The forum at Beading Daily has come up with a first-ever forum challenge for beaders: You are hereby challenged to create something out of beads or create beads themselves that are inspired by flowers. Some participants plan to actually create a flower out of seed beads, but the intent isn’t to limit you to any particular medium or technique.

The deadline is July 18, 2009, so hurry!

All the information on entering the contest can be found at the Beading Daily website.  Scroll down to the 3rd message for the official rules.  There are prizes being offered, so get your entry in soon!

Image: Beading Daily

Jewelry Design Challenge: 30-Minute Necklaces
Editor: Marthe Le Van
Deadline: August 3, 2009

Lark Books is looking for designers who are up for the challenge: design a necklace or pendant that can be made…start to finish…in 30 minutes flat.  30-Minute Necklaces will not be teaching fundamental techniques, so you can assume that your readers are already proficient (and quick!) at the basics.

30-Minute Necklaces will showcase more than 50 incredibly stylish step-by-step projects that can be created without investing too much of a valuable commodity—time! The selected designs will be modern and sophisticated and encompass many different styles and techniques. The common denominator will be fast projects that look terrific!

More information and entry forms

Beadwork Magazine has a new challenge out for beaders, who always seem to be looking for the next big thing to make!  Create with Patterns grew from an internal challenge among the magazine’s designers to include any of us who’d like to play.  The deadline for entries is August 3, 2009.

To enter, simply pick a pattern (be it from nature, your favorite shirt, or as we did, a piece of scrapbooking paper), make a project inspired by it, and e-mail us a JPEG (about 1MB) that includes your creation and pattern swatch to beadwork @ interweave.com (remove the spaces) by August 3, 2009. The first entry received, the editors’ choice, the most off-the-wall design, and the project that contains the most seed beads will all be featured on Beading Daily in late August. Editors’ choice will also be featured in an upcoming issue of Beadwork.

View the complete rules here.

Jewelry Artist Magazine announces the upcoming contest for lapidary artists, The 2010 Gemmys.  Both traditional and original methods of cutting are welcome, but the submissions must be actual cut stones, not simply renderings.

Information and submission forms

Deadline: August 1, 2009

Here are the categories:

Faceted Gems
Stones must be flat faceted; concave or convex faceted stones should be entered in the Specially Cut division.

Cabochon Gems
Stones must be any natural gem material cut in a cabochon shape, and must be suitable for jewelry use.

Specially Cut Gems
Stones include those that have been carved; cut with regular, curved “facets”; engraved; fitted together into a composite; or cut using any other lapidary technique other than flat faceting or cabbing; or any combination of lapidary techniques.

Gem Objects
Items that are either nonfunctional or whose function is other than use in jewelry including, but not limited to, faceted stones not suitable for jewelry use.

Artists on the Horizon
Any type of cut or gemstone, cut by an artist who has never won a national/international gem competition.

The Use the Muse contest was created by Scarlett Lanson who has a regular column in Beadwork magazine and has won some prestigious contests herself.  Scarlett’s goal was to create a competition for all types of beaders; stringers, bead weavers, and embroiderers, that had a shortened timeline and a big payoff. There are some very nice prizes including prizes for first through third place and ten category prizes, provided by Rainbows of Light and ArtBeads.com.

ArtBeads.com

The cost for the entry kit is $30 plus $5 for shipping in the US and $10 for international entrants.

One important thing to note is that there are a limited number of kits available and they will likely be gone before the order deadline of June 27. So, if this sounds like something you would like to do or blog about please keep this in mind. Plus, the sooner you sign up, the more time you will have to work on your design before the July 18th entry deadline.

To learn more and check out what happened in the first Use the Muse II contest, visit Scarlett’s blog.

Belle Armoire Jewelry is published by Stampington as a quarterly magazine. The deadline for submissions for the next issue is July 15, 2009. From the website: If you’d like to share your inspiration and detailed how-to instruction for creating beautiful jewelry with readers, we want to hear from you. Belle Armoire Jewelry covers a broad range of mediums, from art clay to polymer clay to found object to fiber to wire to beads and much, much more. Whether you are a creator of necklaces, bracelets, earrings, brooches, pendants, rings or other jewelry, we welcome you to submit your artwork for consideration of publication.

Please read submission guidelines before sending your submissions to: Stampington & Company · C/O: Belle Armoire · 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B · Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Ancient Modern Polymer Clay Design Challenge
Deadline: June 5, 2009

To celebrate the publication of the new book Ancient Modern by Ronna Sarvas Weltman, Beading Daily is hosting a design challenge.  To enter, design one original polymer clay bead (any size, shape, or color) using any technique and send BD a photo.

You must be a member of BD to enter the contest, but it’s free to sign up, so what are you waiting for? 

More information and submission forms

Image: Interweave

A hand-me-down sweater … a raggedy old skirt from the thrift store … a plain T-shirt … Using just a few tools coupled with your creativity, all of these items can be transformed into fantastic works of wearable art! The publisher of Belle Armoire and Somerset Studio invites you to submit your own altered and embellished clothing and accessories to be considered for the second volume of this exciting publication. Chapters will include Skirts & Dresses, Pants & Overalls, Jackets & Vests, Shirts & Tops, Children’s Wear, Sassy Shoes, and Accessories.

Deadline for artwork to be received: June 15, 2009. Please read submission guidelines before sending your submissions to: Stampington & Company · C/O: Altered Couture · 22992 Mill Creek, Suite B · Laguna Hills, CA 92653

Anodize!
Author: Clare Stiles
Editor: Marthe Le Van
Entry deadline: May 25, 2009

We’re looking for outstanding images of your anodized aluminum jewelry. Anodize!, due for release in August 2010, will educate readers of all skill levels about how to design jewelry using a creative process that includes dying, printing, and coloring the anodized material. The very best examples of designers using the material will run in an extensive gallery throughout the book. That’s where you come in! Selected artists will receive full acknowledgment within the book, a complimentary copy, and a discount on the purchase of additional books. Submission is free.

Download an entry form here

Summer Challenge Title: Magical Forest
Deadline: June 8, 2009

Challenge Rules: One entry per person, please (so send us your best work!). Submissions must be of the type you would see in Stringing magazine—in other words, projects created using simple stringing, crimping, wireworking (simple loops, wrapped loops, jump rings), and simple knotting techniques. If in doubt, see Stringing 101 (it’s in every issue of Stringing) for a list of acceptable techniques. Projects created using beadweaving or other non-stringing techniques (such as netting; peyote, brick, right-angle weave, and square stitches; bead embroidery; chain mail; and macramé) will not be considered for winners.

To enter, please send a clear, high-resolution TIF (better) or JPEG (good) photo of your stringing and/or simple wireworking project that is 300 dpi at 3″ x 5″ to stringing@interweave.com.

More information and full rules