Silver Roses-A Beading Contest Saga-Part 1

Two years ago I had entered the 2008 Fire Mountain Gems beading contest,my first contest.Here is a picture of the piece.I did not win anything,but I was a finalist.


So this year I decided that I was going to enter again,in the wirework section again.But the FMG contest is a bit different this time,it got so big that they had to assign different categories for separate pats of the year.Like the Wirework/Artclay/chain contest entries were open for about 3-4 months,then the Glass and Seed Beads one opens.

Anyway,so I had a design I was thinking of using.I had "accidentally" come up with this design,and I quite like it.Not that it isn't difficult;it's probably one of the hardest and most time consuming I've done do far,but it's worth it.The handmade chain takes me about 45 minutes,and the pendant took me around 3 hours.Of course,I will get a little faster as I make more.





So I thought that I would use this design,but with bigger and more pendants and a handmade clasp.I have to give credit to the owner of my local bead shop about making a handmade clasp.Her wesite is:
www.BeadMerchant.com and her shop is in Grants Pass,Oregon.

It took me over thirty hours to make this necklace.I used my nice silver color wire that I use for EVERYTHING,faceted pearls,and a few sterling silver stardust beads.
Necklace entry:"Silver Roses".

I got quite stressed out about it because I got sick a week before the contest deadline was,and I was leaving to go with my youth group to Jesus Culture the same day i had to get it in..But I got it finished just in the nick of time,and then.....oh-no.The CD-ROM I was going to put the pictures on didn't work for some reason,and I couldn't find any others.But my mom called the people at FMG and asked if there was any way we could email it,and they said yes.Which was amazing,because they say you can't do that.So glad they broke the rules for me.Plus,my mom took it to the office to show them when she dropped off the entrance packet(I was long gone on my way to Redding).We did that the last time,too.

Today I got a letter in the mail from Fire Mountain Gems.I was so scared I didn't want to open it.But I did.And I'm a finalist!And they want me to share my success story,which I'm not sure I have one,but I think I'll submit it just the same.After all,there aren't very many my age doing what I do.

I will be sending in the necklace soon fro the final,and the we will find out if I win one of the many prizes.

So,have you ever entered a contest?I'd love to hear about it!