"Always accept good fortune with grace and humility."
~ Mark L. Mika It was my good fortune to host the Challenge of Color Blog Hop last Friday. I can't thank those who participated enough. It would have been mighty lonely {like crickets chirping kind of lonely} had I just challenged myself and made a bunch of things and then posted it expecting oohs and aahs. Sure, I would have had some pretty things done and been inspired by something so commonplace as a foray into the paint store, but it wouldn't have had the same effect as gathering a bunch of friends, old and new, to party along with me in a riotous celebration of color!
There was such an abundance of talent displayed in this hop. I am so glad that those four without blogs could hop, too! I really wanted to make sure that there were no restrictions on participating. I was really delighted to get such wonderful comments and lovely personal emails {and even one phone call!} thanking me for the creation of this hop. But truthfully, I was only the facilitator. The success of participating in any blog hop or challenge depends on the people participating and the effort that you are willing to put into it. YOU are the real stars. YOU rose to the challenge {even when I pushed some of you so far out of your comfort zone you may have gone kicking and screaming...but thanking me later ;-}. YOU each learned something about your style and your process through this. And if you think I am cracked, go back and really read what everyone said in their posts AND in the comments. It is true.
I promised that I would have four things to giveaway. Three Inspiration Boxes {two to the US players; one to the non-US crowd} and one pair of earrings for the price of a comment.
I made it super challenging for myself to calculate the up to 7 points that I promised you could garner if you participated {next time it will be much easier!}. And I did keep a spreadsheet. And I went back through everyone's blogs twice to be sure I wasn't missing anything. Then I cut out little slips with your names on it and had my assistant {read: Tiny Dancer} pull the names. Here are the names she drew:
Karyn... I will need you to send my your mailing address.... ;-)
For the earrings, I figured it was safer to go with the Random.org generator.{Sorry. I just cannot figure out how to take nice little shot of that random number generator. You will have to believe me that I did it this way ;-} There were 55 comments... but 8 is great! Congrats to Boot~C! Your comment was #8 in the queue. You win the 'Lucky Lanterns' earrings as a treat for yourself or a ready made gift for someone special. Boot~C - please send me your mailing address to enjoytheday{at}tesoritrovati{dot}com and I will get this right out to you!
One more thank you to both Jeannie Dukic and Faith Davis Ferris for their generous contributions to the prize packages above. Much appreciated!
I read every comment, and hopefully was able to respond to you personally. There was a lot of interest in future blog hops. I am all about joining challenges myself and would be delighted to coordinate some in the future, but there is a fair amount of work involved, so it won't be a monthly thing, and I am not sure if it will be just about color or perhaps some other theme. But if you are pining away for some blog hop love {it really is fun to connect and share with a community, isn't it?} then I would recommend that you look into the following that are coming up:
Michaels Challenge #2 - The first was fun. we were give a list of materials to buy at Michaels and challenged to create with them. The reveal day is Friday, December 17th. You can read about it here.
Art Bead Scene - There will be a holiday ornament blog hop happening on Tuesday, December 7th. The sneak peeks look so pretty! I need some great ideas for gifting! And to shake things up a bit, there will be an ABS Blog Hop on December 31st with posts from all those interested in making something for one of two artworks that have a fantastical fairy theme in them. Hmmm... I wonder what art beads I have in my stash that will work for this one...
Bead Soup Blog Hop - It's baaaacccckkk! I had such a blast participating in the first two last year and I am delighted that they are returning. It is so much fun to match up with someone to swap beads and see where that takes you. You can read about the Bead Soup Blog Hop happening in January-February 2011. Join in the fun!
There are so many other hops out there... like Blogmania in April and October, and the Mad Hatter's Tea Party in June.... just do a search and you will find a ton.... and I encourage you to find a variety of hops to participate in to widen the circle of your blogworld. And bring more people to connect with you because that is the whole point of jumping in a blog hop, isn't it?
Do you know of any cool blog hops out there? Share a link!
Would you participate in a blog hop that has more than just jewelry as the theme?
Have you considered how blog hops help you grow?
Enjoy the day!
16 comments:
Hi Erin!
Thanks so much for mentioning the 2nd Michael's challenge! It's fun to see so many fun challenges going on right now. I can't think of a better way to get out of a beading rut!
Congrats on an awesome blog hop! I enjoyed it!
Congratulations to the winners, many thanks to the bead artists that donated their work for these prices and again thanks to Erin!! This was fun.
Thanks again Erin - I am sure a lovely time was had by all. I absolutely love and have become addicted to these things. It's fun to work with the inspiration someone else gives you! I do feel that it also makes me stretch my imagination a bit!,,,and Yeah for the lucky winners!
Congratulations to the lucky winners!!
I had a blast participating in the hop, and was happy to have actually completed my piece. I can't wait for the next one!!!!!
Thanks, Erin, for hosting the hop!
this was a brilliant idea for a challange.
it would be great if you did this again sometime..i would not miss getting in on it .
thanks for hosting this event.
Congrats to the lucky winners! I had such a blast with this challenge I will so do it again! Erin you are a good thing everyday!
The Mad Hatter's Tea Party was the first hop I ever did. I decided to show jewelry that Alice could wear to a party (if the Queen either a) didn't steal it first or b) didn't take her head off first -- kind of hard to wear a necklace when you've got no head.
I loved the paint chip challenge -- got me to dig out some beads that I know would still be waiting for me to figure out how to use pink or purple with them!
Erin, this was a lovely challenge and I enjoyed it SO much. I still haven't gotten through all the blog reveals (BUSY weekend) but hope to read them all in the next couple of days. Thank you for hosting such a challenging challenge. And thank you (and Tiny Dancer) for picking my name out of the hat. Can't wait to see the beads in person. I think you have my address, but I'll send it along if you email me (I know you have my email address)
Bead blessed,
Emanda
Thank you again for the wonderful hop!
Congrats Winners! So many were taken out of their comfort zone, Thanks to you Erin. You're cool like that.
I hope the winners of my beads will shoot me a picture when they use them. That would be delightful.
I would definately participate in a blog hop again especially of it's something other than jewelry.
I loved everyone's enthusiasm and how much pride they took in their work. Doesn't get better than that.
Thanks Erin.
Erin,
Just wanted to agree with everyone. This challenge and blog hop was really fun. I think I saw all of the blogs, and really identified with what everyone was saying. We all were inspired by your idea. So, THANK YOU for dreaming it up, and following through. This was a lot of work for you, and it's much appreciated.
Congrats to the lucky winners of the prize drawings.
THANK YOU,Erin for hosting such a fun challenge. I've enjoyed creating and hopping, and still need to visit more blogs as well. I've enjoyed the enthusiasm I've seen so far.
CONGRATS to all of the lucky winners - the give away earrings and bead sets are all beautiful!
Congrats to the lucky, lucky winners.
Yours is the only jewelry blog I follow, for the simple reson that the posts are beautiful.
I get it all here. visual and mental candy.
Erin thank you again for hosting this, I'd totally do it again. It'll be hard waiting for the next one. I may join in the bead soup blog hop it sounds like fun!
Oh how exciting that I won... I am jumping up and down! Thanks again for organising such a great challenge. It has been wonderful seeing everyone's creations and meeting some new bloggers.
Karyn
Australia
I had so much fun, thank you Erin! Can't wait to do this again. Congrats to your winners!!!!! Great beads. :)
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