Gift Certificates & Prizes

I am so glad Christmas is officially over! This was a very quiet and mellow Christmas for me. I spent the entire weekend at home, alone. But it's not as depressing as it might sound...I spent most of that time beading! And I prefer to work alone anyways...I get so much more accomplished that way!

I also happen to be a very nocturnal creature...maybe it has something to do with being born at 3:00 in the afternoon? But if I do not 'absolutely have to be somewhere' in the morning and during the daytime, I am up all night and usually go to sleep as the sun comes up. And this is not always so amenable to the other people in the house!

But with my husband out of town, there was no one here to be bothered by my crazy sleep schedule! So I got a lot of work done...and I watched some old TV shows on my laptop to keep me company...without having to turn it down so it wouldn't disturb any one's sleep!

We haven't had cable or even a television set hooked up since my daughter went away to college...which is totally fine by me! I hate having to remember if something I actually want to see is coming on at a certain time...and there's not much on Cable TV that I want to see anyways! So I just watch Netflix or Amazon Instant Video on my laptop.

I might be years behind everyone else when it comes to finally watching some older Movies & TV shows, but I can enjoy them at any hour of the day or night and it keeps me company while I am beading!

Now I did not realize (and am a little disappointed) that today was a federal holiday...and that means no Mail Delivery! I am waiting for a package that I just know is sitting at my local Post Office waiting to be delivered to me!! And it has beads in it!

I may have mentioned before that I never, ever, ever win anything...and then in the past 2 weeks, I won something twice! I was one of the lucky people that won the Dream Keeper Vessel Ring Tutorial from Marcia DeCoster, which I received in my email right before Christmas...and it is stunning! I can't wait to make several of these!

And then out of the blue, I won a Facebook/Blog contest hosted by The Hole Bead Shoppe! And for that one I got a $25 gift certificate for beads! So I immediately went to their website and browsed around putting things in my shopping cart and trying to decide what I should get!

Whenever I have a gift certificate or "birthday money" I always try to get something that I wouldn't normally spend my own money on. It can actually be hard to do this, especially being on a really tight budget right now! I always try to be economically smart with my purchasing (even when I am not unemployed), but this is money that cannot be spent on bills and food no matter how I plan my budget!

So along with some beads, I decided to get a package of the new Tulip Beading needles. I have been wanting to try these for a while, but it's hard to spend $5 on 4 needles when I can spend $5 and get 4 packs of 25 Pony needles...that's 100 needles for the same price!

But I am excited to try these Tulip needles. I have a feeling I am not going to like the size 11 as much as the size 12's that I usually use. But they don't come in size 12 for some reason and I was definitely not spending $14 for 3 size 13 needles! Even with a gift certificate...haha!

So I am hoping this package arrives in the mail tomorrow...and I will report back with all of my opinions about the Tulip needles!

And speaking of Gift Certificates...my awesome daughter got me a gift certificate to my LBS for my birthday this month. And I saved this Gift Certificate for 2 whole weeks because every year after Christmas my LBS has their one & only annual sale...20 to 50 percent off of everything! And that sale started today!

So I got myself up and out of the house before noon to get to this sale to spend my birthday bead money! All Czech Glass and Seed Beads were 25 percent off so I stocked up on some things that I wouldn't normally buy...like a tube of Antique Silver Seed Beads and some Matte Metallic size 15/0 seed beads. Then I found some beautiful Fire Polish beads and some Daggers & Drop beads! I also got a bunch of Czech Glass Buttons that were 50 percent off and several "fill it up for $1" baggies of random gemstone beads!

All in all it was a great day...and I got myself some Christmas presents!

But you should check out The Hole Bead Shoppe. They carry a lot of Beautiful Lucite Flowers & Leaves, Czech & Japanese Seed Beads and some Vintage Czech Glass as well as Thread, Needles and other beading Supplies! They also have a blog and a Facebook page...where you can enter contests and you can vote on their Day of the Dead beading challenge! The kit for this challenge was put together by The Hole Bead Shoppe and was limited to only 10 lucky people and there are some really cool designs, so check them out on FB and vote for your favorite!



Still waiting for some snow...it's just not winter to me without snow! I will be in Ann Arbor Michigan for New Year's though and it's always snowing up there!

Hope you all enjoyed a peaceful and relaxing Christmas with your loved ones (or by yourself, whichever you prefer) and wishing you all a safe and Happy New Year!

And it looks like I have another Blog Friend! Thank you Siggi!