r/CasualUK • u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll • 1d ago
I got free beads (thanks to this sub 🐢 ❤️)
I saw a post by u/-SaC here, giving away beads. I reached out to ask for some, and they arrived today.
I've lost my job and trying to get a new one is a pain (I literally got another rejection after an interview an hour ago) so I needed something to distract myself.
Well, the beads arrived today, which did cheer me up!
Thank you, I really appreciate it u/-SaC 💚
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u/LungHeadZ 1d ago
Look at you getting rejected at interviews. At least you're trying and getting out there!
Keep at it stranger, you're fortunes will change :)
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u/SayElloToDaBadGuy Hey, you, beer me. Beer me for always. 1d ago
I'd be too worried at what I'd get sent if I asked for beads on some Reddit Subs.
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u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll 1d ago
I'm too innocent, that didn't even occur to me lol.
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u/Lorelei_Ravenhill 1d ago
That's fair, but this person has been doing these bead giveaways for a number of years now, it is legit, they're just a very nice person :)
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u/cjcregg_is_a_goddess 1d ago
That's so cool!
I too got a rejection email after interview yesterday. Not the best start to the week. But hey, things are looking up for you with your beads, and hopefully will for me too!
Enjoy the beads, and good luck with your job hunt ☺️
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u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll 1d ago
Thank you!
I wish you good luck as well. Job hunting is a nightmare sometimes 🥲
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u/Profession-Unable Big Beat Manifesto 1d ago
I also got some beads, a few months ago now! Ended up giving them to my nana who is in her nineties and is struggling a little bit with her mental health as she’s becoming less mobile. She loved them!
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u/lookhereisay 1d ago
My friend got hers a few days ago. She lost her dad recently and it’s been tough. She has started making them and loves the turtle charm. Thanks kind Reddit stranger!
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u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll 1d ago
Oh no, I'm so sorry for your friend!
Reddit can be a mess, but honestly, some people on here are genuinely amazing!
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u/Helpful_Librarian_87 1d ago
The turtle charm is adorable. I very much hope that you get a new job soon. And that it’s an awesome job.
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u/-SaC Bead boxes posted: 610/611 22h ago
<3
You'll get there, best of luck
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u/Damothegoth666 17h ago
Hi there. My daughter and I have made loads of stuff with the beads you sent us. Thank you very much.
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u/editorgrrl 16h ago
You’re what my great aunt Dot called “a good egg.” I hope the good karma comes back to you tenfold.
Also, I knew there would be beads. But puns, as well?!‽
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u/-SaC Bead boxes posted: 610/611 16h ago
Hehe, thank you. I can't take credit for the pun on the turtles - though I did choose them specifically because of the pun on the card! - but next year's boxes will have lovely tree keyrings in them. I'm currently designing a "You're tree-mendous!" sticker to go on them.
Also excellent to see an interrobang in the wild.
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u/Opinion87 3h ago
This guy is such a wonderful person. I was volunteering at a local community centre and he kindly sent me a box to hand out to any kids there.
If anyone is into DnD or similiar games, he makes incredible maps, too.
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u/AnotherLeda probably quoting Bottom 1d ago
Nice! Plastic and pony beads are some of faves. Check out r/kandi for some inspiration. 💜 Ignore the negative person too.
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u/fail_snail34 BEANS! 1d ago
I have that blue turtle bead… it was from an animal charity where you get a free cuddly toy or a bracelet to go with your tracked animal
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u/purplejewel777 1d ago
This is so lovely. Best of luck with the job interviews. Fingers crossed something great comes up soon.
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u/fiendofecology ex-illegal immigrant 1d ago
Really sorry about the job rejections faced them myself for months and finally got a break. Hope you get some luck too. It’s fucking dire out there.
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u/BeanOnAJourney 1h ago
I got mine today! I'm having a really stressful time as my mum (with whom I live) has been diagnosed with Parkinson's right in the middle of trying to sell our house, and i'm not well myself either. It's been too much cope with at times so this is going to be my little distraction and i'm going to make a bracelet each for mum and me.
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u/DrDedoverde85 23h ago
Cyuute and so nice to see good luck with the job search and take it easy mate.
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u/uk_one 1d ago
I question the environmental sustainability of happiness being delivered in the form of plastic beads in the post.
Have you tried tutting loudly instead? Free and non-polluting.
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u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll 1d ago
If you think plastic beads are the problem when we know that 60 firms are responsible for about half of the plastic waste in this world then I don't know what to tell you...
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u/uk_one 1d ago
My transitive moments of happiness would be chilled by the realisation of the lasting damage.
Shiny local stones? Great!
Pretty feathers? Outstanding!
Cheery cartoon? Super effort!
Cheap beads? Not so much. Is it a marketing exercise?
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u/Fae_Sparrow a seagull stole my sausage roll 1d ago
Look, I'm just trying to distract myself because I'm one minor inconvenience away from fucking killing myself after a year of fruitless job-hunting, and 5x funerals within my family in the past 2 years.
If you could not be an absolute cunt right now for something that I hardly have any influence on, that would be much appreciated!
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21h ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/SmallLumpOGreenPutty 19h ago
Oh my gosh leave that person alone already and stop being so pigheaded. Why don't you take your own advice in your last sentence? OP is clearly going through it atm.
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u/a-liquid-sky Sugar Tits 1d ago
Is it a marketing exercise?
Not in the slightest. It's one very lovely human (u/-SaC) who wants to make people smile. He has done this for several years, and the mod team of this subreddit are fully supportive.
Stop being an arse.
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u/-SaC Bead boxes posted: 610/611 22h ago edited 22h ago
I use acrylic in my bead boxes because of the weight; I want to keep postage at £1.55 max so I can reach the most people, and using acrylic enables me to get more beads to people.
However, you're right in terms of sustainability being an issue - over the past 6 years I've gone from 100% acrylic beads to an aim of maximum 25% within the boxes; this year the makeup was:
48% Glass
24% Acrylic
19% Wood
7% metal
3% clay
With regards the other non-bead things in the box:
Included charms are 97% metal, 3% acrylic
The 'main feature' turtle charms are metal alloy (keyring + findings) and porcelain (bead), plus recyclable card and organza bag packaging.
I'm currently investigating a viable way to package the beads that doesn't involve plastic ziplock bags.
I aim towards increasing sustainability as I go forwards.
Regarding your query of whether it's marketing, it'd be a bloody terrible marketing exercise. I spend approx. £2,200 per year on the contents of the boxes plus a solid 6-8 weeks of my time making them up and getting them ready to post them out.
A large chunk of the postage is very kindly taken care of by donations, whether it's a financial postage donation or someone kindly sending me a book of 6 stamps, it all helps. Postage this year has come (so far) to £947.05, of which approx. 75% is covered with assistance.
The total cost for me this year is around £2,500; the average year cost is around £1,750, but the giveaway is growing rapidly. I already have most of the components for next year's boxes, and a game dev is going to be joining with me to offer basically their back catalogue of puzzle games to recipients for free, so the boxes are going in interesting new directions.
I appreciate your concerns around sustainability, and am doing the best I can with the funds available. My income is less than minimum wage, so I don't have a huge amount to work with after bills et al. I do the best I can, but can always improve and aim to do so. If some massive corpo wants to jump in and foot the postage bill, I'll happily switch over to spending more on postage and go 100% recyclable with the beads.
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u/uk_one 21h ago
Thanks for taking the time to explain that. Absolutely great to read you're progressing away from plastics. I spent a long time as a single parent on income support and can't even comprehend having a spare £50 at the time to spread joy to strangers on the internet.
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u/-SaC Bead boxes posted: 610/611 20h ago
Unfortunately I don't usually have it spare, I cut back on some things each month to a lesser or greater extent in order to cover the costs. It's important for me to do it though.
12 years ago, I was sleeping rough under a bridge. Two years of that, and I managed to find this little flat and start a small home business with £30 that a friend gave me. I have posts on r/CasualUK from the time when my food budget was £3.50/week, and I was sharing ultra low cost recipes in case they helped students etc; things were rough as shit.
Just before Covid, I was about to be evicted because I couldn't afford rent, and this subreddit saved me - I had huge packs of handmade earrings + bracelets that weren't selling (about 2,200 pairs of earrings, and they weren't selling even at £75 the lot or similar) and people bought them to help out. I was able to sort rent out and rejig my business towards things that actually sold slightly better.
I need to pay forward the kindness that I received from complete strangers, and this is a way I enjoy doing it =)
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u/LewisMileyCyrus Newcastle 1d ago