The Ugly Necklace Contest - Semi-Finalists' Page

Kimberly Allison
Escondido, California
"The Ugliest Necklace. Period."
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...GO VOTE & EVALUATE...

Go With The Flow

It began one day when I was thirteen,
In those days so well begone
That I developed that hateful dependency
On that dreaded thing: the tampon.

Remember those days? The ones so care-free?
Before "Aunt Ruby" came for her stay?
Our innocent lives were turned upside down
by a biological D-Day. ...

poem & profile continues

#2

Alesia DiFederico
Southbury, Connecticut
"Super Duper Purple Pooper Scooper"
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EVALUATE...

Super Duper Purple Pooper Scooper

The inescapable chore
That does become such a bore
Kitty box filled with poops galore!

Every time I turn around
More poopers seem to abound

My cats I absolutely adore
The poops I honestly abhor

Among my beading stash
Wicked kitties love to crash ...

poem & profile continues

#3

Sandy Borglum
Chicago, Illinois
"The Purple Eyesore of Texas"
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EVALUATE...

The Purple Eyesore of Texas
Sung to "The Yellow Rose of Texas"

There's a Purple Eyesore in Texas that no one should ever wear2.
Nobody could miss it, it screams out "I am here!"
They'd cry so if they wore it, their moans would break your heart,
And if I hadn't worked so hard I might take it apart.

It's the ugliest Purple Eyesore that Texas ever saw;
Plastic beads, eyelash yarn, a bandana snugged up to the jaw.
The bandana is the fastener -- the "clasp", if you need to know;
This way it fits on every neck with a knot that'll never show.

A large-linked golden curtain chain is the "base" t'which all's attached,
Sewn on to the bandana -- it's sturdier than a latch.
There's a package bow on the left side, to mimic a Yellow Rose.
It's attached to the purple bandana, stapled right under your nose. ...

poem & profile continues

#4

Sharon Wagner
Sterling Heights, Michigan
"Round and Round"
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EVALUATE...

Round and Round

The Earth goes...
The Clock goes...
The TV goes...
The Electricity goes...
The Cable goes...
The Cord goes...
The Connector goes...
The Ideas go...
The Plan goes...
The Purple goes...
The Thread goes...
The Beads go...
And I go...
Round and round
So the Ugly grows.
Whew! It's done!

poem & profile continues

#7

Lynn Margaret Davy
Wimborne, Dorset, United Kingdom
"Wrinkling"
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POEM

Wrinkling

When I am an old beader I shall be purple
With a red and brown and blue scattering of moles and veins and liver spots
And I shall spend my pension on rocailles and buttons
And lampwork glass, and say I've no money for thread
I shall wonder why just picking up a needle makes me tired
And why my beadwork and my body are coming apart at the seams
And how on earth I ever managed to travel and laugh and dance all night
In the brightly lit drunken excesses of my youth.
I shall stay indoors when it's raining
And stitch flowers from other people's unwanted beads
And learn to knit. ...

poem & profile continues

#5

Deborah Eve Rubin
Rockville, Maryland
"The Colors of Purple"
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The Colors of Purple

I've finally seen the purple cow

Her polka dots are oh so wow!

Then I went thru my boxes, my bags and my bins,

And took out everything purple within.

I beaded and sewed and I wired and glued,

Till something resembling a necklace ensued.

Please judge just my necklace and not this wretched poem,

All I really want to do is unclutter my home.

poem & profile continues

#6

Bonnie Scherer
Palmer, Alaska
"Drinking Girl's Necklace: The Grapes of Wrath"
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EVALUATE...

Drinking Girl's Necklace:
The Grapes of Wrath

When I drink I think I am witty so I want yet another sip;
I reach to the closure of my necklace to produce an "ah-so", how hip!
A bottle of wine, a sip of champagne,
In no time at all I'm feeling insane!

My eyes are all blurry and nothing's in focus,
I'll captivate your heart with my hocus-pocus.
I'm feeling off-center, not quite in balance,
My arrangement of corks is but one of my talents! ...

poem & profile continues

#8

Jane W. West
Pelham, Alabama
"What Can I Make Today?"
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...GO VOTE
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EVALUATE...

What Can I Make Today?

Lost in thought
With beads I just bought;

Bugs on the brain
Ideas driving me insane;

Could make this
Could make that;

So many beads
Just gotta proceed;

I'll put this here
Wire that there;

What can I make today?
Ugly Necklace...
What do you say?

poem & profile continues

Eighth International, 2010
The Ugly Necklace Contest
A Jewelry Design Competition
With A Twist

SPECIAL 2010 RULE:
Purple Must Predominate

Visit the web-pages of each of our
8 The Ugly Necklace Contest Semi-Finalists.
Evaluate their images, their poem,
and their materials and techniques.
Then use the on-line form you will find
on each of their web-pages
to Score them in terms of
Hideousness,
Materials Used,
Design Principles Violated,
and Artistic Control.

It's more difficult to do UGLY
when you use smaller beads. You can award any of the semifinalists extra points for using small beads, if you want, when you vote/evaluate on these on-line forms.
You can vote/evaluate each of the eight necklaces, if you want, or just your favorites --
that's up to you. But all our artists would appreciate your votes and evaluations.

When voting closes, voting logs will be reviewed
for any duplicate or otherwise illegitimate votes
(for example, those from the same IP or email address), and these will be deleted. The on-line votes will be tallied and used to adjust the original votes of the Panel of Judges at CBJA, in the selection of a winner. The public's votes will weigh towards 25% of the final tally in selecting the Winner and Runner-Up.

And consider submitting an entry to
The 2012 Ninth International Ugly Necklace Contest!
Entries accepted beginning Sept 1, 2011,
with the final entry submission date of Mar 15, 2012.

Now entries open to both US and International submissions as well. There are talented Ugly-Necklace Jewelry Designers everywhere!

Share your reactions, opinions and thoughts about our Ugly Necklace entries,
or about the Contest as a whole on our
Learn To Bead Blog.
blog.landofodds.com

ABOUT THE JEWELRY DESIGN CRITERIA USED TO EVALUATE THE ENTRIES IN THE UGLY NECKLACE CONTEST - It Ain't Easy Doing Ugly, or as my momma says, "Ugly is as Ugly does."

Summary of Adjusted Judges Scoring Criteria

ABOUT GOOD JEWELRY DESIGN
- Principles of Composition
by Warren Feld

If you would like us to forward your comments
to any of our semi-finalists, we will be happy to do so.
You can send your comments to:
oddsian@landofodds.com

To add your name to our email list
associated with The Ugly Necklace Contest, send an email to:
oddsian@landofodds.com
and Write "Ugly Necklace Email List" in the subject line.

It's not easy to do Ugly!

Our 4 distinguished judges associated with
The Center for Beadwork & Jewelry Arts reviewed
23 Ugly Necklace submissions to our contest,
and selected 8 semi-finalists.
They rated each necklace using
10 jewelry design criteria. They examined the

overall hideousness of the necklace,

how clever were the materials used,

how the design of the necklace violated
good jewelry design rules associated with color, form,
balance, distribution of the elements, and focus.

They also looked at issues of
how the necklace was constructed
and its wearability, and

how well the accompanying poem
elaborated on the necklace and its ugliness.

MORE ABOUT THE JEWELRY DESIGN CRITERIA
USED TO EVALUATE THE ENTRIES