car out of 3 foot of snow before work?   But I digress.

I had some more posts for my series written, but not proofread so I set them up to publish throughout the week so you wouldn't have to wait while I ran around trying to figure out the logistics of getting married.  Or so I thought, it appears my posts have been posted if I look at the blog control panel, but not if I look at the website.   Looks like I'll be busy this Sunday, at least I can get the articles proofread and hopefully catch some of the worst of my spelling mistakes.

As they say in the classics.  "We will return you to your regularly scheduled viewing as soon as possible"

Thank you for your patience.   

Pandora Beads for Spring 2009 Now Available Online

Well the new beads are up on the Pandora Australia site, though no sign of them on the US site as yet.  It appears a lot of Aussie dealers are selling the beads before the official US release date,from what I can find out they have had the go ahead to start selling early.  So if you live in the USA and can't wait to get your new Pandora beads,it might we worth checking out the Australian websites.  Shipping usually takes around 7 working days so you can still might even have your beads before the official US release date.  And with the current exchange rate save some money in the process

I don't like to promote any particular online dealer over another as most of them have been very helpful to me when I've had questions, so if you have seen something you like a quick search online is bound to find you a dealer with the new range for sale. 

Change your Look Without Breaking the Bank

Lets face it good quality brand name charm beads are not cheap, Collecting charm beads can be an expensive hobby, so if you are going to make an investment in a you want it to get as much wear from your charms as possible.  With a little thought and care you can make your money go a long way and still have a charm collection to impress.  

 

Lets start with the basics the bracelet or necklace to put your beads on.   It’s easy to spend US$50 for a silver Pandora bracelet with a silver lock, even more if you decide you’d like your bracelet in gold.  If you want a necklace to go with it you’re looking at another US$90 and that’s even before you’ve bought a bead.   

For a cheaper but no less stylish option you can always go with leather.  Pandora sells leather necklaces at US$30 in a range of colours all with silver clasps.  Or if you fancy a more flexible look they have a leather lariat style necklace that can be worn in a variety of styles or even wrapped around your wrist.

As mentioned in an earlier post, I picked up a Thomas Sabo leather necklace for US$9.90. They come in a range of sizes and styles and the beads slip easily on over the one side of the lock.

 

 

Feeling like saving even more money, then visit your local craft store and for a few dollars a yard stock up on some leather cording, and simply wrap it around your neck or wrist as many loops as you like and tie it off firmly and you have a whole new look for your beads.

While the snake chains that come with the beads, make it harder to be flexible with how  you wear the chains, if you decide silver bracelet or necklace is for you, it’s worthwhile make sure you get one that can take more than one brand of bead  This will give you a lot more choice in the looks you can create by mixing and matching beads.   If you stick with a Trollbeads bracelet, the new Lovelinks Universal design (make sure not to accidentally get one of their older designs) or the Tedora and your bracelet will be able to fit any of the major brand beads including Trollbeads with their smaller sized holes.   If you are happy to limit the number of Trollbeads you can wear then as long as you avoid the Lovelinks bangles and old regular design bracelets you can wear pretty much any of the other major brands beads on any of the chains they sell. 

 

Want to get more wear from your beads?   Don’t wear them all at once.  If wearing a leather necklace I tend to just wear 3 or 5 of my beads at once, odd numbers always look better to my eye.  I will even try to theme them, I have beads I have received from my Niece and Nephew over the years so I will just wear those 3 of those at a time, or all my pet related ones at once.   It makes it fun in the morning deciding what combination to wear, and as people don’t see all my beads at once they tend to notice what I am wearing more.

New Thomas Sabo Charms

Peace, Pandas, Popsicles and a  Pink Cadillac.   What more can a girl want.  

 

  

Thomas Sabo has gone a little hippy chic and a little bit fabulous, with this release, including a selection of peace signs and flowers for those that want to make this the summer of love.  If that's not your style he's added a few new Disney charms including those romantic favourites Lady & the Tramp, as well as Tinkerbell and Bambi.

 

They also have a range of silver zodiac charms, check out my post on ideas for the Aires in your life for an example.   And a few new charms in the urban range including an old fashioned boombox and a bicyle in red.  I love mixing the few Thomas Sabo charms up with my Pandora beads, as you can easily fit most Pandora style beads on the Thomas Sabo leather necklace or if you like using a Thomas Sabo Charm carrier hang the beads from your Pandora bracelet or necklace.   That's what I love best about charms you can mix and match to your hearts content and every piece of jewellery you wear can be your own design and uniquely you.

Check out the Thomas Sabo website and see for yourself.

Beading on a Budget Starts Here

I am finding myself torn at the moment.  I love my collection of charms and charm beads, but with spring coming I want a new look.  I keep eyeing up the new Pandora beads for spring 2009 beads and then hoping that some money has magically appeared in my wallet to pay for them all.   As the money fairy has decided not to visit me this week, I have been brainstorming ways to add to my collection without breaking the bank. 

Over the next week I am going to share with you some of my ideas for not only saving money but also for some ideas for getting more use from the beads you already have.

 The most obvious idea is to get someone else to pay for them, and as mercenary as that sounds, I’ve found people for the most part, love helping a collector add to their collection, whatever it is that they collect. 

 Charm beads of any make, make a great present, I love buying them for my friends and family, so if you  are lucky enough to have a birthday in the next month or two now is the time to start hinting.  Depending how subtlety impaired your family, friends or partner is you may have to resort to a range of tactics.   

For my Mum I can drop a hint as subtle as “hmm I see Pandora has the cutest little silver teddy bear coming out on April 15th, to in the case of my boyfriend, dragging him down to a shop and showing him the charm I like and saying “that one get that one”, though even that is not 100% foolproof with him and I am just as likely to end up with a computer game that he has been after instead.

Easter is a great gift giving and getting time time.  There are so many beads that tie into a spring or Easter theme that your family and friends will have no problems finding a charm both you and they will like, and face it jewelery is so much healthier than chocolate, and lasts longer too.

If you are not lucky enough to have a birthday coming up, or your family and friends keep missing your subtle and not so subtle hints,  then you'll want to ready my 5 part series on Beads on a Budget

April Birthstone Bead Ideas

Aprils birthstone is the diamond, personally I think that is unfair as a diamond is pretty much always a great idea for a birthday present, but maybe that's just me.  So if you are planning on buying someone a Charm for an April birthday then look no further than any of the beautiful diamond charms available from Pandora.

 

Gold and diamonds not quite in your price range? Then you can get some equally nice silver with gold highlights and teeny tiny diamond charms from Pandora too.

 

Or if diamonds are not your thing you can get a lovely range of cubic zirconia beads and quartz beads, and if you don't tell anyone they aren't real diamonds I sure won't.  Pandora's official birthstone bead has a lovely quartz bead as a dangle, which I think would be a nice touch on any bracelet no matter when you were born.

 

Or from Chamilia you can get a lovely sterling silver and quartz heart or crystal spacer bead bead that anyone born in April would be happy to receive.  That is a terrible picture of the heart bead, but the best I could find, it does look much prettier in real life.

For those of you like me that like to mix and match your charms even Thomas Sabo has a birthstone charm. 

Gold Pandora Bead Prices to Rise

If you like gold Pandora beads I'd hurry out and buy them as soon as possible.  Rumour has it that due to the rising price of gold in general the prices of Pandoras gold and their gold and silver beads will be rising in April 2009.  Their silver beads price will be remaining the same.

So if you have always wanted one of their gold beads or gold and silver beads I would hurry in now and get it and beat the price rise.  If like me you are trying to be good and not use your credit cards, if nothing else get it on lay-by or lay away now.  

I suspect that Pandora beads won't be the only one feeling the crunch over rising gold prices in the current economy so it might be worth buying now if you fancy gold beads from any of the companies, or maybe just a good time to change to collecting silver beads.   Though when the beads are as cute as these the siren call of gold is hard to resist.

What Length Bracelet?

So you are thinking of getting a charm bracelet.  Maybe one of the major brands be it a Pandora, Lovelinks,  or Chamilia but they aren't that cheap to buy and you are not sure what size to get.

Well its easy to work out just what size you'll need.

Measuring Up

Firstly you will need to take a measurement with a tape measure.  

If you want to wear the bracelet the regular way, opening and closing the clasp when you take the bracelet on and off, then you will want to take the measurement around the widest part of your wrist.

Make sure you do not wrap the tape around too tightly and that it sits comfortably and that the tape sits flat so that you get the right reading. Then read the measurement on the tape, I usually suggest if its a part reading to round it up to the nearest centimetre (or half inch - see comparisson of bracelet sizes in centimetres & inches at the end of the post).

For example, if the tape measure shows a length measurement as 16.5cm. Rounding that up to the closest cm makes it 17cm.

Adding space for all your charms to fit

So your bracelet doesn't sit to tightly, and because the more charms you add to the bracelet the more snuggly it will fit you want to allow room for all the charms you are going to be buying.

As a general rule of thumb add 2cm (1 inch) to your wrist length

For example

Your wrist measurement rounded up came to 18cm + 2cm for charms = 20cm

If you intend to fill your bracelet up completely, or to use a lot of munaro glass or other large beads, or if you just like a looser fit you cand add 3cm instead of 2cm, to give a bit extra room.

Selecting your bracelet length

Using the Pandora sizings as an example

They have the following sizes available

Length

                    16cm    (6.7 inches)
                    18cm    (7.1 inches)
                    19cm    (7.5 inches)
                    20cm    (7.9 inches)
                    21cm    (8.3 inches)
                    23cm    (9.1 inches)

You now simply choose the closest bracelet length to the size you have calculated.   So in the example given earlier we would choose the 20cm bracelet.  By the way the sizing table above is correct and Pandora don't make a 22cm size bracelet so if your sizing came to 22cm (which mine did when I went for my first bracelet) can choose the 23cm length instead.            

           

Things to note    

This measuring system works with both Pandora type locks and the lobster claw style ones.  Lovelinks bracelets come with a variety of styles of locks included with the bracelet so the size given by the company are pretty accurate. 

Trollbeads brand bracelets are sold without their cute little locks, which are purchased seperately so when buying a Trollbeads bracelet remember to allow for the extra length of the lock/clasp. 

          

Some people like to wear there braclets so they can slide them on and off like a bracelet, if that's the case make sure to take your initial measurement tightly around the widest part of your hand instead of your wrist.

If buying a bracelet as a gift for someone and measuring their wrist would give away the surprise I recommend you go with the 19cm length as its the average size for most women.

Good news if you are buying a Pandora bracelet, from the many stories I've heard, and from my own experience if you buy a bracelet and find its the wrong size most Pandora retailers (I'm talking bricks & mortar shops here online suppliers can be a  little trickier) will exchange your bracelet for another size if you take it back to the place of purchase within 30 days.   Pandora have a great exchange policy with their dealers so if the store you bought it at won't exchange it, try anothe store, and remember who was nice to you next time you are out bead shopping.

Preview of Pandora's Silver Charms for Spring 2009

Pandora is offering 2 new dangly beads for you wine lovers out there.  Available in both red and white wine varieties.  

There is a new silver double knot bead, which I think would make a lovely spacer.




 

For those that like a touch of gold with their beads there is this gold, silver & cubic zirconia bead with sweet little daisys on.

Pandora has gone all out with enamel beads for Spring 2009, adding bright coloured enamels to add a great touch of colour for summer.

or for those of us that like a little sparkle with their beads we have cute enamal & cubic zirconia mixes, with a great little ying & yang bead that I have my eye on.  

 

Preview of Updated Pandora Beads in Spring 2009 Collection

Pandora have updated some old classics with the silver charms in their Spring 2009 collection. 

First they have updated the Horse bead, made it slightly more cartoonish and given it a body and the cutest little stumpy legs.

         

          

New Horse Bead

Which I think is an improvement on the older style bead (shown below) which has always looked to me like something you'd find in a bed in The Godfather.

Old Horse Bead

They have are also offering an updated design for the elephant bead.

New Elephant Bead

Which is going away from the trollbead feel of the original and heading again to a more cartoonish feel.   Also I the with the old design it was a little hard sometimes to tell it was an elephant if your bracelet was crowded.

Old Elephant Bead