The Fresh Daily » Fresh Picks

The Results Are In!

Matt — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 18:41:16 +0000

I think the scariest thing about these Fresh Pick Challenges is how creative our customers are! When Steve gave everyone the ability to create their own Fresh Picks, we weren’t sure how it was going to go. I think this goes without saying, but it’s been wildly successful.

Here are the four lucky Fresh Pickers who came out on top of the latest Fresh Pick Challenge:

Best Composition: Artful Accents’ “October Skyline“

We had a hard time picking just one for this category because there were so many picks with great composition. The more I look at this pick, the more I like it. You can tell just how much care went into picking each and every product. Just look at how that Lillypilly Verde Patina Copper Sheet works so well with the Red Creek Jasper!

Best Use of Color: D Gooding’s “PumpkinHead is Snoring“

I would bet that D Gooding was taking a shot at the “Best Story” prize for this one. Even though it was a finalist for that category, we really liked the bright, pumpkin-esque colors. If you haven’t already read the story, I suggest you give it a read.

Best Story: Kitty Chicky Cat’s “origami garden“

“The perfect hostess; gentle as a dove, with the willow’s grace, welcoming as a warm embrace. Yet she is mournful as the wind that ever caresses her dwelling place and cold as the stars that light the eyes of her pretty face.” This story literally gave me the chills. I think I’m going to have nightmares about being folded up into a pretty little lily…

Top-notch storytelling aside, this is a great-looking pick!

People’s Choice: Mary S – Sweet Chick’s “Pumpkin Vines“

I’d have to agree with all of you on this one! Great composition, great use of color and beautifully crafted. We’ve come to expect this level of creativity from a seasoned veteran like Mary. She has almost 350 Fresh Picks under her belt!

The winners will receive their $25 Gift Certificate code in an email from me within the next few hours. If for some reason you don’t get the message, just let me know in the comments.

Again, we really appreciate everyone who contributed to make this contest so successful. Hopefully, we’ll have another one of these up our sleeve in the coming months.

Fresh Pick Challenge: Halloween 2011

Matt — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:55:59 +0000

It seems like this is becoming somewhat of a Halloween tradition around here. To keep you busy during Scream Week, we decided to resurrect the Fresh Pick Challenge! There will be 4 prizes, one for the winner of each of the following categories:

Best Composition: The overall composition is one of the most important qualities of a beautiful Fresh Pick. It’s what makes Fresh Picks so unique. Creating the best possible color & texture arrangement is key to winning this category.
Best Use of Color: When it comes to beading, is there anything more important than color? It doesn’t necessarily have to be all spooky colors. You can use things like your favorite Halloween candy, a costume that you remember wearing when you were younger, or even your favorite horror flick for inspiration.
Best Story: We know how you love to write stories to go along with your Fresh Picks. That’s why we’re going to read each and every description that you take the time to write. It could be a scary story, a tale about your favorite childhood Halloween memory, or anything else your creative mind comes up with
People’s Choice: We want our Pickers to make the call! The Fresh Pick with the most favorites will win this prize. Even if you’re not submitting a pick, be sure to add your favorite fresh picks to, well, your favorites!

With the exception of the people’s choice winner, the Lima Beads team will choose the winners of each category. We’re excited!

The Prizes

The winner of each category will receive a $25 Lima Beads gift certificate. Also, there is a special prize for the winner of People’s Choice: A beautiful assortment of gemstone beads, pendants and pearls!

If you can’t quite tell from the photo, there’s Carnelian, Amethyst, Kyanite, Amazonite, Peru Rhodochrosite and more!

When you’re ready to submit your Pick, just select it from the drop-down menu in the comment form below. You’ll be able to choose from your 10 most recent picks. Choose the one that you’d like to submit to the contest and “Voila!” Not sure what a Fresh Pick is? Find out on the Design Your Own Fresh Picks page!

Let me lay down a few ground rules before you get started:

Only one (1) submision allowed per person. If you make multiple submissions, only your most recent one will be counted.
All Picks must be submitted as a comment on this blog post by Monday, October 31st at midnight.

Here’s the Tricky Part

You have to use at least one product from ONE of these categories:

	Czech Glass Coins
	Luster Silver Crystal
	Red Creek Jasper

IMPORTANT: You DO NOT have to include one product from each category! We’re not that cruel.

We’re not done yet! You also need to include at least one product from our Artist Beads section. We have hundreds of artist beads and we think they’re the most creative beads in our entire shop. They should help to inspire some awesome picks!

All you have to do is create a new Fresh Pick and upload it in your comment below. Time to pick!

A Call for Halloween Designs and Fresh Picks

Steve — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 17:28:05 +0000

Here’s to all the creepy creatives on the Lima Beads site… we want to have a little fun this Halloween, starting with collecting some Fresh Picks and Designs that are scary, spooky, or just plain fun like those odd-shaped pumpkins carved with big silly faces. We’ll be featuring these Fresh Picks and Designs on at our Halloween HQ for the rest of the month. We think it’s going to be a cool source of October inspiration!

Here’s how to participate…

To join the fun, start by designing a Fresh Pick or uploading one of your beading designs to our Design Gallery. There’s an easy way to specify that your new pick or design should go on the Halloween 2011 page. If you’re uploading a design in the Design Gallery, you’ll see the following option when filling out the entry form:

If you’re designing a Fresh Pick, first finishing adding all the items to your pick. Then go to the My Fresh Picks page. You’ll see a choice next to each of your picks that allows you to choose the Halloween promotion. Just like the bottom of this example:

You can always go back and choose the Halloween promo later, so don’t feel like you need to finish everything in one sitting. One last thing… only picks that area created in September and October 2011 will be featured on the Halloween HQ page. No fair using “creativity of old” this season

As always, feel free to ask any questions in the comments. And have fun!

Calling all lovers!

Steve — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:41:40 +0000

UPDATE: Here’s a big, loving “THANKS” to everyone who created a Fresh Pick in the past day about hearts! Random picks are featured on the bottom of the Funky Valentine page, and you can see all the heart picks here. You rock!

Cupid’s headed for Lima Beads… and we need some Fresh Picks to show him love! We’ll be collecting all heart-centric Fresh Picks over the next few days, and it’s easy to get involved. If you create any new Fresh Picks with either “Heart” or “Valentine” in the title, we’ll gather them up and show them off on a special page later this week. Here’s an example pick that I just created.

We hope it will be fun to show off your lovely picks! If you have any questions, just leave a comment. And if you’re new here, you can find out more about designing Fresh Picks. Thanks everyone! Check back soon!

Halloween Fresh Pick Challenge Results!

Matt — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 18:17:27 +0000

There’s nothing quite as frightening as a bunch of beaders who are all competing to win free beads! Seriously, we’re all really impressed by the amount of thought that went into each and every submission for the latest Fresh Pick Challenge. There were certainly some bone-chilling combinations and thrilling stories. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest.

Here are the winners of the $25 Gift Certificates:

Best Composition: BeadAddict’s “Before I Fly South“

One of the most popular trends in this contest was the use of C-Koop Enameled Metal leaves in Fresh Picks! It was a pretty obvious choice because of the crafty, colorful, autumn-esque designs. However, BeadAddict was able to surround those beautiful pieces with a nice supporting cast of gemstone beads, pearls and metal. Just one look at this pick and you’ll be longing for a fall retreat in upstate New York.

Best Use of Color: Brenda S’s “The Zombie“

We all really enjoyed her eerie story, but the most impressive thing about this pick is the way Brenda used color to complement that story. I’ve never compared our Labradorite to the decaying skin of a zombie, but the greenish-gray luster of the stone has never looked so creepy. The red accents of garnet are a bloody-brilliant touch as well. Great pick.

Best Use of Color: Kitty Chicky Cat’s “out of the seaweed rising“

“Seaweed comes to form her hair, a floating, tangled, grasping mass, writhing there like medusa’s snakes, free to hunt again and take hold like wet fingers anything that lingers.” This sounds like it belongs in the latest collection of Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories. We also really liked the composition. All around great pick!

People’s Choice: Eeka Mouse’s “Midnight Decision“

It’s the pick with the most favorites, and it’s not hard to see why. The story is great and the colors are fantastic. Not many of you were brave enough to throw Rainbow Fluorite in the mix, but Eeka Mouse did it quite well. As we mentioned before, the winner of the people’s choice award will also be receiving a pumpkin full of beads!

The winners will receive their Gift Certificate code in a message from me in The Garden. If for some reason you didn’t get the message, just let me know in the comments.

Again, we really appreciate everyone who contributed to make this contest so successful. Hopefully, we’ll have another one of these up our sleeve in the coming months.

Fresh Pick Challenge: Halloween

Matt — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 17:12:28 +0000

I honestly can’t believe that it’s Halloween already! It seems like yesterday that we held our first ever Fresh Pick Challenge.

A lot has happened since that Valentine’s Day inspired contest. Our three new baby boys are almost 7 months old now, we’ve added Lima Studios epoxy and resin kits, how-to projects, 4 new artists and a ton of new gemstone beads!

Since we had so much fun with the last Fresh Pick Challenge, we decided to have a Halloween inspired contest to keep you busy during Scream Week. We’re giving away $25 gift certificates to the winners of each of the following categories:

Best Composition: The overall composition is one of the most important qualities of a beautiful Fresh Pick. It’s what makes our Fresh Picks so unique. Creating the best possible product arrangement is key to winning this category.
Best Use of Color: When it comes to beading, is there anything more important than color? It doesn’t necessarily have to be all pinks, reds and purples. Maybe your favorite romantic movie, love song, or the restaurant of your first date inspires you!
Best Story: We know how you love to write stories to go along with your Fresh Picks. That’s why we’re going to read each and every description that you take the time to write. But please, try to keep it as short as you can! I have the feeling that we’re going to have a lot of story-tellers submitting their picks.
People’s Choice: We want our Pickers to make the call! The Fresh Pick with the most favorites will win this prize. Even if you’re not submitting a pick, be sure to add your favorite fresh picks to, well, your favorites!

Also, there is a special prize for the winner of People’s Choice. A little pumpkin full of beads!

When you’re ready to submit your Pick, just select it from the drop-down menu in the comment form below. You’ll see your 10 most recent picks. Choose the one that you’d like to submit to the contest and “Voila!” Not sure what a Fresh Pick is? Find out on the Design Your Own Fresh Picks page!

Let me lay down a few ground rules before you get started:

Only one (1) submision allowed per person. If you make multiple submissions, only your most recent one will be counted.
You must create a pick specifically for this contest. We all love recycling too, but we want to see some awesome new picks!
All Picks must be submitted as a comment on this blog post by Sunday, October 31st at midnight.

Here’s the Tricky Part

You have to use at least one product from ANY of these stones:

	Labradorite
	Copper Green Opal
	Rainbow Fluorite

IMPORTANT: You DO NOT have to include one product of each stone! We’re not that cruel.

All you have to do is create a new Fresh Pick and upload it in your comment below. Now, get Picking!

January / February Favorites

Ali — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 21:45:43 +0000

Top 15 Favorited Design Gallery Pieces

We welcomed a lot of new designers to the Design Gallery in the last two months! They include (newest first): Monkeykat Chick-let Rhi, P Beal, Crissy G, Jade, Celticcrossing, Carole S, Kera D, stormy chic aka D Snyder, Carole C, Penny N, indigo, Reclaimed Vintage, D Dupree, Swedish Chick, Mera C, Firespryte, Connie W, Ms Dear Crazy Chick Fr, valleygirl, Joyce M, Emma Bella, Dionisia, Melanie L, Mary Magdalene, MTDesigns, JunQueJules, Rosie, Karri n, LeighAnn F, ShadesofVictoriana, Copper Dog, Dizzy Chick Lori Z, B Stafford, IzzyBella D, Cathy, JPeg Peggy, The Artful Healer, CIZACO, Harmony on Strings, Goldie H, Jameth, 4HisGloryCreationsbyCJ, N2Beading, Shawn l, D Cauley, GreedieBeadie, Science Chick Runs Sibes, Malina B, KittyMom Linda, Arja A, Eeka Mouse aka MERchick, M martinez, Vampire Chickie Ravin, and Cindy V.

Here are the “most favorited” pieces:

Calsilica Dragonfly by Diane Cauley
Ebony & Ivory by Chippy Chick aka Lindys
not your stepping stone by doktordesigns
Tutorial For My Girls by Lynn g
The Turritella Challenge by Wemai Coffee Chick
Vintage Hummingbirds by Dizzy Chick Lori Z
Katri by Arja A
Seahorse by Gunilla B
IBD*Izzy Bella Designs by IzzyBella D
Stormy Sky Bracelet by trinkets
Ocean Swirl by Leigh D
Cherry Blossom by LeighAnn F
Softly Sparkle by Kathryn Lobert

I love all the great focal pieces in your designs. Wonderful uses for metal this time around. Keep creating and sharing!

Top 15 Favorited Fresh Picks

Welcome New Fresh Pickers…

Get ready for a long list, because there were a LOT of new Fresh Pickers in January and February. Here goes!

Valentine’s Day Challenge Results!

Matt — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:06:20 +0000

I’d say our first-ever official Fresh Pick challenge was an overwhelming success with almost 100 entries in 4 days! A big “thank you” to everyone who participated in the contest.

Before I announce the winners, I’d just like to say that we had a really hard time picking just one pick for each of the categories. It was obvious that a lot of time, reflection and love were put into every one.

Here are the winners of the $25 Gift Certificates:

Best Composition: Mirjam E’s “Happiness is a Blue Boat“

When you look at this pick, it’s hard to break down why it’s so nice to look at. That’s one of the keys to a great composition. What we really liked about this pick is the way the wide range of stones were arranged to make a cohesive, visually-appealing piece. Beautiful pick!

Best Use of Color: Wemai Coffee Chick’s “Once Upon a Time“

Using Ruby Impression Jasper and Apatite together is a pretty bold move. Doing it alongside the pairing of Ammonite and Shibuichi and a great supporting cast of pinks and aquas is brilliant. Great work!

Most Creative Title: CAS’s “Your Heart is My Home“

Not only does the title embody Valentine’s Day, this is a great looking pick! We love the subtle use of metal charms to tell the story.

Best Story: KarenDe-Challenge Chick’s “Faces of Love“

One line in the description says it all: “a grandmother and grandfather in sepia wedding day splendor – a celebration of love.” But, we’re also blown away by the vintage look and feel of the pick.

People’s Choice: Cuban Queen Crazy Chick’s “Sweet as Lilies“

It’s the pick with the most favorites, but I think all of us here agree with our little community on this one. The colors, the composition, the title, and the story are all top-notch. It feels like there’s an organic color progression between the Champagne pearls, Rutilated Quartz, multi Moonstone, and Peach Jade. Finally, the addition of the onyx CZ is very clever. Truly inspiring!

The winners will receive their Gift Certificate code in a message from me in The Garden. If for some reason you didn’t get the message, just let me know in the comments.

Again, we really appreciate everyone who contributed to make this contest so successful. Hopefully, we’ll have another one of these up our sleeve in the coming months. With the baby boom coming up soon, who knows what’s going to happen next…

Top Picks of November

Ali — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:03:09 +0000

Without further ado, here’s a wrap-up of the inspiring work our customers have been up to!

New Pickers for November

Our Fresh Picks section keeps growing and growing… here’s a list of the newest pickers from November. Feeling inspired? It’s easy to design your own!

Top 15 Favorited Picks

Uluru Ayers Rock by Breezy Chick aka Bree
Brass Menagerie by Chicky ChaCha
his eyes by M mccallister mrs chick
A Winter Iris by Cotopaxi Chickie Sue
Orange Delight by Anita QoG Funny Chick
Septaria Sensations by Luv2bead - Little Chick
Snow Falling on Cedars by J Yee smart chick
Roast Chestnut by Chicky Zee aka Alice
walk on the beach by Shelly m
Silvery Red by FaeryGoth Chick
Winter Winds - MPS by Smoky Rose
Grapevine by Cuban Queen Crazy Chick
Simon, Do Something! by Little Round Chick

I love the combination of subtle and calm fresh picks with the zippy ones with splashes of color such as chartreuse, orange, red, and purple. Great work choosing less obvious stones for your picks – septaria, Mexican painting stone, agua nueva agate, Monaco agate, … I could keep going on and on…

Top 15 Favorited Design Gallery Pieces

There seems to be quite a bit of crossover in colors and themes used in Fresh Picks and Design Gallery pieces this time around. I’m not sure if it’s just a coincidence or if they are inspiring each other. I hope it’s the latter.

There was a lot of beautiful wire-work this past month. Personally, I do so much stringing with some basic wire wrapping (when Payton is napping and the little boy in my belly isn’t kicking me… really, it’s the “perfect storm”) that it’s nice to see interesting styles like the What a Whopper Cuff Bracelet and the Blue Sky Chalcedony ring. But it doesn’t stop there… all of the designs posted in the Design Gallery have been wonderful, and I’m pretty sure tons of people have been inspired by the pieces they get to see. We talk to customers all the time on the phone who mention it!

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Bead Star 2009 yet, you should Check Out our ad towards the front to see who was featured. I wish we could have fit everyone… You are all great!

Top Picks of October

Ali — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:28:13 +0000

Winter warmth by Carolinawren

New Fresh Pickers for October

Top 15 Favorited Picks

100% Chance of Rain by Chicky D aka Debra
Pinked!!! by Leigh D
Spa Delight by Alice t
Sister Goldenhair by Atomic Toad
Caelia by FaeryGoth Chick
First Impressions by Breezy Chick aka Bree
Wild Purple Asters by Mary S AKA Sweet Chick
Walk Softly by Cuban Queen Crazy Chick
Vintaj Venture en Bleu by Chicky ChaCha
Copper and Ice by L Soponis
Winter warmth by Carolinawren
out of my comfort zone by M mccallister mrs chick
Olympic Peninsula by Smoky Rose
Cinnamon Toast by Jane MS
Smoky Impressions by Luv2bead – Little Chick

100% Chance of Rain by Chicky D aka Debra

This group of favorite picks really showcases the use of subtle and warm tones. There are however a few that feature purples and blues. I always say that purple is my least favorite color, but oddly enough I was reading Vogue UK and found that they are saying the top colors for fashion this winter (2009/2010) are: Indigo (the more saturated and intense the color the better) and regal tones of violet, purple and inky grape. I guess I’ll have to embrace these colors, at least for this season…

These colors are gorgeous when used the right way. How would you use them? Let’s see some Fresh Picks!

They are all beautiful combinations. Which Fresh Pick would you be most interested in creating a piece of jewelry out of and what would you create? If you do, be sure to show us in the design gallery

Top 15 Favorited Designs from the Gallery

Waterfall of Pearls by Taylored Designs

I have to say the design gallery has never looked so good!

The designs you’re creating and sharing with the rest of us are really beautiful. There are some great textures, colors, and metal work – especially in the top 15 this month.

I do have one request, and I know it might seem cumbersome because everyone is getting so busy this time of year, but I’m going to ask it anyway. If you have a piece that requires more than basic stringing technique, would please add some instructions or tips applicable to your piece? I think that it would really help, because the pieces are gorgeous and inspiring but it would also help to teach people how to achieve the same coolness. Again, if you have time

Thanks everyone!