Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Competition

Well we made it back from the Regional competition in Ontario, Oregon. Boy was it hot. Going from 60 degrees to 90 degrees was a bit much and drained us completely of energy by early afternoon. I set up my display case on Thursday and the judging was on Friday. I had the unfortunate luck of not having any lights in my display during judging. Thankfully, they did not count that against me....not something I had control over. I was dinged on a couple of other items but that is fixable. The trees however were a big success and everyone including the judges thought they were great. Here is a picture of my display case showing the trees and the blue ribbon earned.
The pine tree in the back row seemed to be the favorite from most everyone I talked to with the bonsai tree front right was next.

I was able to promote my upcoming book as several people came up to me and wanted to know how to make them.

I have a couple of additional questions out to one of my judges for clarification of labeling for my competition next year. Next year it has to be perfect to take the Sweepstakes award at the National level.

Of these trees, I will be holding onto the Smoky Quartz (top left), Malachite Pine tree (top middle) and the bonsai which is a Pearl tree on Carnelian (bottom right). One of the new trees I will add to this collection for next years competition is a palm tree made with Labradorite stones. The palm tree is a completly different style as the limbs wire is braided vs. twisted and the trunk wire is woven on a support core of copper tubing. I have a year to make it so I'll have to get started on a prototype. I'll post a picture out here when it is finished.

If you have any comments, I would love to hear from you. As I have mentioned before, some of my previous posts for 2007 in this blog do have instructions for building a gem tree.

2 comments:

shauna July 6, 2008 at 9:52 AM  

I just found your blog and your trees are beautiful! I've been collecting wire only and gem and wire trees for years! We have a couple of local people that I've been buying from for over 20 years. I love them! They are among my most treasured possessions. I have always felt connected to trees and I love jewelry and use crystals for energy work so the two together are fantastic! Congratulations on your blue ribbon! I also saw in your post you have a how to book coming out. That is wonderful! I'm off to explore more of your blog now!
Shauna

Mikey July 16, 2008 at 1:21 PM  

Hi Dana,

I just really want to know when that book of yours is coming out. I am completely looking forward to purchasing it. I have been into rocks and minerals for a long time and it wasn't until recently that I realized that I can try my hand at making gemstone trees. I have all the necessary materials (I think); just not the know how. When is your book coming out and in what format? By the way, I absolutely love the way the tree with the carnelian base looks. Amazing!

Mike