QVC Dimonique sterling silver 1.5 ct tw graduated ear climbers

I bought these graduated ear climbers from QVC UK and they are sparkly! They cost £26.95 excluding delivery and came via Royal Mail. They were on advanced order so I waited around 2 months and got a dispatch notice last week. They arrived today.

The earrings came in an egg blue Tiffanyesque box so would make a Christmas present that doesn't need wrapping! The earrings themselves are 18mm long, sterling silver, rhodium played and have a stud fastening. The Dimonique stones are graduated in size and the stones working from the largest one to the smallest are lavender, pink, purple and white. 

They are comfortable to wear and fit nicely along my ear. The butterfly has been designed in a way that prevents the earring from slipping off the ear. I did find it more difficult to fasten than the climbers that I have reviewed previously that you just squeeze into position but that it because I find it difficult to grip the butterfly and put it on the post. 

These climbers are great for winter/ Christmas. They are sparkly and eyecatching and would look great with party outfits!

                                               

I purchased these earrings myself and the views expressed in this post are my own. 

The climbers can be bought from QVC and can be found here: http://www.qvcuk.com/Diamonique-1.5ct-tw-Graduated-Earclimbers-Sterling-Silver.product.699583.html?upsh=1

Sticks & Stones: The Midas Touch

                                                                   

Welcome to the Christmas edition of Sticks and Stones. Lots of Christmassy gold and deep wintery velvet materials and colours but without looking gaudy and overdone - a bit like the perfect Christmas turkey! There are several "pure" gold sticks available but the gold leave/ flower ones are just as wintery/Christmassy. Gold also goes with the traditional winters colours: burgundy, green and black so it won't represent a use only at Christmas or special occasion purchase. 

                                                       

 Gold handbags, goth velvet chokers, velvet skirts and long coats look great with gold and can really make you and your outfit stand out from the crowd. There are some really reasonable pieces of clothing available at New Look or you could splash out for something a little more expensive at somewhere like Mint Velvet. Velvet always comes back in style so it will be money well spent. 

All the sticks are available from Amazon.co.uk

British Birds Walking Cane: A Review

The delux British birds walking cane by Charles Buyers is extremely elegant, eye catching and not at all twee. The featured birds are a chaffinch, kingfisher, blue tit and robin and they look extremely realistic, not cartoonish. The same pattern is repeated throughout the shaft. 

 The delux British birds walking cane is a foldable, adjustable stick with a comfortable Derby handle. It has a plastic clip and see through wallet to keep it in when it is not in use. It has a matching wrist strap and ferrule. The stick can be adjusted from 83-93cm and is 31cm when folded. It weighs 375g. I purchased this stick from the Stick and Cane Shop and it was £24.95 not including postage.

I purchased my stick from the Stick and Cane Shop as they offer free alterations and I always need a section of the stick removing as I am only small. The customer service was excellent as usual. I has my stick within 3 days of my order and I am very pleased with it.

The cane is available here: http://www.stickandcaneshop.co.uk/Mobile/MBSCProduct.asp?pdtid=21918757

Constellation Capricorn Ear Crawlers: A Review

I purchased my Capricorn  constellation ear crawlers from Karlasdesign on Etsy UK. They were £7.60 excluding  p&p. I chose the Capricorn version but the other constellations looked equally as nice. The ear crawlers are sterling silver and even though they look delicate they are quite sturdy. They came in a little purple box which I will use as ajewellery travel case. 

I found that it would have been easier to get the earrings in if the posts had been at a little sharper and  when I brushed my hair behind my ears I kept catching the stars which pulled the crawlers out of position. These are only small niggles. They are comfortable to wear and discreet so a nice alternative to wearing studs for work/ college. I only have small ear lobes and the constellations only just fit - I don't think they would look as good if the end was hanging off my ear but for the price I do like them. 

I will be giving a pair of these ear crawlers away as part of my Christmas Giveaway (1-12 Dec) so keep checking back if you want to try and win a pair. 

I purchased these ear crawlers myself and the views expressed in this blog post are my own. 

The crawlers can be found here: https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/233924299/capricorn-earrings-capricorn-zodiac-sign?ref=cat_gallery_19

Earring Converters: pierced to Clip or Pain in a Clip!

Earring Converters convert pierced to clip earrings and are supposed to be great for those who don't have pierced ears, want to wear heavy earrings but don't want to risk stretching their earlobes or if they just don't want to faff around putting a pierced earring in clips are supposed to be quicker. Now for the downside of clip convertors: they hurt; they are only suitable to use with fish hook wire earrings (and even then they don't always "hang" right and did I mention they are painful to wear! I got a cheap pair from Amazon but you can get gold plate or sterling silver ones if you want to use them with a more expensive pair of earrings.

When browsing YouTube I did come across several tutorials which show you how to convert earrings using the converters to make them permenant clip earrings. Using a pair of pliers you prise open the jump ring holding the earring to the fish wire hook and remove. Take the earring (in this case bambi) part of the earring and the jump ring and put the jump ring through the little loop on the converter, put bambi (or whatever earring you want) on to the jump ring and secure. This technique only takes a few seconds and means you can ensure that your earring hangs correctly and doesn't slip out of the converter. 

Earring converters can be found on Amazon, EBay, and all jewellery finding stores as can the pliers needed if you want to convert your earrings and spare jump rings.

Nothing apart from my earlobes were injured during the making of this blog post!

House of Harlow 1960 Rift Valley Drop Pendant: A Review

I purchased this item from ASOS in their recent sale for £10 (RRP is £28). House of Harlow 1960 is owned by Nicole Richie and the design aesthetic is premised upon stylish Bohemia and th 1970s flower power, hippy vibe. 

The necklace itself is made out of a base metal with a gold tone finish. It has a fine chain with an extender attached and fastens with a lobster clasp. There is a little House of Harlow insignia on the chain. The spike pendant is black and made of resin. It comes on a little swing tag and in an ASOS gift box. 

From the description I have just given the necklace should be a winner, but in the flesh it just looks cheap and generic. The sort of thing that can be found in New Look or Topshop and should cost a lot less than it did. It is very light weight and insubstantial. If I had paid full price for it I would be very unhappy with it. I could get a lot more unusual jewellery for that amount of money. I feel that I am just paying for the name and branding, hence my cats unimpressed little face as that is how I feel when I look at this pendant! 

I purchased this item myself. House of Harlow 1960 is stocked at ASOS.com.
Link:http://m.asos.com/house-of-harlow/house-of-harlow-rift-valley-drop-pendant-necklace/prd/6442401?iid=6442401

The Stick & Cane Shop, Metallic Purple Folding Walking Stick: A Review

This metallic purple folding walking stick was purchased online from the Stick and Cane Shop. They do free stick alterations and were were very helpful when I emailed to ask if it was possible to cut down a collapsible stick as much as I wanted without damaging the collapsing mechanism.  They tried removing a section of a stick to see if this would work and emailed me back to tell me it would be possible to remove a whole section. I ordered it on a Friday and I had it by the Tuesday, so the customer service is great.   

      

The walking stick itself is metallic purple and handbag sized as it collapses into 5 (or in my case 4 ) sections. The stick is light weight (250g) and comes with a clear pouch to store it in.  the length of the stick  is adjustable from 86cm to 94cm and its length when folded is 22cm. Length when folded is 22cm. It comes with a matching wrist strap and black ferrule. The handle is quite comfortable even for my small hands. I would recommend the Stick & Cane Shop, their customer service and selection of sticks and canes is great, delivery is quick and as I always need my stick adjusting I think it's a great service to offer when so many other walking stick sellers don't offer this service. 

I purchased the stick myself and it can be found here: http://www.stickandcaneshop.co.uk/Mobile/MBSCProduct.asp?pdtid=12716228

Artsy Chicas Layla Sterling Fertility Pendant: A Review

I purchased the Layla sterling silver fertility  pregnancy pendant in amazonite, rose quartz and moonstone from artsy Chicas on Etsy for £19.33 not including shipping. The stones are supposed to balance your chakras. All three are calming fertility stones. Rose quartz is supposed to be the stone of love and fertility, promoting peace and serenity.  Moonstone is the feminine stone thought to promote conception and help with anxiety. Amazonite balances feminine and masculine energies, encourages calmess and reduces sadness and like rose quartz has a calming influence. Sterling silver is associated with the moon, drawing out negative energy and replacing it with positive. 

I did not buy it for fertility reasons - my cat is my fur baby and may make an appearance in my blog later next month. I bought it because the combination of stones is so pretty and the briolette stones are quite substantial ranging in 1-2 cm and the colours complete each other so well. It can from the US to the UK in around a week. She did give me the option of choosing other stones but I prefer these. It came in a cardboard box and little bag with a card explaining what the pendant should do. The chain is extra and due to customs charges I chose to buy my own from Amazon. The bale is quite narrow so the chain needs to have a narrow clasp to fit through. 

I have a discount code 20% off  "SPARKLE20" for the whole of the  Artsy Chicas shop: www.artsychicas.etsy.com.

there are  wellness jewelry items  as well as fertility, pregnancy and birthstone jewelryThere is also an 'Artsy Chicas' line of bracelets for men too!

The pendant can be found here:

•  https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/80818039/layla-sterling-fertility-pregnancy?ref=similar_listings_row