Pumpkin Patch Design Challenge

On September 17, 2013

Fall is my favorite season and Halloween is my favorite holiday. So it stands to reason pumpkins are a major theme in my house starting… well… now. Glass pumpkins, real pumpkins, pumpkin ornaments, pumpkin candles, pumpkin pie! It’s long since crossed the line of healthy appreciation and meandered into the fog-filled cemetery of “Holy obsession, Batman!”.  The colors of fall somehow even make my pastey white flesh look warm and alive, so I wear pumpkin colors!

Your challenge is simple…. placate my obsessive need for these lovably large melons with wire pumpkin goodies! I need pumpkins during the Michigan fall months to center and ground myself, to recharge my creative batteries, to inspire a sense of mystery and just because carving faces in them is the single most therapeutic activity next to working with wire itself.

How it will work:

• Make a pumpkin. Make a collection of pumpkins, wearable or not. Those decisions are entirely yours to make… plus totally awesome and FUN decisions!
• Adhere to the allowed list of materials and tools listed below. Inclusion of all tools or materials is optional, but adding to this list is not allowed. This creates a playing field on which each contestant is equally equipped.
• Submit your entry to nikki.hanna@gmail.com, via JPEG image only. Please resize your digital image to (no greater than) 700 px. Include your name in the image title and (preferably) imbedded on the image itself. Only one entry, one image per contestant.  Submissions may not be substituted by another once received. The deadline for this submission is October 20, 2013 11:59 pm (US Eastern).
• On October 21, 2013 an album will be created containing the submitted entries. A link will be provided in a new blog post. Be sure to subscribe or check back often for updates. By submitting to this contest, you are giving Nicole Hanna permission to post images on the Internet on your behalf. Websites may include Nicole Hanna Jewelry, Facebook or Flickr. All images will be credited with the name of the designer wherever posted online.
• Between October 21-October 30, participants will be allowed to submit a single vote for their favorite in a peer-to-peer category. Only participants will be allowed to cast a vote in this category.  A judged category will include the votes of seven non-participants, including three jewelry artisans and four “consumers”.
• Votes will be tallied and two winners announced (around) Noon October 31, 2013.

Allowed Materials & Tools:

• Wire Cutters, Round Nose, Flat Nose & Needle Nose Pliers only. Well, okay… you can tumble or hammer also. But no torches or soldering equipment, nor kiln-fired pieces please.
• Any gauge, color, shape or amount of wire.
• No beads, cabochons or stones! Wire only!
• Patina materials are allowed.

There’s a lot of room to move creatively here in, what I hope is, an exercise in loving and learning your wire. Sometimes, when you remove the stone, cabochon or bead from the design, the challenge becomes more complicated but equally more satisfying! Bonus points for the individuals who create a whole patch of pumpkins! The bonus points don’t actually matter, but it’s fun to say “neener neener neener” when you win them.

Now for the good stuff.

Winnings:

• A sense of self-satisfaction and personal achievement.

But aside from that, the two winners selected will also receive:

• A pumpkin pendant by Nicole Hanna! The pendant will be different than the one depicted, and will be totally new and custom! No two are ever the same.

But mostly it’s the self-satisfaction and personal achievement.

I hope to see an entry from you soon! I’ll reveal my own pumpkin when the judging album is posted!

I hope you have fun, because if you aren’t having fun, then you aren’t doing it right!

Happy weaving,
Nicole

Note: This contest is closed to new entries, but you may read about the voting process and view the gallery of entries here.