1,000th Post and HUGE Giveaway Announcement!

EDITED TO ADD:  Please check here for the latest developments.  I have updated the contest parameters to accommodate the late entries.

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This is going to be a long post in order to accomplish several things so bear with me!

First off, sorry for disappearing for so long.  I fell down the rabbit hole that is dental work and my severe phobia thereof.  Go ahead and judge as I freely admit that I am a big, ginormous baby with a completely irrational fear of having any work (no matter how minor) done on my teeth.

So, glad that's over and also Hi!  Hello!  Welcome to OHMYGODICAN'TBELIEVE it's my 1,000th blog post!  1,000!  That is a BIG number.  Did I really write all those words?  About beads and kids and books and vacations and life and stuff?  Who knew I had so much to say?!

My life has changed SO DRASTICALLY since I started this blogging thing back in July, 2004.  The husband is gone as is the job at Toshiba.  The kid is now ELEVEN years old!

As is typical for me, I didn't really have any grand plan other than "I'm launching my jewelry onto a website and ought to have a blog to go with it because blogging is the new black."  Although the original jewelry website (like most everything else I wrote about in that first entry) is now gone with the wind, I continued to value the blog as a place to express myself and connect with other artists.

I really do love the instant connection and I try to respond to every comment and visit the blogs of those who are kind enough to leave comments here.  I've never joined Twitter (am afraid of the time commitment and also that my life does not have the minute by minute excitement to keep it going because who cares that I spilled flour all over the floor while making pancakes or had to spend 10 minutes explaining to my son why leaving dirty underwear on the floor is like, SO GROSS!) and I am an indifferent (at best!) Facebooker, but other than the recent long hiatus, I've always stayed involved here on the blog.

So, to celebrate almost 10 years of wordiness and 1,000 posts, I thought I would do a special blog hop challenge based on an idea I've been percolating for the last few years.  Unfortunately, based on the recent survey I did, it doesn't seem like there would be enough participation to make it worthwhile right now so I think I'll keep that idea in my back pocket for future.  If things pick up around here, then maybe I'll do it later this year.

Instead, I just thought I'd do a huge, ginormous, freebie bead and book GIVEAWAY BONANZA!

(insert cheering, clapping, confetti and balloons falling from the ceiling here!)

As a thank you for participating in the recent survey and leaving a comment on the last post, a special, pre-contest prize goes to Cynthia.  Cynthia, please email me your address and I'll get your package out to you right away.

For the rest of the prizes, y'all are gonna haveta work a little bit LOL!

THE RULES:

To enter, leave a comment on this post.  Each comment = 1 entry.  Be sure your comment gives me some way to CONTACT YOU if it doesn't link to your blog or email address.

Want extra ways to win?  Blog, Facebook, Tweet or use the time-absorbing social media vehicle of your choice to mention the giveaway and then leave the link here in a comment or email it to me and I'll count those as additional entries.  So, if you leave 1 comment and it includes a link to show that you blogged or tweeted (or whatever'd) about the giveaway, that counts as 2 entries.

Of course, you're saying to yourselves "sounds good, but show me the money beads so I know if it's worth going to all this extraordinary effort."

Okay, I hear ya.

THE PRIZES:

I've put together a pile of wonderful beading books (most read only once or twice so they are in pristine condition) as well as 10 BAGS of beads and accoutrements including:  lampwork, ceramic, polymer clay, wood, crystal, stone, shell, resin, lucite, vintage plastic, Czech glass, metal, chain, ribbons and fibers.  Each prize will consist of a hand-selected assortment of some of each category plus a book (until the books run out).

All of the beads, etc. are either pulled from my own extensive collection (not due to any defects - usually because they are multiples of something I already have, they were extra "freebies" from an Etsy purchase, or because my style has moved in a different direction).

But, as the saying goes, a photo is worth a thousand words, so here are few to whet your appetite:

 

This is the first pile of books.  I'll be adding a few more, but had to get the photos done over the weekend.  Also, don't be discouraged if you are not a seed beader - it is not my main focus, either, but I can tell you that I learned something of value to incorporate into my own work from every single one of these books:  an interesting or unusual use of a finding, a new way of thinking about construction possibilities, a different use for a particular material, etc.  This is a great way to open up possibilities for your creativity.

 

 

When I couldn't even get all of the BAGS into one shot, I quickly realized there was no way I was going to get a shot of ALL of the individual beads...not if I wanted to get this contest up and running any time this year.  This is 5 bags of beads - front bags have ceramics and stone.

 

 

 

Two more bags - poly clay and ribbons/fibers in one and lampwork in the other.

 

 

 

Two more bags - lucite, resin and vintage plastic on the left and more lampwork on the right.

 

 

And now, here's a little taste from each bag:

 

 

 

 

Multiple strands of lampwork glass

 

 

 

A very small portion of the available ceramics - filler beads in the background and two gorgeous pieces by Round Rabbit and Tracee Dock in the foreground

 

 

 

A little bit of what's in the wood and stone bag

 

 

 

More wood pieces - these are from Marie at Skye Jewels

 

 

 

Probably one of the best selections that I'm giving away are cabochons in stone, fused glass, shell and vintage crystal.  I went sort of cab-crazy a few years back when I was really into bead embroidery, but sadly I no longer have as much time to put into complicated pieces and my eyesight is really becoming an issue so I think this is a good area to cut back in. These are just a few pieces as examples.  I know that not everyone is into cabs because you mostly need seed bead, embroidery, or wire-working skills to work with them so if you are not into cabs be sure to mention that in your comment and I will not include any in your prize if you win.  On the other hand, if you are SUPER INTO cabs, mention that also and if you are a winner, I'll make your prize package up to include more cabs and less other stuff.

 

 

 

More lampwork samples.  The set on the right in greens/bronzes is from Blue Seraphim.

 

 

 

This is some of the metal, pearl, crystal and chain bag.  The pearls are high quality glass pearls, the gold/pearl chain is vintage, and the metal filigree piece has been patinated and coated with resin.

 

  

 

Here's a small sample of some of the ribbons and fibers.  I had to keep these in the bag because the wind was blowing a bit while I was taking photos.  In the upper right corner, you can see one of the polymer clay beads peeking out, too.

 

I hope the photos of just a small bit of what I plan to give out were enough to whet your appetite.  Each prize package will contain some of everything (unless you specifically request otherwise in your comment).

 

THE TIMING:

 

I plan to do 10 prize packages - I figure one prize for each 100 blog posts is a nice round number.  I will leave this post up for a couple of days and then move it to a link at the upper right of the nav bar on the blog so people can keep entering/commenting right up until the first prize is announced which will be NEXT MONDAY, 4/14/14. 

 

After that, I'll announce a winner every other day until all the packages have been awarded.

 

A quick recap:

1. 10 prize packages including a combination of beady goodness and a book (until the books run out)
2. 1 comment = 1 entry
3. Blog link, facebook, tweet, etc. = 1 additional entry
4. Include email, blog address or some way of contacting you in your comment
5. Winners selected randomly
6. First winner announce Monday, 4/14/14
7. Additional winners every other day after that until prizes are gone.

If I forgot anything or you don't understand something, feel free to email me or leave your question in the comments and I'll get back to you.

 

Have fun, good luck and thank you so much for 1,000 posts' worth of fun, beads, jewelry, and friendship.

 

KJ