Archive for September, 2011

I attended the Charlotte Beadaholics Meetup at Metrolina last Saturday for the American Gem Beads & Jewelry Show. I ended up purchasing these lovely gemstone beads:

They look good enough to eat, don’t they? From left to right, they are kyanite sticks, kyanite rounds, yellow jade pumpkins, a grayish moonstone, tourmaline, pink opal and amethyst. Love, love, love them all! I’m so glad I went to this show.

If you’re looking for a reason to make something, how about a contest where the top prize is valued at $5000?

Jewelry Television’s “Jewel School” is having a design contest this month. To enter, design a piece of jewelry, take photos of it, describe the design, reveal what inspired it, and list the materials you used. You are limited to one entry so choose one of your most fabulous creations. That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad news. If you are one of the 20 artists selected as finalists, you will need to mail your piece in for the last round of judging. From the way the rules are written, it sounds to me like Jewelry Television will own those 20 pieces and all rights to them.  So if you’re in the final 20, I don’t think you will receive your piece back and you’re giving away all rights to it. I can’t find clarification on that on their site or their Facebook page. It’s a risk, but it might be one worth taking. I have mixed feelings about it. I’m considering entering something that would not be expensive to produce.

The prizes are:

Grand Prize – $2,500 in Jewel School product, $2,500 in cash, and your design featured in a Jewel School DVD
2nd Prize – $1,000 in Jewel School product and $1,000 cash
3rd Prize – $500 in Jewel School product and $500 cash
4th Prize – Viewers’ Choice – $500 cash

Entries are due on September 25th by 11:59 PM.For more details, click the contest logo above or visit the Jewel School Design Contest page. Best of luck to you!