IBA 2012. Three weeks to go!

The second International Bead Award (IBA) 2012 contest is to support the art of beadwork. The theme of this contest is POP ART. "Pop" stands for the English word "popular". The suitability of mass consume can be or turn to Art. Strong colors and shapes, two or three dimensional, a certain simplicity, a reference to everyday objects or free abstraction, all is possible at the same time as well as a smooth succession of objects. Trivial things become original and refreshing. Humor is very important!

Three weeks to go! Deadline is December, 31!

International Bead Award 2012 rules

Art Nouveau Restored - IBA 2011 winner!

On August 20, 2011 the winners of the International Bead Award Contest were announced at the Beaders Best Bead Art Fair. It was an exciting event! And good news: my Art Nouveau Restored necklace won two awards: First Place in Off-Loom Category and People's Choice Award.

Photo Credit: Friedhelm Ott | Perlen Poesie

First place winners are:

Lampwork Category

1 Place: Helix - Jacky Teuchert-Rimkus, Germany
jackys-glas-art.de

Loomwork Category

1 Place: Spring Has Sprung - Erin Simonetti, USA
simonetti.com

Off-Loom Category

1 Place: Art Nouveau Restored - Zoya Gutina, USA
mylovelybeads.com

Bead Crochet, Bead Knitting Category

1 Place: Diagonal Bubbles - Jolanda Violante, Italy


Embroidery Category

1 Place: Cascade - Angelika Kenner, Germany
schmucksyndrom.de

Paper, Textile Category

1 Place: Altes Kyoto - Dorit Koppen, Germany

Polymer Clay, Ceramic, Porcelain Category

1 Place: ...Love way... - Natalya Leitman, Russia
flickr.com/photos/madllen/

Wirewok Category

1 Place: Beach Dreams - Chris Wrinn, USA
gildedowljewelry.com

Mixed Media Category

1 Place: Born in the Sands - Svetlana Sametis, Latvia
orubis.ucoz.lv

Public voting

Art Nouveau Restored - Zoya Gutina, USA
mylovelybeads.com

Our warmest congratulations to all winners!


Full list of International Bead Award Contest winners

THE BEAT GOES ON FOR SHERMAN BUYERS ON EBAY

Well things are constantly changing on ebay these days and unfortunately, one of the things that has changed, to protect the seller I guess, is the way the photos are displayed. I wanted to post a photo for you of one of the beautiful cranberry colored sets currently at auction but I can't. So you'll just have to click THIS LINK and go over and see it for yourself. There's a reserve on this one so it'll be interesting to see how high bidders go to get this set or if they can meet that reserve. I've seen a few fall quite short of the reserves lately, but those reserves have also been very high.

But, in my humble opinion, this cranberry-colored set of bracelet, brooch and earrings is worth going for. The color is gorgeous...fuschia by any other name...and all 3 pieces look to be in good condition. The seller hasn't shown a photo of the entire back of the bracelet (really should as collectors like to see that kind of thing) but stones look clear and bright and design is, typically Sherman, just lovely. The bidding is at $152.50 as I write this and it doesn't end for another 29 hours. So you still have time to jump on this one.

There's also a 1/2" wide red Sherman bracelet finishing in 32 hours that you might like. That's narrow but the color is popular. There is an opening bid of $100 but again, there's a reserve. At this point, there are no bids. This one is signed and also comes with an original hangtag. You can see it at THIS LINK.

Of course, if you prefer to buy your Sherman outright and really know what you're getting, you could go over to our SHOP AT RUBY LANE, where we have up to 9 large photos of just about all our items with very detailed and accurate details. We don't like returns and want our customers to be happy. So though it takes more effort, it's worth going the extra mile to make sure our customers are happy. So you might prefer to pick up the Siam Red, japan-backed bracelet

& earrings shown above from our shop. The bracelet is one of those unsigned Shermans, but definitely a Sherman (see my writeup for explanation) and the earrings, while not an original match, go beautifully with this bracelet and they are signed. I'm receptive to offers too so don't hesitate to make one. Click the photo above or THIS LINK to learn more and make your offer. Given this bracelet is in the most popular color for Sherman collectors, I normally wouldn't consider offers, but since it's unsigned, there's room to move.

While I went through a rough period a while back and started selling off not just my Shermans but other costume jewelry, I've relented. It's just too hard to not buy some of those beautiful pieces! Besides, right after I starting selling it off, I had customers wanting to buy more. So I'm back in the game for now. Keep an eye our OUR SHOP AT RUBY LANE and on this blog as I have some wonderful new Shermans to list in time for adding gorgeous glitz to your wardrobe at Christmas. So stay tuned and watch for this fabulous Art Deco necklace below coming soon!

exomitor

exomitor

Native American Necklace Contest. Winners

Congratulations of the Native American Necklace contest! This contest was based on the movie Dances with Wolves, and entrants were suggested to design a necklace using seed beads with a peyote stitch and exact color combination.



Alise from Canada took the First Place...



Alema from Russia came in second...



The Third Place was taken by Zhukis from Latvia.

IN THE PINK OF THINGS WITH BEAUTIFUL PINK SHERMAN NECKLACE SETS!

Well if you've been wondering if I'd sold off all my Shermans and gone into hiding, given I haven't posted here for a while, you weren't far off right. I did sell off a lot of my Shermans ... and at ridiculously low prices. But then, something happened. I spotted the gorgeous pink Sherman necklace above and got thinking about the lovely dangling pink Sherman earrings I had that would go so nicely with it, and that ended my vacation from Sherman. How could I resist!

Then, to make things even sweeter, I got doubly lucky: it turned out this necklace was from the estate of an avid Sherman collector who loved pink and she had not one, but two Sherman necklaces! The second necklace is the one shown below: very demure and pretty, more a pendant style.



Of the two, it would appear she wore the large one at the top more often as the rhodium-plate backing is more worn on that piece and almost brand shiny new on the smaller piece. But in both, the stones are brilliantly clear and the same color.

Making my find a triple treat, was the fact that I also scored a pair of signed pink clip-on earrings with the two necklaces, and honestly, I can't guess which one the earrings go with best. So I've put them with the smaller pendant necklace as shown below:

It's very cool that in both sets, the earrings are inter-changeable with both necklaces because the pink color and stone cuts are such a close match. I suppose if someone loves wearing pink Shermans, they could dress up or down by owning both sets and always be "in the pink"!

To learn more about these lovely pink Sherman pieces, see more photos and purchase them for your collection, CLICK the photos of just the necklaces to go to the page at Ruby Lane where they are featured. Or click these links:

LARGE SHERMAN NECKLACE SET

and/or

SHERMAN PENDANT STYLE SET

I've also got the fabulous 1" wide signed Sherman bracelet shown below listed in MY SHOP AT RUBY LANE too if you're in the market for one of those.


Thanks for reading and staying with me at the SHERMAN JEWELRY BLOG. I'll be back when I have more to share!

Perlen Poesie issue 10

Perlen Poesie number 10 is coming out! In that issue:





• Beadpassion with the love of nature... Zoya Gutina implements that into all of her designs. Using many different techniques she adds enchantment to her necklaces opulence of which is unparalleled;



• Workshop Spiral Techniques - everything turns... Impressive designs can be achieved with these techniques;



• Scrumptious Beads... Angela Brackrogge: Jopanda - her artist name stands for handmade glass beads with subtle gradient colors and elaborate shapes. Look and enjoy!



• Winners of IBA 2011... Look at the winning pieces of the international jewelry contest IBA 2011. Savor the diversity of ideas and - maybe - participate next time!



The magazine is published in Germany by Beaders Best Verlag Company, you can subscribe it. If you live in the USA, you can directly or via Internet buy single issues of the magazine at the Beads by Blanche bead shop.



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