On A Roll

Paper Crafts Magazine is the biggest papercrafting magazine in the industry.  Last year they started a contest called the Gallery Idol.  It is pretty much their spin on American Idol for crafty people.

The process goes like this: open calls for 4 weeks; the editors choose their Top 20; the Top 20 are announced and are given a theme that they have to use to create a card for the next round; the Top 20 post their cards to the Paper Crafts online gallery and there follows 5 days of voting; the Monday after the voting ends the Top 15 are announced; it goes like this for 3 more rounds.  Eventually a winner is chosen based on the votes of the "viewers."  The final prize package is something like $3,200 worth of product and acceptance of magazine submissions.

After 774 total entries, last night was the reveal of the Top 20.  I made it (CreativeCritter is my screen name)!  I submitted 4 cards and the one that they chose was my final card (the butterfly one, submitted 12 minutes before the deadline).  The theme for these cards is "Patriotic."  So...I immediately went shopping and now have more red, white, and blue starry goodness than I ever thought I would need.  My next round has to be posted by 9:00 am MST on Monday morning.  I'll be spending most of my weekend panicking and second-guessing every design decision I make, but that's all part of the process.  For your visual enjoyment, here are the cards I submitted to the "open auditions."

Cork Appletree

Hello, Friend Birdhouse

The Sweetest Flower

Friends Always Butterflies

By the way, I hope you all plan to sign up and vote.  Just kiddin'... sorta.