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Saturday, July 27, 2013

Linking Your SRAJD Logo To Your Artfire Page

Linking Your SRAJD Logo To Your Artfire Page
by Carol (Britt) Clay




Using your site of choice for Image Sharing, upload a copy of your SRAJD Logo (I resized mine to 60% to keep uniformity with my other logos). For my Image Sharing site, I use Photobucket.

Having your own personal image sharing account can be useful, because if you upload your Logo to an album you can also upload images into the same album to be used as your own personal showcase, all linked directly from your site’s SRAJD logo. Almost all photo sharing sites now function in a manner that enables you to use ‘sharing’ links and codes for cross promotion. Having your own account gives you control over your images.

One of the uses of my logo is to promote SRAJD to other jewelry artists, so I linked my logo back to the SRAJD site, so that I can help cross promote other artists. Below is the coding I use.

My codes work great for me, but in the event my logo coding gets changed, it will “break” all of the image links and logos connected to it will no longer show on pages of anyone that uses it. This is another good reason to have personal Image Sharing accounts.

Copy the HTML coding and type it on your widget of choice (NOTE: the “http…html” link can be used by all as it is the link for the SRAJD home page. But the “http…jpg” LINK has to be from YOUR photobucket account).



At Artfire I use: MyArtfire >> Studio >> My Widgets (right side) » Text / HTML / Flash

I use the right side positioning and paste my code into the box and then save my widget.



I close the page and return to my front page to check it. If it is properly working, when I click it I will link to the SRAJD site! Easy Peasy.

[Editor’s note: For her ArtFire widget, Carol created an SRAJD logo image that was 183x183 pixels, about 60% of the size of the logo provided by the SRAJD organization.]

Friday, July 26, 2013

Project Runway Challenge -- Week 2: Diamonds

I think this week's Project Runway Challenge theme is easier to describe than to show.

The episode starts when Heidi brings out the models with over $30,000,000 worth of bling on them.  Mostly diamonds, a few Sapphires, Rubies, and Emeralds.  LOTS of serious sparkle!

The contestants are instructed to create outfits fit to walk the runway with such luxurious gemstone jewelry.

Here's an inspirational bling photo.



And here are some of the creations.  Make your piece of jewelry based on either the challenge theme (million dollar precious gem jewelry) or inspired by any of the outfits from the show (sorry I don't have photos of all the outfits).










Feel free to comment on this episode if you saw it.  Did you like the winning creations?  Did you like the losing creations? 

As a reminder, we'd like you to make a piece of jewelry using the weekly inspiration from this episode of Project Runway.  Your jewelry can be thematic, or inspired by one of the pieces of jewelry on the show, or inspired by one of the outfits on the show.

We'd love to see your creation by next Thursday (August 1st) so we can move on to the next episode, but if you get it in later, that's fine too.  Just mark it as the "Diamonds" episode.

If you've want to see the original blog post with all the info on our challenge game, click here.

When you have your piece ready to submit, click here.

Project Runway Jewelry Challenge Week 1 Results

Without further ado, here are the first designs by SRAJD members for week 1 of the Project Runway Jewelry Challenge.  I couldn't be more thrilled.  You guys did an amazing job.  Congrats!

Keep in mind you can do any of the weekly challenges at any time during the series season and we'll add it into the blog.  So if you were a little late with this one, don't worry... just get it in when you have it.

Jo Pound: “I used parachute material in aqua for the base of the necklace.”
 


Lauren Andersen: “I love, love, love purple! The first parachute dress with the purple shoulders and diamond in the middle was perfect.”



Grace Gipson: “Neon yellow and green made a fashion comeback summer of 2012 and the fashion statement is still going strong in 2013. Inspired by the lovely parachute look created by designer "Kate".”




Cynthia Ebner: “The pictures of the curved rectangular parachutes inspired me to use crystals to make a colorful necklace in a "curved parachute" shape. Colorful and Bold”




Laura Bracken: "I wanted to combine the idea of flight with two colors of the parachute material, so here is my stylized luna moth in pink and yellow (soldered copper wire with resin).


Joyce Ingram: "I took my inspiration for this design from model no. 4 in your images [Bradon's dress]. It had the pale blue incorporating the blue v shapes in the bodice with the pinks that mellowed into the peachy yellow tones, in the amazing flowing skirt. The bracelet is mainly Czech crystal with some lemon quarts.


Nohline l'Ecuyer: "Even though I was away, I was working on projects. This is Episode 1. I used rip-stop, bearded knitting yarn, and 5mm beads to make this wrap bracelet. It is 30" long and can also be worn as a necklace."

Julie Loebbaka: "These earrings are inspired by Jeremy's purple and teal pants. Materials used in the earrings: Persian Turquoise, Purple Nylon, Gold Vermeil and Gold Plated seed beads."

 If you'd like to create and submit a jewelry design for the Project Runway Challenge (any week), click here.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

The Start of the Project Runway Challenge -- Week 1: Parachutes

So here we are at the start of our first challenge in the Project Runway inspired SRAJD Jewelry Design Contest.

If you’d like to familiarize yourself with the format, see our blog post from Saturday, July 13th.

I hope most of you enjoyed the season opener… meeting the designers and watching them struggle through that first challenge. I thoroughly agreed with Heidi and Tim when they put their foot down about the designers needing to follow the rules of the challenge.

Without further ado, here’s this week’s challenge: Make a piece of jewelry inspired by (or using!) parachute material.

The designers were allowed to use plain black and plain white material if needed as accents in the pieces, but the main portions of the designs had to be the colorful nylon fabric of the parachutes they were given. (We boo’d the two contestants who created the majority of their garments from the black and white fabrics that were NOT from the parachutes.)



Make your design based only on the challenge theme or take inspiration from any of the designs that walked the runway (if you chose a specific design as your inspiration, please let us know in the comments which designer's creation inspired you).



















Some time before next Thursday night, submit your entry here (https://srajd.wufoo.com/forms/srajd-jewelry-design-contest-project-runway-2013/).  If you can't get it in by next Thursday, still please submit it but make sure to mark which episode it was for.

Can’t wait to see the creations!  And feel free to comment on the blog with your thoughts of tonight’s episode.


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Project Runway Challenge Rumors... counting down the hours now



I heard some rumors (almost anything I find on the interwebs I consider rumors for starters) about the first couple of episodes of Project Runway Season 12.

We won’t know for sure until tomorrow, but in case anyone wants a potential heads-up on the first challenge, I hear the designers have to make an outfit from parachute fabric.

Challenge # 2 (the following week) is rumored to be called “Million Dollar Runway”… can’t imagine what that one is.

Fun news (for me), although the vast majority of designers (season after season) seem to be from New York first and California second, the California ones are almost always from southern California.  Being a northern California gal myself, I’m delighted to see one of the contestants (Alexandria von Bromssen) currently lives in San Mateo (although she’s originally from Stockholm, Sweden).

I like watching the first episode and “getting to know” the designers, then watching their personalities unfold as the series progresses.  Yes, I pick a favorite.  Don’t you?

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Preliminary Announcement of SRAJD Jewelry Design Contest #4 -- Project Runway 2013


Sneak peek at the next SRAJD contest, set to start this Thursday, July 18th.

First off, I take no credit for coming up with this idea.  I've seen it in several other groups online and it looks like so much fun I thought we'd give it a try too.

The game is a several week-long challenge that will be more about the journey than the destination.  We want to push ourselves as jewelry makers and designers to try things outside of our normal comfort zone. 

We are playing along with Season 12 of Project Runway.  Project Runway is a televised competition for clothing designers.  Each week, the hosts come up with a theme or challenge and the designers get to work creating outfits that fit the challenge while still representing their own artistic voice.

The show will air weekly starting July 18th on the Lifetime network.  You should also be able to stream full versions for free online here.  It’s also on Hulu and Reelflicks and probably other places… just need to google.

In the PR tv show, a contestant is booted from the show each week.  Fortunately, we have no such action.  All we’re going to be doing is playing along, designing jewelry inspired by each week’s theme/challenge that also expresses who we are as an artist.
 
The contest ends when the current Project Runway season ends.  All entries will be available for viewing on a web page linked to the SRAJD blog. 

All the submitted designs will be featured on the SRAJD blog each week.

One grand prize winner will be chosen at the end of the season’s series to receive a $25 gift certificate for the online jewelry supply store Rings and Things as well as a one-year Sponsor ad on the SRAJD website ($25 value).  That winner will be chosen by the SRAJD administration team as the member who best exemplified the spirit of the contest.

Only SRAJD members may enter (for information on joining the organization, click here).

If you don’t remember your SRAJD membership #, you can find it here.

You may enter more than once each week week.  SRAJD members may also team-up if they like.

The entry must be a piece of jewelry.  You may submit any size photo (although over 600 pixels is best), but we may resize your photo to fit on the blog.

You do not need to see the tv show in order to participate as the theme/challenges will be announced each Friday on the SRAJD blog.

The submitted designs from the previous week’s theme will be shown each Friday on the SRAJD blog.  Any late entries will be added as they come in.  You may enter any week at any time during the series' season.

More questions you may have…

Do I have to see the show to join in the SRAJD game?

Absolutely not!  We will be posting images and links as well as explaining the challenge each week on our blog, so you don’t need to see the show at all.

Do I need to make a piece of jewelry for each episode in order to be considered for the grand prize?

Nope.  Play as often or as infrequently as you like.

What if my piece isn’t done before the next week’s episode starts?

We’ll still accept it, but it won’t get as much exposure because it will be added after the blog has been read by most people.

Is this contest open to international jewelry makers?

It’s open to all SRAJD members, which definitely includes international jewelry makers.

How many weeks will it last?

I don't know how many weeks the show is on the air. That's how long it will last, though. If they start out with 20 people (for example), it could last 20 weeks.

Who decides which photos go in the blog and who the grand prize winner is at the end?

The SRAJD admin team will be making these decisions.