It should come as no surprise what I say when I get a Goody Beads package in the mail!  Yup.  " Goody!"  Last time I featured their wonderful European leather bracelet findings. This time round,  I will be featuring their amazing collection of awarenesss charms  as October is the month for not just breast cancer awareness but many others such as autism, brain tumor, pregnancy and infant loss and so on. Some of you do raise money for worthy causes so this post will hopefully inspire!



Goody Beads sent me several charms for review.  They also have a good resource guide which shows you what the different colored ribbons mean - but be aware that pink is not a color for testicular cancer.   Note there are often several causes for a single color. 


I also received a mixed collection of findings and beads to work with.


I picked the pink crystals and the beautiful pink crystal ribbon to create the cord necklace.  Black is a good contrast for the brighter pink hue.  I used the popular wrapped leather and bead technique which is usually seen on bracelets for the crystals (see tutorial link below).  Short sections do make the focal area more visually appealing.  It is now in my Etsy shop where 100% of the net proceeds will go to cancer research.





But bear in mind, not everybody likes pink or overly busy pieces.  So also consider discrete and simpler designs. I really like this heart pendant from Goody Beads.  There is a ribbon motif in the design if you look carefully. I thought it went well with the ball chain necklace


I was also quite taken with the bangle finding in the Goody Beads stash.  I had never come across this adjustable style before.  It's thicker than memory wire but there is no need to finish the ends because it is already prefinished.  Beads cannot be strung on.  It is style #z009516 on the Goody Beads site - a 6 inch expandable silver finish wire bracelet with catch.

All I did then was to do some simple wire wrapping of different teal beads and added a small teal ribbon.  Teal is the color for ovarian cancer awareness as well as polycystic kidney disease, anti-bullying and so on.


The bracelet opens up by sliding apart as shown below. So putting it on and taking it off is very easy! 




Giveaway
If you'd like to win a $50 gift certificate from Goody Beads,  please make a comment below.  Note the giveaway is not just for awareness charms but for anything in their store so do browse.
They have a $5 discount especially for readers - use coupon code BGFIVE.

Make sure you leave contact info below if you do not have an online shop or blog.

Subscribers need to click on the post title to come to my actual blog. Scroll down and enter your comment. Pick Name/URL. If you don't have a store or blog, leave the URL blank.

This giveaway is international.

Extra entries if you become or are a blog subscriber or follower etc. If you also do shout outs about this giveaway, those will count as additional entries too! Please say so in the comments.

It ends in a week's time at 6 pm EST Monday,  October 14, 2013. I will pick the winner randomly and announce the results as soon as possible after. So be sure to leave a contact email if you don't have an online link or make sure you come back and check! Otherwise I will redraw in a week. Good luck!

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Original Post by THE BEADING GEM
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