Yesterday when I went to the post office, there was a small box in my mail from an old friend who I haven't seen for many years. She and my sister and I were all very close growing up, and we re-connected online this year.

Upon opening the box, I saw three small packages in wrapping paper and a small zippered pouch. A note read, "I found these beads in storage, I hope you can use them!" To my delight, the packages contained four or five different colors of seed beads, and a couple of film canisters contained some beautiful blue glass beads. I was so touched that my friend, after years of being out of contact, thought of me this holiday and sent me this wonderful box full of beads.

If you are among those who will be celebrating Christmas tomorrow, my wish for you is that your holiday is full of family, friends and joy. Happy beading!

One of the many wonderful friends I've made through the internet beading world is Carol Dean Sharpe who designs some of the most beautiful peyote stitch beading patterns I've ever seen. I first came into contact with Carol when she sent me a note about a picture of an African-inspired square stitched choker that I had on my Flickr account. Since then, I've been able to get to know her a little better through her art and through our common love of all things beaded.

This year, Carol has graciously given me permission to publish one of her peyote stitch patterns here on the About.com Beadwork site, exclusively for the readers of the site and free of charge. The African Mudcloth II Bracelet Pattern is now available on the site with two versions - one is sculptured with thin tabs between motifs, and the other is a solid, wide band. Both are made with a wonderful palette of metallic and matte metallic Delica beads.

Carol has granted permission for this pattern to be used for both personal and commercial use. (If you do decide to use the pattern for commercial use, please make sure that you credit her as the designer.)

If you love this pattern as much as I do, make sure you check out Carol's Etsy store, SandFibers, for more great charted peyote stitch patterns and even more beautiful finished jewelry. You can also keep up with Carol on her blog, Sand Fibers.

Thank you, Carol, for sharing one of your amazing peyote stitch patterns with us this holiday season!

Here are some great beadweaving blogs for your weekend reading pleasure:

Artisan Clay - Kristie Roeder shows us some wonderful creations that people have made with her handmade clay pendants, beads and donuts. She's also having a giveaway and has gift certificates on sale in her Etsy shop.

Tapestry Beads - Jill Wiseman is freezing cold in Texas, and she shares some of her photos from a recent trip to Las Vegas.

Beadedbear's Nonsense and Complete Waste of Time - Sig Wynne-Evans shares her lyrics to "The 12 Days of Christmas" as they pertain to - what else? - bead shopping!

Beadlust - Robin Atkins, the founder of the Bead Journal Project, shares some of her favorite bead journal pages from 2009.

Beady Eyed Women - Jeannette Cook shows us her "Screwt" in progress, a wonderful silver clay ring by Kate McKinnon, and photos from the open studio event with Heather Trimlett.

Margie Deeb's Color for Bead Artists - Margie tells us all about the Pantone Color of the Year for 2010, and it's one of my favorites.

Etsy Beadweaver's Team - The December Challenge has a winner, and it's a gorgeous piece!

Ramblings on Jewelry Making and Life - Jean Campbell gives us a sneak peek at a new piece she's working on for a book and talks about the Beading by the Bay Retreat coming up in San Francisco this January.

MAD Designs - Marcia DeCoster shows us which classes she'll be teaching at the Bead & Button Show this spring, and shows off a lovely bracelet from Carol Dean Sharpe of SandFibers.

SandFibers - Carol Dean Sharpe keeps us up to date on her "31 in 31" specials for the month of December on her Etsy shop. She's also having a special 3 for 2 sale on her patterns until December 31.

The Fascinating Beadwork of Rachel Nelson-Smith - Rachel offers a definition of a new word that should definitely be in all of our dictionaries: beadist.

Happy beading and reading!

Scarlett Lanson has posted the winners to the Use the Muse III contest on her website, The Beader's Muse, and they are gorgeous. First place went to a magnificent bead-embroidered piece by Susan Feldkamp of Mesa, Arizona; second place to Christa Murphy of Wagener, South Carolina; and third place to Janeen Sornsen of Duvall, Washington. Entries in the gallery came from all over the world, including France and Australia. And I was very excited to see the winner of the "Most Wearable" award went to Mary Jane Stanley of Clearwater, Florida.

Congratulations to the winners and all the entrants! Perusing the galleries, I see that the judges probably had a tough time with this latest round of Use the Muse. There were some well-known names in the beading world who submitted entries to this contest, including Andrew Thornton, Marcia DeCoster and Dulcey Heller.

If you are inspired by all the beautiful entries, you can enter Scarlett's Use the Muse IV contest now! She is offering kits at a pre-order discount of $30 plus $5 for shipping and handling. Part of the cost of the kit is an entry fee for the contest, and after the pre-order period, the kits will cost $35 plus shipping and handling. Scarlett is also tweaking the categories for this next contest so there may be special categories for polymer clay, wire work and other jewelry-making techniques.

Did you enter Use the Muse III? Show us your entry in the Forums! I'll be posting a picture of my Use the Muse III piece later this week.