I know you all are anxious to see who the Top 20 Contestants will be, but first I just have to comment on how absolutely amazed I was both by the number of applicants {100!} and the quality and creativity of the projects shared. I'm so glad I had the help of my fellow judges and your votes to narrow it down, because I would have had a really tough time choosing from so many fabulous entries.
Ok, if you're still reading {lol}, the votes are in, the judges have deliberated, and here are your Top 20 Contestants, in alphabetical order.
ADRIANNE
AMY
BETH
BLYTHE
CARMELLA
JESSICA
KATHRYN
KELSEY
PAMELA
ROBIN
SARAH Z.
TARYN
Good luck to all of our fantastic contestants!
The material for round 1 will be announced here on the blog at midnight EST! Be sure to check back and see what our contestants will be working with for their first project.
HAPPY CRAFTING!!!
PS: The top 20 contestants were chosen by a combination of reader votes and judges' discretion. The top 7 vote recipients went directly into our list of contestants, and most of the other contestants were well within the top 20 vote recipients too. Several contestants were handpicked by the judges based on quality, creativity, and originality, as well as the fact that we wanted to make sure our contestants represented a variety of skills and diverse crafting abilities. From this point on, reader votes will be the sole determining factor for who moves on in the competition, except for one contestant in each round who the judges get to "save."
Such great choices! Congrats, ladies!! Can't wait to see how this goes :)
ReplyDeleteLook at that TALENT up there! Amazing work Ladies! Congrats!!!
ReplyDeleteYES! I am so excited to have made the Top 20!!! Can't wait to see what's next!
ReplyDeleteJessica
Wow, I'm so thrilled to be a contestant! I'm sure it was a super tough decision; I can't believe how many awesome projects were linked up. Best of luck everyone!
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all the Top 20!!
ReplyDeleteWow! I can't believe I made it into the Top 20! It's an honor to be a part of this contest with so many other talented ladies! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteWow! I made it into the Top 20! Thank you!!! So excited, this is going to be fun! Congrats to everyone!
ReplyDeleteWaaah...I was voted into the top 20 but not chosen. Better luck next year. Congrats to the contestants!
ReplyDeleteI am humbled to be included in this list of incredibly talented ladies. Thank you so much!
ReplyDeleteamy @ whilewearingheels.blogspot.com
Wish the top 20 were the ones with the most votes... I saw the rank revealed this morning. Why have a vote if you plan to handpick top 20 (along with judges i understand)? Just curious. Thanks
ReplyDeleteSarah, that's an excellent question and I'm happy to address it. Please don't think that we ignored the voting and just chose who we wanted. As far as the top vote recipients go, our top 7 went directly into the top 20 list. Many of our other contestants were also well within the top 20 based on votes. We did, however, use judges' discretion to hand pick a few of the entries because they were projects that really stood out to all five judges for creativity and quality. We also wanted to ensure that we included contestants who were skilled in a variety of areas. From this point on, votes will be the sole determining factor in who moves on except for one contestant each round. The judges will look at the "bottom six" and choose one person to "save." Otherwise, reader votes will be what counts. I hope that answers your question.
DeleteCongrats to the top 20!!! Bummed we were #8 in the vote when I peeked this am. Looking forward to some inspiring projects ;)
DeleteI'm glad you asked...I was curious about it, too. It feels like all I did was promote your blog by sending my readers your way, since I was voted #12 but didn't make the cut. Maybe you could be more clear about the selection criteria next time? I know that I and some others had double the number of votes as some of the people selected by the judges, and I think the number of votes reflect how committed that crafter and her followers are to winning the competition. Something to consider...
DeleteBest of luck to the top 20 and I look forward to being wowed and inspired by what they create!
Morena {and Sarah}, thank you for your feedback. Morena, I'm so sorry that you feel that way. My goal {although, of course we all like traffic and followers} in running this contest has far less to do with promoting my blog than it does with having fun, meeting other bloggers, and giving a place for others to gain and share inspiration. I have to confess that this is my first time running any kind of a contest, other than a standard giveaway, and while I hoped it would be a success, it's turned into something far larger than I ever anticipated. I was just hoping to have enough entrants to run the contest; I never dreamed I'd be turning 80 people away. I will certainly try to be more clear about the selection process in the future...it's a learning curve, I guess, and now that I've done it once, next year will go more smoothly. I do hear what you're saying about votes reflecting a contestant {and her followers/friends}' commitment; it's a good point, and I want to try and balance that with the fact that we wanted to give folks who don't have blogs a fair shot at entering too and keep it from being just a popularity contest. It's definitely something to think about, as you said. I hope you understand and that you know my intentions, as well as those of the judges, were all for the best. I also truly hope that you'll enter again next year, and that in the meantime you'll share your other projects at Shine on Fridays; you have great ideas and I really did enjoy your entry.
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DeleteAmy-
DeleteI guess I don't understand how the two ladies (#8 & #12)above could have gained it based on popularity? When I linked to both blogs they had well under 100 followers. Many of the top 20 have hundreds of followers...
I was impressed with the original top 20 this AM. Might be nice to post voting results to let everyone know how well they did in case they didn't see the rank?
You had a tough decision for sure. I appreciate your clarification above and wish you the best here at One Artsy Mama.
Good Luck to the top 20.
Sorry, I deleted my previous comment by accident when trying to correct typos. I just wanted to say thans for the explanation and good luck!
DeleteSarah J, thanks for your comment....I agree.
Oh yes, please post the voting results!!! How would we have seen the rank?
DeleteI haven't entered a contest before and I'm curious about something. I posted for people to come and vote, but I didn't ask them to vote for me. I thought they should vote for what they liked best, not just for me because I asked them to. So, do people tell their friends to come vote for them? Just want to know how it's done so I can do it right next time!!!
Good luck everyone - can't wait to see all the future projects!
Thank you sooo much!!!! So excited for the fun contest rounds!!! Some serious talent will be going on!
ReplyDeletePamela
I'm honored to be surrounded by such great talent and so excited that I made it in the Top 20! Thanks to everyone that voted and good luck to all the participants!
ReplyDeleteMeredith @ www.waittilyourfathergetshome.com
The Mad Planter
I loved your project!! I can't wait to do one at my house - thanks for inspiring me. Congrats on top 20!
DeleteWHAT??? Oh my gosh, I thought I was out of the running! Thanks, I'm so excited to be part of the contest!!
ReplyDeleteEeek--so excited to see my name up there :) Thanks! And everyone else's projects look so awesome. It's gonna be a great contest!
ReplyDeleteSuch great pics! Love them all! Congrats to everyone !
ReplyDeleteYay! I'm so excited for the rounds! I have a few ideas already, but now I need to get them all sorted out! Thanks for selecting me to be apart of such a great group of creative ladies!
ReplyDeleteI am thrilled to be in the top 20! Thank you so much!! Looking forward to the rest of the contest! :)
ReplyDeleteWow! I'm so excited to be a part of this contest! Thanks so much.
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to vote for all the awesome projects that I'm sure these ladies will come up with!!!
ReplyDeleteYeee hoooo! I am excited!I feel so blessed to be a part of this amazing line up!
ReplyDeleteOooh! Lots of great projects and inspiration! I can't wait to get voting!! So fun!! :D
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to follow along ~ I actually like the idea of mixing it up with reader votes and judges input for this initial cut. Thanks for all of your hard work Amy!
ReplyDeletexo
Heather
I'm so excited to be part of this contest. Thank you so much!!! Good luck to everyone.
ReplyDeleteOhhh, I LOVE that Mod Podge Dresser Redo. So creative and fun! :)
ReplyDeleteLove all the contestants projects- so much talent. I am so going to check into the DIY filing cabinet! SO sweet all.
ReplyDeleteCongratulation to everyone who made it to round 1...you are all such amazingly talented crafters/diy-ers. I'm looking forward to your bead projects! :D
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