My blog's first GIVEAWAY!

On most days, Commander Shepard doesn't have time for jewelry. An array of guns strapped to her back are all the accessories she needs. But occasionally she'll find herself on a mission where she has to dress up--in the Afterlife VIP lounge, or an extravagant party on Bekenstein, for example. That's why I made this N7 bracelet: because even in formal wear, Shepard deserves to be recognized for the elite special forces marine* she is.



I made one of these beaded bracelets for myself last summer, and now, in honor of the upcoming release of Mass Effect 3, I'm giving one away! Yes, the release of Mass Effect 3 is still over a month away (March 6 or thereabouts, depending on your location), but I want to make sure I have enough time for people to enter the giveaway and for me to make and mail the bracelet so that it arrives in time for the big day.



This bracelet is made with tiny glass seed beads. The black ones are glossy and opaque. The red and white ones are translucent and silver-lined (shiny silver around the inside hole of the bead). The silver-lined beads have just enough shine and sparkle to pop out as a design, but not so much that they seem too glittery. The overall look is really quite sleek.


WHAT'S BEING GIVEN AWAY

A beaded N7 bracelet!

WHO CAN ENTER

Anyone can enter! I am willing to ship internationally. Hopefully that won't bite me in the ***, but I think with a small, light package, it shouldn't cost me too much.

Now, I know this giveaway favors the girls, and I'm sorry about that. If you're a guy, you're welcome to enter to win a bracelet (maybe you have a girl you want to give it to, or maybe you want it for yourself--that's cool). I could also attach the beaded design to a key chain instead of bracelet clasps... Or if you have other ideas for how I could turn the beads into something suitable for a guy, I'm willing to hear.

HOW TO ENTER

First, leave a comment below telling me you want to be entered in the giveaway, and let me know who your favorite Mass Effect character is. If you can't choose just one, then give me a list, that's fine :) This will earn you one entry for the giveaway. This step is important, so I know you really want to be entered, and aren't just following me because you like my tweets or tweeting about the giveaway to spread the word.

After you've done that, you can earn up to three additional entries in the giveaway for each of the following:
1. Follow me (@EleniRPG) on Twitter (if you already follow me, this counts).
2. Tweet about this giveaway on Twitter, with a link to this post and a mention of me (@EleniRPG). You can tweet about it as many times as you want, but I'll only count it as one entry ;)
3. Follow my blog (if you already do, that counts).
Important: Once you've completed any of the above, please leave a comment below to make sure I noticed (I'd hate to miss something). Also, if your Twitter handle isn't obvious from the way you identify yourself below in the comments, tell me your Twitter handle so I can correctly match you to the tweet/follow.
Additionally, if you're not following me on Twitter (in which case I can direct message you), give me an email address so I can contact you if you win!

WINNER SELECTION

The deadline for entries is Monday, February 6 at 11:59pm Honolulu time (5 hours behind East Coast time...you'll have to figure out the rest for yourselves). I'll be selecting the winner randomly from a list of names. The number of times your name appears on the list depends on the number of entries you earned (up to four). I'll post the winner on this blog, but also contact the winner for details (address, wrist size, metal allergies, etc.).

Good luck!


* For those who don't know, N7 is the emblem on Commander Shepard's armor. N designates special forces, while the 7 indicates the highest level of proficiency.


MAYBE ANOTHER GIVEAWAY?

I know that not everyone who reads my blog plays Mass Effect (But you should! It's such a great series!), so I feel a little bad that my first giveaway on this blog leaves those people out. I have made a few beaded bracelet designs that are not related to Mass Effect, and if there seems to be enough interest, I could do a giveaway for one of them. So, whether or not you want to enter the N7 giveaway, leave me a comment telling me if you'd be interested in a giveaway for one of the following:

R2-D2

I'd probably change the background beads if I made another of these, since the teal blends too well with the blue on top of R2's head. Also, the teal beads were ever so slightly skinnier than the other beads, giving the bracelet an uneven width. But who doesn't love R2-D2?

Space Invaders!

This is for the old-school gamers. Thanks to Mariel who suggested this one--the 8-bit style works very well for bead weaving. The aliens are made with silver-lined beads, so they stand out well.

I also have a Battlestar Galactica Cylon head design (old-school Cylons--the horizontal visor looks MUCH better with the beading constraints than the newer V-shaped visor) which I think will look really good: five Cylon heads go around the bracelet, but in each one the red light (done with a silver-lined red bead, of course) is in a different position.