Monday, June 24, 2013

August 2013 Theme Announced: "Sea Adventures"

We have our new theme! Olena, winner of the June Bride Challenge, poses for us the August theme: "Sea Adventures", thinking of hot summer days, vacations, and traveling by the sea or under the sea, whatever inspires you.

THE CHALLENGE RULES

Any EBW member may create one new beadweaving of your own design (not from a tutorial, kit, book, magazine, or class) in response to the challenge theme. Your work should be entirely beadwoven, or have a substantially woven component, to feature and promote our art form. You may not renew an existing piece, or list a tutorial or made-to-order item as an entry.

Members are expected to participate in challenges when possible, and required to do so once each year. Start the weaving anytime after the theme is announced. Complete and list the work for sale on Etsy by the 5th of the month of the challenge, before midnight Etsy (Eastern Standard) time. Your listing date is proof you entered by the deadline, and also determines your placement in the mosaic, so DO NOT RENEW your work until after the voting poll opens on the 9th.

Your listing must be for sale for the duration of the challenge (not made to order), unless it sells from your shop. If that happens, please alert the moderators to your sale, and you can still participate. If you must reserve your listing for purchase, please follow Etsy's recommendations and edit both your title and your description to begin with: "RESERVED FOR (buyer's Etsy username, or designation of buyer's choice) ONLY." Etsy does not allow the listing of items not for sale, so reserving your entry to sell elsewhere or keep for yourself is not permitted. Please do not put your shop on vacation mode when you have an item entered in the challenge, or deactivate your entry from the time you list, until the close of the challenge. If you must be away from your shop, please leave your challenge entry active, with a message explaining the date the item will shipped if purchased."

WHAT INFORMATION MUST BE IN MY LISTING?

Your listing must include the following four (4) things:
1. The theme of the challenge. For example, “This (describe your work) was created for the Etsy Beadweavers Team (insert the month) challenge on the theme (insert the title of the theme).”
2. An explanation of how your work relates to the theme.
3. The address of our team blog where the voting will take place and the voting dates. For example, “Please visit our team blog, http://www.etsy-beadweavers.blogspot.com between the 9th and 15th and vote for your favorite entry.”
4.Tag your entry EBWC. This is how we find your entry. Please test this tag by searching "handmade" and "EBWC" on Etsy. If your entry does not appear in this search within an hour after listing and tagging it, please contact a moderator for assistance. Please do not apply this tag until after the previous challenge poll closes on the 15th, and remove the tag after the voting poll closes, so entries for the next month’s challenge can be featured.

About Promoting the Public Voting Poll

The purpose of the public poll is to bring as many viewers to our team blog as possible, increasing awareness of Etsy Beadweavers and our art form. The winner of the public poll should be the work that the most viewers liked the best. PLEASE DO NOT request that your friends vote for your work, or that of another member. Please let them make up their own minds about which entry they like the best. Promote the challenge by inviting as many friends, acquaintances, co-workers and family members as you like to vote for their favorite entry. Please use your blog, Facebook, Twitter and any other resources you have to drive traffic to our blog during the challenge. Feel free to say which entry is yours. Many friends will choose to support you with a vote. Let’s play fair with each other, and keep our challenges fun for all.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Congratulations to the Winners of the "June Bride" Challenge

Popular blog vote winners:
1st place - Celtic Bride Necklace - jadebutterfly 26% (171)
2nd place - champagne Bridal Set - zviagil 23% (148)
3rd place - Sweet Dreams Wedding Set - BeadsForBeauty 6% (39)
4th place - Bridal Bead Embroidered Set - Sunny1167 6% (36)
5th place - Swarovski Earrings - zivadesigns 5% (31)
6th place – Simply Beautiful Bridal Set - HauteIceBeadwork 4% (23)
7th place - Bridal Necklace and Bracelet SuperDuo Set - Lirigal 3% (20)
8th place - Pearls and Crystals - ArtfulAr 3% (19)
9th place - Bowl of Daisies Necklace - FleurDeIrk 3% (17)
10th place - Beadwoven Bridal Necklace - enchantedbeads 2% (14)

Team Vote Winners:
1st place - Sweet Dreams Wedding Set - BeadsForBeauty with 20 votes
2nd place - Simply Beautiful Bridal Set - HauteIceBeadwork with 12 votes
3rd place - Celtic Bride Necklace - jadebutterfly with 11 votes
4th place - Bowl of Daisies Necklace - FleurDeIrk with 10 votes
5th place (3-way tie) - Bridal Necklace and Bracelet SuperDuo Set – Lirigal, Ivory Vines – MegansBeadedDesigns, and Shining Bride – TrinketsBeadwork with 4 votes each


As the internal winner, BeadsforBeauty will be selecting the Etsy-Beadweavers August challenge theme - to be announced soon. Congratulations to all who entered!

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Voting for "June Bride" Challenge


June has traditionally been the most popular month for weddings for centuries around the world. That is where the term "June bride" comes from. Historically, there are several reasons for that. The month of June derives its name from Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. In ancient times it was thought that couples who married in June would be blessed with prosperity and happiness. There were also many logistical reasons for brides to consider June weddings. Brides married in June were likely to give birth to a first child in spring (also thought to bring good luck) and recover in time for the fall harvest. During medieval times a person's annual bath usually fell in May or June, meaning that June brides still smelled relatively fresh.


In modern times those things are not so important, but weddings still take place in June more than any other month. It’s the month that summer begins (northern hemisphere), the flowers are all in bloom and the weather is warm without being too hot. So for this month’s challenge, channel your inner bride to create the perfect wedding accessory for a June Bride. Perhaps a decorative barrette for her hair, a cuff to set off her new wedding ring, a beaded sash for her dress or the quintessential necklace full of luster and sparkle. There’s nothing as stunning as a Bride decked out in white, but also think about the red silks of a Chinese Bride, the Henna Mehndi of the Indian Bride, or the bright colors of the Moroccan Bride.



Vote for your favorite entry as shown in the mosaic below, and view each one in greater detail by clicking on the images within the mosaic, or the links below.


Voting for for this challenge is on June 9th - 15th. Click on the images within or the links below the mosaic to see additional views and read about each piece in detail.


  PLEASE VOTE ONLY ONCE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRY


1. Bridal Bead Embroidered Set - Sunny1167 2. Bridal Necklace and Bracelet SuperDuo Set - Lirigal 3. Return of Happiness Lily of the Valley Set - BeadCatcher 4. Rivoli Bracelet - SpringColors 5. Beadwoven Necklace - Kankou 6. Dancing with the Tsars - Beadditz 7. Moonstone and Freshwater Pearl Necklace - SallyJeansBeadedGems 8. Beadwoven Bridal Bangle Cuff - MaryTDesigns 9. Ivory Vines - MegansBeadedDesigns 10. Wild Wild Wedding - Maewa 11. Crystal Wedding Ensemble - beadn4fun 12. Swarovski Earrings - zivadesigns 13. Ethereal Cream and Blue Floral Bib Necklace - Medic5415 14. Beadwoven Bridal Necklace - enchantedbeads 15. Bowl of Daisies Necklace - FleurDeIrk 16. Double Happiness Bridal Pendant - CreationsofAgape 17. White Doves for the Bride in Your Life - DustysTreasure 18. White Dragonfly Beaded Leather Cuff - suegoodebeads 19. White Wedding Cap - FrancescasFancy 20. Sweet Dreams Wedding Set - BeadsForBeauty 21. Celtic Bride Necklace - jadebutterfly 22. Simply Beautiful Bridal Set - HauteIceBeadwork 23. Bead Embroidered Bridal Necklace - mysweetcrochet 24. White Beads Crochet Rope Necklace Lariat - RebekeJewelryShop 25. Wedding Jewerly - BeautyGlamourLuba 26. Champagne Bridal Set - zviagil 27. Bow Tie Tuxedo Creamy Pearl Brooch - Beadmatrix 28. Pearls and Crystals - ArtfulAr 29. Shining Bride - TrinketsBeadwork 30. Peter Pan Collar - mahlidesigns 31. Bride Flower Necklace - Sobby 32. Destiny - AngelqueCreations 33. Capri Wedding - alterdeco 34. 1960s June Bride Updated - ArtMasquerading