As they say, third time’s the charm.  The emails have gone out!

If you want to sign up for the newsletter directly, please go to http://www.artfulbead.net/catalog/create_account.php and sign up.  Print the confirmation email you get after filling in the form, and bring it to the store before December 31st.  You’ll get 15% off everything you buy that day except artist’s beads and books.

In the future, about once a month we’ll send you an email about some special sale or event or maybe even just a “here’s your coupon!” if we’re really busy.  And we’re even contemplating “secret” sales, available only to our newsletter subscribers!

So sign up, and come in soon.  And if you happen to come into the store on a Saturday around December 11th (like the 8th or 15th), please tell Our Amy Happy Birthday!!!

Keep Beading!

Well, with much fanfare we sent out the December Newsletter email, our first under the new system.  Taa-Daa!!!

Only to have it spit back over 1000 error messages because we “exceeded the hourly domain message limit” or something.  !!!aaD-aaT  (That’s the original cheer rewinding.)  So, if you didn’t get your email yet, hang on.  It’s coming, just as soon as the *professional* nerds (as opposed to us amateur nerds who dance around the edges of technology) get it figured out.

We know some of you got the message, because we’ve already gotten a lot of new signups, so print out that confirmation email and bring it in for your discount.   After all, there are less than 21 jewelry-making days left before Christmas!

All of the Christmas Tree kits are gone, probably not to return until next year.  There are a lot of Christmas candy earring  kits, though.  And snowmen!  Adorable snowmen with different color collars!

A lot of new pearls have arrived, many of them for only $5 a strand, and some new czech glass, in different shapes and colors.

The newsletter/discount coupon is almost done, watch for it during the first week in December.

All that whining paid off, we have a sneak peek of the new stones that are being put on the wall as we speak!  (“as we type” seems kind of peculiar, sorry.)

There are lovely dyed lace agate beads in pink and blue in all kinds of sizes and shapes, red tiger eye and coral (lots of coral, not just these), and wonderful huge sparkly (make that *Sparkly* with a little dance) coated crystal in big bicones and rounds (no pictures of the round ones here, they were busy elsewhere.)

 And interesting rose quartz shapes and yummy smoky spiral cuts that have to be seen in person, because the picture is crummy!!!  Look at the fabulous abalone pendants in perfect autumn colors.

And treated agate that looks like art in a string!  Way better in person, I promise.

Shiny amethyst squares with lots of character, brown kyanite that makes you say “What is that?  Gimme!!!  NOW!!”

 Turquoise pendants in disks and teardrops, agate “eyes” that are too shiny in the picture because they’re so shiny in real life. (OK, next time we use the “real photography” setup, I’m over the artsy quick-and-dirty stuff.)

And a lot more, but they were moving fast, getting priced and put on the wall, and I can’t focus when there are that many beads in front of my face.  

But come in quick, before they’re all gone.  You have to have something to make presents out of, don’t you?  And you deserve a reward for getting everything ready for Thanksgiving.  And who doesn’t need a treat for cleaning up all that mess afterward? 

Starting to be almost cool at night, Santa’s workshop and the enormous tree have arrived in the mall, it must be Christmas Season!  And to get you in the holiday mood, we have these glittery trees and Santas:

And these stacked presents:

They are Swarovski crystals, and we have kits or finished earrings.  For example, the trees are $12.00 for the complete kit (with sterling pins and earwires) and the made-up earrings are… uh… $12.00, too. The stacked presents and Santas are a little higher.  But we don’t have a lot of them left, and while they are on order, we aren’t sure when they will come in. 

More stones will be in soon, who knows what wonderful stuff Mary will find on this buying trip!  If we’re lucky, she’ll give us some advance pictures.  Or maybe we just have to whine to get them.