I would like to welcome you to the Beadflowers chocolate factory. Throughout January, you are invited to enjoy a calorie-free, delightful and fun experience. Firstly, can you win a golden gift card? I have five of these to be won this month.
Then, you can also enjoy a feast of chocolate and candy trivia. Plus, a few little treats as you follow each day’s offerings. You will find all of these on the chocolate factory page and the doors are already open.
But, just before you rush in, let me explain about the golden gift cards… (And, if you read all the way to the end of this post, you’ll find a special discount coupon code waiting for you. But, don’t skip anything on your way…!)
How do you win a golden gift card? (Worth £50!)
This special event is inspired by Roald Dahl’s delightful book, ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’.
I’ll come back to the story and inspiration in a minute. Before that, let me tell you about the golden gift cards.
What is a golden gift card?
This is simply a £50 gift card to spend on the Beadflowers website.
The golden gift cards have already been put into circulation. Each one will be triggered by a customer order. I have used a special secret algorithm to set these triggers, so they are totally random. They can trigger at any time of the day or night. So, no matter where in the world you live, or what time you order, you stand an equal chance of winning a golden gift card.
The gift cards have no expiry date. You can spend them all at once, or in several parts. But they are only valid on the Beadflowers website. So, you couldn’t use them in my Etsy store, or when paying for an online class.
How do you win?
Simple. Just place an order of £1 or more on the Beadflowers website during January.
Note: the £1 order value has to be AFTER any discounts have been applied. So, for example, if you added an item worth £1 then used 50p of loyalty beads, or applied a coupon which reduced the amount you actually pay, then you would not trigger a golden gift card. Your actual final payment has to be £1 or higher to trigger the prizes.
Now, your order will go through as normal. But if you have been the one to trigger the next golden gift card, you will receive your gift from me. Unfortunately, I haven’t found a clever way to automatically generate the gift cards, so I have to do that bit myself. That means you will only hear about the gift card during UK business hours.
But, just to reiterate: you can win a golden gift card at any time. So, for example, if you live in the US or Canada and you place your order in the evening your local time, this would be during the night in the UK. Your order could trigger a gift card, but you wouldn’t hear about it for a few hours – until it’s day-time in the UK and I can send the card to you.
Everyone is equally likely to trigger a golden card. All you have to do is shop as normal and keep your fingers crossed! Naturally, the more often you place an order, the more likely you are to win one of the golden cards. So, good luck!
How do you know that the gift cards have been won?
Well, just as in the book, where the golden tickets were a huge deal, attracting press attention all over the world, I will be making a big announcement on Facebook and on the Beadflowers blog. This will happen every time someone wins a golden gift card. So, you will know how many are left and you can plan your orders accordingly!
But remember, the cards will appear randomly. So, there won’t be any pattern to this. It’s sheer good luck. Or perhaps some sneaky planning…
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Inspiration
For anyone who isn’t familiar with the book, or who simply needs a refresher, sit back and relax as I remind you of the story…
Mr Willy Wonka was a chocolate and candy maker with extraordinary talents. His innovation and brilliant ideas knew no bounds. But his factory had been subject to industrial espionage at the hands of greedy competitors. So, many years before the story began, he had closed its doors to everyone.
The book opens with Mr Wonka announcing that he will be opening the factory doors to just five lucky children (with suitable adult accompaniment). Those five would be chosen via a competition to win golden tickets. He had hidden five golden tickets under the wrappers of his chocolate bars. The chocolate had been distributed worldwide, so anyone could be the winner.
Mr Wonka also promised an additional grand prize – a complete mystery – would go to one of the five children.
This sparked a media frenzy as the world watched and waited to see who would find the golden tickets.
Winning at any cost
Now, plenty of children behaved beautifully. They simply purchased a chocolate bar whenever they could and hoped to be lucky. But some of the eventual winners were so competitive that they found ways to increase the odds in their favour.
For example, the gluttonous Augustus Gloop took it upon himself to eat a constant supply of the chocolate bars until he found a ticket.
Veruca Salt, a rather spoilt little girl, simply asked her over-indulgent parents to get her a ticket. Her father, the rich owner of a peanut factory, bought in crates and crates of chocolate bars and made his factory staff ‘shell’ chocolate bars instead of peanuts until they found one of the tickets.
Violet Beauregarde had a reputation as a champion chewer of chewing gum. She was an unhealthily competitive child. So, when she heard about the contest, she naturally gave up the chewing gum and turned her attention to chocolate bars instead. Her competitive nature saw her devour chocolate bars with a will and determination that guaranteed her a ticket.
Then there was Mike Teavee who (in the 2005 film, at least) calculated the odds of where the golden tickets might end up. In fact, he so cunningly discovered Mr Wonka’s algorithm that he soon found himself a ticket. In the book, he is a boy obsessed by television and violence, incapable of truly human interaction.
Only the hero, Charlie Bucket, won his ticket by true good luck.
Now, I’m going to pause the story here. I’ll leave you to ponder you own strategy to win a golden gift card. But I’ll share more of the adventures of these lucky children as each golden gift card is won. So, stay tuned…
Inviting you into the Beadflowers Chocolate Factory
As I said in the beginning, January isn’t only about winning. It’s about having fun and brightening the days. So, I’ve just opened up the doors of my chocolate factory to all of you.
Inside, you’ll find some treats, some trivia, and a wealth of chocolate and candy that is all perfectly healthy, mood-boosting and enjoyable. So, I invite you to begin your journey. Every day I’ll be releasing a new treat to enjoy, so make sure you pop in daily for a little (healthy) snack…
You can also use coupon code CHOCOLATE for a mystery discount on any Beadflowers pattern*. This coupon will work from now until the first golden gift card is won.
*Coupon is subject to the usual terms and conditions. It will not work on items that are already on sale. You cannot use it with other coupons. It is only valid for PDF downloads purchased on the Beadflowers website, so it will NOT work on Etsy or on beading classes, books, kits or beads. You can use this coupon as many times as you wish until it expires.
Golden Gift Card Competition Rules
Golden gift cards
- the release times of each golden gift card have already (before 1st January 2021) been determined, by a computer program, to keep things completely fair and random. So, I cannot enter into disputes about this.
- each golden gift card will be won by the first person to place a ‘qualifying order’ after the release time of the gift card.
- the golden gift cards are limited to one per customer. So, if you have already won a gift card, you will automatically be excluded from winning further cards. You are still welcome to order from the Beadflowers website, but your order will not trigger a gift card.
- thus, if the first order after the release of a gift card, is placed by an existing gift card winner, then it will be the next customer, (who is not already a winner), to place a ‘qualifying order’ who will win the gift card.
- the golden gift card will be a £50 gift card that can be used on the Beadflowers website. This link will give you the full details about the gift cards.
Qualifying orders
A ‘qualifying order’ must meet BOTH the following criteria…
- It must be placed on the Beadflowers website. So, orders for online classes on Teachable, or in the Beadflowers Etsy store, or for books sold through Blurb, Vivebooks, or Amazon DO NOT qualify.
- The order value must be £1 or higher AFTER any discount coupons or loyalty points have been applied. So, for example, if you pick a product worth £1, then apply a 20% discount coupon, the amount you pay would be 80p, so this would NOT be a qualifying order.
Winner notification
- winners of the golden gift cards will be notified by email from Katie during the next business day after their winning order is placed. Notifications will be made during UK business hours (9am-5.30pm, GMT, Monday to Friday).
- each time a gift card has been won, Katie will announce the winner on the Beadflowers blog. This will also be shared on social media.
