January Gems and a Whole New Format for Contests!

It's a new year and we have a whole new structure for our beading contests here at Beadaholique!  We will now be conducting our contests every other month, giving you much more time to create something fabulous to enter.  The submission period will now be over a month long.  And be sure to make good use of all that extra time, because we're also giving away more prizes this year.

There will now be two winners for every contest.  There will be a domestic winner for the top voted entry from the United States, and an international winner.  When submitting your entry, you must include your country of residence.  Finalists will receive exposure on our Facebook and blog, and each winner will receive a $100 Beadaholique gift certificate!  We'll also be selecting an Editor's Pick from the remaining finalists who will receive a $50 gift certificate.

The theme for our first contest of 2013 is “January Gems”—your piece must feature real gemstones such as turquoise, garnet, jade, agate, jasper, etc. There are so many different types of gemstones to choose from! Gemstones can be in a natural or enhanced state (dyed, heat treated, etc.), but we’re looking for real stones, not simply gemstone colors. Use your favorites and send a photo of your finished piece to us by 4PM PT on Tuesday, February 5th, with your name, title of your piece, email address, gemstone(s) used, country of residence and an optional description of your piece in the body of your email.

We will select our top finalists from the contest entries, all of whom will have their work published here in our Beader’s Blog, in the next issue of The Beading Wire and on the Beadaholique Facebook page for public voting. Two winners, one domestic and one international, will each receive a $100 Beadaholique gift certificate and further exposure on our blog and Facebook page! An Editor’s Pick chosen from the remaining finalists will receive a $50 gift certificate.

Rules/How to Enter:

Email us a clear, in focus, well-lit photo of a beading project of your own design which fits our theme and uses one or more products found at Beadaholique. Email one photo, at least 500 px in width or height but no bigger than 1600 px wide and 1600 px tall, to challenge@thebeadingwire.com (do not use this for questions; contact us here) with the following included in your email (make sure you leave in the words tags: january2013):

Subject line: "Name of Piece tags: january2013" (Example: Garnet on Fire Necklace tags:january2013)

Body: Very important! In the body of your email, make sure to include the following:
Full name—required
Email address—required
Country of residence—required
Gemstone(s) used in your piece—required
Optional: a brief description of your piece

Important Dates:

• Tuesday, February 5 @ 4PM PT: Last day to submit
• Wednesday, February 6: Finalists will be posted on our Facebook and notified via email. Public voting starts.
• Thursday, February 7: Finalists will be featured in the next issue of The Beading Wire sent to the entire Beadaholique email list.
• Wednesday, February 13 @ 4PM PT: Voting ends. Winners will be notified via email within 2 business days and featured in the next issue of The Beading Wire.