A Necklace Giveaway - Your chance to win!

I am sorry I am behind schedule, I promised to post the giveaway over the weekend, but the weekend got in the way. I hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I had an additional three days off last week, spent sometime completing and delivering a custom order of jewelry for a friend's wedding party, spent sometime/lunch with a very good friend, and some doctor's appointments.
Then the weekend, all chores done, restful and ribs on Labor day!
On Tuesday it was back to work and the two hours of Glee!
Wednesday got away, and today is Thursday... and here is my post.

I am giving away this necklace I made with the beautiful stoneware pendant from MaryAnn Carroll to one lucky winner. You can read all about it in my previous post.

But first I would like you to answer a few simple questions about your experience (or not) with FaceBook. Here are some interesting facts about FaceBook. 

Did you know that 54% of FB users are female? And that FB users grew by 145% from January 2009 to January 2010. The greatest growth was in the 34 to 54 and 55+ age groups. (www.istrategylabs.com).

This is the age group to whom many of us sell our jewelry, therefore it stands to reason that to market our jewelry through FB would be a great idea. Agreed?

Many years ago, RubyLane encouraged its shop owners to join FB in order to market one's business. And I did. At first it was whoa.. overwhelming, but soon I came to enjoy being in touch with family and friends here in the USA and from all parts of the world. The best part is getting to see their photos, being connected in their lives, even though I am not a very chatty person, keeping in touch this way was easy. So personally, I enjoy it.

I, then started a business page with not much success, I must admit.

So here's the catch

To be entered to win, you have to do one of the following:

• Be a follower of Regina's Writings (that's my blog!) - one entry
• Post about this giveaway in your blog - another entry, please come back to tell me about it to be counted for the second entry.
• Answer the following questions for another entry: 

1. Are you on FB to promote your business?
2. Has it helped your business? If yes, how?
3. What advice would you give me to help me with my business on FB?
4. Be a fan of Regina's Writings on Facebook for another entry. Somebody, please show me how to link my FaceBook page to my blog? I have also been told that the FB page should be in the same name as your shop, what do you say? 
5. Should I just forget about FB?

I hope you will take the time to play (hope I did not ask too many questions)... and who knows you might be the lucky one.
The winner will be drawn at random on the last day of September and the winner's name posted on the 1st of October. Thank you all for your time.

Soup, Shannon and Shibuichi

As some of you already know, my Bead Soup Swap Partner is Shannon LeVart aka missficklemedia. Shannon is a multi-talented lady, a wife and mom, who hosts three online shops for her wonderful creations. Her innovative and colorful jewelry components can be seen for sale at missficklemedia.com. Her unique jewelry findings are of hand forged metal and display colorful patinas, her speciality! Her finished jewelry can be found at her shops Slevart and themoonlitforest. Get to know Shannon (like I did) and her creative thoughts better by reading her blog and the interview with her at Beads of Clay. She also is one of the finalists in the Bead Star 2010 contest, check out her entries, and if you have not already voted, now is your chance.

Let me now show you what the mail man brought me from Shannon. The packaging says it all! She is comfortable creating with any medium, hence the name missficklemedia. I felt honored, and a twinge of guilt for my run of the mill packing - sending my goodies in little polythene bags. But the package was well received and she liked my selection and that is all that matters.

And inside was......
a strand of cream freshwater pearls,
some Rhodonite teardrops,
some brown Chalcedony faceted rondelles,
a grand oval focal bead of Artistic Jasper,
and the crown jewel..
a beautiful Shibuichi Sunflower and Leaf clasp from Green Girl Studios. I just about swooned...

I have shopped at Green Girl Studios for their Pewter focal beads and clasps and wondered what Shibuichi was all about. I had never heard that word before I visited GGSs. Having received this clasp, I figured now was the time to find out. Shi-bu-ichi, means one fourth (or quarter) in Japanese. Traditionally this alloy contained one fourth silver (and three fourths copper), hence the name. The Copper oxidizes and creates the beautiful patina, the silver, I understand stays pretty much unchanged. Just magnificent!

Now got to sit down to create...

Thank you, Shannon, I love my stash. Check out what she thinks of my jewelry styling (kind words, indeed) and see what I sent her at her blog. Can't wait to see what she creates! 

OMG I Won!

Got home from work and there was an email from MaryAnn saying that I was the lucky winner of her most gorgeous pendant. Yippee!

Photograph courtesy of MaryAnn

Does it not remind you of Boulder Opal or Pietersite? I love it and I cannot believe I won! I have had MaryAnn's ceramic beads on my wish list and looks like my wishes are beginning to come true!

Check out MaryAnn's wonderful array of ceramic beads at her Etsy shop it would be hard to choose which ones to buy. You can read all about her creative process in her blog. If you would like to check out the wonderful jewelry designed with MaryAnn's beads, take a look at her website.

Thank you MaryAnn.