Silver Medal Prize

Fire Mountain Gems Contest

I just received the results of the Jewelry-Making contest sponsored by Fire Mountain Gems. 

My two-sided butterfly necklace took the second place in the Holiday Category, in Pearls, Organic Beads, and Kato Polyclay section this year.

My Necklace in Fire Mountain Catalog

My orchid lariat necklace was published in the new FMG catalog. It took the third place in the polymer clay category of their beading contest - 2009 (although physically the work submission and all judging was done last year) .

The necklace features three hand-sculpted polymer clay orchids on one side of the lariat balanced off with a half of a dozen sculpted leaves on the other side. There are six strings of seed beads and Swarovski pearls in various sizes that hold the orchids in place and split on the other end of the lariat in a tassel-like fashion. This design could have been executed in other colors, but for some reason I wanted it in gray (or silver and steel if you prefer). I think in person it looks great this way, although for a beading catalog pictures I am sure a brighter version would have been better.

Earlier this year, when this design was appeared on FMG web site, I was commissioned for a bridal version of this necklace (all white, with white pearls mica powders on the flowers and interference green on the leaves).

Fire Mountain Gems Contest Results

I've got my necklace with sculpted orchids "Les Fleurs des Fer" back from Fire Mountain. It took the third place in the polymer clay category!

The necklace is in my Etsy shop now.

I realized recently that I am drawn to the Etsy shops that show their jewelry on models. I think it is a good idea, since it is so difficult sometimes to imagine how a necklace would look like on a person. So, here is the result of my experiments in this direction.

Second Place, Art Bead Awards

My set of faux cloisonne beads, Conchita, the Beauty of California, took the second place in polymer Clay Beads Category, Art bead Awards 2008. Works of all winners will be featured in November/December issue of issue of Step by Step Beads and on the Step by Step Beads website.

I love using my faux cloisonne beads as little canvas for wearable art. This set of beads was inspired by an unbelievable story of love between a Russian explorer, Nicholay Rezanov, and a daughter of the San-Francisco Governor, Maria de la Concepcion Marcella Arguello (Conchita, as she was called in the family), at the beginning of 19-th century. Coming from the opposite ends of the globe and from such different cultures, they found each other and fell in love. Being a Russian noble, Rezanov could not marry without the Russian Emperor's permission, for which he had to travel back to St.-Petersburg. Conchita promised to wait for him. She did not know that on his way through Siberia Rezanov fell terribly ill and died. Only many years later did she learned of his fate, but refused to believe it. She received many proposals from many admirers, but turned all of them down. Conchita had been waiting for Rezanov for three decades... When the news of his death were finally confirmed, she devoted herself to charity and teaching Indians.

This bead set is done using my faux cloisonne technique, with all details formed out of pieces of wire. The red swirl details were formed with wire as well; the wire was removed after baking the beads and the obtained impressions were back-filled with red polymer clay. This clay contained some glitter, hence the sparks you can see in the picture. After applying two layers of the resin, the beads were adorned with siam flat-back Swarovski crystals.

I am a Fire Mountain Gems Finalist!

My necklace, Les Fleurs De Fer (Iron Flowers), was chosen as one of the finalists in this year beading contest sponsored by Fire Mountain Gems. I received the notification yesterday. I am so excited!

This necklace is deliciously mono-chromatic, with lots of details in silver and gun metal tones. I sculpted the orchids and the leaves from black and silver polymer clays and enhanced the veins with silver acrylic paint. The necklace itself is constructed as a multi-string lariat, with flowers on one side, and the leaves serving as a counter-weight.

I now need to send the necklace to FMG for the final stage of the contest. Wish me luck!

Fire Mountain Catalog

A picture of my necklace with sculpted polymer clay orchids had been published in the recent edition of Fire Mountain Gems Catalog. I participated in their beading contest last year, and this necklace was a finalist. My other necklace, "Wild Rose", won the first place in the polymer clay category, but I have not seen its picture anywhere yet. I told my kids, the picture may appear either in one of the FMG catalogs, or on the back of beading- and jewelry-related magazines. Every time we come to a book or a craft store, the kids had been checking the backs of all these magazines for a few months now. It became a treasure hunt of sorts... They are still looking...

A bigger picture and description of the necklace is here: www.eugenascreations.com.

My Necklaces Are Back!

My necklaces had finally came back yesterday after being photographed by Fire Mountain Gems. “Wild Rose” won the first place in the polymer clay category in the last year’s contest, and “White Orchids” was a finalist in the necklaces section.

“Wild Rose” is made in my faux cloisonné technique, and is one of the first necklaces I made featuring more than one focal bead. There are three of them in this necklace, with one design continuing across all three beads. Other materials include black onyx, red jasper, and seed beads. The necklace also has a custom-made faux cloisonné clasp in a leaf shape.

The second one, “White Orchids” is suitable for a bride. Hand-sculpted white phalaenopsis orchids are permanently attached to the mosaic base. Other materials used to make this necklace are mother-of-pearl beads and chops, fresh-water pearls, and seed beads.

The pictures of these necklaces shall appear in the next FMG catalog and in FMG ads on the backs of various beading magazines. I cannot wait to see it. Not only it is exciting to see my work in print, but I also wander how my jewelry is going to look like on the professional photographs. My pieces are extremely difficult to photograph, especially the faux cloisonné ones. Or maybe they are not so difficult for the professional photographers?

These necklaces will be available on my website as soon as I have time to photograph them myself.

Bead Dreams

Yesterday I received a notification that one of my pieces was accepted for the Bead Dreams exhibit at Bead and Button Show this year. It is a huge honor and I am very happy.

I submitted two necklaces. It is interesting though, that I like the rejected necklace way more that the one that was accepted… Well, tastes are different, right?

Here is more info about the contest and the show:

http://www.beadandbuttonshow.com/bnbshow/default.aspx?c=ps&id=30

What Happened?

I just received an E-mail from a friend of mine, Barb, who is asking what happened to me and why did I stop working with polymer clay. I have already answered Barb privately, but I want to post here as well in case anybody else wants to know the answers to these questions.

Well, I did not stop working with polymer clay (I would probably die if did!), in fact, I have been working with it more than ever, but all behind the scenes so to speak.

I decided to participate in a few contests this spring, all with deadlines around April. Of course, I could not just submit something I already had – no, I just had to implement at least some of my new ideas… And you know what happens with the new ideas? Sometimes they do not work right away! I ended up with a bunch of prototypes in various stages of completion, but the good news is that I did finish each and every contest piece I planned, and the last ones were mailed out this Saturday.

My husband made me swear not to do any contests for at least a couple of months. I promised.

Now I am anxiously awaiting the results. Wish me luck!

Below is the collage of the contest pieces I had recently made.