Thursday, May 30, 2013

July 2013 Theme Announced: "Beautiful Summer Flowers"

Ewa, our team winner of the Hungarian Folk Art theme has chosen our new theme for July! Here it is:

"BEAUTIFUL SUMMER FLOWERS:

The summertime with the sunny days and all beautiful flowers is full of energy like an engine for coming autumn and winter. It would be nice to create something new thinking about warm days. I live in wet Normandy so this kind of project keeps me warmer."

Special Reminder: French flowers created with wire are NOT considered beadweaving.

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, May 27, 2013

Spring swap 2013

Spring Swap 2013
This is our fourth annual Spring Swap. Each year we ask our members if they wish to participate in the Spring Swap.  They must be willing to create a bead woven item for one other member that is participating in the swap.  In February we asked our members if they wanted to participate for 2013 and 25 members volunteered.  The they were asked to fill out a questionarie of their preferences, sizes, and favorite colors.  Once the questionaries were returned the 25 members were then randomly circled paired with another participating partner.  The respective partners questionair was send out and each member had until April 30, 2013 to create and send a bead woven item for the paired partner (they created for one person and received a swap item from another one).  This was our 3rd year running the swap and the first time that one of the participants for personal reasons could not complete and send out their swap item to their assigned partner, so Marsha of HauteIceBeadwork (one of Etsy Beadweavers Moderators) kindly agreed to create and send out a swap item (without receiving one herself) so that all the participants that had created in faith an item received one in return.  Below are the list of the participants, their creations and who it was created for.

1. AbeadedWorld • designed for • Ajbead
www.etsy.com/shop/ABeadedWorld

2. Ajbead • designed for • Soby
www.etsy.com/shop/ajBead

3. Angelque Creations • designed for • GypsyEyes
www.etsy.com/shop/AngelqueCreations

4. BeadN4Fun • designed for • Angelque Creations
www.etsy.com/shop/beadn4fun

5. Beagle Beads • designed for • Crystal Wonders
www.etsy.com/shop/beaglebeads

6. Blue Star Art • designed for • AbeadedWorld
www.etsy.com/shop/BlueStarArts

7. Bobbianncook • designed for • flagrantDesigns
www.etsy.com/shop/bobbianncook

8. Creations of Agape • designed for • njema
www.etsy.com/shop/CreationsofAgape

9. Crystal Wonders • designed for • SandysTreasure
www.etsy.com/shop/crystalwonders

10. Design by Mist • designed for • ile1974
www.etsy.com/shop/designbymist

11. flagrantDesigns • designed for • JosJewels1
www.etsy.com/shop/flagrantdesigns

12. GlitzandGlitter • designed for • Design by Mist
www.etsy.com/shop/GlitzandGlitter

13. GypsyEyes • designed for • SallygoRoundthemoon
www.etsy.com/shop/gypsyeyesjewelry

14. ile1974 • designed for • Creations of Agape
www.etsy.com/shop/ile1974

15. JosJewels1 • designed for • LightinStillness

16. KrisDesignFSP • designed for • Starwaves
www.etsy.com/shop/KrisDesignFSP

17. HauteIceBeadwork • designed for • SoulshineCorningNY
www.etsy.com/shop/HauteIceBeadwork

18. njema • designed for • BeadN4Fun
www.etsy.com/shop/njema

19. SallygoRoundthemoon • designed for • Spring Colors
www.etsy.com/shop/SallyGoRoundTheMoon

20. SandysTreasure • designed for • Bobbianncook
www.etsy.com/shop/sandystreasure

21. Sashasi • designed for • Beagle Beads
www.etsy.com/shop/SashaSi

22. Soby • designed for • Blue Star Art
www.etsy.com/shop/Sobby

23. SoulshineCorningNY • designed for • Sashasi
www.etsy.com/shop/SoulshineCorningNY

24. Spring Colors • designed for • KrisDesignFSP
www.etsy.com/shop/springcolors

25. Starwaves • designed for • GlitzandGlitter
www.etsy.com/shop/Starwaves

* * *


Friday, May 17, 2013

Congratulations to the Winner of the May "Hungarian Folk Art" Challenge

Congratualtions to Maewa for winning both the popular blog vote, and internal team vote for the 1013 May Etsy-Beadweaver challenge. You can view the winning piece "Summertime!" below:


The blog poll runner-ups are as follows:
1st place - Summertime - Maewa 21%
2nd place - Hungarian Star Necklace - FrancescasFancy 15%
3rd place - Paprika Pendant - Svetush 12%
4th place - Hungarian Folk Art Beaded Purse - ArtMasquerading 10%
5th place - Kalocsa Folk Embroidery Necklace - MoonsafariBeads 9%
6th place - Marika SuperDuo Beaded Necklace - Lirigal 6%
7th place (2-way tie) - Duck Duck Goose - TheBeadedBead 5% , and Floral Hungarian Bridal Wreath - SharonEdelmanforEPEC 5%,
9th place (2-way tie) - Purple Tulip Brooch - beadn4fun 4%, and Floral Brooch - suegoodebeads 4%

Team vote runner-ups are as follows:
2nd place – Hungarian Star Necklace by FrancescasFancy (20 votes)
3rd place – Hungarian Folk Art Beaded Purse by ArtMasquerading (14 votes)
4th place - Kalocsa Folk Embroidery Necklace by MoonsafariBeads (9 votes)
5th place - Hungarian Folk Art Woven Cuff by jess2bead (7 votes)
6th place, a 3-way tie - Purple Tulip Brooch by beadn4fun, Floral Hungarian Bridal Wreath by SharonEdelmanforEPEC, and Beaded Wall Hanging by DowntheCopperLine (5 votes each)

Congratulations to all of the winners and all who entered!

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Voting for May "Hungarian Folk Art" Challenge


Sorry we had some technical glitches this morning so the poll will remain open until 7:30am pacific daylight time May 16th. 

Arlene of ArtfulAr, winner of the March 2013 "Faberge Egg" challenge has chose the May 2013 theme. She explained the guidelines as follows:


The theme I chose for the May 2013 Etsy Beadweavers Challenge is 'Hungarian Folk Art.'

Growing up in a Hungarian home, my Mother and Grandmother were so very talented in all the arts. Embroidery was one art they excelled in; doilies, napkins, tablecloths, etc. This theme is special to me and brings back wonderful memories. The beautiful rich colors and designs are a delight to the eye. Create your own art from the inspirational designs [form an image search], or any reference for Hungarian Folk Art of your choosing.

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 May 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. Purple Tulip Brooch - beadn4fun 2. Duck Duck Goose - TheBeadedBead 3. Floral Hungarian Bridal Wreath - SharonEdelmanforEPEC 4. Marika SuperDuo Beaded Necklace - Lirigal 5. Floral Brooch - suegoodebeads 6. Beaded Wall Hanging - DowntheCopperLine 7. Bead Embroidered Flower Headpiece - idahobeadweaver 8. Summertime - Maewa 9. Flower Pendant - alterdeco 10. Paprika Pendant - Svetush 11. Kalocsa Folk Embroidery Necklace - MoonsafariBeads 12. Red and White Diamonds - beaglebeads 13. Hungarian Star Necklace - FrancescasFancy 14. Hungarian Folk Art Beaded Purse - ArtMasquerading 15. Hungarian Folk Art Woven Cuff - jess2bead  

Monday, April 22, 2013

June 2013 Theme Announced: "June Bride"

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.

You may start your entry today and post to your shop by midnight May 5th Etsy time. Please do not tag your entry with EBWC until the May challenge is complete (May 16th)

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.

Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Congratulations to the winners of the April “Shades of Scheherazade” Challege

Congratulations to go Luba of BeautyGlamourLuba winner of the April Challenge Shades of Scheherazde with her entry Last Tale of Scheherazde receiving 69 (17%) of the popular votes.

The runners up are as follows:
tied for 2 place - 4. Samira Bead Embroidered Collar - beadn4fun 9% (36) and 22. Aladdin's Amulet Necklace - scarboro 9% (36)
3rd place - 23. Scheherazade's New Necklace - InetasJewelry 7% (30)
4th place - 13. Persian Princess Parure Jewelry Set - HauteIceBeadwork 6% (23)
5th place - 1. 1001 Nights Bead Embroidered Necklace - crimsonfrog 5% (22)
6th place - 8. Gold Treasure - Lirigal 5% (19)
7th place - 14. Queen of Sheba Neclace - SashaSi 4% (17)
8th place - 11 Scheherazade bellydance top - Sobby 4% (16)
tied for 9th place - 12. Tribal Oriental Dance Cuff - annamei 3% (14) and 29. Golden Beauty - beadifuljewelry 3% (14)
tied for 10th place - 6. Scheherazades Jewels - SallyJeansBeadedGems 3% (11) and 7. Persian Nights Necklace - beadsandblooms 3% (11)


Congratulations go to Chris of Beadn4fun winner of this months April Challenge Shades of Schereazade with her beautiful Samira Bead Embroidered Collar. Chris has the double please of winning twice as her lovely necklace sold before the challenge started. Chris' entry received 11 of the 97 team votes

Congratulations also go to the runners up in the team vote as follows:
2nd Place - 1. 1001 Nights Bead Embroidered Necklace - crimsonfrog with 10 votes
tied for 3rd place - 13. Persian Princess Parure Jewelry Set - HauteIceBeadwork and 21. Last Tale of Scheherazade - BeautyGlamourLuba with 9 votes eacg
5th place - 22. Aladdin's Amulet Necklace - scarboro with 8 votes
4 way tie for 6th place - 24. Queen of the Dance - justbrez, 25. Scheherazade's Jewels - EsmerldasStudio, 29. Golden Beauty - beadifuljewelry, 30. Sweet Persian Night Necklace - TheSpecialCase with 5 votes each
10th place - 6. Scheherazades Jewels - SallyJeansBeadedGems with 4 votes

Chris will have the honors of selecting the theme for our June challenge.

Monday, April 8, 2013

Voting for April “Shades of Scheherazade” Challege



The EtsyBeadweaver's April challenge was inspired by the following premise:



“Shades of Scheherazade”

Find your inspiration in mysterious, undulating arms, swaying hips, and the beautiful, smooth curves of bodies in Middle Eastern Dance. Modern Oriental dance is a mixture of many styles, from places like Egypt, Lebanon and Turkey. Veiled faces can add to the mystique, and lavishly decorated costumes fascinate the viewer. Your beadwork should capture for the wearer the feeling of Eastern beauty. You might be designing for the heroine of the fairy tale "One Thousand and One Nights."



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.



PLEASE VOTE ONLY ONCE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRY




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



1. 1001 Nights Bead Embroidered Necklace - crimsonfrog 2. Belly Dancer - Eastern Grace - ArtMasquerading 3. Scheherazade is Dreaming - Maewa 4. Samira Bead Embroidered Collar - beadn4fun 5. Arabian Night Necklace - AnnHochmanDesigns 6. Scheherazades Jewels - SallyJeansBeadedGems 7. Persian Nights Necklace - beadsandblooms 8. Gold Treasure - Lirigal 9. Hakawati Set - VCArtisanOriginals 10. Desert Dancing cuff - suegoodebeads 11. Scheherazade bellydance top - Sobby 12. Tribal Oriental Dance Cuff - annamei 13. Persian Princess Parure Jewelry Set - HauteIceBeadwork 14. Queen of Sheba Neclace - SashaSi 15. The Arabic noon set - BeadsForBeauty 16. Scheherazade Secret Treasure - BeadCatcher 17. A Never Ending Tale - GlitzandGlitter 18. Scheherazade - Behind the Veil - Beadditz 19. Beadwoven Necklace - alterdeco 20. Sheherezade\ 21. Last Tale of Scheherazade - BeautyGlamourLuba 22. Aladdin\ 23. Scheherazade\ 24. Queen of the Dance - justbrez 25. Scheherazade\ 26. Shades of Scheherazade - SpringColors 27. Storyteller Moon - BeadworkAndCoe 28. Oriental Dancer Anklet - ellimei 29. Golden Beauty - beadifuljewelry 30. Sweet Persian Night Necklace - TheSpecialCase 31. Reversible Emerald Collar - CreationsofAgape


1. 1001 Nights Bead Embroidered Necklace - crimsonfrog

2. Belly Dancer - Eastern Grace - ArtMasquerading

14. Queen of Sheba Neclace - SashaSi

15. The Arabic noon set - BeadsForBeauty

16. Scheherazade Secret Treasure - BeadCatcher

17. A Never Ending Tale - GlitzandGlitter

18. Scheherazade - Behind the Veil - Beadditz

19. Beadwoven Necklace - alterdeco

20. Sheherezade's Little Sister - FullCircleDesign

21. Last Tale of Scheherazade - BeautyGlamourLuba

22. Aladdin's Amulet Necklace - scarboro

23. Scheherazade's New Necklace - InetasJewelry

24. Queen of the Dance - justbrez

25. Scheherazade's Jewels - EsmerldasStudio

26. Shades of Scheherazade - SpringColors

27. Storyteller Moon - BeadworkAndCoe

28. Oriental Dancer Anklet - ellimei

29. Golden Beauty - beadifuljewelry

30. Sweet Persian Night Necklace - TheSpecialCase

31. Reversible Emerald Collar - CreationsofAgape