We have all been talking a lot lately about our plans and goals for 2009, and I'm sure you have your own list of projects you'd like to accomplish.

 Well, I challenge you to add a few more (simple!) items to that list!

 BeadStyle has several opportunities for reader involvement already underway, and many more will be announced in future issues. I challenge you to enter one or all of them! Participating takes almost no time at all, but you will have the chance to put your creativity and your opinion out there for your fellow beaders to see. It's a difficult step to take sometimes, but you really have nothing to lose!

Let's start with the absolute easiest way to get involved: Nominate your favorite local bead store! We want to hear about great bead shops and what makes them unique. Go to BeadStyleMag.com to nominate your favorite. Just tell us the name of the store, the store's address, and why it deserves to be featured by BeadStyle magazine. We will pick six winners, based on how many nominations each store gets, and those six will appear in the Bulletin Board section of six future issues. Store owners/employees cannot nominate their own store, but they can encourage others and even promote the contest. Hurry, the last day for nominations is Monday, February 16!

Now for our reader challenges.

In the September 2008 issue, we announced the reader art-bead challenge. We received many submissions, and picked our seven favorites in the March 2009 issue. Now, you can vote on your favorite at BeadStyleMag.com. Voting ends March 2. The winner will appear in the July 2009 issue.

Many of you also submitted designs to the class challenge. Look for those finalists in the May 2009 issue!

Our two current challenges are still open for submissions. The jewelry box challenge, announced in the January 2009 issue, ends on Wednesday, February 18. Send us images of "old" pieces you transformed into something "new" by Wednesday to be considered as a finalist! Finally, we just announced the clasp challenge in the March 2009 issue. We are accepting submissions featuring show-stopping clasps until April 18. To enter, email us editor@beadstylemag.com. Be sure to include photographs and brief descriptions of your work.

If you want to challenge yourself further, submit a piece to the magazine to be considered for publication. Take a look at our submission guidelines and give it a shot! Again, just email us at editor@beadstylemag.com.

We look forward to seeing your work!