July 2015 "Finish It!" Design Challenge

It’s that time again! Time for the “Finish It!” tutorial contest. A little bit of life got in the way of the (originally planned) April contest, and I was forced to postpone it, but I'm finally ready! Here you’ll find all you need to know about the contest and rules, but if you have any questions, please feel free to ask them in the comments below, or email me at the address provided later in the rules.

The purpose of this challenge is to encourage the participants to extend themselves, their talents and creativity, beyond the limitations of a single set of instructions and create pieces uniquely their own. Each contest has resulted in a wealth of beautiful and original artistic expressions, and I expect this one will produce no less the amount of brilliance. You have all amazed me with, not only your exuberance and enthusiasm, but your results as well, and I’m excited to see what this contest will inspire within you. Here’s the gist: At the bottom of this post is a link to a tutorial only 8 pages long, and ending abruptly halfway through the instruction. Your job is to create a piece beginning with the steps, as explained in the file, but ending with your own imagination! And blowing my mind... that's part of your job too. And you can do it, because it's been done every single time I've held one of these contests. If you are in doubt... just you wait... you'll surprise yourself.

Contest Rules

• To assure fairness, only one element from the “Materials & Tools” list (provided in the tutorial) may be changed, and anything may be omitted entirely that isn't used in the provided instruction. The size of the stone can change, for instance, but lengths and gauges of wire may not. Gauge of wires may change, but lengths and size of stone may not. You can change from a bead to a cabochon, but only if they are the same size, and other materials may not be changed as a result. Tools not listed may not be used at all, except when soldering a closed jump ring, and the solder may not be used in any other part of the piece. Jump rings are a minor material and gauges, size, open or closed can be changed without effecting your one allowed material change. Oxidizing materials and tumblers may be used, as they do not directly influence the size and shape of the finished design.

• When a piece is completed to his or her satisfaction, the contestant is asked to submit a single photo of a single finished piece via email, to nikki.hanna@gmail.com. Please title this email “Contest Entry”. The completed project may be photographed on a chain, if desired, and on any display. Please re-size photos to no more than 800 pixels, save the image file as "your name" only and send as an attachment (not embedded in the email).  Following these submission guidelines assures your entry is not missed! The deadline for this submission is Friday, July 31, 11:59 pm (US Eastern). Note: Photoscape and Picasa are both free programs suitable for image resizing and photo editing. Photo editing apps for smart phones and tablets, such as "Resize Me!", can be used as well.

• On August 1, an album will be created on Pinterest containing the submitted entries, then put to vote before all participants. Note: By submitting an entry to the July 2015 “Finish it!” Tutorial Contest, you are granting Nicole Hanna permission to display your image online for the purposes of promoting or running this contest.

• The participants will vote for “Group Favorite”, by commenting on their favorite entry (only one), with all votes submitted between Midnight July 31 and Midnight August 7. If you do not have a Pinterest account, or (for any reason) cannot comment on the entries, please submit your vote to nikki.hanna@gmail.com and I will comment on your behalf.

• Votes will be tallied and winner announced Noon, August 8.

“Group Favorite” will win my completed version of this project, any three tutorials of their choice, and $25, deliverable via PayPal.

A “Judged Favorite”, chosen by a panel of four jewelry artists and three “consumers” (who are not participating in the contest), will also receive any three tutorials of their choice, and $25, deliverable via PayPal.

Every contestant will receive the finished version of this tutorial simply for participating. This tutorial will arrive as a reply to your submission email, within 24 hours of entry into the contest, so check your spam folder if you do not receive it within this time frame. Also, be sure your email host will accept incoming attachments. I've had many emails rejected (especially from AOL and hotmail accounts) because the mail box was full, or security settings do not allow attachments.

Happy weaving everyone, and I hope you have fun!

Note: Please access this file via a laptop or desktop computer. Some mobile devices are uncooperative with PDF downloads (I'm looking at you, iPad!), and I may not be able to address requests for manual email delivery of this file in a timely manner (thus using up your submission time).