My Ring Collection

It's no surprise that whilst I have been growing up, I have been steadily building collections of different items. One that I am quite proud of is my massive shoe collection, but one which has been quietly growing is my rings. I am not a massive jewellery person but I have to admit that I am partial to a nice ring or two. Instead of necklaces and bracelets I seem to have a healthy collection of rings, which I am now about to share. 

Whilst looking through my collection I realised I have a lot of small, cheap rings which I decided not to feature because a) I don't really wear them and b) I thought it would be more interesting to share the rings I wear on a regular basis and the more interesting ones. All of these rings are stored on this manikin hand which I got as a birthday present probably about 5 years ago now (wow.)

This first ring is one which I bought from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago. As it is not actually made from sterling silver I haven't found myself wearing this product very much at all. The biggest selling point for me was the detailing and the size but it has now started to go a bit tarnished at the top which is disappointing.

The next ring was another from Dorothy Perkins. This was in one of their many jewellery sales and I really loved the way that the design was quite simple but I like the way it was made into quite a big ring. I think I picked this up for about £2 which was a bargain. My only regret about this ring is that I have not worn it half as much as I thought I would.



Out of all of the rings I own, this one will probably always be my favourite. I've had this since August 2009 and up until the past year I probably wore it almost everyday. I bought it from a shop in Tunisia whilst on holiday there for around £10 I think. I love the detailing and the size of this ring and an added bonus is that it is made from silver, so it hasn't turned my finger green or anything like that. I wear this as pictured, on my right hand.
The next ring that I am featuring is this beautifully intricate floral one which I picked up in Dorothy Perkins (I think!) within the past year. I've noticed my collection heavily features floral, twisted and detailed rings and so these easily become classics for me. I'm not entirely sure how much I paid for this particular ring but I would imagine it would have been somewhere around the £5-£6 mark. I usually wear this ring as a single statement piece, similarly to the way that you would wear a statement necklace and I think that it works really well.
Next up is one of my smaller rings, which again up until about 3 months ago, I wore religiously. Unlike in this picture, it's usually found on my middle finger of my left hand and it was actually a Christmas present a few years ago. I like that it is slightly different from the other rings I own and I think that it's the perfect size.
My next ring is one of the newest to my collection. I picked this up from a shop called Spangle, which sells sterling silver and gold jewellery. I love shopping there because their pieces are quite unique and so reasonably priced too. This sterling silver ring cost me around £12.95 and I love the detailing and the fact that it is another small ring to add to my collection. I've worn this almost everyday since I bought it and it was definitely a good purchase on my behalf. It has been a nice change to wear a smaller ring as opposed to some of the larger ones in my collection, but it still reflects my love for floral and intricate designs.

Next in my collection is a ring that I received for my 18th birthday. It is my first and only ring from Pandora and it was such a lovely shock and surprise when I got it. Again this is a sterling silver ring that lives on my right hand and it actually something a bit different from my other pieces. I love the combinations of colour in this piece and the simplicity of it, and also the studded balls add different layers to it too. It cost around the £50 mark, but I think it has been worth the money you pay. It is a really special ring to me and so although I've worn it in everyday situations I have also kept this for special occasions as I don't want to damage it whilst I'm at work.
Last year whilst I was on my first ever holiday abroad with my friends we went to the small shopping centre to do some traditional tourist souvenir shopping. In one of the shops I found this gorgeous ring costing a mere 10 euros. I decided there and then that it would become a tradition to buy a new ring in every country I visited, especially because I had done the same previously on a holiday to Tunisia. I love the embellishment on this ring and the symmetrical pattern and the fact that it is of course silver.  
This next ring, to date, is the cheapest and what I consider to be the biggest bargain find in terms of rings that I've found. Dorothy Perkins often have jewellery sales and so when I saw this for £1 I didn't think twice about buying it. I didn't even care that it was gold and not silver like all my other jewellery, I just loved the way that it looked as though there is a leaf wrapped around your finger. As an added bonus, it fits on every one of my fingers aside from my little one, so it is so versatile.
Moving back to the trend of statement rings, this next one was another gift a few years ago. I'm not sure how much this cost but it has the twisted, curly detailing that I love and a oval stone in the middle. I am really loving the colour mint and especially the mint green/light blue shades and actually forgot a little about this ring. This ring is also adjustable so I am able to wear it on almost any of my fingers but I think it looks best when it is on the finger next to my middle one. Over the summer I think I am going to start to get some more wear out of this piece because I haven't worn it as much as I thought I would.

Another recent purchase has been this next ring. Again this sterling silver is from Spangle and is studded with Cuban zirconia around the front of the ring. This particular ring cost me £19.99 and is usually worn on my middle finger on my left hand. One thing that it a little annoying about this though is that it often twists around so that you cannot see the stones, but I love the simplicity of it and that it isn't too big or overpowering.  
I think this next ring is also an addition from Spangle. I bought this a few years ago now so I'm not sure how much I paid for it but I think it was around the £12 mark. Again, this has a really simple design and I love the cut-out hearts that make up the shape. This is also sterling silver which means that it hasn't turned my finger green and it has been a great everyday ring which I've also worn for special occasions too.
The final ring in my collection is one that I picked up from Dorothy Perkins a few years ago now. It is actually a double ring, which is worn across two fingers. In my case I wear this on my middle and ring finger on the right hand and I love the floral pattern of it. I also love the way that the silver isn't perfect and that it looks slightly tarnished in places as it adds more texture and depth to the piece. I also like the added diamantes which gives the ring a bit of sparkle. The ring itself is also another adjustable one, which means that it is so versatile and will fit most people. 

 

I've really enjoyed going through my collection and having a proper look at the types of jewellery that I buy. I think it is obvious that I am a huge fan of silver, floral and intricate designs. There is a mixture of larger and smaller pieces ranging in prices and it's been good to rediscover some things that I had forgotten about.

 

 

18th Birthday!

I try to publish a new blog post everyday. However yesterday was my 18th Birthday so I didn't have time to sit down and write a new post. To make up for it, today I am publishing 2 brand new posts, this one, and one on my perfume collection which you can find here: http://tammypenton.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/my-perfume-collection.html

As an August baby, I have always been one of the youngest in my year. One of my friends is exactly 11 months older than me, yet is still in the same year and this means that previously I couldn't do stuff that they were allowed to. This became more prominent last year when everyone turned 17 and could drive. By the time I had started to learn, many of my friends had already passed their test, which was frustrating because all I wanted to do was drive!

  Again, this year everyone started turning 18. This meant that they are all legally allowed to drink and purchase alcohol here in the UK and go out clubbing and drinking. However yesterday I was officially 18 and considered an adult. This means that I too can now do these things. 

I received some amazing things from my family and friends and was extremely lucky this year. Some things I had already received before my birthday, such as contributions to my holiday to Majorca and spending money for the trip so I wasn't expecting anything from my mum or my dad. So I thought I would share some of the lovely gifts I received and look back on the brilliant birthday I had yesterday! 

18 Glass from 3 of my friends

From three of my closest friends, I received this 18th Birthday glass, shown above. I love the colours on this glass and I think I'll be using this when I have a cheeky drink every once in a while.

18th Birthday plate from 3 of my friends

Another gift from my 3 friends was this 18th birthday plate. They actually painted this themselves and I think it's a lovely gift because of the amount of effort that they've put into it. I love the dots around the outside of the plate and the bright colours. 

Selection of alcohol drinks from 3 of my friends

Finally from my three friends I got these drinks to highlight that I am now of the legal drinking age in the United Kingdom. 

18 glass and keyring from my sister and dad

From my dad and my sister I received another 18 glass and a keyring. The story behind this is that my dad and sister apparently went into a card shop and brought almost everything they could find that had anything to do with being 18 on it. I like these kind of things because they can be kept and used over and over again. 

18 socks from my sister and dad

Like the glass and keyring brought by my sister and dad, they also got me these lovely socks from the card shop. Again this was them buying everything they could find and I found this quite amusing. 

As I said before, because I had already received money towards my holiday, I wasn't expecting anything from my dad or sister for my birthday. However when they gave me these next gifts I was so surprised. My sister had wrapped these up in normal wrapping paper so I had no idea what they would be and as soon as I opened them I couldn't believe what I was holding!

Pandora ring from my sister and dad

When I opened the first bag and saw the Pandora logo, my first thought was 'wow, I can't believe it.' They had got me a beautiful ring from Pandora, so intricately detailed and because I love rings so much, it was a perfect gift for me.  

Pandora bracelet from my sister and dad

I was so happy with my gifts and my ring, that when my sister gave me a second bag to open I was a bit shocked. I definitely wasn't expecting a Pandora ring let alone another Pandora bag. Inside this bag was 4 more boxes! In the first was a Pandora bracelet, and in the other 3 were charms to put onto it. I absolutely love all three of the charms that were picked for me and think they look amazing on the bracelet. They also look amazing together and I was so lucky to get these presents. I'm really looking forward to buying additional charms now to fill the bracelet and I am so thankful to both my dad and sister! 

Pandora bracelet with 3 charms from my sister and dad

During the evening, I went out to dinner at Chimichanga with my mum, step-dad and sister and while we were sitting at our table my mum gave me a gift. Again, I wasn't expecting anything so this was a big surprise. From them I got a beautiful heart pendant, which I will be able to wear both everyday and for special occasions and I really love it.

Heart Pendant from my mum and stepdad

I had a lovely birthday this year and I am so happy that I got to spend the day with my friends and family. I am so thankful for all the gifts and cards I received and I am honestly so lucky to have the people around me. It's now time to enjoy being 18!