The Halloween Giveaway is Here!

And you only have one week!

I had some camera issues last week so I didn't get this up when I wanted to . . . and since it's now October 5th, we need to get a move on so the winner will have time to wear their prizes before Halloween!

This month, we are giving away 7 Halloween themed single earrings for you to mix and match! Here are the photos:






Here's how to enter:

1. be a follower of our blog (no need to do anything else unless you want more entries!)

2. purchase any item from our shop: http://www.theholybead.com between October 5, 2009 and October 12, 2009.

3. Post a link to our site http://www.theholybead.com on any social networking website (twitter, facebook, livejournal, blogger, myspace, etc.)

4. Post a link to this contest entry from any social networking website (twitter, facebook, livejournal, blogger, myspace, etc.)

So, you can get a maximum of four entries for this blog contest to win the earrings! Just reply to this entry with the link to where you posted for number 3 & 4. I will draw the winner from the fishbowl on Tuesday, October 13.

Good luck everyone!

More Saint Medals

Here are some new Saint Medals that I just got in:

St. Michael the Archangel
St. George
Holy Family
Immaculate Heart of Mary
St. John of God
Madonna of the Streets
St. Nicholas
St. Philomena

Stay tuned for the next giveaway. It's coming soon!

Focus and Connection

http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-12889-Oklahoma-City-Spirituality-Examiner~y2009m9d21-Focus-the-Spirit

Lori Zwermann of the Oklahoma City Spirituality Examiner has written this lovely article on finding the time and tools to help you focus on your spirituality. I can't tell you how many people ask me, or repeatedly ask on message boards related to spirituality how they can reconnect to their path. Often the first step is just to remove yourself from the stress of everyday life.

I use Nag Champa incense and meditation. It's really the smell of the incense that works best for me. I don't know exactly why, but it almost immediately starts to bring my heartrate and blood pressure down.

Thank you to Lori for linking to my Hera Prayer Rope in our Etsy shop in her article!

The Saints

Saint Medals are sort of hard to come by, especially ones that are affordable. I have a great many and I can get more, so I thought I'd post the list here to see if there is any that I have that you are looking for. I'll be making single decade rosaries, Saint amulets and earrings in the next few weeks, so if there is something you are interested in, please let me know. This list was made for my notes, so some of them don't actually say "St." or "Saint." The ones that have a slash, with another name are two-sided medals.

Here is the list of the medals I have:


Aloysius
St. Anna
St. Agatha
St. Agnes / St. Cecilia
Andrew
St. Anthony
St. Augustine / Monica
St Barbara
St Benedict
St. Clare
St. Christopher
Divino Nino de Columbia
St. Dominic
St. Dymphna
Ecce Homo / Mater Dolorosa
St. Francis de Assisi
Francis de Sales
St. George
St. Ignatius
San Juan Batista
John Paul II / Our Lady of Czestoch
John the Apostle
St. Joseph
Jude
La Pieta
Lucy
Maria Goretti
Martha / Mary Magdalene
Maria Rosa Mystica
Mary Magdalene
Our Lady of Knock
St. Patrick / St. Bridget
St. Sebastian
St. Therese

Beading Times Article

I just wanted to share a link to Beading Times current Design Tip article: http://www.beadingtimes.com/design_tip.htm . The Bead Peddler, Sandy Paluzzi had included a photo of one of Phoenix's malas as an example of how rice beads can be incorporated into design. There are some other lovely pieces there too. Check out the pink one! I loooooove pink! :)

We Have a Winner!

Good luck everyone!

The Fishbowl . . . .


Drumroll please . . . .

Congratulations Digital Misfit!! You won a $25.00 gift certificate to http://www.theholybead.com/!! Look for my email with details on how to redeem your gift certificate.

We are already planning our next giveaway. Be on the lookout!

Packaging

I'm now coming to you live from the living room! I needed more space for my studio and until yesterday, my office and studio were all cramped into one tiny space. I finally decided that since I never have company and my classes will be held in the kitchen that I should move my computer into the living room and turn it into my office. So, here I am!

I wanted to write a quick little post to explain our packaging policies. Nothing disappoints me more than to get a package from someone who makes all vegan, fair-trade, eco-friendly productt and then packs it in styrofoam peanuts. Last Christmas I ordered from a company that claimed to be all-enlightened and they actually packed a T-SHIRT in styrofoam peanuts. I couldn't believe it! Sadly, I can't bring myself to buy from them anymore and I really, really liked their products.

Theholybead uses 99% reused and recycled packaging materials. The only thing that we use that is completely new is tape--and sometimes I do get a bit carried away with tape. The folks at the post office sometimes call my packages "laminated" because I get carried away with the tape. Sometimes it's just hard to know when to stop!

All of the bubble wrap we use either came from friends who have ordered things mail-order and their package came with bubble wrap or from the packages of supplies we receive. Boxes and bubble envelopes are almost always from packages of supplies that we are reusing, with one exception. I often turn cereal and cracker boxes inside out to use them as mailers.

We encourage our buyers to reuse the packaging materials that we use--or recycle them if you have no use for them. Even better, if you know someone who does frequent mailing, "donate" it to them. It's a win-win-win.

Re-use, re-use, re-use and then recycle :)