Bead Scary 2010

BEAD SCARY!  Halloween Beading Contest - Winners!

This contest was relatively short, contestants had just over a week to design, craft and submit their entry.  Thank you to everyone who entered this contest, we appreciate all the amazing creativity and effort.  We were excited to receive every entry photo, it was like Christmas!  (oh, I mean Halloween)  Not surprising, the judges had a hard time selecting winners.  Prizes: There were 12 winners, 1 in each of 12 categories, each won a $25 gift certificate to Happy Mango Beads, plus there were 4 additional 'alternates' who were high contenders with the judges, each won $15 gift certificates.

A few words from the judges:  "I was thrilled with the creativity and originality of many of the entries and in particular the variety of designs.  Many pieces could be worn year round!"  "I found it particularly difficult judging the Day of the Dead category.  Wow, such amazing art!  Everyone should have won!"

Watch the Bead Scary beading contest music video here.

Risen from the Dead - recycled, repurposed
Jonnie Weeks, "Foggy Memories"
"Twas a dark and stormy night when I crafted this piece, made of unloved parts from the bottoms of jewelry boxes from long ago, mixed with Victorian flare and a dash of abandon, this necklace has chains, charms, ribbon & beads of corpse...I mean, of course.  In tones of gunmetal, frosted white & black, and featuring a vintage pendant of a woman that is equal parts eerie and Art Nouveau.  This necklace is perfect to wear to your favorite haunt!"

Monster Mash - inspired by scary movie characters
Kelly Galligos, "Hocus Pocus"
"Crystals, vintage glass, lampwork, buttons, resin, metals and monsters of course!"

Wirewolves - wire, wire, wire (and beads)
Barbara Raff, "The Hand"
"The Hand is made of white paper mache with a trace of glitter.  I found it in a bunch of beading materials and I don't know where it came from.  I made a choker chain with black reproduction Egyptian beads that resemble bones, with small blood red crystals and broody dark round jasper beads.  The hand hangs from a looped wire cobweb and the clasps are somewhat grotesque spirals.  I like the way the hand looks like it is floating...."

Ghostbusters - white, translucent, ghost-like
Erica Jeffrey, "Legend of the White Pearls"
"I decided to go with the challenge of creating an all-white piece of jewelry, although it looks Ghastly Elegant to me too. Starting with memory wire, I strung white stick pearls, then added a silver dangle holding a single round pearl. The necklace looks a bit like a set of bones lined up."

Where The Wild Things Are - whimsical children's costumes
Eleanor Burian-Mohr, "It was a graveyard smash"
"I recreated the song, Monster Mash, in beads and charms, of sterling silver, pewter and lampwork glass, with bead charms of pressed glass and Swarovski crystals.  It has everything from the Cryptkicker Five (and their femur drumsticks) to Dracula and his son."

The Devil Made Me Do It - red
Sadie Ellis, "Blood Red"
"I used blood red Czech crystal rondelles, black triangle Toho beads, and black artistic wire in this bracelet."

Witching Hour - black
Lauren Moore, "I have my eyes peeled for you!"
"'I have my eyes peeled for you' is a chunky five strand choker featuring 5 'sets' of eyes in different color lampglass bead, one on each strand.  The strands are made up of black glass beads, onyx chips, smokey quartz chips, strung on nylon coated steel beading wire and finished with bead silver end piece and lobster claw clasp. 13 1/2 inches. Spooky!"

Skeletons in the Closet- skulls, skeletons, bone
Ace McCasland, "Lady Bone Dance"
"Care to dance?  Lady Bone Dance is made of steel wire, a magnesite skull, hemp twine, ribbon, and a variety of bone and glass beads.  Skeleton and skirt pendant: 11 inches; hand planished steel necklace chain: 19 inches.  She'll dance into your soul and "steel" your heart."

Spiders & Snakes - creepy, crawly, slithery, slimy
Nicki Payton, "The Black Widow"
"My spider was made from large acrylic pearl, hematite, crystal, wire, seed & bugle beads . Cobweb necklace from silver lined rocailles, with Swarovski crystal drops."

Trick or Treat - candycorn, pumpkins, scarecrows
Kristine Dery, "Trick or Treat Bracelet"
"I used lampwork beads made by me along with swarovski crystals and sterling silver findings to create this Spooktacular piece."

Day of the Dead - traditional Dia de los Muertos
Carolyn Whittenburg, "El Dia de los Muertos Shekere"
"My 'shekere' is made from a bottle gourd, with a skirt of skull beads, black crow beads and glow-in-the-dark white crow beads, on black C-Lon cord.  I've been wanting to make a Day of the Dead shekere, and your contest spurred me onward toward actually doing it!"

Boooo-tiful - ghastly elegance
Jeanne-Marie Mellor, "Maillevolent Night"
"When the contest was announced I initially thought I would sit this one out.  Then I found my mind obsessively wandering to thoughts of hmmmm....I wonder what I might have laying around to make a beaded halloween piece---the hunt began, and "Maillevolent Night" came into being.  For my entry piece I started with a maille piece which I found in an old bag of jewelry junk someone gave me years ago. The black glass cats, leaf, heart and the black-and-copper rectangle beads as well as the 2 sharp sword-like charms also came from that bag. I hand-painted the leaves on the maille and some of the charms with copper and gold so the mixed metals would blend well together. I threaded the wire top of the maille with black coated wire from an old computer wrapped in steel wire removed from a roll of ribbon and then wired the hemetite balls to finish the neck strand. I made the metal word charms, "eek", "boo", "dreadful" and "spooky" with paint and permanent rub-on letters. The other beads I used are blood red glass, blue grey stone, Czech glass triangles, shell, hematite stars and hearts, and the cloisonne owls."

Alternate!
Victoria Thomas, "Tarred with the same brush"
"My spiderlike web necklace is made from black lava beads, oily coloured glass beads and purple glass beads.  It's hung on black tigertail and its overall purple effect gives it a dark gothic appeal and is intended to cover the neck area in a Morticia like way!  I called it 'Tarred with the same brush' because of the black/petrol colours in it. It does remind me of the Spiderman logo though!

Alternate!
Colleen Skalsky, "Skullie Noose"
"Green & purple skull beads, spiral macramed with loop (noose) closure."

Alternate!
Connie Seidl, "Carrie Booshaw"
"Turquoise skull with rubber flowers and crystal clusters."

Alternate!
Lauren Potts, "A Festival in itself"
"Tons of colorful glass and wood beads to represent the festival of The Day of the Dead, antiqued brass findings to represent the age of the celebration hand carved wood bones from Bedford, PA and hand carved wood bead skulls to remember the dead. When I think Day of the Dead I think Mardi-Gras meets Halloween, although I didn't quite capture that with this set I think i did capture the festival end of it all!"