Written by columnist Linda aka LindaGJ
Photo courtesy of Texas Eagle

I’m sure most of you remember making sand castles at the beach when you were young. I sure do, yet my favorite was dripping the wet sand over and over again until it made a huge lumpy mound.

A couple of weeks ago, a couple of friends and I drove to Galveston,TX to see a sand castle contest event taking place. With the crowd, and the long line to the shuttle buses, I admit, I did not see these sand castles, until the very end of the day, but it was well worth the effort. I was able to capture some delightful photos to share with yall!

“You really don’t know what the teams are going to do. I kinda have an inside track because I get to see the spreadsheet of all the categories the the teams are signing in at – most hilarious, most lifelike, or something like that – but when you go out there and see what they’ve sculpted out on the beach, it’s amazing how tall they can sculpt the sand” Rudy Del Bosque (Sand Castle Committee Chairman)

For over 20 years in the first part of June, Houston area architects, designers, engineers, and contractors take their tools to the East Beach in Galveston for what is considered one of the world’s largest sandcastle competitions. AIA is the American Institute of Architects who sponsor this annual contest where 60 teams, along with their shovels, buckets, and a beach load of sand and water, aim to win the prestigious “Golden Bucket” award! There is even a kid zone where children can try their hand at building their very own sand castle.

In this 24th contest, teams begin months in advance generating ideas, developing designs, and assigning duties. On the very date of the event, the teams stretch along the beach sculpting their sand piles and working non stop for ONLY 5 hours!

The judging of the sand castles is rated on originality of concept, artistic execution of the concept, technical difficulty, carving technique, and utilization of the site. In addition to the Golden Bucket award, awards are also given 8 different themed categories, as well as for the best team T-shirt design, best signage, best costume, and public favorite, but I was strictly looking for a good aim for a photo of a castle and rushed through the less than 60 sand castles.

In addition to fun in the sun, the competition also has a “green” side to it, requiring teams to recycle plastic and aluminum at their sites at the end of the of the event, and also they were not allowed to use generators to pump water to the sand castle construction site. Instead, the rules encourage teams to be creative and find alternate methods of carrying water between the surf and their sites, including-but not limited to-wind power, solar power, the tides and good old fashioned human power.

In the slideshow, you are about to see some of the sand castles. Of course I’ve seen more amazing ones, but I think these amateurs did fairly well, in only 5 hours and all of them are at least a lot of fun to look at!

Enjoy!!! And remember creativity comes in all forms, sometimes for sale, sometimes not. If you do sell your work don’t forget to prepare your shop when you go on vacation. Helpful hints may be found here.

Edited by Barbra aka: All About The Buttons

LindaGJ aka LindaGJ

Lampworking is a type of glasswork that uses a gas fueled torch to melt rods and tubes of clear and colored glass. Once in a molten state, the glass is formed by blowing and shaping with tools and hand movements.

The Fire Divas were created by a group of friends with an enormous passion for creating these awesome beads! Their main objective is to work together to promote each other and their group on this big world wide web. Their next objective is to have fun creating!
One of their current projects is a jewelry challenge that they have put together for jewelry artists that use artisan lampwork beads in their designs created by the Fire Divas. Many of the Fire Divas have donated either gift certificates or actual beads as prizes. The total cash value of the current donations is over $200!!!
If you’re a jewelry designer or know someone who is, please spread the word!
If you need lampwork beads in order to enter the competition, just search for Fire Divas Team on either Etsy or ArtFire. The small investment in beads can reap you quite a bit more in prizes if you win!
The challenge ends 4/15! Please don’t delay! Go to their blog for details on entering and to see the prize donations and to our flickr page when you are ready to submit your entries:
http://firedivas.blogspot.com/2010/03/fire-divas-quarterly-jewelry-challenge.html
http://www.flickr.com/groups/firedivachallenge/

You will see, in this video slide show, all the Wonderful Prizes!!!

The following lampwork artists have all made generous donations for this fun challenge! Mostly in their own words they share a bit about themselves and then you will see what they donated in the slide show!

Lea Avroch: http://www.lajewelrydesigns.etsy.com  and http://www.lajewelrydesigns.artfire.com  lives on Long Island, NY. I came to lampworking as a byproduct of making jewelry. A friend and I decided to take a lampworking class at a local art league so that we could make our own beads and use their own designs. Although I still couldn’t make a round bead to save my life, by the end of class I just knew that I had to pursue this art form. Often the glass is what dictates the direction it wants to go in. This can be equally frustrating and fun depending on the glass’s mood that day, NOT the operator error…LOL!
Lara Lutrick: http://www.lutrick.artfire.com  I have been making lampwork beads since 1997. While at a local arts and crafts fair I saw and bought my first true artisan lampwork bead. The artist told me that I could take a class at my local bead store. I was immediately hooked. My favorite type of bead is “organic.” This is a loose term for free form or abstract beads that do not have a particular pattern. I like to use metal (silver, copper or gold) foil in my beads to help creating more colors and textures than you can get using just the glass alone. It is always fun to experiment with these techniques and the best part is you never know how the bead is going to turn out. I like being a member of “Fire Divas” as we have camaraderie and there is a group effort to share each other’s artwork with the public.
Holly Dare: http://www.artfire.com/users/HollysFollyGlass  is a former film and t.v. producer and worked on “The Carol Duvall Show” learning about all kinds of crafts and falling madly in love with glass. While working on the show, Holly learned of lampworking. However, her desire to delve into glass was cut short when she found herself in a wheelchair due to debilitating plantar fasciitis. Holly manufactures food safe rubber stamps and does a number of cake shows for her day job. It was there she discovered a market for beads shaped like pastries and candies. She also enjoys making really large focals such as seashells, hearts and leaves.
Susanne Folin: http://www.BabsBeadsandDesign.artfire.com  I live in Uppsala, Swedens fourth largest town, with my husband and two kids. I moved to Uppsala to complete my university studies – 22 years ago! I work as a freelance writer to keep food on the table and do lampwork as soon as I can find time for it. I took up the art of lampwork almost three years ago, after a long period of illness. I love glass. It feels great, it is beautiful and it can be turned into almost anything.
Lauren Mazursky: http://www.maybeads.etsy.com  is from a suburb of Chicago. I’ve lived in the area all my life, except when I was in college in Bloomington, IN, where I got my degree in newspaper journalism. I didn’t become an “artist” until a couple years ago. I had always been a word person, but had admired art and always loved glasswork. I took a beginner lampwork class two years ago and was hooked immediately. What started as a plan to make pretty beads to turn into jewelry soon morphed into my love for critter beads and now that’s pretty much all I make. I love making glass animals – anything from turtles to dogs to cows. As for inspiration – I get that from my kids, my pets and cartoons.
Tera Belinsky-Yoder: http://www.beadygirlbeads.etsy.com  I live in Des Moines, Iowa with my husband and four children where I work from my home studio (lovingly referred to as, “The Torch Porch”.) I’ve had a life-long love affair with beads and glass but have only been making my own lampwork glass beads for about 5 years. It wasn’t until I started working with hot glass that I truly felt I’d found my “niche” in the bead world. I was hooked the moment I turned on the torch for the first time! In all aspects of my life I enjoy brite bold color and my beads are no exception! I don’t make what I would call “grown-up” girl beads, but the beads I do make make me happy as I hope they do others as well.
Janel Dudley: http://www.JanelDudleyBeads.etsy.com  Making lampwork glass beads has really opened an exciting world for me! From the day I learned to make them, to creating original pieces of wearable art, I look forward to each new day and I’m excited to be on this glass adventure!
Theresa Ehlers: http://www.teasebeads.etsy  lives in the Charlotte area of NC. I have an MBA with Accounting emphasis, but I realized while in graduate school that my passion was beads! I started out beadweaving. I won a bronze prize for my “Reef” necklace design, and it was also pictured on the back cover of Beadwork Magazine. Once I learned I could make my own beads I was hooked! I have a sort of “free” style – I go with my intuition and what feels right at the moment. I love to make tabs, off-mandrel hearts, and tubes; my latest infatuation is with flattened bicones. I enjoy adding in additional design elements including spirals, murrini, shards, and metals (like copper mesh), and I am excited to see how my work will evolve in the future.
Melanie Graham: http://www.arensea.artfire.com  I took my first glass beadmaking lessons in 2005, but it wasn’t until June 2008 that lampworking really became part of my life and I got any meaningful time on-torch. Glass has taken over my free time, most of my waking thoughts and a lot of the free space in my apartment. All of my beads are made on a Nortel Minor or Megaminor torch using tanked propane and a 5 lpm oxycon.

Enjoy and join the Contest until April 15!!!
The Best of Luck!!!

Contributing Columnist Lauren aka “>Jewels Of Saraswati

I love the excitement of running a giveaway each month for my shop! If you are new to giveaways, but always wanted to have one, here are a few basic tips to get the wheels turning…..

First, what kind of giveaway do you want to have? Will it be through your blog, your Myspace, Facebook, or Twitter? There are so many ways to do it! Although it is not imperative that you use social media, these are by far the easiest and the most successful platforms. If people are following and interacting with you already, they will surely want to be a part of your giveaway!

Choose an item (or two!) you think many people would enjoy receiving and spend time on creating quality photos of it.

Some ideas if you want to work through your blog:

• Your blog is a great place to make your official announcement, reveal your start/end date and explain the rules to participate.

• You will need to decide how they will participate. One suggestion would be to have them follow your blog to enter, or leave a comment on the post. A really fun interactive way to do it is to have a theme. For example, say you are having a Valentines Day giveaway. Have participants tell you how they fell in love with their significant other in their comment to enter. This way your followers get involved and enjoy being part of the process!

• Don’t forget to post numerous lovely photos of the giveaway item and explain what makes it so special!  If you can make more than one of the same item, post one for sale in your shop as well, and offer a discount during the giveaway period.

• Don’t have a blog of your own? Head to the forums and search for a blog looking to sponsor a giveaway. There are two that come to mind, one is Christie Cottage who does a “Win it Wednesday” and the other is Etsy it up! They sponsor it, promote it etc. and you are responsible for mailing the item. You can even post a thread in the forum saying you are looking for a blog that will do this. It is great promotion for both parties!

Some ideas if you want to do a giveaway on your Facebook page:

•  You can ask your fans to post something on your wall to enter. It can be their favorite item from your shop, their favorite color, a story, just about anything. There is room to get quite creative!

• Another idea that works well is simply tell all of your Facebook (or blog) followers that they are automatically entered if they are following you. It is a great way to show your appreciation for their support and no one has to do a thing! 

Other ideas/tips:

• You can also run a giveaway from your Twitter account by asking followers to RT your giveaway, or on your website if you have one.
• To be fair, use a random number generator to choose your winner or have a friend/family member pick the winners name from a hat.
•  Remind participants to leave a way for you to contact them if they win.
• Once you have winner, contact and congratulate them and don’t forget to ask for their mailing address. Assure them their info will not be used for any other purpose.
• Have a deadline for them to respond if they do win.
• Include a discount code with the giveaway item. They may want to share with friends or be encouraged to visit your shop and make a purchase!

Once you have it all figured out, promote it. 

Ways to Promote:

• Use high traffic sites like Indie Smiles where you can post your giveaway and your link! (http://www.indiesmiles.com/happy-giveaways/)
• If you are on Etsy, get into the forums! If you are in Artfire, Folksy or another online venue do the same! Have others share their giveaways too.
• Blog about it. 
• Tweet about it.
• Post details on your Facebook fanpage
• Mention it in your newsletter/mailing list if you have one.

Have fun and enjoy the ride! You will be surprised at how excited your fans will get when they have a chance at winning a free item from your shop!

Pendant photo courtesy of MDStudio.

ADD A C A P T I O N……

Read more…

Get your article published on Indiesmiles!

Rules are simple. Write an article (400 words or less) and send us the title and first paragraph to:

info@indiesmiles.com

Include a pic that you own or a pic that you’ve had permission to publish.

Winner’s chosen each week from the best subject matter and writting style of the author.  We will post a new winner each week and have their article published right here, on Indiesmiles front page! Feel free to write about your own shop, or give your shop credit, you can also write about a friends shop, or your blog! We only ask that you submit a fresh article that has not been published elsewhere.

So write about your shop, business ideas, anything Indie related and email us now!

Rules:  We reserve the right to reject any article because of subject matter that may not be Indie related or may be against the law, or against the laws of Karma.
Picture courtesy of Track and Field Designs

Join in on our latest contest! Write an article about your shop, a friends shop, a how-to or a business article…Indie please and you could have your article published right here on Indiesmiles in July!

You can find the contest entry…… right here on our sidebar, you only have a few weeks so get your creative juices flowing and enter by the end of June to be considered. The winner will be chosen by Sue and El; but we will also consider the comments that we read about each submission.

Hope to see your article on our front page!

You’ll LOVE This….the un-Valentine Love Contest from Doodlage! Where professing “Love” should be done in the most unusual way! Read what Doodlage has to say about the theme of their contest.

With all this Hallmark-sponsored-vomit-inducing-pink-redness all around us, why don’t we create some alternative unorthodox ways to display our LOVE? So, here’s the thing, doodle, draw, scribble anything that makes you think LOVE. First thing that comes to mind, which makes your heart race faster and your sight go blurry. Use the word LOVE in your creation, or explain to us in a few words why what you drew means LOVE to you.

See the Doodlage blog for more details about the materials you can use and how to enter, but don’t think it’s too late to promote or enter this contest, since this is an un-Valentine theme, you’ll have until Feb 24^th to submit your entries! Don’t you just adore that!

There will be many handmade prizes, plus you guessed it, a free advertising spot from Indiesmiles!

Anyone who wants to donate a prize to this unValentine contest, please contact Doodlage for information on how to donate, you can leave a comment on her blog or convo her at: Doodlage.Etsy.com.