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October 2017 "Princess of Mars" Challenge Winner and Results

Congratulations to Karen Parker of WizardIslandDesigns! Karen's "Green Turquoise" statement necklace won both the public and team vote. This stunning necklace is available for purchase in Karen's online shop.

Princess of Mars

Karen Parker

Some of Karen's other beautiful designs:

 

Interview with challenge winner: Karen Parker

PT: Who do you see wearing this necklace, how is she dressed and what is the occasion?

KP: I wear all of my creations (usually to work and for evenings out) to ensure that the necklaces hang well. I think that is as important as having a pleasing design. I think any woman who is attracted to statement pieces would enjoy wearing my "Princess of Mars" necklace.

PT: How many times did you rework the piece before deciding on the final design?

KP: I started over three or four times. I had a rough idea in my mind about how the shapes would fit together but did a few variations on the colors/pattern on the triangles to suggest circles. Then I had to fine tune where the different size triangles would go so it curves gracefully around a neck.

PT: Did you employ a different design process for the challenge?

KP: I did, I'm best known for my brick stitch butterfly patterns and I spend a great deal of time graphing out those patterns before starting to bead. For the "Princess of Mars" necklace, I just started in without a graphed pattern.

PT: How has this challenge helped you to grow as a beadwork artist?

KP: I think all the challenges I've entered have helped me grow as an artist. Every challenge I've entered has encouraged me to try new techniques. I've been fortunate to have won a number of challenges (The Art of Geometry, Warmth, Spring Migration and now the Princess of Mars) but I've enjoyed the creation of every single one of my challenge pieces.

PT: What words of encouragement can you offer team members who struggle with the process of creating a challenge piece?

KP: That's a hard question because sometimes I struggle too! Obviously, some of the challenge topics appeal to me more than others so I try to focus on those. I always use the challenges as an opportunity to create something new and I've had a few pieces that didn't work out. In fact, my first attempt at using geometric shapes was for the "Mesozoic" challenge earlier this year. I had a large fossilized coral bead as my focal and lots of beaded squares but I couldn't get the shapes to hang together. My beading thread was too thick and then I started breaking some of the Delica beads that formed the squares and eventually I gave up. But I took what I learned and applied it to my "Princess of Mars" necklace.

Karen, thank you for sharing your creative process and your interpretation of the challenge theme.

Patrice T.

 

The Results: Public Vote - 76 votes cast 1st place – Princess of Mars Green Turquoise Necklace – WizardIslandDesigns - 24 votes (32%) 2nd place - Princess of Mars Gemstone Necklace – RedTulipDesign – 20 votes (26%) 3rd place - Mars Princes...s Necklace – Kleopatrisija – 19 votes (25%) 4th place - Hellas Planitia Princess of Mars – HumdrumAuguries – 5 votes (7%) 5th place – tie with 3 votes each (4%) Bronze Gold Jewelry Princess of Mars – SpringColors Beaded Bracelet Princess of Mars – byMist 6th place – Glam Alien Woman – StudioNKM – 2 votes (3%) Team Vote - 45 votes cast 1st place – Princess of Mars Green Turquoise Necklace – WizardIslandDesigns - 17 votes (38%) 2nd place – tie with 11 votes each (25%) Mars Princess Necklace – Kleopatrisija Princess of Mars Gemstone Necklace – RedTulipDesign 3rd place – Hellas Planitia Princess of Mars – HumdrumAuguries – 4 votes (9%) 4th place - tie with 1 vote each (2%) Bronze Gold Jewelry Princess of Mars – SpringColors Glam Alien Woman – StudioNKM 5th place - tie with 0 votes (0%) Dejah Pendant – RoseBlueBeads Beaded Bracelet Princess of Mars – byMist

Thank you to all the challenge participants for their unique theme-inspired pieces.

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