*~ FINISHED ~* Cab Contest, FEB 2023 - Hearts of course!
Feb 1, 2023 18:52:51 GMT -5
fernwood, hummingbirdstones, and 4 more like this
Post by Tommy on Feb 1, 2023 18:52:51 GMT -5
Welcome to the Rock Tumbling Hobby Forum cabochon contest where your cabochon making skills, creativity, and material will be put to the challenge. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to enter regardless of cabochon making experience, skill level, or machinery and methods. This contest is about having fun and challenging ourselves to step outside our comfort zones and learn and grow, while dazzling the community with our beautiful rock creations.
Contest Theme: Hearts of course! as chosen by our December winner, realrockhound. Contestants are asked to create a heart shaped cabochon of any material, size color. Artistic freedom is granted as usual, as long as the piece follows standard entry requirements below (flat back, visible dome) and is easily recognizable as a heart shape.
Links to all of the original front and side submission photos can be found below the photo collage.
All of the original contest submission posts and responses have been removed from view during the voting period in order to remove as much of the popularity contest aspect from the voting as possible. All original content will be replaced in this thread at the close of voting. We sincerely appreciate all the feedback comments we get and want to continue to improve the contest as we go so keep 'em coming!
Photo Links:
Cabochon 1 - front
Cabochon 1 - side
Cabochon 2 - front
Cabochon 2 - front
Cabochon 3 - front
Cabochon 3 - side
Cabochon 4 - front
Cabochon 4 - side
Cabochon 5 - front
Cabochon 5 - side
Cabochon 6 - front
Cabochon 6 - side
Cabochon 7 - front
Cabochon 7 - side
Cabochon 8 - front
Cabochon 8 - side
Cabochon 9 - front
Cabochon 9 - side
Prize:
Winner will receive a teeshirt, mug, mask, or RTH sticker pack of their choice from the RTH Store. If anyone ever wants to sponsor this or any contest with a prize box of rocks or vendor gift certificate etc. please let me know.
Contest Format:
The chosen contest theme serves as the primary criteria for voting. The voting period will occur for approximately seven days around the start of the following month. The winner of the contest will have the opportunity to choose the theme of the contest occurring two months after the contest they won (ie: Nov winner chooses Jan theme). At the beginning of the voting period, a voting poll will be added to this thread and all contest submission posts and responses will be hidden from view in order to help insure a level playing field. All original content will be replaced in the thread at the close of voting.
Contest Period:
January 3rd thru 31st at 11:59pm PST
Voting Period:
Approximately Seven days beginning around the first few days of the following month.
Entry Requirements:
Participants are asked to follow the contest theme in the creation of a hand-shaped, jewelry-ready cabochon or set of cabochons. For the purposes of contest consistency, a cabochon should have a visible dome on top and a flat backside. Variations on dome heights and girdle styles are permitted and ultimately it's up to the voters to decide if the contest criteria has been met. Entry cabochons must be made entirely by the member, within the contest month and feel free to let us know about the piece including how you shaped and polished it, and what challenges it presented. Please identify the material if you know what it is or let us know if you don't. Alternative materials are allowed as long as they are in keeping with the theme (ie: "agate" theme = agate material), and the material is such that it requires lapidary skills to transform it into a cabochon. Cabochons may have a hole(s) drilled but nothing attached to it.
Photo Requirements:
Three photos minimum are required including one non-backlit, non-glamorized or filter manipulated photo showing the cabochon directly from the front (if posting more than one front photo please indicate which one you want used). Also include a photo taken at as close to 90 degrees angle as possible showing the side of the cabochon so we can see the shape of the dome and girdle if it exists. The third required photo is of the preform or slab you started from. If you do not have all three of the required photos post what you have and let us know.
Photography Notes:
For size perspective it is helpful to include a photo alongside an object such as a coin or fingers. Until the conclusion of the voting period please do not post on any area of the forum, photos of your contest entry that has been turned into jewelry which includes the stone after it has been set, wrapped, or had any kind of bail attached. Back-lit photos are permitted as extra photos especially when the stone contains interesting features that do not photograph very well, but they will not be used as your front featured photo requirement.
Members are welcome to enter work-in-progress photos but if the final photos are not added before the conclusion of the contest, the piece can't be included in the voting.
We don't want the competition to turn into a photo contest but also recognize that it is in your best interest to make sure your front and side photos are as focused, bright, and colorful as possible because these two photos will be cropped and presented in the voting collage. A highly zoomed in front photo is not as desirable as a more zoomed out photo that is well-focused on the stone and allows enough background for cropping to a square 300px x 300px and the side photo for cropping to 100px high x 300px wide.
Voting Criteria:
Please judge each entry based on the following while keeping in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the difficulty levels of material vary as do photography skills and equipment. An exceptional example of creativity and skill might not always be flashy and bright, and we owe it to every participant to do our best not to allow it to become a photography contest.
1) How well was the theme challenge of the contest theme met?
2) How well did the shape of the stone meet the general contest requirements, or any special theme-based shape requirements?
3) General appearance, beauty, artistic creativity.
4) Photography - is there a direct and focused front shot and a direct and focused side shot for voting purposes?
If a tie vote occurs, a new voting poll will be launched for the period of one day and will include only the stones that were tied for the lead.
Community participation and Conflict Resolution:
In the interest of preserving contest civility and fairness, please do not post negative comments regarding another member's entry. As always on the forum, polite and respectful dialog and encouragement is welcome in the form of 'likes' and comments. Offering advice or direction about an entry, including whether or not it met the contest theme, is only welcome if the contestant has requested it. In the event of theme-related questions, the person who chose the theme has the final say.
If questions arise regarding if an entry meets the general contest requirements, or the member-chosen theme requirements, these can be directed privately to staff members directly or through the use of the 'report post' feature.
Thank you to everyone who participates by entering and or commenting and encouraging others. We sincerely appreciate all the comments and feedback we get and want to continue to improve the contest as we go so keep 'em coming!
February 2023 RTH Cabochon Contest,
Contest Theme: Hearts of course! as chosen by our December winner, realrockhound. Contestants are asked to create a heart shaped cabochon of any material, size color. Artistic freedom is granted as usual, as long as the piece follows standard entry requirements below (flat back, visible dome) and is easily recognizable as a heart shape.
Links to all of the original front and side submission photos can be found below the photo collage.
All of the original contest submission posts and responses have been removed from view during the voting period in order to remove as much of the popularity contest aspect from the voting as possible. All original content will be replaced in this thread at the close of voting. We sincerely appreciate all the feedback comments we get and want to continue to improve the contest as we go so keep 'em coming!
Photo Links:
Cabochon 1 - front
Cabochon 1 - side
Cabochon 2 - front
Cabochon 2 - front
Cabochon 3 - front
Cabochon 3 - side
Cabochon 4 - front
Cabochon 4 - side
Cabochon 5 - front
Cabochon 5 - side
Cabochon 6 - front
Cabochon 6 - side
Cabochon 7 - front
Cabochon 7 - side
Cabochon 8 - front
Cabochon 8 - side
Cabochon 9 - front
Cabochon 9 - side
Prize:
Winner will receive a teeshirt, mug, mask, or RTH sticker pack of their choice from the RTH Store. If anyone ever wants to sponsor this or any contest with a prize box of rocks or vendor gift certificate etc. please let me know.
Contest Format:
The chosen contest theme serves as the primary criteria for voting. The voting period will occur for approximately seven days around the start of the following month. The winner of the contest will have the opportunity to choose the theme of the contest occurring two months after the contest they won (ie: Nov winner chooses Jan theme). At the beginning of the voting period, a voting poll will be added to this thread and all contest submission posts and responses will be hidden from view in order to help insure a level playing field. All original content will be replaced in the thread at the close of voting.
Contest Period:
January 3rd thru 31st at 11:59pm PST
Voting Period:
Approximately Seven days beginning around the first few days of the following month.
Entry Requirements:
Participants are asked to follow the contest theme in the creation of a hand-shaped, jewelry-ready cabochon or set of cabochons. For the purposes of contest consistency, a cabochon should have a visible dome on top and a flat backside. Variations on dome heights and girdle styles are permitted and ultimately it's up to the voters to decide if the contest criteria has been met. Entry cabochons must be made entirely by the member, within the contest month and feel free to let us know about the piece including how you shaped and polished it, and what challenges it presented. Please identify the material if you know what it is or let us know if you don't. Alternative materials are allowed as long as they are in keeping with the theme (ie: "agate" theme = agate material), and the material is such that it requires lapidary skills to transform it into a cabochon. Cabochons may have a hole(s) drilled but nothing attached to it.
Photo Requirements:
Three photos minimum are required including one non-backlit, non-glamorized or filter manipulated photo showing the cabochon directly from the front (if posting more than one front photo please indicate which one you want used). Also include a photo taken at as close to 90 degrees angle as possible showing the side of the cabochon so we can see the shape of the dome and girdle if it exists. The third required photo is of the preform or slab you started from. If you do not have all three of the required photos post what you have and let us know.
Photography Notes:
For size perspective it is helpful to include a photo alongside an object such as a coin or fingers. Until the conclusion of the voting period please do not post on any area of the forum, photos of your contest entry that has been turned into jewelry which includes the stone after it has been set, wrapped, or had any kind of bail attached. Back-lit photos are permitted as extra photos especially when the stone contains interesting features that do not photograph very well, but they will not be used as your front featured photo requirement.
Members are welcome to enter work-in-progress photos but if the final photos are not added before the conclusion of the contest, the piece can't be included in the voting.
We don't want the competition to turn into a photo contest but also recognize that it is in your best interest to make sure your front and side photos are as focused, bright, and colorful as possible because these two photos will be cropped and presented in the voting collage. A highly zoomed in front photo is not as desirable as a more zoomed out photo that is well-focused on the stone and allows enough background for cropping to a square 300px x 300px and the side photo for cropping to 100px high x 300px wide.
Voting Criteria:
Please judge each entry based on the following while keeping in mind that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and the difficulty levels of material vary as do photography skills and equipment. An exceptional example of creativity and skill might not always be flashy and bright, and we owe it to every participant to do our best not to allow it to become a photography contest.
1) How well was the theme challenge of the contest theme met?
2) How well did the shape of the stone meet the general contest requirements, or any special theme-based shape requirements?
3) General appearance, beauty, artistic creativity.
4) Photography - is there a direct and focused front shot and a direct and focused side shot for voting purposes?
If a tie vote occurs, a new voting poll will be launched for the period of one day and will include only the stones that were tied for the lead.
Community participation and Conflict Resolution:
In the interest of preserving contest civility and fairness, please do not post negative comments regarding another member's entry. As always on the forum, polite and respectful dialog and encouragement is welcome in the form of 'likes' and comments. Offering advice or direction about an entry, including whether or not it met the contest theme, is only welcome if the contestant has requested it. In the event of theme-related questions, the person who chose the theme has the final say.
If questions arise regarding if an entry meets the general contest requirements, or the member-chosen theme requirements, these can be directed privately to staff members directly or through the use of the 'report post' feature.
Thank you to everyone who participates by entering and or commenting and encouraging others. We sincerely appreciate all the comments and feedback we get and want to continue to improve the contest as we go so keep 'em coming!
It's definitely not in my wheelhouse but I do intend to make an attempt at it again for contest purposes ... and V-day is approaching, just sayin.
Hear no weevils, see no weevils, speak no weevils! 
Slumber Time, and the snoring is easy.
