October Challenge Theme: "Owl Totem"

Mariya of BeadCatcher, winner of the Scotland the Brave challenge for her Scottish Thistle Set, has named the October challenge theme!
 
Owl Totem

I have a special love for owls. I like to work on my jewelry late at night, when my kids and family are already sleeping. My art room windows face the adjacent forest, and sometimes I hear owls hooting away in the night.

Owls are rare and mysterious birds. They are mostly nocturnal creatures, live hidden from human life and we have always found night time to be mysterious and full of the unknown. Throughout history and across many cultures, people have regarded owls with fascination and awe. The owl was a symbol for Athena, goddess of wisdom and strategy, before the Greeks gave their pantheon human forms. According to myth, an owl sat on Athena’s blind side, so that she could see the whole truth. In Ancient Greece, the owl was a symbol of a higher wisdom, and it was also a guardian of the Acropolis.

Today symbolic owl meaning includes wisdom, mystery, messages, intelligence, protection, secrets, hidden knowledge. While thinking about your owl project you may consider moon, night, stars, branches, forest elements and feathers. Good luck to all! Have fun and happy beading! Mariya(BeadCatcher).

Team members may begin their entry no sooner than August 19 and list it by October 5th by midnight Eastern time!

CONGRATULATIONS to Mariya our August Challenge Winner!

Congratulations to Mariya of BeadCatcher winner of the EBW Team Vote and Public Blog vote for her Scottish Thistle Set with 14 team votes and 46 public votes! Mariya will choose the them for our October Challenge.

Scottish Thistle Set by BeadCatcher

Second place winner for the team and public vote is Betty of BestofBetsDesigns for her Tartan "KILT" Wrist Wrap with 13 team votes and 38 public votes

Tartan Kilt Wrist Wrap by BestofBetsDesigns

More Team vote results:
Third place with 7 team votes is Ileana of enchantedbeads for her Hues of Scotland Moors
Fourth place with 5 team votes is FrancescasFancy Monarch of the Glen Tartan Bracelet
Fifth place tie with 4 team votes each is DaynaMilesDesigns for her Clan Craig Brooch and BeadworkAndCoe’s Stag Head Thistle Brooch

More Public Vote Results:
Third Place is BeautyGlamourLuba’s Bead Embroidered Necklace with 38 votes
Fourth through Eighth place are a near tie with 16, 15, 14, 13, and 12 votes respectively
TheBeadedWebBeadweav - Unicorn Necklace 16
Clan Craig – DaynaMilesDesigns 15
Hues of Scotland Moors – enchantedbeads 14
Fields of Heather Beadwoven Bangle Bracelet - MaryTDesigns 13
Merida - OfYourLove 12

Voting for August "Scotland the Brave" Challenge

Choose your favorite "Scottish the Brave" entry from the images or links below, selecting your choice in the blog poll on the right sidebar.

Click on the images or links below to learn more about each entry and see larger, detailed images of each piece.

PLEASE VOTE ONLY ONCE FOR YOUR FAVORITE ENTRY.

1. Bead Embroidered Necklace - BeautyGlamourLuba

2. Outlander Scottish Thistle Bead Embroidered Brooch - beadn4fun

3. Aberdeen: Tartan Necklace with Gazania - Beadditz

4. Fields of Heather Beadwoven Bangle Bracelet - MaryTDesigns

5. Hues of Scotland Moors - enchantedbeads

6. Tartan "KILT" Wrist Wrap - BestofBetsDesigns

7. Cuff Bracelet - Beadflowers

8. Unicorn Necklace - TheBeadedWebBeadweav

9. Heart of Midlothian Scottish Necklace - scarboro

10. Stag Head Thistle Brooch - BeadworkAndCoe

11. Scottish Thistle Set  - BeadCatcher

12. Merida - OfYourLove

13. Fuchsia Green Thistle - SpringColors

14. Clan Craig - DaynaMilesDesigns

 15. Heather Dream - Davianna

16. Monarch of the Glen Tartan Bracelet - FrancescasFancy 

September Team Challenge "Your Favorite Children's Book"

Shine from OfYourLove won the challenge for July with her whimsical and colorful “Weedy Sea Dragon” and she has chosen our challenge theme for September: Your Favorite Children’s Book

Shine says, “I am living with my niece (3) and nephew (6) now, and They LOVE being read to. I love revisiting my own favorite children's books. So for this next challenge draw your inspiration from either the pictures or the story from your favorite children’s book."

Team members may begin your entry no sooner than July 21 and make sure it’s listed with the EBWC tag by September 5th midnight Eastern time.

If you're not a member of the Etsy Beadweavers Team and want to be, please visit the link on our blog for an application.

CONGRATULATIONS to Shine from Ofyourlove, our July Challenge winner!

Weedy Sea Dragon by Shine from Ofyourlove

 Congratulation to Shine from Ofyourlove as the winner of both the public and team vote for our "Most Colorful Animals" entry!! Her colorful and imaginative "Weedy Sea Dragon" Got 15 votes from the team and 69 votes on the blog! As winner of the team vote, Shine will choose our September challenge theme! Linda of beadifuljewelry was runner up in both votes for her breathtaking "Lion of Judah" bead "painting" with 14 votes from the team and 68 votes on the blog! A real photo finish! Congrats and thank you all for your colorful entries!

Here are the voting results:
Team Vote
1st place: Weedy Sea Dragon – OfYourLove 15
2nd place: The Lion of Judah – beadifuljewelry 14
3rd place (tie): Cardinal Brooch – byMiSt 5
3rd place (tie): Blue Gold Green Peacock – SpringColors 5
4th place: Colourful Chameleon Necklace – Beadflowers 3
5th place: Colorful Butterfly Bracelet – enchantedbeads 2

Public Blog Vote
1st place: Weedy Sea Dragon - OfYourLove 29% (69)
2nd place: The Lion of Judah - beadifuljewelry 28% (68)
3rd place: Blue Gold Green Peacock - SpringColors 10% (23)
4th place: Cardinal Brooch - byMiSt 5% (13)
5th place (tie): Colorful Butterfly Bracelet - enchantedbeads 5% (11)
5th place (tie): Colourful Chameleon Necklace - Beadflowers 5% (11)

Choose your favorite "The Most Colourful Animal?" entry from the images and links below, and vote for it on the blog poll on the right sidebar. Voting will occur from Juy 9th through the 15th

 

Click on the links below the Mosaic to see each of the entries.

  PLEASE VOTE ONLY ONCE

 

1. Peacock Amulet Bag - Hapwardare

2. Peacock Collar Necklace - BalazovichBeadwork

3. Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly Wing Bracelet - CreationsofAgape 

4. Blue Snake Bracelet/Anklet Combo - BetsysBeadlings

5. Purple Gallinule Inspired Cuff - beadn4fun

6. The Lion of Judah - beadifuljewelry

7. Cardinal Brooch - byMiSt

8. Scarlet Macaw Bracelet - MaryTDesigns

9. Colourful Chameleon Necklace - Beadflowers   

10. Bear Paws Necklace - Jewelrybyjane29

11. Blue Gold Green Peacock - SpringColors

12. Emerging Butterfly - flagrantdesigns

13. Weedy Sea Dragon - OfYourLove 

14. Teo the Turquoise Tomcat Pendant - scarboro

15. Mantis Shrimp Wrap Bracelet - Sobby

16. Colorful Butterfly Bracelet - enchantedbeads 

August Challenge Theme Chosen: "Scotland The Brave"

Dayna of DaynaMilesDesigns won the team vote on the June "Steampunk Style" challenge and has chosen a theme for the August Challenge "Scotland the Brave"!

"Even though Scotland is only the size of the state of South Carolina, it is a country rich in history, culture and iconic symbols. And it is the home of my ancestors. This month's challenge is to create a piece that reflects some aspect of this magical country. Think of the poets, the history and heritage, the legends, the colors of the heather and the moors, the many colors of clan tartans....and golf! And if you're a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander books you'll know that the 8th book in the series just came out and "Outlander" a new TV series premiers on Starz in August!"

EBW Team members may begin creating a piece for this theme no sooner than June 21, and must submit your entry by August 5th. Have fun and be Brave!

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.