Welcome to the August Weekend Shopping Extravaganza

Hello all! Now that summer is really bearing down on us how about spending this coming weekend doing some cool shopping? Just kick off your shoes, crank up the AC and visit the many great Etsy shops owned by members of the Etsy Supply Street Team - ESST. With a cool beverage in one hand and your mouse in the other you can browse away to your heart's content in cool comfort. If you happen to be in the other hemisphere just reverse the temps substituting heat for AC and add some fuzzy slippers and a warm beverage. It will be great regardless of the weather!

Every shop will have different sales and or specials. My shop, beadbrats, is offering free worldwide shipping for all orders $21.00 and up. Please read the notice in my shop announcement for complete details.

On Saturday August 1st & Sunday August 2nd be sure to search "team esst" (without quotes) for the best deals on the finest supplies (vintage ones in my shop) on Etsy! Here is a link to the promo thread to up to date postings and individual shop specials: http://http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6236075

Now Here's a Fun Site to Visit

If you've never visited this site you should: http://tryhandmade.com/bits-and-bobs . The title is the link (until I figure out how to include links in the text!!!) It's a great place for and about talented artists and designers. I am pleased to mention that some of our vintage Venetian beads were recently featured supplies here in "Bits and bobs" .

Summer Special - Free Shipping Stimulus Plan

On the spur of the moment I just decided to offer a "Free Shipping Stimulus Plan" in honor of the official start of summer. Yes, I know that was three days ago but it's been a busy week! The details are all outlined in my etsy shop but basically it's free domestic and international shipping on all orders $21.00 and up. Why $21.00? Because summer started on June 21st!

SECOND ANNUAL YART SALE sponsored by Team ESST – June 10-14, 2009 = MORE Free Shipping from Beadbrats!

The “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be held from Wednesday June 10th - Sunday June 14th, 2009. This year the “2nd Annual Yart Sale” will be sponsored by the Etsy Supply Street Team (Team ESST). Although not an official Etsy event, it is Etsy supported as evidenced by the Storque article (title is link to this article). A “Yart Sale” is an artistic spin on the traditional Yard Sale: Art + Yard Sale = “Yart Sale”.

This is my first year as a team member so I have decided to participate with the following offer: FREE SHIPPING! Yup, more free shipping! All orders received until midnight on Sunday, June 14th will receive free first class shipping. Terms and details are as follows:

"Payment is still expected and appreciated within three days of order. All times are my local time (EDT). This offer is for domestic & international shipping. I will issue refunds for the shipping portion of your order via PayPal. Once your payment is received I will go ahead & issue a paypal refund for the shipping charge."

Team ESST invites you to come, post, chat and shop on the “Official Yart Sale” thread in the Promotions Section of the Etsy forums. A new thread will be posted daily at 7:00 AM EDT beginning on Wednesday June 10th by the Etsy Supply Street Team with the forum title:
“SECOND ANNUAL YART SALE sponsored by Team ESST – June 10th, 2009”

So come on by & join in the fun!

Beadbrats' Etsy Shop Free Shipping Offer

Here's the info that is currently posted in my shop announcements:

♥✿♥✿♥✿♥✿♥ IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT! ♥✿♥✿♥✿♥✿♥

May 27, 2009: We are leaving for the Bead & Button Show in Milwaukee this weekend and will not be shipping between May 30th & June 11th or 12th. HOWEVER...all PAID ORDERS received between Midnight on Thursday May 28th and Midnight on Wednesday June 10th will be shipped for free. Payment is still expected and appreciated within three days of order. All times are my local time (EDT). This offer is for domestic & international shipping and the more you buy - the more you save! I will issue refunds for the shipping portion of your order via PayPal. Our other shop, eastofoz, will be closed for vacation during this period.

This is being "blogged" in a somewhat untimely manner but the information is still relevant.  If you don't mind waiting longer for your order then shipping is on me!   I'm making the refunds via PayPal and all seems to be going smoothly so far.   So go ahead, take advantage of me!

I've Been Neglecting Our Other Shop - Shame On ME!

I launched our second Etsy shop, East of OZ, in December of 2008. I had every intention of keeping it stocked up with some of our more unusual, collectible glass beads and unique stone beads. Like all good intentions (and most New Year's Resolutions) it kind of got neglected and the stock dwindled. Shame on me!!! I am starting to list beads in that shop again and today I am working on some cool Venetian fancy and trade beads. I will hand select some great stone beads at our show this weekend and will get them listed next week. If you like unique and unusual I hope you'll stop in for a visit.

Vintage Swarovski Crystal Bead Info - Part 2

In October 1999 I sent an email to Swarovski in Austria asking for info to help me date their older beads accurately. I received a response from them that I wanted to share. I couldn't figure out the best way to do this so I decided to just post the actual emails. Since it's a bit too long to put on this page just click on the title (it's a link) and it will take you right to it. Nothing has been changed, it's a simple cut and paste document. I did block out all the names and email addresses because after all, this is the Internet!

I hope this information is of use to you!

Attention Shoppers...Free Beads...Keep Reading...

It's may madness time on Etsy. Come & celebrate the "FIRST WEEKEND SHOPPING EXTRAVAGANZA" MAY 7TH - MAY 10TH. Search ESST for great weekend specials from Etsy Supply Street Team Members.

As a proud team member I am giving away a free full size package of vintage flower and/or leaf beads (my choice) with every order over $25.00! This offer applies to all orders received during this special weekend and expires at midnight on Sunday.

Vintage Swarovski Crystal Bead Info - Part 1

When selling vintage the first question I usually hear is "How old are these"? One of the easiest types of beads to date accurately are Swarovski crystal beads, especially if they are still in their original packaging. There's a lot of incorrect information floating around so I would like to offer some factual information to help clear it up.

If I have done this correctly (I'm still pretty blog-challenged) you should be able to click on the chart at the right to see it full sized. It's a conversion chart of old and new Swarovski article numbers (basically a style number) next to a line drawing of the bead. Now the trick is to know when the numbers were changed. In 1968 the numbers were converted to 4 digits so you know that if the 2 or 3 digit number is printed on the package or box they were made prior to then.

More to come...

April 24 is Etsy Day - So Go and Buy Something Already!

Today is Etsy Day! Unless you lead an extremely sheltered life you must have heard of Etsy. Today is a celebration of all things Etsy, a fab collection of shops selling unique handmade items, unusual vintage and the absolutely best jewelry, craft and art supplies on the web. Remember to search for Etsy Supply Street Team member shops when you search for supplies. A great place to start would be by clicking on any item listed in my Etsy shop - hint, hint! I am a proud team member and support all Team ESST members, too. The easy way to find us is to search ESST!