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 …read more

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 …read more

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, …read more