WINNERS of the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party contest!

This is going to be a LONG post, so settle in with a cup of something delicious (and some pie, maybe?) and get ready for some serious eye candy!    (Click on each photo for larger views.)

First, I'd like to again thank my panel of judges (read more about them here).  They had a truly huge job to do!  Today, I spent several hours pulling all the badges together and coordinating the emails, photos, and blogs, and while it is indeed a time-consuming task, it was a beautiful one and well worth it.


As with a lot of good things, I started with a plan and it just grew.  I started with these categories for the judges to vote on:

:: Grand Prize ::

(the piece chosen by all judges as the Best in Show)

:: Judge's Choice ::
(favorite of each judge)

:: Best Use of Seed Beads:

:: Best Wire Work ::

 :: Best Use of Fiber ::

:: Best Use of Color ::

  

and then some that Zack and I would pick ...

:: The Out of the Box Award ::

(most creative use of bead soup)

:: Zack's Choice ::

(my son Zack picks his favorite)

:: Out of the Hat Winner ::

(I draw a name out of a hat)

I ended up with one Grand Prize that was pulled out of a hat from all those chosen by the judges, and a Best Use of Seed Beads/Wire Work/Use of Fiber/Use of Color for EACH judge. I then added a "Lori's Hat" category where I picked my personal favorites and then drew a name from THAT hat (as opposed to the "Out of the Hat" which is one winner from ALL the entries).

And then I couldn't stop and had some Runners Up.  I had to stop then or I would have an epic pile of mail to get out the door!  You can click here to see what some of the prizes will be, and since there are (are you ready for this?) ....

.....well, I'm going to beg each winner to post what they get on their own blog and in the Bead Soup Cafe to save me some time!   But here's a big pile of goodies, and it's JUST the beginning.

I hate it when you have to wait and wait to see who wins the Grand Prize, so I'm going to go ahead and list that person first!

Cherish Designs

by 

Kris Lanae Binsfield

As you can see, Kris won several awards and this earns her bragging rights as the GRAND PRIZE WINNER of the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party® contest.  Congratulations, Kris!

Beaducation, Kris Lanae Binsfield of Cherish Designs 

(see above, Grand Prize winner)

Fusion Beads, Emma Todd of A Polymer Penchant

Kalmbach Publishing, 

Debbie Rasmussen of A little of this, a little of that

(voted for entire body of work)

Lima Beads, Tania Spivey of Moobie Grace

(voted for entire body of work) 

Nina Designs had a tie!

Nina Designs, Silvia Serricola at Pipa the Latest

Nina Designs, Malin de Koning at Beading by Malin de Koning

PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft, Melissa Mesara at one-eared pig beads

Both Beaducation AND Kalmbach Publishing chose 

Karin Slaton of Backstory Beads

Both Fusion Beads and Nina Designs chose

Debbie Rasmussen of a little of this, a little of that

(that's three wins with two pieces for Debbie -- way to go!)

Lima Beads, K. Hutchison of Jumbled Hutch

 PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft, Lily Krist of Handmade by LilK 

Beaducation, Eva Sherman of Eva Sherman Designs

Fusion Beads and Lima Beads chose

 Kris Lanae Binsfield of Cherish Designs 

(see above, Grand Prize winner)

Kalmbach Publishing, Susan of Libellula Jewelry

(voted for entire body of work) 

Nina Designs, Kristina Hahn Eleniah of Peacock & Lime

PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft, 

Jean A. Wells of Jean A. Wells Handcrafted Artisan Jewelry

Beaducation and Lima Beads chose

Claire Hasemeier of Blue Quail Designs

(a Facebook entrant!)

Fusion Beads, Stefanie Teufel of Stefanie's Sammelsurium

Kalmbach Publishing, 

Cheryl McCloud of One Thing Leads to Another

Nina Designs, Agi Kiss of MoonSafari Beads

PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft, Heidi Kingman of Heidi Kingman Jewelry

Beaducation, Tari Kahrs of Pearl & Pebble

Fusion Beads, Agi Kiss of MoonSafari Beads 

Kalmbach Publishing, Christina Miles of Wings N Scales

(voted for entire body of work)

Lima Beads, Keren Panthaki of Vas Dea

Nina Designs, Megan Milliken of MaeMaeMills

PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft, Dana Hickey of Wind Dancer Studios

Dish made by Adlinah Kamsir of DreamStruck Designs

Chosen by Zack as his absolute favorite,

Leslie Wayment of AA Beads & More

Pulled out of a hat of alllllll the entrants,

Mary Tanner

(a Facebook entrant!)

I took all my absolute favorites

(and that was TOUGH to narrow down)

and then drew one out of a hat.

Susanna Lehto of Othel Lehto

And last but not least, 

Kat Douglas of Washoe Kat's

Elsie Deliz-Fonseca of Eliz-Eliz and All that Craft

Jennifer Cabic of What I Believe...

Danielle Kelley of Imbue the Muse

Melissa Trudinger of Bead Recipes

Amber Dawn of Inventive Soul

Evelyn Duberry of ShebaMakeda Glass Art

WOW.

I hope you'll agree this was well worth the wait!  Preparing and writing this blog post took a ton of time, but you guys put in a lot of your creative time as well as your heart and soul into your work, and I hope you'll join me again next year for the 8th Bead Soup Blog Party®!

PLEASE take a moment to thank our sponsors -- Beaducation, Kalmbach Publishing, Fusion Beads, Nina Designs, Lima Beads, and PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft for their time and contributions.  This would not be NEARLY as much fun without their hard work and enthusiasm.

Winners, I'll be pinning your photos for you in the contest board, and emailing you over the next couple of days with badges and information about how to claim your prizes!  I'm doing the majority of the mailing, so bear with me!!!

(powered by pie)

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.

Meet the Judges!

SO!  Today I'm introducing you to the six wonderful judges of the 7th Bead Soup Blog Party.  This is a new element to the party, where I found an amazing panel of judges to take a look at the BSBP Pin Board.  They should all be commended for going through over 900 pins.  Nine hundred!


How can you show your appreciation?  By visiting their stores and web sites and letting them know when you purchase that you met them via Bead Soup.

First, Beaducation.  

Lisa Niven Kelly was one of the first wire artists I discovered when I began making jewelry about ten years ago.  I am still in awe of her work and when she started Beaducation, I was thrilled.  I was gifted her Tornado Bead and Toggle kit and was amazed at how easy she made things in her tutorials.

You can see Beaducation this summer at the following shows:

June 7-9

Bead&Button Show

Milwaukee, WI

more info »

August 23-25

Bead Fest

Philadelphia, PA

more info »

Beaducation is donating eClasses.

Next is Fusion Beads.

Fusion Beads has SO many things to choose from, but I have to say my favorite is the sheer number of Swarovski crystal styles and colors they have.

They also have an amazing (and generous!) gallery of Color Ideas and Inspiration Projects.  And did you know they offer free US shipping on orders over $25?

Fusion Beads will be donating gift certificates.

Now we have Kalmbach Publishing, and more specifically,

Karin Van Voorhees, the editor of my book, Bead Soup.

Karin is a senior editor for Kalmbach Books and has been making things all her life, but jewelry design became her passion nine years ago when she was Associate Editor during the inaugural year of BeadStyle magazine. Many, many necklaces, bracelets, and earrings later, Karin still remembers the challenges of being new to a hobby, and brings the beginner’s perspective to any class she teaches or book she edits. Her design philosophy is centered on perfecting basic skills to make simple, elegant, and wearable jewelry, and is reflected in the projects in her beginner jewelry-making book: The Absolute Beginner's Guide: Stringing Beaded Jewelry.

I have to give major kudos to Karin for getting "Bead Soup" off the ground -- it was a huge undertaking, just like the parties!  You can meet her at the Bead and Button Show, Kalmbach's flagship bead event, May 29-June 10.

Kalmbach is donating a subscription to Bead and Button magazine and the book Create Your Style with the Swarovski Ambassadors.

Next is Lima Beads.

There's a lot to love about Lima Beads.  Not only do they carry top-notch art bead designs, but they have some cool web page features, including the Big Green Bead Machine, with nine new bead deals every FIVE MINUTES, but you can also design your own Fresh Picks, picking and choosing from their huge inventory to create a design board.

  

Lima Beads is donating gift certificates.

Now we have Nina Designs.

When I first made the move to sterling silver in my designs, I discovered the unique beads of Nina Designs.  One of the many things I love about this company is their belief in Fair Trade before it was even a term.  They have an amazing philanthropic view and pay well over the standard wage to their workers in Indonesia and Thailand.

Nina Designs gives back to you, too!  When you refer a person to their web site, you receive a $25 credit when your friend makes their first purchase.  And they send a lovely handwritten card to let you know, too!

Nina Designs is donating an assortment of their amazing sterling silver charms and beads.

Last but not least,

we have PJ Tool Jewelry and Craft.

I was first introduced to the metal stamps at PJ Tool a couple of years ago when I had what turned into an epic giveaway of a set of ImpressArt stamps.  Holy cow but did you respond!  Since then, I've been pleased to test out new products for them, including their awesome stamping hammer.  The hammer is so easy to handle that Zack made his own keychain!

And PJ Tool offers free US shipping on orders over $20.

PJ Tool Jewelry & Craft is giving away a Ballroom Boogie Metal Stamping Kit that includes the Ballroom Boogie lowercase set, an ImpressArt metal stamping hammer, and an ImpressArt steel stamping block ($70 Value).

I'd like to thank all of the sponsors for their time and their donations and enthusiasm!  I think this should be a regular part of the Bead Soup Blog Party, don't you?

Stay tuned -- this weekend will be the reveal of the winners (an epic, huge post!).

(powered by pie)

Lori Anderson creates jewelry and bead kits as well as collaborative mixed media art with her son, Zack.  Visit her shops by clicking here.  She is also the creator of the Bead Soup Blog Party®   and author of the book Bead Soup.