Holiday Posting Update

Lots going on around here for the holidays, so I'm really going to be scarce, probably only a few posts here and there through the first of the year. I've got a couple of projects lined up for my free time between Christmas and New Year, so I hope to have some posts and pictures then.

My holiday wish for everyone is that you have much fun with the ones you love.

Special Edition - Interview of Rebeca Mojica from Blue Buddha Boutique

A while back I asked Rebeca Mojica, owner of Blue Buddha Boutique if she would be so kind as to answer a few questions in a blog interview. She graciously agreed and I'm thrilled to share her answers.

A great bio and other information about Rebeca and Blue Buddha can be found on the Blue Buddha Boutique website. Rebeca's Artist's Statement is also an inspiring read. Here's a snippet from the "About" page:

Blue Buddha Boutique, a diverse line of chainmaille supplies and finished jewelry, was launched by self-taught artist Rebeca Mojica in 2003. First operated out of Rebeca's spare bedroom as a one-woman business, Blue Buddha has grown to a staff of six full- and part-time employees, with interns and guest contributors helping the company thrive.

Again, thank you Rebeca for the answers below and for sharing about the fascinating art of chainmaille!

1) Was the transition from making chainmaille for yourself to owning a chainmail business easy or challenging? How long did that take? What things made it either easy or challenging for you?

Turning my hobby into a business was definitely challenging, but one thing that I've realized, is that I thrive on challenge. It makes me feel alive. So even though it was difficult, in some ways, I loved (nearly) every minute of it. Shortly after I started making chainmaille, I began teaching it at a local bead store, and realized I wanted to try to make a living at it. I put myself on a 5-year plan to make it my sole source of income.

At the time, I had three part time jobs. Over the years, I slowly let one job after another go, once I'd reached the point where my chainmaille income could replace that job. Four and a half years into my plan, I'd succeeded and hired my first full-time employee!

The hardest part was the relentless, never-ending work. I would go to a party, come home at 2 am, and feel the need to work on my website or number crunch for a few hours before going to bed. I started my business with $20, a pair of pliers and a bag of rings, and built everything from that. This meant that every time I sold something, I put it back into the business.

This also meant that I was totally the proverbial "starving artist." For several years I stayed away from places that charged money for entertainment--restaurants, movies, travel, clubs, bars, arts performances. Basically, I stayed away from many of the things I love. That was certainly one of the most difficult sacrifices I had to make.

Another challenging aspect was the fact that I had no education in business. Some days, I felt like I was completely winging it. Almost like the blind leading the blind. Yet somehow, it all managed to work out.

I think that what made it all bearable was the fact that I really loved what I was doing. I am right- and left-brained, and so being a business owner stimulated both sides of my brain. As I said, I love challenges, so every day I woke up excited about the possibilities of what I could accomplish.

2) What is the most satisfying thing about teaching chainmaille, and what's the most frustrating?

Most satisfying is definitely seeing the "Ah-ha!" moment--the exact second when it clicks in a student's head. Immediately after that, they are so much more relaxed, and they can simply enjoy the process, rather than struggle with trying to figure out what ring goes where.

Not too much about teaching is frustrating for me. If a student doesn't get a weave right away, I could definitely see that being frustrating to some instructors. However, it just makes it more challenging and interesting for me, because I'm determined to find the right words and the right demonstration tool so that they DO understand. It's my mission! So that's not really frustrating for me. I suppose what would actually be most frustrating is stuff that has nothing to do with teaching per-se--students trying to talk on their cell phones, or trying to cut me off without really hearing me.

3) Do you have plans to teach outside of your immediate geographical area in the near future, and if so, where? Where would you most like to hold a class but haven't had the opportunity?

When my book is released in 2011, I plan on spending about a year traveling to bead shops and shows to do workshops and book signings. Priority will be given to areas requested by Blue Buddha fans--so far there's really good support for Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Minneapolis, New York, Atlanta and Boston.

Sadly, there are more cities than I can possibly travel to, but hopefully I can squeeze a LOT of different states in! My dream location for holding a class would actually be the Internet. I have not yet done a streaming class, but would love to carve out the time to do that when I'm done writing the book. Now that we have Skype, so much more is possible!

4) Is there a chainmaille professional organization or community? If so, what is it like when it comes to designs and 'ownership' - are there professional standards and rules? For example, When you invent a new weave, is there a place to register it or check it against other designs to see if it's actually original? If not, is there something more informal out there?

There is no official guild or anything of that sort specific to chainmaille. However, Maille Artisans International League (M.A.I.L - www.MailleArtisans.org) is widely recognized for its library of chainmaille weaves and many maillers submit their weaves there for archival. They also have a forum, gallery, articles and plenty of other chainmaille-related information.

5) In your "about" statement you say "When she is not weaving maille, Rebeca enjoys cooking (especially baking bread *), learning languages, and contemplating quantum physics and fractal cosmology." A lot of my friends are fans of Science Fiction (as am I) and I'm very interested in your thoughts on contemplating quantum physics and fractal cosmology - what lead you to an interest in these areas, how does it (or does it?) relate to your art?

OK, now you've really opened the floodgates. :-) My interest in the universe started when I read A Brief History of Time for my 11th grade English class. (Yes, English class!) I was instantly fascinated. Within a few years, I was volunteering at the local Planetarium and reading every lay book I could about astronomy and cosmology.

It is so interesting to me, that the world we live in has so many layers. Everything is absurdly complex, yet somehow it all fits together so elegantly. I feel like a detective, trying to explore the science of the world we live in--the biology of cells, and beneath them, the chemical reactions that make biology work, and even deeper the physics within atoms and molecules. I hope I live to see the day when we discover whatever "particle" is smaller than quarks.

I believe that the universe/multiverse is a fractal (a hyperdimensional fractal, actually) and so we will never discover what the "smallest" particle is, nor will we know the span of the complete universe. We can only keep exploring and try to discover as much as possible. But that's so exciting! It means we will never run out of stuff to learn.

I often turn to the science and math around me for creative inspiration. Whether it is the structure of chemical compounds, the shape of crystals, the golden rectangle, or the fractals in trees, for whatever reason, those types of things are really exciting to me. When science stimulates me in this way, my creativity is unleashed! I feel as though I can create anything, do anything.

The Japanese Bulls Eye weave was one of the first patterns I created, and it came about while trying to create a fractal-based weave. I have plans for a fractal necklace, and plan on someday developing an entire collection of pieces based around mathematical concepts. (Though I suppose you could successfully argue that all chainmaille patterns are mathematical!)

6) What would you say to a person who is interested, but somewhat nervous about getting started making chainmail creations and isn't able to take a live class to learn it? What tools & first types/sizes of jumprings to get, what first project would you recommend trying?

There are a few very basic projects that you can try to see if you like chainmaille. We have some free instructions on our website (Shaggy Loops and Double Spiral for example), and M.A.I.L has dozens and dozens of free instructions. Some other good beginner projects are Celtic Visions (bracelet OR star) and European 4-in-1. These a la carte kits/instructions are good for beginners, because it doesn't require a large financial commitment, and allows you to test one project at a time.

If you're more inclined to want to test out a few different projects, or you learn better from watching, rather than reading, I highly recommend Spider's DVD. I've known Spider for 7 years--she's a fantastic chainmaille artist and a marvelously patient, meticulous instructor. We have do have kits that have everything you need to make the DVD projects, which means that beginners don't have to sift through charts and figure out ring sizes/ring counts.

If you just want to pick up some rings and play, my favorite size would definitely be our H18. This is 18 gauge base metal (0.048" / 1.2 mm) and H is the inner diameter of 3/16" (12/64" / 4.8 mm). This size is very versatile, and is one of my favorites for European 4-in-1/Mesh.

Some people mistakenly think they can use the same size ring for any weave, but unfortunately, weaves are picky. Only a select number of sizes will work for any weave, and only one or two sizes are ideal. (Just because a size works, doesn't mean it works well--it could be too loose, or impractically stiff.)

(interviewer's note: the Base Metal Stats page is a great reference for investigating ring sizes and gauges, with recommendations on which weaves work best with specific rings)

Also, note that by H18, I mean our H18 in non-precious metals, such as Aluminum, anodized aluminum, copper, or brass. Steel and bronze are also non-precious, but they are tougher metals to work with, and not appropriate for most beginners.

H18 in sterling is different, too, because sterling runs on a different gauge system, and 18ga sterling is actually thinner than 18ga base metal. I know, I know, it's a confusing world!

If you insist on practicing with an expensive metal like sterling, H17 SILV is a good substitute because 17ga silver is nearly the same as 18ga base metal.

Whew!

OK, on to the tools: You don't need expensive pliers when you're starting out, but if you do a lot of chainmaille, you will most likely want to move to more expensive pliers that do a better job of preventing repetitive stress injury.

I prefer to use two flat nose pliers. Those pliers give a better grip on the rings, because they cover more surface area. I also like to coat my pliers with Tool Magic. It allows me to work faster and not worry about marring the rings. Our tools page has a lot of information about what pliers we like to use for what applications.

(interviewer's note: please check out my review of Wubbers. They were graciously provided for reviewing by Blue Buddha Boutique and while Rebeca didn't call them out, I can certainly recommend them.)

We are actually working a special "mini website" within our larger website that will answer many of these questions in great detail, and will even have some 1-click shopping lists for various budgets. There is SO much information about chainmaille, it's difficult to try to answer all the possibly questions in just a few sentences, but hopefully this part of our website will make great strides in increasing people's comfort level with getting started.

7) What about chainmaille challenges you most - a particular weave or 3-dimensional work or ?

Lack of time to create all the intricate design ideas floating around in my head.

8) Has social media impacted the way you market your business? If so, how? (I can either list the sites, like Twitter or Facebook, myself or you can share your links in your answer)

Oh yes, most definitely. Our presence on Twitter and Facebook have allowed us to bring a personal touch to our business. Folks can get to know us better. It drives home the idea that we are real humans behind the business.

It seems as though people are more comfortable doing business with real humans, rather than hard-to-relate -to, faceless corporations. These platforms are a place for us to post photos of our activities right as they happen, making customers six states away feel as warmly welcomed as if they were standing in our studio. It has also given us a big picture idea of which ones of our customers know each others, which ones have Etsy shops, etc. Basically, it's made the world smaller!

It has also been good for me personally, as I landed a book deal after with North Light Books after one of their acquisition editors found me through Blue Buddha's page on Facebook. I had submitted proposals to several publishers, but was happiest with what North Light was offering, and so I signed the contract. I may never had made that connection if the business didn't have a page on Facebook!

9) Chainmaille, chainmail or chain mail? I want to fix my online spell check and get it right!

I, like many others in this field, choose to spell chainmaille as one word, or shorten it to maille, both with an "le" at the end. This is mainly to distinguish this craft from chain letters and spam, but also because the English word evolved from the French maille (mesh). When I've gathered enough press clippings that use this spelling, I will submit them to various dictionaries in the hopes that they will deem "maille" an acceptable alternative to "chain mail."

Thank you so much, Rebeca, for taking the time out of your busy schedule to so thoughtfully answer these questions! I hope my readers find learning about chainmaille as fascinating as I do and can't wait to try it. I know that I've learned a thing or two just from your answers and will be pouring over the information at Blue Buddha Boutique and other sites you've recommended so I can incorporate more maille ideas into my work in 2010 and beyond.

I know that usually I have a Supplier Sales Saturday post, but with the Christmas holiday coming I'll probably take a day or two off from posting later in the week and I really wanted to share this as soon as possible. Supplier Saturday will be back next week.

Teaser Preview of Interview with Rebeca Mojica of Blue Buddha Boutique

In a few days I'll be posting the full interview of Rebeca Mojica the owner of Blue Buddha Boutique. Rebeca is a fascinating person worth learning more about. I hope with this preview of the upcoming interview, you'll see what I mean and come back for the full discussion.

Here's one of the questions I posed:

In your "about" statement you say "When she is not weaving maille, Rebeca enjoys cooking (especially baking bread), learning languages, and contemplating quantum physics and fractal cosmology." A lot of my friends are fans of Science Fiction (as am I) and I'm very interested in your thoughts on contemplating quantum physics and fractal cosmology - what lead you to an interest in these areas, how does it (or does it?) relate to your art?

OK, now you've really opened the floodgates. :-) My interest in the universe started when I read A Brief History of Time for my 11th grade English class. (Yes, English class!) I was instantly fascinated. Within a few years, I was volunteering at the local Planetarium and reading every lay book I could about astronomy and cosmology. It is so interesting to me, that the world we live in has so many layers.

Everything is absurdly complex, yet somehow it all fits together so elegantly. I feel like a detective, trying to explore the science of the world we live in--the biology of cells, and beneath them, the chemical reactions that make biology work, and even deeper the physics within atoms and molecules. I hope I live to see the day when we discover whatever "particle" is smaller than quarks.

I believe that the universe/multiverse is a fractal (a hyperdimensional fractal, actually) and so we will never discover what the "smallest" particle is, nor will we know the span of the complete universe. We can only keep exploring and try to discover as much as possible. But that's so exciting! It means we will never run out of stuff to learn.

I often turn to the science and math around me for creative inspiration. Whether it is the structure of chemical compounds, the shape of crystals, the golden triangle, or the fractals in trees, for whatever reason, those types of things are really exciting to me. When science stimulates me in this way, my creativity is unleashed! I feel as though I can create anything, do anything.

The Japanese Bulls Eye weave was one of the first patterns I created, and it came about while trying to create a fractal-based weave. I have plans for a fractal necklace, and plan on someday developing an entire collection of pieces based around mathematical concepts. (Though I suppose you could successfully argue that all chainmaille patterns are mathematical!)

Isn't that lovely? Science and artistry complementing each other. I know a great many of us who design and create jewelry have a similar passion about our work and it's wonderful to see it expressed so beautifully.

For more about Rebeca and Blue Buddha Boutique, please come back for the full interview - as I said, I hope to post it soon.

Thursday Feature: FTC's Material Disclosure Guidance and Bloggers, Revisited

As you might be aware, a few months ago the FTC published guidance on endorsements and material disclosure. I posted about it as well.

If you have been fortunate enough to receive something free from a supplier to use and review, as I have, you might be concerned that your disclosure isn't adequate. Well, here's an "Endorsement Guide" from Mary Engle, Associate Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, that in just a few seconds should clear things up.



I think my disclosures are straight forward and, beyond what is required, also detail exactly what consideration has been given. What I think I will change is where I offer my disclosure. I will move it to the beginning of my posts, thus taking the "up front" literally, even if Mary, on behalf of the FTC, was using it in colloquial manner.

Here's another very short video answering the question "Is the FTC planning to sue bloggers?"



Finally, there's a PDF document with a lot of examples and information about the guidelines available as well.

Love to hear your thoughts on this!

Mid-Week Mutterings

This is going to be really brief - I'm very tired this evening. Thought I'd share a new necklace I made over the weekend. It has faceted carnelian rounds, gold filled beads, CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements in topaz helix and red magma bicones, and orange-gold freshwater pearls:

The beads are not graduated in size, that's just the angle of the picture making it seem so. I really like this color combination, it's going to look very nice with dark brown or even as a contrast with other winter colors like dark teal, navy blue or purple.

Got a nifty little package of items from Rings & Things today - will take some pictures and share more soon.

Until tomorrow -

Tuesday Tidbit - Winter Color Necklace with Pearls and CZ Sterling Silver Toggle

Last week I hadn't finished the necklace using the last of the great Artbeads Cubic Zirconia items from Artbead's Blogging for Beads selection. I was able to finish it over the weekend and I wanted to share it to wrap up the posts on CZs.

The photo doesn't show the entire necklace, rather I wanted to try and feature Cognac CZs on the toggle, which I thought coordinated nicely with the CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements bicones used in the necklace. You can find Artbeads Sterling Silver CZ embellished toggles in a number of colors

I used dark teal freshwater pearls, coppery freshwater pearls and CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements in Sapphire and Golden Shadow bicones in the design, as well. I think that normally I'd have used gold findings, but I like how the silver looks with this, especially with the CZ detail.

I used the thinnest Soft Flex 49 strand satin silver wire I had for the necklace, but I still had to enlarge the holes a bit on the last coppery pearls to get the wire to double through, although the dark teal ones were just wide enough. I'm looking forward to trying out the Soft Touch very fine wire with these in a matching bracelet, to see if I can double back without having to enlarge the hole in the pearls, which is somewhat tedious using a non-mechanical pearl reamer.

You'll get to read about that in a future post, probably a bit later in the week, as I use and review the new Soft Touch and Soft Flex Trios I've received.




FTC compliance notice of material connection: The CZ toggle used was provided to me for free in exchange for design purposes and/or promotional consideration by Artbeads.

Monday Miscellany - Pink Lampwork with Brass Necklace

Happy Hanukkah! I know I'm a few days late, my apologies for not mentioning it until now. My son's significant is celebrating it with him each evening and he reminded me when we spoke the other day. I've pretty much finished up my Christmas shopping. Just a thing or two still coming in the mail (or UPS as the case may be).

A while back I made a necklace using amber and some Beadin' Path vintage glass beads. Part of the necklace used amber colored glass that I'd collected from quite a few glass mix packages (Blue Moon). While arranging the beads I wanted to use in the amber necklace, I discovered that some of the glass was more pink/mauve with a golden AB coating than the golden brown I needed. Those I sorted out and put aside.

Then, while going through other various beads I noticed that those beads went really well with some others that I'd used in various designs which had all ended up in an odds and ends dish. After playing around with various combinations, this is the result.

The design was a bit constrained by the number of antiqued brass spacers and lampwork beads I had in my stash, but I'm still quite happy with how it looks.

I recently received some Trios from Soft Flex (thank you, Sara!) - a set of Satin Silver Soft Touch in Very Fine, Fine and Medium diameters, plus a set of Fine, Medium and Heavy Soft Flex, also in Satin Silver. I'll be working up some new pieces with these and giving you my impressions, so I hope you'll come by to see.

Weekly Wanderings Around the Beadosphere

Cold (low 50s which is cold as far as this California girl is concerned) and the last couple days have been rainy. That hasn't kept me from visiting a lot of great blogs out there in the Beadosphere, where the weather outside just doesn't matter.

From the Annual Reindeer Bead to this week's featured design project every day at A Bead A Day, Lisa shares fun beads and ideas.

Beading Arts - If you're into using seed beads Cyndi is giving away "Seed Bead Fusion" next week - check here for how to enter.

The Beading Gem's Journal will link you to some great tutorials - like this necklace of exposed wire loops and 3D Crystal Animals (know a Hello Kitty fan? You'll want to click that link).

BunnyBlogs - Pretty baubles, bracelets and a shout out to yours truly! Thanks, Drea!

Davinia over at Deez News worked on her wire wrapping and strung a lovely mixed bead necklace. Oh, lets also wish her mother a speedy recovery!

At Designs by Blanche (aka Sha-sha Handcrafted Jewelry) her post "Family and Inspirations" has lovely photography - including a really impressive background for a jewelry set. She also very kindly shares links, including mine (thank you!) and a sneak peek at the items she got from Artbeads Blogging for Beads.

AJ over at ErtheFae's shares some Artbeads goodies she's working with and got to take a class from Marcia DeCoster and shows what she made there.

Just A Tish features Corse Crafts, shares links to giveaways, but best of all talks about her lovely featured work in Bead Trends - go grab your copy!

See great designs with The Beadin' Path Lucite beads at Pretty Things.

At Silver Parrot gorgeous new pieces, 3 Things and Friday bead porn. This is a really fun blog, I hope you're following, because those were only three of the fun posts from last week.

Willow Walker shared two great sets on Thursday, but the entire week's posts are truly gorgeous. I really appreciate her sense of color and the interesting shapes of her dichroic glass work.

Artbeads blog - last minute gift ideas, gorgeous bracelet, and information on the Use the Muse III reveal, coming soon

Beadalon blog Technicolor Bracelet Tutorial.

The Beadin' Path - Weekly Beadditude with Dara: Felted Christmas Ornaments

Friendly Plastic - Too hard to choose between the two posts this week - Glisten and Shine or Go Dramatic. One of these days I'm going to get my hands on this stuff and try it.

Ornamentea - Fun felt ball wreath

Rings & Things - What are 'findings'?

SoftFlexGirl - Free project idea "Simply Irresistible Headband"


Don't see your favorite blog here? Just leave me the link in comments and I'll be sure to check them out.

Also, if you follow* this blog, you'll never miss the weekly wanderings because you forgot to check - I'll be delivered right to your reader or Blogger dashboard every day!

*Look up at the uppermost left hand side of this page - see the boxes that say "search blog" "flag blog" and "follow blog" - just click the "follow blog" box!

Hope you have a great week - see you tomorrow!

Supplier Sales Saturday - Christmas Is Nearly Upon Us!

Only 13 days to go before Christmas! Still time to get in on some great deals for making those last few gifts.

abeadstore.com Save 20% on All Items within this category. You must enter the coupon code ABSSUPERSALE as you check out. Offer expires on November 25th. Coupon codes also appear on the home page, D100 for 10% off orders of $100 or more and D250 for 15% off orders of $250 or more. You can bookmark their blog "Daily Bead Buzz" or get the info via email Newsletter, signup at this link for notice of special offers.

*Limited to items within the category and to the stock on hand. Only one coupon per order please. Valid only at abeadstore.com.
If you're into mixed media the Alpha Stamps site has great ideas and kits for holiday crafting, there are some very cute 12 Days of Christmas ideas being featured this week.

If you want to see everything on sale at AlphaStamps, it's all on one page, too. If you're not familiar with AlphaStamps, you need do visit right away. Even if you never work with anything but beads, stones and findings, you'll still want to visit. They've got findings and charms and more stuff you can use. Sign up for their newsletter here.
Artbeads - 50% off over 2000 items, save 15% on all pendants, enter coupon code SCW15P-PEN during checkout and weekly coupon, save $10 on your order of $60 or more by using coupon code SCW10D-60 during checkout. Coupons expire at 9am (PST) on Thursday, December 17, 2009. Only one coupon may be used per order.

Don't forget to always check the Clearance items & Weekly Specials - there's just too much stuff on sale to list here.
The Beadin' Path - Purchase $30 worth of Gift Cards from The Beadin' Path in any combination, and receive a $10 shopping voucher. Treat yourself or to give as an extra gift to the beadlover on your list. And there's still plenty of time. Order gift cards online & they're emailed to you right away during business hours (Mon-Fri 9-6pm EST). Or visit our Freeport store 7 days, from 10-6pm.

Offer expires Wednesday, December 24th by 12pm noon EST. Shopping vouchers will be handed out or emailed at time of gift card purchase. Vouchers can be redeemed from January 1st, 2010 - March 1st, 2010. One $10 voucher for every $30 worth of gift cards purchased.
The Bead Shop is having a 15% off sale through the 14th, enter code: december. Newsletter subscribers are getting a better discount - sign up for their newsletter to take advantage of future offers.
Choice Jewelry Supplies Save 10% on all the sterling silver beads sold within this category. You must enter the coupon code CJSSSHOLIDAY. Discount will be applied after entering the coupon. Limited to stock on hand. Only one coupon per order please. Valid only at ChoiceJewelrySupplies.com. Offer expires December 18th. There are also discounts offered at the $100 (10%, code CJS100 ) and $250 (15%, code CJS250) level. Enter codes at checkout.
Consumer Crafts "hot buys" are 50% or more off - check the right hand navigation links for all the categories available - there's more there than show up in the "featured" box in the middle.Create for Less - Holiday Gift Ideas sale has almost 400 items for sale. Over 200 items are on the Weekly Specials page. Check out the "Dear Santa" Sweepstakes, up to $100 in crafts items to the lucky winner.
D&I Beads - Use coupon code DECEMBER35 for 35% off until December 31st. Shipping is free in the US. Offer expires January 1, 2010.

Fusion Beads - Vintaj is 20% off, all plated lead-free pewter clasps by TierraCast are 20% off, no coupon needed, prices are discounted by item. Type 10off50fusion in the Gift Certificate/Credit Voucher Claim Code to save 10% on all orders of $50 or more. Offers are good through Dec. 14, 2009, 12 noon PST. Other good sales are listed under "weekly specials".
A Grain of Sand - Free shipping on all domestic orders over $75.00. Don't forget the Jabber Blabber Specials and Closeouts .
Magpie Gemstones use promotional code "0925" for 15% off in your shopping cart to receive this discount.
Ohio Beads is giving a 25% discount on your order of any or all of the following four items, use coupon code SS25 in the 'Redeem' box during checkout through December 13th, then click the 'Redeem' button. Items are: Sterling Silver Chain #10: Medium Textured Scalloped Chain, Sterling Silver Chain _#26: 2.5mm Bead/Ball Chain, Sterling Silver 2 x 2 mm Crimp Tubes (100/Pkg), and Sterling Silver 3 x 3 mm Crimp Tubes (20/Pkg). Other sale items can be found in the "On Sale Now" section.

Retail Pack & Pouch Depot - need nice gift bags for your artisan items? 25% off Christmas Sale 25% off you next order of pouches, placed through the online store. This sale includes organza, velveteen, faux suede, fishnet, cotton, jute, feather trimmed and lame' drawstring pouches. To receive 25% off pouches enter Coupon Code: xmas on the checkout page. Coupon code is only good on orders placed through the online store. Enter the code in the coupon code box on the payment page and receive a 25% off your order of pouches. This offer expires on December 31, 2009 and is subject to change without notice.

At Rings & Things you can see all the specials and sales on one page. 5-day sale is 10% off bulk jewelry chain, ends tomorrow.
Sedona Stones - Mother of Pearl beads on sale through Monday Dec. 14, 2009. Get 15% off all items listed in the Sale Items category.

Each week, the old sale items will be removed and new ones added - once the old items are removed from the Sale Items category, the 15% discount will not apply to those items, but will apply to the new items listed in the Sale Items category.
Shipwreck Beads - I hardly *ever* see sales, and this one is over on December 13th so there's not much time left. Save 25% on their entire gemstone selection - every single gemstone bead, bead mixture and pendant is on sale. Plus every week newsletter subscribers have a chance at a prize drawing of at least $250. Every now and then it's $1000. On January 1, 2010 they'll announce the winner of their $2500 shopping spree. Sign up for the newsletter here.

Soft Flex is having 72 hr Holiday Sales, Mondays thru Thursdays. For a really deep discount, try the cool "Mystery Package" spend $25 for $100 worth of materials.

Sign up for the Soft Flex newsletter email to get Early Bird specials and advance notices + other fun news.


Don't see your favorite online shop here? Just leave me the link in comments and I'll be sure to check them out and share their specials and sales here.

Also, if you follow* this blog, you'll never miss a sale because you forgot to check - I'll be delivered right to your reader or Blogger dashboard every day!

*Look up at the uppermost left hand side of this page - see the boxes that say "search blog" "flag blog" and "follow blog" - just click the "follow blog" box!

As always, sign up for the supplier newsletters where offered, to get special offers and early notification of great deals. Most of the info you see here, you could have seen earlier this week in the supplier newsletters, 'cause that's where I found it!

Come back tomorrow to Wander the Beadosphere with me - so much to see out there!

Contest Winner!

I entered the names from all the comments from yesterday in the order they came in. The names on the list were re-arranged in a random order by the Randomizer for lists. The one that came up in the #1 position is the winner - AJ!

AJ, I'll need you to email me the full name and email address that the gift certificate should be sent to. It will be sent directly from Artbeads.

For a chance at a $100 Artbeads "Holiday Cheer" prize go to their Facebook page to read how and enter.

Come back later for Supplier Saturday - I've got a great list this week of deals and coupons to share.



Documentation of the random selection can be found in my GoogleDocs shared folder.

The Artbeads gift certificate was provided as a promotional consideration by Artbeads.

Final Artbeads CZ Design & Enter Today to Win a $25 Artbeads Gift Certificate

The final set of CZ coins I from Artbeads were the yellow ones shown below. I paired them with sterling lever back earrings and Beadalon silver square knots. I used two Beadalon ball end headpins and made wrapped loops to connect them to the knots.

I received one other CZ item - a sterling silver toggle with 3mm Cognac CZs, which I haven't used yet, but hope to soon.

I hope you've enjoyed this week of Arbeads Cubic Zirconia Beads . Now it's time to comment on your favorite CZ piece from this week as your entry in a random drawing for a $25.00 Artbeads gift certificate. The winner will be drawn and announced on Saturday (tomorrow) and will get their certificate directly from Artbeads, so I'll be asking you to email me your full name and email address, if you're chosen.

For a chance at a $100 Artbeads "Holiday Cheer" prize go to their Facebook page to read how and enter.

Come back tomorrow when I announce the winner!

FTC compliance notice of material connection: some of the CZ elements, as noted above, were provided to me for free in exchange for design purposes and/or promotional consideration by Artbeads.