Win 5 Glass Bead Mixes

With our Indian shipment of glass and natural material beads arriving last week, I thought it would be a great opportunity for a contest.  All of our beads are packaged in small white boxes that you can see me holding.  To win 5 of our Indian glass bead mixes, simply send me your guess as to how many of the small white boxes we received with this shipment.  Send me an email to blog@eebeads.com and put your number guess in the subject line, in the body of the email put your full name and address.  Whoever gets closest without going over will win.  I'll be announcing the winner on Monday, February 6th, 2012 at noon.  Good luck!

And the winner is Mary OKelly from Memphis, Tennessee.   Her guess of 163 was the closest without going over.  There were 190 white boxes in the shipment.

Thank you to everyone for playing!

Win Two Dozen Ball Head Pins

I love our new gold and silver plated ball head pins!  These pins are a very affordable alternative to gold filled and sterling silver head pins.  When I saw that I could get them in a plated version I had to have them!

Would you like some of these head pins?  I'm giving away 12 gold plated and 12 silver plated ball head pins to one lucky winner.  All you have to do is send me an email to blog@eebeads.com with the subject line "Ball Head Pins" and include your name and address in the body of the email.  I'll pick a random winner on Tuesday, January 17th at noon Eastern.  Good luck!

The Winner Is:  Tanya Houston from Marminton New Mexico.  Congratulations Tanya!

Win a Swarovski Sample Box

When Swarovski launches new colors and products, I get this wonderful box with 12 sections filled with all the new goodies.  It's eye candy at it's finest!  I put up the two new Swarovski colors Denim Blue and Antique Pink this week so I thought I'd give away the sample box to one of my readers.

To enter to win, send an email to me at blog@eebeads.com.  The subject line should say "Swarovski Contest" and include your full name and address in the body of the email...that's all you have to do!  I'll pick one random winner on Monday, December 12th, 2011 at noon Eastern time and post the winner here.  Good luck and thank you (as always) for stopping by!

The winner is:   Amy King from Saratoga Springs, New York.  Thanks to everyone for playing!

Win a Preciosa Crystal Faceted Round Snowman Kit

It's that time of year again for me to give away 3 of our Preciosa Frosted Round Crystal Snowman earring kits! Pictured in the bowl above are a bunch of our kits, guess how many there are (click for a larger picture) and send your answer to me at blog@eebeads.com.  In the subject line put your number guess and in the body of the email include your name and mailing address. The 3 people who get closest without going over will win a Frosted Faceted Round Snowman Kit including silver filled findings. One guess per email address please and you can guess through Friday, December 9th, 2011 at noon when I'll announce the winners.

There were 94 kits and the winners are:
Terry Garner of Watts, OK who guessed 92
Vanessa Ratliff of Royal, AR who guessed 91
Patty Kaine of Hawley, PA who guessed 88


Thanks to everyone for playing, look for another contest coming soon!

New Swarovski Colors for Fall 2011

 The new colors from Swarovski this fall are Demin Blue Crystals,Crystal Petrol Glass Pearl and Crystal Antique Pink crystals.  I think I'm in love with the Denim Blue already.  

What do you think of these new colors?

Pantone Color Report for Fall 2011

The colors that Pantone says are going to be showing up this fall are just yummy.  I think my favorite combination is definitely going to be the greens of cedar and deep teal...maybe quarry too.  Or how about a combination of deep teal and phlox?  So many choices!  What colors are you loving for jewelry?  Leave a comment here or send me an email and let me know.

Win Preciosa Crystal Beaded Bracelets

Time for another contest, but this one is a little tricky!  A few weeks ago Preciosa sent us these gorgeous bracelets, each featuring loads of Preciosa crystals and beads.   Brandi in customer service came up with the idea to have you try to tell the three different kinds of crystals we sell apart and win one of these bracelets!  Read below to see how to be entered to win.

The correct answer was:
A:  Swarovski Crystal
B:  Chinese Crystal
C:  Preciosa Crystal

Thank you to everyone who sent in a guess!  Our 3 winners of the Preciosa crystal bracelets are Laura Lee Morrison, Pam Chesbro and Marsha Nelson. 

New Decoration for the Office

Allen has always wanted the poster of "Rosie the Riveter" in our office.  Although there have been men who worked at eebeads.com over the years, primarily women have worked here and grown this company to what it is today.  While we were in Chicago recently visiting the Museum of Science and Industry, Allen was thrilled to find this poster in the gift shop.  It was a little tricky getting the poster home to Pennsylvania without it getting squished, but we did it.  We unveiled Rosie at our weekly meeting this week and all the girls here loved it!  We put the poster on an office door near our front door so everyone who comes in will see it. 

Who is Rosie the Riveter you might ask?  The classic figure of Rosie the Riveter was a representation of all hard working women during the WWII era. Mainly targeting women who worked in factories and industrial jobs that were normally given to men, Rosie became an icon for American working women. The need for these working women arose when men left the factories to go off to war. So who exactly is Rosie? The iconic figure was actually inspired by a group of working women whom most were named Rose. Rose Bonavita, Rosalind Walter, Geraldine Doyle, who actually was the model for Rosie in the popular poster, and Rose Monroe were the “real” Rosie’s of WWII. Each of these women varied in class, age, ethnicity, and background but their determined moral is what brought them together to represent the American working woman. They worked in factories helping to produce fighter airplanes, torpedo bombers, as well as other aircraft used for the war. Talk about one tough job! Where would we be without these powerful women helping to be a part of the backbone of our country during the war? They aided in paving the way for our nation as women began to fight for working rights. We can do it!

What does Silver Filled mean?

 As I keep adding new silver filled items, I get a lot of emails asking what silver filled is.  Silver filled is just like gold filled but in silver.  There is a thick layer of .925 or better sterling silver mechanically bonded to brass, above we're showing a bead.  Silver filled is 1/10 or 10% by weight sterling silver.  Silver filled is hundreds of times thicker than regular silver plate and looks just like solid sterling silver.  Silver filled also tarnishes less than sterling and if it does tarnish, cleans up easier than sterling silver.

I hope this helps explain what our new silver filled items are!

Hop on over to Facebook to win Blinky Beads

Hop on over to our Facebook page and leave your opinion of these beads.  Even if you don't like them, your comment could win you these beads...we just want honest opinions.

Have a bead filled weekend!
Carolyn

Win A Swarovski Sample Box

It's time for our last contest during our 15th birthday month.  The other day a customer asked me what the "ee" in eebeads.com stood for and I thought it would make a great contest question!  Here's how to enter:

Tell me what the "ee" in eebeads.com stands for by sending your answer to me in an email to blog@eebeads.com   Please include your full name and mailing address in your email.  From all the correct answers I receive, I'll pick three random names to win one of three Swarovski sample boxes.  One guess per email address please and you can guess through Monday, February 28th and I'll pick the winner at noon Eastern.  Good luck and happy weekend!

And the winners are:

The correct answer to what the ee in eebeads.com stands for was Eclectic Etc.  We shortened it to eebeads after a while because we noticed people had a really hard time spelling eclectic.  Congratulations to our winners, they are:

Paige Mixim of Readfield, Maine
Cynthia Dobbertean, Hammondsport, New York
Debbie Gilligam, Troy New York

Thank you to everyone who sent in a guess!

Guess How Many Kilos We Received

It's time for another contest! A couple weeks ago we received our yearly shipment of Inexpensive Indian Glass Beads. The beads come in small white, one kilo size boxes (I'm holding one). The larger cartons are cardboard and then wrapped and stitched up in burlap filled with these smaller white boxes. We received 10 of the larger boxes.

The contest is to guess how many of the small, white, 1 kilo boxes are in our shipment. You can see the entire shipment in the photo.

The winner is:
I had actually 4 people who didn't go over and guessed 240 which were the closest guesses.  The actual number of kilos in our shipment was 242.  The guessers were Judy, Timea, Patti and Karen.  Using a random number generator, Patti Welsh of Grand Rapids, Ohio is the winner!  There were 242 kilos in our shipment.  Thank you to everyone for playing!

New Picture of Us...Finally!

I admit it, I really don't like having my picture taken but the picture of Allen and me on our About Us page was entirely too old. A few weeks ago Allen found a park littered with fallen leaves and it seemed like the perfect spot to take our picture. After about 10 shots we got this one that we're pretty happy with! Our friend Jon of Enhanced Negatives did a little tweaking and created the border and it's all set now. What do you think? Leave a comment below or send me an email.

Happy New Year!
Carolyn

Win a Frosted Crystal Snowman Earring Kit!

This year we really started early making our holiday earring kits, but are still busy making them even now! I thought it would be fun to have a contest for you to guess how many earring kits are in this jar. Pictured in the jar are our Pearl Snowman Earring Kits (I think they're a little easier to see) . Guess how many there are (click for a larger picture) and send your answer to me at blog@eebeads.com In the subject line put your number guess and in the body of the email include your name and mailing address. The 3 people who get closest without going over will win a Frosted Faceted Round Snowman Kit including sterling silver findings. This is our newest kit and I just love the little guy! One guess per email address please and you can guess through Monday, December 6th at noon when I'll announce the winners.

There were 141 kits in the jar and the winners are:
Kathy Martin of Trenton, Florida guessed 132
Carolyn White of Wartrace, Tennessee guessed 126
Heather Figueroa of Brampton, Ontario guessed 126

Thank you to everyone for playing!

Happy Halloween!

Aren't these pups adorable? This is Silver (on the left) and Diamond and they belong to Dan, a friend who is on Allen's pool team. Every year Dan dresses them up for Halloween and brings them to the shop for a visit. I swear, between all of us here, we must have taken 100 pictures of these cuties.

Silver and Diamond are pretty special dogs, they're therapy dogs. After visiting us they were off to a local nursing home. Dan takes them around to veterans homes, nursing homes, assisted living facilities and hospitals to brighten peoples days each week. They're not only adorable, they're just as sweet as can be, love to be pet and will even give you a kiss!

Happy Halloween from all of us at eebeads.com and also Silver, Diamond and Dan!

Gemstones in 10mm Round Size

I'm so excited, this week I added a new size to our gemstone rounds family, we now have 10mm rounds in 6 stones. These are so fun and chunky, I know you're going to love them! Let me know what other stones we should have in this size or just in general by sending me an email or leaving a comment below.

Talk Like a Pirate and Win Pirate Booty!

Ahoy t' the loyal readers o' me blog! Garrr, in honor o' the mighty Talk Like a Pirate Day, we're givin' ye scurvy dogs a chance t' win a great gift o' the sea...The Beader's Pirate Booty! We'll be pickin' three o' ye landlubbers t' be winners, so head on over t' our Facebook page t' enter! Arggghh! Click the ol' "like" button on the page t' comment with yer best "arrrgh!" or "avast!" and we might randomly draw yer name outta the cap'n's hat t' get The Blessed Beader's Booty! Yarghh, the 3 luckiest o' the brood'll be gettin' gem-shaped soaps and a grand ol' bag o' gemstone goodies, includin' our favorite...SKULLS! Arrrrghh! Avast, we'll be announcin' the winners on the morrow at 3PM EST, so grab yer bottle o' rum and join the rest o' the scallywags on Facebook for yer chance t' win!

-Cap'n' Carolyn

Problems With Norton This Morning?

If you use Norton anti virus software and clicked on our email message this morning, you might have gotten a message that our site was "not safe". After a little digging, we realized it wasn't us, it was the email company that is in charge of sending out our emails that was causing the problem. Basically, Norton thought they had a problem. We wanted to assure everyone that there was no security threat on our site and Norton loves our site as you can see here.

Later on in the day, the email company apparently got Norton to cancel the warning, so you may not have gotten this message at all.

Just wanted to assure you everything was fine and we take your security around here very seriously. Any concerns, don't hesitate to email me or Allen@eebeads.com.

Fantastic Online Color Wheel

Last week Dannie made the fun little birds nest out of our vintage brass wire and filled it with Turquoise Colored Jasper. It was my job to make a necklace out of it. I wanted the beads I used to really contrast the turquoise color, but what color to use?

I recently found an online color wheel called the Color Scheme Designer and used it to pick a complementary color to go with the beads in the birds nest. This is such a great tool I knew I had to share it with you! Hope you enjoy playing with it!

Angel Wings Flying to Us Soon

Look what's coming to eebeads soon! Our pewter artist Don made this beautiful angel wing pendant (or charm) just for us and samples are on the way for approval. But from this picture I think I'm going to love it! It measures 40mm long and 14mm wide, great for a pendant and still not too big for earrings. If all goes well we should have this in antique gold and silver plating in about 2-3 weeks. Make sure you're on our email list for first notice of this coming to the shop!

Send me an email or leave me a comment below, what do you think of it?

Enchanted Nights Design Challenge Winners!

We had a wonderful response from this contest! Thank you to everyone who entered and all those who voted and left comments too! Our winners for the Enchanted Nights Challenge are:

1st Place $100 Gift Certificate
#9 Danette Seiler from Missoula, Montana


2nd Place A Grab Bag of Gemstone Shape Beads
#10 Cheryl Bracht from Cascade, Wisconsin


Stay tuned to my blog for another contest...we'll announce the details for the next one soon!

Blizzards...Just Not a Lot of Fun.

Blizzards are never much fun and this most recent one kept all of us out of the office for two days. We'll be back in tomorrow, but we wanted to let you know why your order didn't ship if you placed one yesterday or today.

This snowy picture is the view from Carolyn and Allen's front window during the height of the storm yesterday. We got about 18" here in Willow Grove, PA and set a new record for the most snow in a season. Only 37 days till spring!

Vote in the Enchanted Nights Design Challenge

Below are the 13 entries for the Enchanted Nights Design Challenge. Great job to all our eebeaders and thank you for entering! Take a look at the entries below, click on the thumbnails to see the full size picture and then vote for your favorite in the poll below the pictures.
When you place your vote below, you will be asked to give your email. You will receive a vote confirmation email and you must click the link in the email for your vote to count. This is the only use of your email, we won't add you to any list. We reserve the right to reject any votes we deem suspicious of "vote-stuffing". Please limit your voting to one vote per person.
The first place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to eebeads.com and the second place winner will receive a grab bag of gemstone shape beads.
Voting ends February 12th at noon. Happy voting and good luck eebeaders!

Which of the Enchanted Nights Challenge entries do you like best?:

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Your Email address: (will be used to verify your vote only)

Click here to view the current results!

Yea! I have a new desk!

I've been complaining for too long that my desk was too small. Allen kept saying that I should get a new one and this week I finally got a new desk about 3 times bigger than my old one. I just love it! I had to move out of my office for the beast to be built and found a stash of Czech pressed glass and lampwork beads. They need a good home so I made up some little bags of the beauties just for you! Place an order $40 or morebefore January 22 enter coupon code:
BLOGDESK
and I'll send you a bag of the beads I found! I bet you'll love them!

And don't forget to enter our Enchanted Nights Design Challenge, I'd love to see what you come up with!

It's been a while so I thought it was time to have another Challenge with our eebeads beaders! This time the theme is “Enchanted Nights” and you can make anything you want from items available from eebeads.com, it’s up to you to interpret the theme any way you choose, you do not have to use the colors in the picture here. Feel free to use any colors and materials you like.

Votes will be collected as we did last time. When you vote the server will send you an email to confirm your vote and you must click the sent link for your vote to count. We also reserve the right to reject any votes we deem suspicious of "vote-stuffing". Please limit your voting to one vote per person.

1. All materials used in your submission must have been purchased from eebeads.com
2. Only one entry per person, but you can submit a matched set (for example a bracelet and earrings).
3. Photos should be emailed to blog@eebeads.com by February 3rd . Please include your full name in the email. Any type of graphic file is fine, but please make sure the picture is in focus.
4. Winners of the last Autumn Harvest Challenge are not eligible to enter the Enchanted Nights Challenge.
5. Voting will begin Friday, February 5th and run through Friday, February 12th at noon. Winners will be announced Friday, February 12th .

The first place winner will receive a $100 gift certificate to eebeads.com and the second place winner will receive a grab bag of gemstone shape beads.

Get creating and have fun! Any questions, feel free to email me at blog@eebeads.com