The December Challenge

Welcome to the December challenge! This month we would like you to create a piece of jewellery FIT FOR A SNOW QUEEN!

Image by Princess00lyl on DeviantArt

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Valentina and she's offering £25 to spend in her Etsy shop Beads & More by Yashma!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Saturday the 31st of December and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.


RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after December 1st 2016.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the theme or colours allowed.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The November Challenge Reveal

Thank you so much to everyone who took part in our November challenge. What a lovely collection of seed bead creations!

All the entrants names were put into the list randomizer at Random.org and the lucky beader whose name appeared at the number 1 position is...


SARAH GORDON!

Congratulations Sarah, we'll be in touch with your shortly with details on how to claim your prize.

The November Challenge

Welcome to the November challenge! This month our theme is THE JOY OF SEED BEADS!

We would love to see what you can all make using ONLY seed beads. So put aside your crystals, your pearls and your cabochons for a little while and try the seed bead challenge!

For the purposes of this challenge we are classifying seed beads as round seed beads (also known as rocailles) up to size 6 and cylinder beads. Other small bead shapes like hex, triangle, cube, bugle and drops etc are not allowed. You may use a larger bead inside 3D shapes that need core support, like a beaded bead for instance, but it must not be visible. And of course you can use whatever findings you like.

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Davida and she's offering £15 to spend in her online shop Old Bicycle Shop!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Wednesday the 30th of November and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.


RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after November 1st 2016.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• Findings are exempt from colour challenges.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the theme or colours allowed.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The October Challenge Reveal

Thanks to everyone who took part in the October challenge. There were just a few entries this time, but as always, very beautiful beadwork from you all!

The list of names was randomized at Random.org and the luck winner whose name is at the top is...

JENNY ARGYLE!

Congratulations Jenny, you've won the £15 voucher to spend at www.Jencel.co.uk!

The new challenge for November will be posted shortly so please pop back in a little while to see what our chosen theme is.

The October Challenge

Welcome to the October challenge! The theme this month is FIREWORKS!

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Celia and she's offering a £15 voucher to spend in her online shop Jencel!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Monday the 31st of October and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.


RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after October 31st 2016.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the theme or colours allowed.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

Taking a break

Just to let you all know that there's no September challenge as I'm taking a short break. But don't worry, the challenges will be back next month!

In the meantime, happy beading!

~Liz~

The August Challenge Reveal

Here are the gorgeous entries we had for our August challenge where the theme was the Olympic games!

Thanks to everyone who joined in, your names were put into the list randomizer at Random.org and the person who landed in the number one slot is...


FATEMA ISMAIL!

Congratulations Fatema, you're the winner of the £25 voucher to spend at Beads & More by Yashma!

The August Challenge

Welcome to the August challenge! As this month sees the 2016 Olympic Games hosted in Rio we would like you to create something with an OLYMPICS theme.

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Valentina and she's offering £25 to spend in her online shop Beads and More by Yashma!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Wednesday the 31st of August and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.


RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after August 1st 2016.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads.
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the theme or colours allowed.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The July Challenge Reveal

Thanks to everyone who joined in with our July challenge where the theme was Brick Stitch. Here are all the gorgeous entries we received...

Everyone's names were put into the list randomizer at Random.org and the lucky beader who's name is at the very top is...

RHONDA TOL!

Congratulations Rhonda, you're the winner of the £15 voucher to spend at Old Bicycle Shop courtesy of Davida!

I hope you enjoyed this challenge, there will be a new once posted for August just a little later on.

The July Challenge

Welcome to the July challenge! This month sees the second of our stitch challenges and this time we would like you to create something using BRICK STITCH.

If you've never tried this stitch before then this is a great opportunity to learn - and to start you off we have a basic tutorial for you right here. Flat, circular, tubular and sculptural brick stitch are all accepted for this challenge.

Please note: Your piece can contain other stitches but the majority of your work must be brick stitch.

THE PRIZE:

This month our sponsor is Davida and she's offering £15 to spend in her online shop Old Bicycle Shop!

HOW TO ENTER:

Email a photograph of your entry to Liz at ottbs@live.com along with any other details we have asked for. The challenge runs until Midnight on Sunday the 31st of July and the winner is drawn and announced the following day. You can email your entry at any time during the month. The challenge is open to beaders worldwide.


RULES & OTHER INFORMATION:

• Entries must have been started on or after July 1st 2016.
• You can make any item, it does not need to be jewellery.
• You can use any craft technique but it must include beads (and this month's stitch).
• Findings are exempt from the colour challenge.
• Your entry must be a finished piece.
• If your entry isn't your own design you must credit the original designer.
• The photo above is for decorative purposes only, please refer to the text below it for details on the theme or colours allowed.

There is more detailed information on the challenge here but if you have any questions please leave a comment below or email us. 

Good luck everyone and happy beading!

The June Challenge Reveal

Many thanks to everyone who participated in our June challenge! All of your entries looked amazing in our challenge colours of Turquoise Blue, Pink, Green and White. Sadly there can only be one winner and you'll find the results of the draw at the bottom of the post. But please don't forget to look at these beautiful creations along the way...

All the names went into the list randomizer at Random.org and the lucky beader who's name has landed at the top is...

GILL COLLING!

Congratulations Gill, you're the winner of this collection of beady goodies!

We hope you all enjoyed this challenge. The July challenge will be posted later on today.

Prize update for the June challenge

Hi everyone, just to let you all know the details of the prize for the June challenge. We have something a little different for you this month! I have raided my stash and put together a collection of beads in lovely summery shades of purple, blue and green.

Everything in the photo (apart from the bowl) is up for grabs. There is a specially made sparkling bead soup which includes seed beads, fire polished crystals, Swarovski crystals, glass pearls, drop beads and cubes.

There are also: piggy beads, flowers, leaves, dagger beads, shell hoops, donuts, a string of matt crackle beads, larger matt round beads, three lengths of faux suede thonging, a pair of butterfly connectors, some face cabochons and a few orphan artisan lampwork beads. I may add a few more bits and bobs by the end of the month!

So if you'd like to win this little lot, then get beading! The details for the June challenge are here.