The Land of Odds has another contest running, with a deadline of August 31, 2007! It’s the 3rd annual All Dolled Up competition, and unlike the Ugly Necklace contest, you’re actually allowed to make your dolls beautiful…the theme this year is Celestial Reflections. Here’s an example of a beauty from last year:
Light of My Life, by Lidija Fairbanks
beads, beading, bead-embroidery, beaded-dolls, calls-for-entries
Stringing Magazine is sponsoring a challenge for all beaders: the theme is I’ll Fly Away, and the deadline for entries is August 6, 2007. All entries will be shown on their website, and the Editors’ favorites will snag a spot in the magazine!
I’m still not posting a picture of my revolting ugly necklace here on the blog. The Land of Odd’s contest for the ugliest necklace is almost over, and I thought I would explain how I came to make this piece. You can see it here: Queasy It’s #9, near the bottom.
During the planning process, I kept thinking through all the different ways that rules of good design could be broken. It actually took me a lot more time to think through the whole piece than it did to make it. It’s just not that easy to make something that you know is hideous! Here are the major design elements and principles that I violated:
The shape and texture are hideous: fake vomit is visually disturbing The color scheme uses a poisonous-looking triad in non-harmonious proportions with poor saturation choices: orange, lime green, purple-brown The value contrast is unexciting: all medium value colors were chosen The sizes and shapes are inappropriate and poorly proportioned, used with no balance in the rhythm and repetition of elements: neckstrap too thin for central pendant, wired bead links uneven lengths, wrapped loops uneven sizes, beads allowed to slide freely with no spacers, bead holes too large for wire gauge The choice of materials is inexplicable: cheap plastic mixed with lampworked glass, closure a mix of fibers and a geometric shape atop a chain neckstrap and “organic” shaped vomit, fringe fibers wired onto the chain, all giving the piece no sense of harmony or unity The pattern on the lampwork beads is poorly done: random numbers of eyes, one bead with reverse colors The gradation is unbalanced and backwards: neckstrap beads graduated the wrong way, unequal amounts of fringe on either side of centerpiece
The overall effect of all these violations in Queasy is a piece that has no harmony or unity among its elements. There is no sense that this piece is a cohesive whole, with all elements integrated to express a meaningfully complete thought, unless that thought happens to be dis-unity!
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, ugly-necklace-contest
Every month, Polymer Clay Central has a challenge scheduled, sponsored by different clay companies. For example, the Polymer Clay Superstore is sponsoring July’s challenge, called Wave That Flag. For information on each month’s challenge, visit the challenge rules page!
Here is an example of a previous challenge winner, from the April 2007 challenge, Textured Beads
Necklace by Arati Jawale
Is there any beader out there who has not heard about this project yet? If so, bookmark this site, and make sure that you get in on it next year (I am counting on this becoming an on-going event!). I was fortunate enough to be invited to participate before it was too late. Robin Atkins, beader extraordinaire, has modeled this project on the Quilt Journal Project that many are already familiar with. The blog homepage for the project is the 2007 Bead Journal Project. From the blog site:
About the 2007 Bead Journal Project
We are 239 women and 1 man who are dedicated and committed to creating 12 bead journal pages, one per month, for a year, starting June 1, 2007. We live in 13 different countries, including 37 states in the USA. Our primary goal during this process, is to stretch our creative and technical limits. The BJP is all about visual journaling using any media and techniques, as long as it includes beading. We are free to structure our bead journal pages any way we want, as long as all 12 are the same size.
I have chosen to do the names of the moon for each month. Researching this, I found that there were many alternate names for each month’s full moon, so I put together a list of the names I liked the best. I also decided to do the moon for the previous month each time. I’m not sure why…probably just because I really wanted to start with May, which is the “Flower Moon”. So here is my offering for June:
bead-journal-project, bead-embroidery, beading, beads, mixed-media
Technique Tuesday!
Destiny is a bracelet that I made last year for the Fire Mountain Gems annual contest. It won second place in its category, and has been gone since…October I think?…for the company to photograph it. It finally came home a couple weeks ago. Please let me know if you see it in any of the FMG catalogs or print advertisements. Details on this year’s contest are on the FMG website.
I’ve got a tutorial on making an embroidered bracelet on my old blog. You can find the instructions here, and don’t forget about all the rest of my old tutorials that are still available!
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media
This is it, only bigger! See it up there at the top?
I just need one teeny little favor from everyone! Almost everyone here at 451Press is going to add a tagline or slogan to their banner, and I’ve actually got too many choices. Usually I don’t have enough, but that’s another story. The tagline is going to go in small type in the bottom right-hand corner of the banner. So which do you like best? If you’ve got another suggestion, would you add it to the comments section of my blog (not of the poll)? Thanks so much everyone!
I am so excited! Five more of my pieces have now been shipped off to Rockport Press for inclusion in their upcoming book 1000 Jewelry Details. I’m not going to show you all of them here and ruin the surprise, but here’s a sample:
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media
If you buy supplies from Fire Mountain Gems, then you should seriously think about entering their contest! I did last year, and my bracelet won second place in its category. Not quite as nice as being the grand prize winner, but hey! There are brand new categories this year, but the closing date is still August 31, so get planning. And beading! Here’s a link to all the information available.
From the website:
First place-winning designs in each category will go on to compete for the Grand Prizes, and may appear:
• in our 2008-09 comprehensive Jewelry Maker’s Catalog
• on our website
• in our back cover ads in top industry magazines
• in one of our supplemental catalogs.
Oh, and monetary prizes too, good towards FMG products.
The Bright and Beautiful Design Contest is on! Use some of the suppliers listed in the previous post to create a masterpiece, and then submit it to Create Your Style for the 2007 design competition. Here are some of the details:
PROCESS FOR ENTRY
You may submit as many entries as you wish for contest, however you may only compete in one category: Professional, Amateur, Student. Completed application, two digital photographs (jpg or gif and not to exceed 2 Mbytes) of the design and a complete list of CRYSTALLIZEDTM - Swarovski Elements used must be submitted by registration deadline of July 13, 2007. Do not send finished pieces.
SEMI-FINALISTS
The top 20 designs from each category: Professional, Amateur, Student will be chosen by a panel of jurors and notified on August 31, 2007. Semi-finalists will be required to send Swarovski their design piece(s) no later than September 15, 2007, or Swarovski will assume the semi-finalist has chosen not to continue in the contest. All semi-finalists will receive the CRYSTALLIZEDTM - Swarovski Elements used to make their design, plus a $50.00 gift check. Every effort will be made to send the participant the exact CRYSTALLIZEDTM - Swarovski Elements used, but substitutions may be necessary.
FINALISTS
The panel of jurors will choose 5 finalists per category: Professional, Amateur, Student. All finalists will be notified by October 30, 2007. All finalists will be invited to the VIP Reception in Tucson, Arizona on February 6, 2008 at which time the winners will be announced.
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, Swarovski, calls-for-entries
Make Art Monday!
A couple of weeks ago, I received a very exciting email from Sandra at Rockport/Quarry that my necklace Dreamers was being requested for the upcoming book 1,000 Jewelry Details, and was needed right away for inclusion in the “dummy” sales tool that is created for each new book.
Now that this has happened a few times, you’d think that I’d start to feel like a real grownup!
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media
The rules are available on the Textile Center’s website.
Basically, work entered must have been completed after January 1, 2007 and contain at least 50% beads. Submissions are due November 30, 2007, and artists will be notified by January 28, 2008.
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, call-for-entries
I’m not going to post a picture of it here, because some folks are just not going to want to see it! I entered the Ugly Necklace Contest this year, and was thrilled to be named as a semi-finalist! Yes, I made the necklace as hideously ugly as I possibly could…on purpose. And I learned a ton about the rules of good design by doing it.
The online voting has just started at the Land of Odds, the sponsor of this contest. Would you go and vote? You can vote for as many as you want, but please don’t try to vote for any necklace more than once. I’d be thrilled if you voted mine as 100% ugly, but please follow your heart…or your queasy stomach…in this matter!
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, ugly-necklace-contest
From Rockport’s website:
**DEADLINE MAY 15, 2007**
We are seeking project contributors for an upcoming book tentatively titled 1000 Jewelry Details. The book will feature handmade jewelry that can be made at home with simple tools by non-professional jewelry makers. Some images will show entire pieces of jewelry, but most will home in on points of interest: uniquely crafted findings, bead combinations, dangles, hand-carved details, surface texture, fibers, color, and nontraditional materials.
For all the details, visit Rockport Publishers.
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media, calls-for-entries
Deadline: April 9, 2007
Bead Dreams contest information
Finalists will be on display at the Bead&Button Show, June 6-10, 2007 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Enter the Bead Arts Awards - Fill in the online form
handmade-beaded-jewelry, wearable-art, beads, beading, jewelry, mixed-media
Come on a journey through a bead and jewelry wonderland, where no item is considered too strange to use in making something...especially if that item has a hole in it! All types of beads are welcomed and cherished here, and no techniques are off-limits. You'll be amazed and inspired by the beadwork that is being done today!
Bead Arts Author(s)
