Paid Off Credit Card = Bead Bonanza!

Yesterday began with a very good feeling knowing that I paid off all my credit cards. I only had to transfer $75 from savings in order to make this happen. I had a very large balance on my Amazon Credit Card [still haven't used that gift certificate--it can't go toward a balance payment which is kind of a cool thing because that means I have to buy something with it! Yay!], a somewhat chunky balance on my PacSun credit card, and a small bit on my Victoria's Secret card. That was all paid off and next paycheck will cover rent, phone bill, and possibly car insurance/payment. How did I use to manage putting a couple hundred dollars into savings every month? I need to stop shopping as of now. I say "as of now" because later on that day, I spent the last bit of money I had in my checking account and had to transfer another $35 so I wouldn't be overdrawing my account [how responsible of me!]. I do not regret this because look what I got!:



Look at all this STUFF! I had to buy a new container to hold everything! [New one is one in the top left].



I got shells [why didn't I have these before? Aren't these the bare essentials of hemp jewelry?], metal pieces, some thin pieces that'll look good when a few pieces are strung together, lots of wood pieces, and some blue pieces.



These are the beads I got the other day. The beads in the 3x3 square in the left half of the container are the ones that came in that wood bead mix set. I then have some finished pieces in the far right section, along with a safety pin and some bendy hair clips to make using the long strands easier.



These are bone pieces [already had most of them] and lots of new colorful glass pieces!



The small black beads came in between the colorful round beads [top right] on their strings. They look good for in-between designs! These are the ones that Andrew used on my beautiful necklace gift from floorset night. I also have some pendants in the small container for necklaces.



And these are the essentials! The scissors aren't mine [Ashley's!] but I got a small, retractable measuring tape and I've had the two different colors of hemp for a while, although I haven't used the dark brown one much besides a half-assed attempt to make a necklace that Murphy destroyed one night after I left [I can't get mad because he just missed me and took it out on my necklace] and a small bracelet for Danielle.

So basically you can see that I'm never ever going to have to go to a bead or craft store ever again, right? I was going to go up to Bellingham and check out Bead Bazaar but I didn't want to waste the gas getting up there to get beads so I looked in the Yellow Pages for craft stores. I made a note to go to JoAnn Fabrics [apparently has at least a small selection] and Michael's [the bead sale ends today so I had to go before it was too late!]. Before leaving, I thought, "Why not check out the 'beads' section of the Yellow Pages," thinking it was funny because why would there be a beads section in there? Turns out there actually is a section and listed were some stores in Anacortes and Orcas and then I saw it: Island Beads. It was no longer on Burlington Boulevard so I called the number to see what would happen. Turns out, they just moved! They didn't shut down! So I swung by 7-Eleven [free slurpee day! I ended up getting a too-big size, paid for it, and learned that next year, I'm getting a Dixie sized one for free] and went to Island Beads. They have lots of those tiny glass beads that my sisters and I used to make anklets with, and lots of specialty beads [jade, bone, coral, etc.]. I managed to find the sweet bowl with mixed wood beads in a pack for $1.99 each. I grabbed three packs [second picture from the top; the three sections bordering the shell section on the left side of the container], entered my name into a drawing for either a $25 or $50 gift card [wouldn't that be just amazing to win?!], and signed up for their e-mail newsletter. Wonder what it'll be like??

Then I went to JoAnn Fabrics and got some shell beads [half of the shell section] and some boney beads [white with black designs in the upper left petal of the flower-shaped container]. They didn't have a great selection, but it's a fabric store so I wasn't expecting much.

After swinging by PacSun--to pick up my paystub [direct deposit baby!], got some jeans, a light gray tank ["grey" looks darker than "gray"--I think that's the difference between the two; it's not a preference... it's a shade difference], and some new brown sandals [guys' size 8 which is wayyy too big but I'll learn to walk without shuffling the heel]--Ashley and I went to Michael's. I ended up buying 18 different bead strands/packages and the new plastic container. And are you ready for this? I don't think you are, but still. Drumroll please...

Everything I bought was $1.99 each!!

It took a little over an hour to organize everything and snip all the stringing material off, but it was so worth it! Basically I scored, have a billion beads, and not many people to make stuff for. If you want something, let me know, because if I don't have any preferences or "orders," I wont be motivated to make stuff. Motivate me!