The Wizard of Artbeads Giveaway

The Wizard of Artbeads Giveaway

This contest is now closed. Congratulations to our winner, Erin P.

Once upon a time, there lived an ordinary man named Devin. He decided he wanted to go on an adventure, so he hopped in his purple hot air balloon and sailed through the skies. But he could not be prepared for the magical storm that was brewing above. Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled all around him and violent winds shook his balloon back and forth. He could not control the direction he went, and his balloon spiraled toward earth.

Devin awoke, a little bruised but unharmed, in a magical land called Artbeads. The most beautiful beads, pendants and charms lined a road made from yellow brick-shaped seed beads all woven together. Standing in the middle of the road was a woman. Her name was Cynthia, and she lived in this magical land, making jewelry for all its citizens. She had never seen a hot air balloon before and when she saw the storm crash the balloon to earth, with Devin emerging unharmed, she knew he must be powerful.

“You must be a wizard!” She exclaimed. She took him to the City of Emerald Beads and introduced him to many of the inhabitants of Artbeads. He met Swarovski Scarecrow, who wished with all his heart that he could create more beautiful colors for his crystals. He also met the Thai Hill Tribe Tinman, who was made completely out of Hill Tribe Silver but was sadly missing a heart. Finally, he met Lassero Lion, who just wanted to find some sterling silver components to work with.

Devin quickly learned from talking with all these people that a wicked witch had zapped the creativity out of the land with the help of her crystal globe. Cynthia could not create her fantastic designs because the wicked witch used her flying scissors to destroy anything she made. Swarovski Scarecrow could not think of more colors, Thai Hill Tribe Tinman had his heart stolen and Lassero Lion could not find any sterling silver to use because the witch stole it all. Never one to pass up on an adventure, Devin knew what he must do to prove he was the true Wizard of Artbeads…

Where will Devin’s adventure take him next? Leave a comment below telling us how Devin becomes the Wizard of Artbeads and you could win a prize package filled with emerald colored beads and other great pieces full of storybook charm, in honor of the release of Oz the Great and Powerful! Fill out the form below and then leave a comment finishing the story for your chance to win.

This contest starts March 7th, 2013 and ends March 13th, 2013 at 11:59pm PST. Please see our official contest rules for more details. Remember to fill out the form below to officially enter this contest.

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey , the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Previous Post Next Post

Comments

  1. Reply

    “I must meet this one with the evil scissors,” insisted Devin to Cynthia. “I must know the reason behind her wickedness. Only then can I restore Creativity to this Land of Emerald Beads.” Despite her misgivings, Cynthia agreed that something needed to be done because the people needed to be creative, needed to express themselves and they needed to confront the demon that was stopping them in their tracks.
    Cynthia arranged for the Swarovski Scarecrow, the Lassero Lion and the Hill Tribe Tinman to accompany Devin on his quest. As they journeyed Devin questioned the three on their main complaints.
    Swarovski Scarecrow told him that the presence of the Witch dulled the colors of the crystals. She was critical of his sparkling creations which dimmed the light shining through them. Lassero Lion twitched his tail with a jingle of the gold finished Swarovski big hole beads and promptly jumped scaring himself. There were crystal encrusted letters and links covering his mane. But missing from his shaggy head were the letters J-O-Y that she zapped for he could find no joy in creating with her presence covering the land and looking over his shoulder. The Hill Tribe Tinman was fashioned of intricate carved silver details. Dragonflies, flower petals, nautilus shells, sun and moon, lotus blossoms, leaves and elephants, but with one huge heart shaped hole. Tinman felt that his creations were lacking a spark, something special that gave them heart. The Witch had stolen the desire to be different and unique and true to his vision.
    Devin had all the momentum he needed from his new friends sharing their sadness. He knew what he had to do.
    After several days journey, they came to the Black Leather Cord castle where the Witch resided. Devin thanked his friends but told him that he must journey on alone.
    Gaining access to the castle was no easy feat, but Devin came prepared with his trusty TierraCast Spiral and Rivet links. He built a ladder from these links and climbed the turret of the Leather Cord Castle coming face to face with the Witch.
    “Hello,” he said. “My name is Devin. I have been sent from Cynthia of the Emerald Bead City. I have come to find out why you have eclipsed the creativity of the Land of ArtBeads.”
    She isn’t nearly as black hearted as I thought she would be, thought Devin. In fact, she was sitting with her golden scissors looking longingly out over the Land of ArtBeads wearing a dress made of hand-dyed grey silk and organza ribbons. But on closer inspection Devin realized that she was crying.
    He approached and put a hand to her shoulder to ask what the matter was. She looked up with tears glistening in her eyes like golden shadow Swarovski droplets falling onto her beribboned gown.
    “Hello, Devin,” she replied. ”My name is Willa.”
    “Hello, Willa,” said Devin. “Tell me. Why are you so sad?”
    “I feel so uninspired,” she wailed. “I see all the beautiful things that Cynthia and the inhabitants of the Emerald Bead City create and I don’t think that I could ever create anything so beautiful, so original. I am envious of their freedom of expression and that makes me mad. I try to copy them exactly and call it my own, but it is missing something, it doesn’t feel as special. And when I feel this way I can’t help but cast the skies to gray, hoard all the best materials so no one else can use them and remove the J-O-Y from the land. I just want to create something spectacular, something that is uniquely me.”
    “Ah…but you can be creative, in your own way,” replied Devin. “You are an original. When you see all the beautiful Swarovski crystals and allow the light of promise to shine through them, you will begin to see new color palettes emerge to bring you out of your slump. It is easy to want to have all the best for yourself, but when you open up to the possibility that you have a vision that is all your own and doesn’t rely on copying someone else, you will combine these fruits of the Land of ArtBeads in a unique and creative ways. And if you look within yourself, you will find that you have a powerful message to share and your J-O-Y in creating will return.”
    “You must be a great Wizard,” said Willa. “For I see now that I have been wrong. I want the chance to do this right and celebrate all creative endeavors of others. Can you help me?”
    Devin had opened up her eyes to the possibilities. She handed over her golden scissors to Devin and asked to be escorted to the Land of ArtBeads. Devin lead her back to the Land of ArtBeads where she shared with them her expertise in working with wire, ribbons, fiber and leather to add a special touch to their creations. The people hailed her as a visionary and sought out her advice on adding this softness to their jewelry which in turn softened her heart. The people declared Devin the Wizard of ArtBeads for his creative solution to this problem and for bringing them all together fostering a spirit of sharing and mutual inspiration. They heralded Willa for her winning ways with leather cord especially and sought out her creative advice often.
    Wizard Devin sensed that his work in this enchanted land was complete. To thank him, Cynthia, the Swarovski Scarecrow, the Lassero Lion and the Hill Tribe Tinman along with Willa and all the inhabitants of the Emerald Bead City created a blinged out balloon ready for him to make his departure.
    As he rose to the heights he called down to them all, “Everyone is called to be creative. Find your unique voice, try new things, share your knowledge and you will find that you will never run out of inspiration.”

    • Jennifer Weaver
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    There’s no way I can top Erin’s response!

    I was going to say something hokey like:
    Devin summoned his courage, fought the evil witch, took her scissors and showed the people of Emerald City how wonderful it is to create and be happy and jouous.

    • Heather Martin
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    i am not a writer so i know it was useless to enter this…but hey worth a try.

    • June Josten
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    As the balloon rose into the air all the crystals used to bling the balloon began to twinkle from the sun and the light was so bright from this it looked like the sun itself was just above the city. It made Emerald Bead City look like it was all covered in gold and also crystal rainbows. The city was alive again. Each person touched by the crystal rainbow colors had magic transported into their heads and ideas for all sorts of creativity to make more sister cities. Each person was to go out into the land around them and spread this wealth of knowledge to everyone. But there was another witch watching all this from above. It as Black Crystal. Even though she loved sparkle, she wanted only black sparkle. So she had a to put a spell in place to keep the residents of Emerald Bead City from traveling to far. Her spell had to be powerful. This would take time and heavy thought. So Black Crystal went back into the forest to work on this spell. All the while, Wizard Devin could see all of this. He had to work quickly to stop this. He gets together will all of his advisors. They call upon Artbeadium, who is the greatest wizard in the world. Artbeadium has to travel far to get to Emerald Bead City. His jet the Cosmic Crystal Silver was very fast, so he was there in several hours. With his knowledge and power he created a special Xirius force field to protect the city from all evil. This would keep all evil from the entire Emerald lands. The people would be protected from ever having their creativity stolen from them, their children and their children’s and generations offspring for many centuries to come. Wizard Devin is able to continue his journey to other lands, to his home and beyond.

    • June Josten
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    I just continued the story one from what Erin posted. Hope that was ok.

  2. Reply

    Devin was a 2nd cousin once removed from The Great and Powerful Oz he too was a kind, ordinary man from Omaha, Nebraska, who wanted nothing to do with the elaborate magic tricks and props to make himself seem “great and powerful” that his cousin used. Unlike Cuz however he had great and awesome leadership skills. He organized everyone into an elite cammondo squad who proceeded to take out the evil whitch forthwith in a bloodless coo. Everyone was rewarded with that which they were seeking and they all lived happily ever after.

    {hey… you try typing a novel on an iPad… ;0) ok}

    • Nancy Johnson
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devin clicked his purple beaded shoes together three times. Poof! The evil witch disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Devin, the scarecrow, the tinman, & the lion lived happily ever after in the land of artbeads, producing the most splendiferous beaded treasures anyone had ever seen.

    • DDW
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Erin should win…she is amazing! 🙂

    • Gayla Weber
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    The lion, the scarecrow and the tinman cheered the wizard on while he used his magic to create the biggest, most gigantic emeral-colored swarovski crystal anyone had ever seen.

    Cynthia, wearing her ruby swarovski crystal slippers, jumped into the hot air balloon with the emerald crystal.

    Cynthia used the magic of her ruby crystal slippers to help her lift the giant emerald crystal. As they flew over the wicked witch’s castle, she dropped dropped the emerald crystal which broke the witch’s scissors, and of course, the witch melted.

    They all lived creatively ever after in Swarovski’s Land of Oz.

    • Cherri
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    I’m a header not a writer. But still wanted to be entered.

    • Cherri
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Beader I meant to say

    • kim
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devin was the grandson of the Great and Powerful Oz, he learned many things growing up but most of all that love and peace destroyed evil. Every person he passed he gave a huge hug to, and as he did this gemstones appeared, and one less evil the witch could do to harm anyone and take away their creativity, by the time he got to the last possible person there was no more darkness and the land shone brightly with all the Swavorksi crystals and gemstones.

  3. Reply

    Devin, thinking as most men do,that there has to be a logical way to rid this land of the evil witch. He decided to stick around and hopefully ave a “chance meeting and devise a plan of attack. He did not have long to wait, as Cynthia was about to create a new beautiful craft! As she was almost finished, he heard “snip, snip, snip”,he turned and saw
    the evil one, just as she finished destroying the beautiful beaded, Easter egg Cynthia had made!
    This will never do he exclaimed, I must do something.
    “Eureka” I have and idea!
    He went all around looking for items he needed to build his “machine” that would stop the “evil ones scissors”…
    He collected all the things and went to work, He built a big magnet and hid it,waiting for a chance to try it out. Within a very few days, the chance came.He heard “snip” and pointed his magnet toward the sound and “pow”, “bang” “clink”, and many other metallic sound followed, and when the noise died down, he saw that his machine worked much better than he thought it would. Not only had he captured the scissors, but the evil witch as well. She had been so attached to her scissors, they had grown to her hand and she could not turn them a loose.
    Victory was his, he bound the evil witch and cast her into a deep cave, so that she would never again return to do her misdeeds, and harm to the beautiful Cynthia, and her land of Artbeads. Cynthia and all her friends lived in beaded bliss, for ever more.
    Devin repaired his baloon, and continued his journey, looking for other wrongs he could make right.

    • Karen
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devin had a plan… he had everyone gather together with any bits of beading thread they had. They tied and weaved all the pieces together and made strong ropes. Next they gathered a pile of anything they had that was shiny and sparkly. This would surely attract the evil witch. Devin, Cynthia, and all the rest hid and waited. When the wicked witch finally showed up, they all tossed the ropes over the witches flying scissors and pulled her to the ground. She landed with a mighty crash! As she hit the ground, her crystal globe shattered and all the bits flew into the air. As the sparkling pieces rained downed, Cynthia was filled with wonderful ideas she wanted to create, the Swarovski scarecrow started dreaming of amazing new colors, the Thai Hill Tribe tinman found his heart was bigger than ever, and Lassero Lion found all the silver he could ever use also falling amoung the glittering shards. The wicked witch had lost all her power with the shattering of the crystal globe and turned to dust. Everyone was overjoyed and thought Devin was a most wonderous wizard to be able to defeat the wicked witch. But Devin simply pointed out that they had all worked together. When we share our strengths we are all better for it, and we all win!!

    • Laura
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    So Devin sought out the wicked witch. He defeated the flying scissors and smashed the crystal globe releasing all of the creativity back into the land. The wicked witch was, of course, not very happy about this after all the work she had done to collect all of that creativity. She ran at Devin in a rage only to be brought up short when her eye caught something sparkly. Dangling in front of her face was the most beautiful necklace she had ever seen constructed of many colorful crystals, leather and silver. The wicked witch reverently reached out her hand.

    “For me?” she asked.

    “Yes,” said Cynthia, who was the one holding the necklace. “We wanted to show you what creativity can do and that when you stole it things like this necklace could not come into existence.”

    The wicked witch took the necklace and fastened it around her neck. “I have never been able to make such things,” she said while stroking her hand over the bright beads. “I thought if I obtained all of the creativity in the land that I would become creative myself.”

    “Well, now you know that that isn’t possible, but you can learn to create. We can teach you many things,” Cynthia said.

    “I can learn to make such beautiful things?” The now not so wicked witch exclaimed in awe.

    “Of course you can. Now with creativity restored to the land there will be many people creating and sharing their knowledge of making beautiful things.”

    The End

    • Sandra Burkins
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devon saw how lackluster everything looked, with everyone’s spirits so down he decided to have Cynthia create jewelry that was so monochromatic that when the wicked witch came with the flying scissors that she would not be jealous of Cynthia’s design. But, after Cynthia made the piece with no color, the wicked witch was sad; she wanted color back and was especially fond of the Emerald color and wanted a piece created in the Emerald color with a Purple stone to celebrate the color of Devon’s balloon.

    So now that color was and creativity was restored to the land Swarovski Scarecrow was able to come up with even more colors, Thai Hill Tribe Tinman found his heart and it was beating so strongly and Lassero Lion found the stash of silver. Together the three were able to help Cynthia create so many wonderful pieces.

    The Wicked Witch loved her new piece with the Emerald and Purple and was able to help fix Devon’s balloon using her crystal globe and Cynthia and her new crew created a special badge for Devon in case he ever missed the friends he made in the Artbeads community in the City of Emerald Beads.

    • Phyllis Frithsen
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devin made the most gorgeous necklace from some of Cynthia’s beads and put it around her neck. She instantly fell in love with Devin. And then he woke up.

    • Susan M
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Ahhhhhh But our adventurer Devin awoke in the morning and found himself to be wearing Red, Yes Shiny Red Work Boots!!! Devin tried desperately to take them off, But they were stuck on his feet. As Devin jumped about trying to get rid of the Red Boots he managed to click his heels together………….. As the world slowly revolved about him all becomes clear. He is the the Wizard of Artbeads! Devin always has been the next Wizard of Artbeads, all he had to do was choose a purple hot air balloon and let the creativity follow its natural path.

    • Angela Heaton
    • March 7, 2013
    Reply

    Devin jumped on the back of a silver dragonfly and flew to meet Cynthia. She hopped on with him and they flew off to the Emerald crystal City. There they met the magician and were asked what they wished for. Cynthia wanted to have a small hut made of copper which would attract people from near and far to her shop where she would sell her jewelry in exchange for bread and eggs. Devin just wanted to get back to his friends the lion and the tin man and he jumped onto the silver dragonfly and flew home. The end.

    • Angela Mullis
    • March 8, 2013
    Reply

    Hmmmmmmm…..I think it goes something like this……
    Devin, being unbelievably brave and creative, grabbed Cynthia and flew off to confront the wicked witch. As they approched her castle, they could hear her working in her workshop. They quietly entered her studio to find the witch franticly trying to prepare for BeadFest and several magazine deadlines. Devin and Cynthia knew what they had to do. They rolled up thier sleeves and jumped in to help. The witch was so relieved! She had been so worried about meeting her deadlines, she had given no thought about taking ALL of the creativity from Emerald City. As the hours passed and the work was completed, the witch began to realize how everyones ideas and creativity makes the world go round. She begged for forgiveness from Devin and Cynthia. Then she had a brilliant idea! She gathered her supplies and jumped into the ballon with them. As thy neared Emerald City, she becames more and more excited, and Devin and Cynthia witnessed a MAJOR change in the wicked witch. When the ballon landed, all of Emerald City was shocked to find the witch with them. She began by apologizing for stealing everyones creativity, and showed them the presents she had brought. The people of Emerald City cheered! As the witch passed out her goodies, Devin decided she should no longer be the wicked witch. She was now the Good Witch of the West! He was so inspired by the emerald color of her skin, he created the most amazing beads for everyone! The people of Emerald City voted Devin the Wizard of ArtBeads! They all lived happily ever after!

    Angi Mullis [email protected]

  4. Reply

    Devin mustered all of his courage and journeyed to the witch’s castle with his newfound friends in order to stop the witch’s wicked ways. The castle was far more intimidating than Devin thought it would be. There were no colors, no sparkles, no shines to illuminate it. There was only darkness. Devin and his companions had to brave this darkness in order to reach the witch’s chambers in the highest room of the tallest tower. Once there, Devin spied the crystal globe and inside it, he could see the marvelous colors that the Swarovski Scarecrow yearned to create; the missing heart of the Thai Hill Tribe Tinsman; and all the sterling silver the Lassero Lion could ever wish to work with.
    “We must find a way to break open this globe,” Devin pondered.
    Just then, the witch materialized to thwart the would-be heroes. She carried the dreadful scissors in her hand.
    Devin lunged for the witch, knowing full well that it would be in vain, but thanks to the help of his friends, they overpowered the witch and snatched the scissors from her hands.
    Devin plunged the scissors into the crystal globe and it shattered.
    The Scarecrow saw a sparkling array of colors that he could use for years to come; the Tinsman retrieved his heart; the Lion had all the sterling silver he could ever wish to use.
    “Curse you all!” screamed the witch. With her plan foiled and her globe shattered, the witch and her castle withered away into nothing, leaving the rest of the inhabitants of the land of Artbeads free to create to their hearts’ content. The people of Artbeads were overjoyed with Devin’s work and he proved to them how great and powerful a wizard he was!

    • Rose
    • March 9, 2013
    Reply

    Devin jump, he see the most beautiful jewly is an Emerald he pick it up and wiches is glows. It so beautiful he belive it will defelt the witch. He closes he eyes and he there to confrunt the witch, as she races he arm to distroy the emerald it gave out a fire of light,and distrou the witch. Then everything that was stopping emerald city start to glow. There was sliver and glow. The people start to make the most beautiful jewlry in emerald city. Deven was the most powerful wizard in Oz.

    • Amanda
    • March 9, 2013
    Reply

    Acting quicky, Devin arose and gathered all his new friends. “Come”, he said, “we must go now and destroy the Wicked Witch. The desires of the land shall be restored promptly. There is no time to waste”. And with that Devin and his mates used straw from Swarovski Scarecrow’s brim and precious metal from Thai Hill Tribe Tinman to repair the balloon. Lassero Lion protested, having felt like he was useless. Devin assured him he had one of the most important jobs of all. “Lassero Lion, you must muster up the courage to sail us into the land of the Wicked Witch. My faith in myself has dwindled and we need a new “wing-man” if you will”. And with that the lit the torch.

  5. Reply

    Sorry, can’t top any of the stories already told…but still would like a chance to win.

    • Ann
    • March 10, 2013
    Reply

    Trailing the scissors to the witch’s castle, Devin did a quick reconnaissance and was amazed to see loose beads and charms rolling all over the flagstones and cobbles of the courtyard. The witch liked shiny things, obviously, but was a very disorganized individual. “What we need here is a broom!” Devin said. Obligingly, a good witch from another direction sent over not only a broom and a dust pain but barrels to sort the beads into. “Next we’re going to need some water to wash off these beads, ” he said, and water was sent for.
    At that point, the Wicked Witch arrived and cackled, “Hey, Dude, get outta my beads!”
    “No,” Devin said gently but firmly. “But I am curious as to why you want to take all the beads and creativity and like that from the rest of the citizens of this fair green land.”
    “Are you kidding?” the witch shrieked. “Look at my outfit, will you? It’s black! All dull matte black. Very depressing! I desperately need something to liven it up a bit, so I took the beads and the colored crystals and silver stuff and brought it all back here but then I didn’t have the foggiest idea what to do with them. I even cut just a few–” she looked around sheepishly at the piles of beads dumped all over the place. “But it–er–got out of hand. I did hope to borrow a little creativity but you know what? It just didn’t work. I kept wanting to count the loose beads instead and never did get around to stringing them back together.”
    Devin consulted Cynthia, who was much relieved. “So she isn’t actually evil?” Cynthia asked.
    “No, just couture-ally challenged,” Devin replied wisely. “And accessory-impaired. Tell you what. Why don’t you come and help me round up all the beads at the witch’s place and clean them up and maybe help her with her ornamentation organization and maybe you’ll find your creativity buried in the corner under some druks.”
    “You’re a wizard!” Cynthia said.
    And that’s what they did. Though there was nothing beneath the druks, all it took for Cynthia and her friends to find their creativity again was simply HANDLING all of those beautiful materials. The Swarovski Scarecrow set to work with his Bedazzler and hot-fix flat backs and in no time flat the witch’s gown went from boring to bodacious. The Thai Hill Tribe Tin Man made her some silver shoes, insisting that those ruby slippers of Cynthia’s were much too gaudy for the elegant flamboyance of the witch’s new image. And Lassero Lion proved to be the most useful one of all, stringing up beads on his lassero and pulling them all the way back to the Emerald City, which was, you know, no longer nearly so drearily monochromatic anymore. And they all sparkled shinily ever after.

    • Margaret
    • March 10, 2013
    Reply

    Devon being human knew that the greatest power comes from kindness and jealously has the power to destroy. He realized that the wicked witch was just jealous of everyones talent and ability to bead and that no one had given the witch a beautiful pendant to wear. He enlisted the help of all to create the most stunning necklace of all (under the cover of night) to present to the wicked witch along with a certificate for free lessons and materials in order to learn the magical, art of beading. The witch was humbled and they all lived happiloy ever after.

  6. Reply

    Well, Devin set out to find the wicked witch and destroy her flying scissors and restore the creativity to the land. When that was done, the land shined once again with all the sparkle of crystals and diamonds. Cynthia was so pleased with the wizards help that she awarded him with a beautiful diamond studded crown for all his help.

    • Elizabeth Kucera
    • March 10, 2013
    Reply

    I am just one of the creative ones in my family. My youngest granddaughter is the writer, not me. So I will just have to say I could sure create some beautiful jewelry with the prize. Thank you for your wonderful contest.

    • Wendy
    • March 10, 2013
    Reply

    Devin quickly saw that as individuals they couldn’t fight the witch, but together they could defeat her. Swarovski Scarecrow could share her heart with Tinman. Tinman, in turn, could give Lassero Lion some silver. Lassero Lion could help Cynthia with her designs, and Cynthia could work with Swarovski Scarecrow on her colors. By working together, they could still be creative. When the wicked witch saw that she couldn’t defeat them as a group, she left Artbeads in disgust for another city. The inhabitants cheered Devin because without him they would not have learned a valuable lesson: Divided we stand, united we fall. The land became the beautiful City of Emerald Beads again and Devin was officially given the title of the Wizard of Artbeads.

    • joyce
    • March 10, 2013
    Reply

    Devin had sadly no proof to give of him being the Great Wizard he was claiming to be. He had to perform a very dangerous feat to prove his true identity. One giant gemstone must be reached atop the highest mountain peak in the far away land known as Crystallville. This gorgeous ,shimmering ,clear brilliant gemstome
    was atop Mt. Facet since the dawn of time.. Inside this enormous crystal, it beheld the most perfect 15mm blue diamond in all the world. If only Devin could reach the top of Mt Facet & release the blue diamond from within its’ host, his magical powers could be shown for all to see. Now devin must set out with his newfound friends to make the long voyage to Crystalville.
    If only Devin knew that the Wicked witch had already forseen his plan in her magic lampwork
    globe.
    As the troupe of travellers were on their way to find the Blue diamond, they ventured into a field filled with the most beautiful variety of purple, lilac, lavendar & fuschia rondelle glass flowers. These shimmering flowers made them grow sleepy as they ran amidst them & realized the wicked witch had placed a spell on them. While Devin lay silent & asleep the wicked witch sent her flying scizzors to go capture Devin & take him captive.Away they flew to the witch’s castle & When devin woke up he was alone & afraid. But the troop of Devin’s companions had already started on their way to the witch’s castle. The Scarecrow, Lassero Lion & HillTribe Tinman
    knew they could never accomplish this task alone. So they summoned the Good Witch Dione to help the in some way. She used her powers to make a polymer clay key to release Devin from his cell in the witch’s castle. But only one of them could go into the castle to bring Devon this special key. It was chosen that the Scarecrow would go because his natural bronze & golden colors would be disguised among the colors worn by the witch’s guards. The Scarecrow compleated his task of gaining entry into the witch’s castle,& was shown the way to the cell where Devin was kept by following the iridescent sparkly glitter that GoodWitch Dione had left for him to find. It was a moment of great relief when the golden clay key had fit into the lock; then devin escaped from the castle together with the scarecrow…..
    Continued in Part 2; Devin will make the climb to the peak of Mt Facet alone. Along on his journey many events will plague the voyagers again from the Wicked witch & her evil spells.
    However, Good will prevail as the story comes to completion when Devin claims his rightful place as the great & powerful Wizard of Artbeads. Finally then peace will be instilled upon this land again for all creativity to flow as its inhabitants are joyful to be doing what they love best. BEADING! so let the beading BEGIN!

    • Dianne Waters
    • March 11, 2013
    Reply

    Devin remembered he had purchased lots of charms, crystals and beads from Artbeads. He had put them in his satchel. He decided the witch needed something beautiful to wear. He made her a breathtaking necklace and earring set with all the things from his satchel. She was so touched that he made this for her, that she cut the strings and beads, crystals, silver and many new items rained down on Artbeads land for them to pass on to their loyal followers.

    • Sally Purvis
    • March 11, 2013
    Reply

    I get lost in trying to make a story, but entered

    • Dianne Waters
    • March 11, 2013
    Reply

    I had to revise my story end. Devin remembered he had purchased lots of charms, crystals and beads from Artbeads. He had put them in his satchel. He decided the witch needed something beautiful to wear. He made her a breathtaking necklace and earring set with all the things from his satchel. She was so touched that he made this for her. He promised to show her how to bead. She said she would only use the scissors for beading. She was so happy to have something to do, that she made beads, crystals, silver and many new items rained down on Artbeads land for them to pass on to their loyal followers.

    • Shelley
    • March 11, 2013
    Reply

    Devin was a clever guy. He started crafting on the run. The witch grabbed her scissors and took off after him. She fell, and was never seen nor heard from again. The land of Artbeads rejoiced! (and to this day, mothers everywhere, continue to remind their children, ‘you should never run with scissors!’.

    • kate denby
    • March 12, 2013
    Reply

    so Devin looked down, clicked the heels of the magic cowboy boots he got from AZ at the last convention & said “witch, you ain’t got no game, watch this”…. and *poof* a big ole rainbow appeared & washed it’s beauty, artisan & color over the land and Artbeads again was back to enabling the rest of the lands to find their favorite ways to find beauty again!

    • Barbara Gerrish
    • March 12, 2013
    Reply

    Thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be involed in this project and view everyone’s take on the outcome.

    • Julie Bobrowski
    • March 12, 2013
    Reply

    Devin creates a beautiful lasso of beads with a big red crystal heart. With this lasso Devin goes to confront the witch. The witch dives towards the lasso to cut it, when with a quick twist of his wrist, Devin uses the lasso to grab on to the scissors and takes them away. Devin then states, “The power of the colorful beads and the crystal heart will melt your uncreative heart and show you the true beauty of the crystals!” Devin then wraps the lasso around the witch. The witch, amazed at the beauty of the sparkling crystals, drops to her knees and says, “I see it. The beauty of the crystals. They are so sparkly!” The witch then repented her ways and gave back the creativity of the town by creating a wonderful center piece using her crystal globe for the town. The piece shined and sparkled, just like her newly creative heart. The towns people rejoiced and celebrated by creating beautiful jewelry for the witch and each other. “You saved the towns creativity and helped bring in a new wonderful person”, the major of the town said to Devin. “What can we do to show our appreciation?” Devin thought for a moment, and then with a big smile on his face, he said, “Just the smiles, laughter, and joy in everyone’s heart is all I need. creativity is the greatest gift and if everyone shares that gift, love and happiness will grow and will always make the world beautiful.”

    • Barbara Gerrish
    • March 12, 2013
    Reply

    He knew he had to devise a plan to overthrow the wicked witch and rid the Magical Land Of
    Artbeads of her treachery forever.
    He set everyone to work gathering beads from all over the land. Then he went about weaving
    and beading a huge snare net which he crafted from the ropes of his disabled hot air balloon. He
    made flyers and sent them throughout the realm advertising everyone’s wares, making it
    appear as though it was business as usual in the land of Artbeads. Everyone was busy at work as
    a ploy to lure the wicked witch back into the center of the city. They were also, at the direction
    of Devin, actually working feverishly on an enormous ornate beaded box.
    Eventually, the witch received word of the renewed activity in the city. She
    became enraged at the news. Determined to put an end to whatever they were up to, she
    reached for her magic flying broom and began to fly straight towards the emerald bead city.
    She didn’t even take time to remove her green facial mask from the night before or put the cat
    out or even leave a note for the milkman.
    As she grew near, in her rage she also failed to notice that there was actually very few city dwellers
    to be found out and about. Instead, her focus was drawn to something new she had never seen
    before. It was a huge box right smack dab in the center of that city. Swarovskies, beads of
    every size, kind and color, bangles and ribbons covered the box. The colors were so magnificent
    they glistened and danced in the sunlight, she could hardly believe her eyes. As she neared this
    spectacle of sheer beauty she began to fly upwards to investigate further, imagining what the
    contents held. She attempted to push the lid of the box away to get a glimpse of what could
    possibly be inside. She exhausted all of her powers in doing so.
    The lid was laden with silver, huge emeralds, topaz and sapphires, gathered from the far
    corners of Artbeads and was extraordinarily heavy. She could only manage to move it ever so
    slightly. Suddenly, from inside the box, out of what seemed like from nowhere, Devin and the
    towns folk leaped forward and thrust the beaded net upon the wicked witch. The
    overwhelming weight of it causing her to plummet to the very bottom of the box. As she fell
    screaming, her magic globe flew from her grasp and Devin was able to quickly steal it away.
    At last look, the witch was seen, totally entangled, choking and gasping her last breath, as the
    weight of the beaded net, crushed the life out of her body. All of The City Of Emerald Beads
    turned out, to move and permanently seal the lid back over that box.
    Devin used the magic globe to reverse the behavior of the witch’s flying scissors. It now worked
    in harmony with Cynthia to create new and exquisite patterns. He used the globe to inspire the
    greatest possible alluring colors in Swarovski Scarecrow’s vision, he then designed an absolutely
    perfect, ruby beaded, heart for Thai Hill Tribe Tinman. Further, he conjured up more sterling
    silver components than Lassero Lion could ever,ever use in one single lifetime.
    The City Of Emerald Beads rejoiced as one by one the globe restored to them, what the wicked
    witch had taken away. Word quickly spread of Devin’s heroic deeds and he was pronounced the
    true and only Wiz of “The City Of Emerald Beads”(by the way he was also given the key to the
    city). Rejoicing rang out through all of the realm. Inspiration and creativity abounded and quickly
    spread to distant lands. Aspiring artists from all over the globe, flocked to Artbeads where it
    was reputed that one could rise to greatness. So and as you probably have already guessed by
    now, everyone lives happily here, ever more, in The Magical Land Of Artbeads.

    • Sally S.
    • March 13, 2013
    Reply

    After talking to more of the people, Devin learned about a man who lived near a mine whom might know more about the evil witch and why she was so bitter. Devin found the mine and found the elderly man. His name was Art and he was the miner of the Emerald Mine. Deep inside the mine were bits of Emerald which were made into beautiful Emerald Beads for which the City was named for. Art told the story that once upon a time he courted the powerful young witch and made her a crystal globe to show her his love and affection. But his work as a miner kept him much too busy to give her the attention that she desired. He told the young witch that his work of mining the Emeralds was what he needed to do to supply the people of the City of Emerald Beads with the materials they needed to be creative and keep their lively hood. The young witch became bitter and despised the fact that Art worked so hard to keep the City folks busy and happy. She took the crystal globe to her mountain top and placed it so that it would absorb all of the bright sunshine. This made a dull haze over the City and all the bright beads, pendants and charms had no shine, thus the people lost their creativity. Every time Cynthia made something that might be beautiful and spark some creativity and light, the wicked witch would destroy it with her flying scissors. Devin had an idea and talked to Art about it. Devin asked the miner to create another crystal globe, only this time make it out of Emerald and make it’s surface faceted so that it reflected as much light as possible. Art the miner knew this is what he must do to help break the dullness over the City. He worked at it diligently, using the biggest piece of Emerald that he had ever mined. Art cut a perfect faceted surface all over the piece of Emerald. Once it was done he summoned Devin to come and get it. Devin wrapped the globe so that no one knew what it was. He took it to another mountain top and unwrapped it. The faceted globe reflected enough sun to make the City bright again and made the beads, pendants and charms shine again, which in turn made the people happy and they started to be creative again. Devin secretly went to the Witches mountain top and smashed the crystal globe. He gathered some of the pieces and brought them back down the mountain so that the crystal globe could not be put back together again. The sunshine brightened after this. The Witch lost her power over the City of Emerald Beads because her crystal globe was smashed. Her flying scissors could no longer fly in the bright sunlight and warped. Devin was thought a great wizard for his work, but the true hero was Art the miner. He created the faceted Emerald Globe and deserved the credit, for his unselfish work to help the people in the City and his strength and wisdom to do the right thing. After that, the people of the City of Emerald Beads helped repair the purple Hot Air Balloon and Devin was able to continue his adventure of unknown and wonderful places.
    Positive Thought: “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination”. – Jimmy Dean

    • Susan Jaisle
    • March 13, 2013
    Reply

    just then….a new beautiful witch swooped down (her name was Suzie the wonderous!) and saved the day! Sorry I’m not a writer either but wanted to enter so bad!! ANd I loved the story!!

    • Jan Neff-Sinclair
    • March 13, 2013
    Reply

    Devin figured that he had to trap the Wicked Witch and wrest her scissors from her so she would destroy no more jewelry. He had Cynthia make a whole pile of jewelry all at once and stored it inside a large magical trap that he made with the help of the citizens of Artbeads.

    The Witch could not resist the temptation and went for the beautiful bait. She was caught in the trap and Devin would not release her until she promised to banish herself from the Land of Artbeads.

    Once she was gone, everything went back to normal in the Land of Artbeads and Devin decided to live in that beautiful place for all of his days.

    I really wanted to enter the contest too, but I am a horrible writer. My imagination goes into making jewelry and other crafts, and I guess none is left over for creative writing. I did enjoy the endings written by those with writing talent, though 🙂

  7. Reply

    Great stories everyone…but the moral of the story is… shop at Artbeads and you’ll live happily ever after.

    • eileen lambert
    • March 13, 2013
    Reply

    He chose me to win 🙂

  8. Reply

    As she awoke from her exciting creative dream, she got up and skipped over to her closet, opened the door and smile. Why you aksed, because next to her wonderful new shoes, she knew were all the boxes full of her Artbeads and supplies. She would have a life time of story telling in all the beaded crafts she does!

    • Karen
    • May 23, 2013
    Reply

    Just curious…. so many good entries, but can’t find who won??

    1. Reply

      It was a lot of fun getting to read the entries, but we were blown away by Erin P’s incredible ending, and she was the winner!

  9. Reply

    What a delightful journey through creativity! The Wizard of Artbeads giveaway is a testament to the magic of artistic expression and community spirit. Kudos to Artbeads for fostering such enchanting experiences for their audience.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

0 shares