Battle of the Beadsmith 2013

It has begun! The second annual Battle of the Beadsmith featuring 192 bead artists from 40 different countries begins today, April 1st (no foolin').  For the first round, I'm in group C paired with Zuzana Hampelová - Valešová from the Czech Republic.  There are so many things that make this battle contest special from our Supreme Commander Steven Weiss of The BeadSmith to the friendly competition of some of the most talented beaders around the world to the fabulous grand prize...er, um, well, nothing.  OK two out of three ain't bad. 

Paisley Garden Boho Bag - 2012 BOTBS Entry

You may remember that last year I pushed my creative envelope and made a purse covered in bead embroidery.  It's still available in my Etsy shop (link in the photo).  Since the announcement of this year's battle and my acceptance as a participant, I've been enjoying the process of letting my creative mind wander to what I could possibly do to top last year.  

Well, I have BIG plans!  And I'm not going to say too much about it since the reveal isn't until June, but "upcycle" and "steampunk" are going to play a big part!  This year I've started a very popular line of steampunk items including this Denim Steampunk Necklace Brooch.

Think clocks, gears, keys and all sorts of fun stuff!  As a beader, I'm used to doing very fine, detailed work with teensy little seed beads, but this past weekend I took out some tools and began taking apart at least a dozen vintage clocks and clockworks to "harvest" for my project.  Oh, it got real dirty!!   

Here's what I started with...basically a Big Ol' Box O' Clox...old, dirty, ugly, broke-down alarm clocks and clockworks (via ebay)  Harry the cat is inspecting the haul.  And that's the only sneak peak you're going to get until June!  So if you don't hear from me for a while, I'll be hard at work on this project.  Good luck to my fellow beaders and stay tuned!!