Pandora bras and butts, oh my!

Sometimes you just buy a charm because you like it. You haven't "earned" it. You don't have a "meaning" for the charm. It's just pretty. Maybe one of your favourite colours. And you'd like to have it. And sometimes the meaning comes after you buy the charm, as it did for me with the teal "studded lights," on the bangle above. It's similar to the other "whimsical lights" except it has the extra bumps or "studs." I think I can wear it with all three bracelets in this photo.

One of my favourite stones is the dark blue topaz. It hasn't been used in very many Pandora charms, but it's in the daisy dangle, top left on "My #1 Son" bracelet below. So, when Pandora released the teal studded lights, I really wanted it. But I already had a teal bracelet - my Lucerne Recovery bracelet. And I have a turquoise bracelet (below), my mother-son bracelet, with the turquoise enamel on the #1 blue ribbon, butterflies, Zen, and mother-son dangles. I couldn't justify another whole bracelet just because I loved this teal charm. So I didn't buy it. And every time I saw a photo of it on someone else's bracelet I yearned for it.

Then, last week, I saw a photo where a woman had a single pendant, the treasured hearts, on her bangle. I had the same pendant! And I was never quite happy with it's placement on my rhodolite "Treasured Hearts" bracelet. So I tried it on my bangle. Perfect! It's not heavy so it doesn't flip the bangle so that the charms are always under my wrist. It slides around and doesn't get stuck on the threads because it's not threaded. Perfect! I even took a picture!

This opened up a whole new world of Pandora possibilities. I could use openwork charms on bangles too! I had been using some on leathers and liked the effect, but I don't typically buy a charm that hasn't been planned, as part of a vision of a full bracelet. Now there was the opportunity to have some random charms. And then, as luck would have it, the teal studded whimsical was for sale on one of the Pandora buy~sell pages on Facebook.

And wouldn't you know, it was being sold by my friend Shauna. I've never met Shauna in person. We've never even talked on the phone. But we are Facebook friends. And we're both Canadians. And I really enjoy her company. She's a hoot. Over the last three years, since I started collecting Pandora, some of the funniest conversations I've had have been with Shauna on the Pandora pages, mostly on Pandora's Angels. We had a very silly talk one day about the "hypnotic" clip (below). She called it the "tittie" clip, because it's shaped like the famous "cone bra" that Madonna wore in the 80's - thus revealing both my age and Shauna's! Although not our maturity level!

There was also the time Shauna said the "puffy heart" charm always flips upside down when you're wearing it on a bracelet, and it looks like a bare butt - like someone's mooning you! My husband, by the way, has also thought it looked like a bare butt, but didn't say anything until I was writing this post! So immature! You can see below that Pandora does make some pretty cute butts!

I was reminiscing with Shauna about this the other night, and Shauna said, "my gawd, there were times when we burned the midnight oil, chatting and laughing on the boards... not suitable for younger audiences" to which I replied "Yup very silly! And inappropriate!" And she came back with "and proud of it..." 

So when I saw the charm Shauna had for sale I commented on her post saying, "I'm interested in your teal studded." Well, that was what I meant to say! The autocorrect on my iPad left the comment, "I'm interested in your real stud." To which - of course - Shauna asked, "you're interested in my real stud?!" She later told me, "because it was you, I thought I would have a bit of fun with it." After some banter back and forth I told her I would never buy a "stud" sight unseen!

When this charm arrived in the mail I was so excited! It will always remind me to not take life too seriously! How could I, when I look at this charm?! Thanks to Shauna it will make me think of bare butts and titties and studs! It will also make me smile when I think of the friends I've met through Pandora, and of the fun I've had with them on Facebook, especially that crazy chicka from the prairies!

Shauna has always had lovely things to say about my "stories" when I shared them on the Pandora fan page, even asking me to tag her so she doesn't miss any. And as you can see below, she even complemented me on my stories in the card she sent with my new "real stud" charm! Shauna is not just a funny friend, she is also one of my biggest supporters. And I know she could take the word "supporter" and run with it!

 

The teal studded lights also matches the stones in the dangle fish and sea star charms on my "Gifts from the Sea" bracelet, as well as the faceted teal and sea glass muranos.