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Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has jewelry design contests throughout the year.  They are currently running a contests which features gemstones.  The deadline for entries is May 3, 2010.

The grand prize winner will receive a gift certificate from the website for $1,000, with five other cash prizes between $50 and $750 to be given out.

The rules state that 50% of the materials in the finished design must be from Fire Mountains supply of products, and at least 50% of the design must be that of the contest name, in this case gemstones.

The design shown here is a previous gold medal prize winner in the gemstone category.  it is called Abby and is a green opal beaded festoon bib necklace by designer Jamie Cloud Eakin.

For more details on the contest and an entry form, you can visit the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads Website.

JCK's third annual Jewelers Choice Awards have announced this years winners.  There were 233 entries from jewelry designers and manufacturers submitted, and the voters declared their favorites in January as the finalists. Taking top honors as the grand-prize winner is a multicolored gemstone and rhodolite beaded necklace from BELLARRI shown here.

This fabulous necklace is from Bellari's Mademoiselle Collection and features over 37.50 carats of genuine multi colored gemstones and rhodolite beads as well as 1 carat of genuine diamonds.  It has a suggested retail value of $13, 135.

There were winners in 18 different categories with all types of jewelry and design included.  Many of the categories were for either gemstone or diamond designs, but they also had best necklace, best ring, etc.  Over all of the categories, rings seemed to gather most of the winning honors.  Congratulations to all of this year's winners.

You can view all of the winners on this page of the JCK website.  Here are a few of my favorites.  Which one is yours?

The Lapidary Journal has a semi annual design contest for contemporary jewelry designers.  This years contest is open to any jewelry designer/maker. The contest has five different jewelry categories:

1. Bracelets
2. Earrings
3. Pendants/Necklaces
4. Pins/Brooches
5. Rings
6. Miscellaneous Jewelry

The deadline for this year's contest is April 1, 2010.  If you are a jewelry designer and wish to enter, you can find the entry form and all contest rules on this page of the Lapidary journal's website.

The piece shown here is one of the winners from the 2007 contest in the area of miscellaneous jewelry.  It is a fabulous 18K gold and platinum, hand fabricated pin/pendant.  This stunning piece placed second.  It was designed by Marie Scarpa and is called Blue Moon.

JCK Online hosts the Jeweler's Choice Contest every year and the voting recently ended for this year's contest.  The votes are being tallied and the finalists will be announced soon.

The contest is the first industry design competition to harness the Internet and allow retailers to vote for their favorite designs.  There were 18 different categories to cover all types of jewelry and also four different price points - from under $2500 to over $10,000.

There were my favorite entries in the ring, necklace and bracelet categories.  You can view all the jewelry entries on this page of the JCK site.

The International Opal Jewellery Design Awards Association is a non profit organization founded in 2000 to promote freeform and or undulating opal. EVery two years, the organization has a design contest, and they have announced their winners for 2009.

It was hard for me to choose a favorite to showcase here. So many of the designs were just spectacular.  I've always been fond of opals.  I lived in Australia for about 15 years and was able to see many varieties there. 

The piece featured here is from the Apprentice category and was the first place winner.  It ia a fabulous hair comb by Joe Coffey from Gullians.   You can view all the winners and those marked as commendable on this page of the IOJDDA website.  Which one is your favorite?

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has jewelry making contests throughout the year.  Their current contest is a seed beads jewelry making contest.

You can enter in one of five categories:

• Necklaces
• Earrings
• Home Decor and Doll
• Wedding and Holiday
• Fashion Accessories

There are various prizes for each category ranging from $50 to $1000 gift certificates.  Perhaps your entry will rival one of the past winner's designs shown here.

The design is by Olga Dillow and she won the 2009 grand prize last year.  Her design features a bib style necklace and earring demi with swarovski crystal beads, glass beads, seed beads and nephrite jade cabochons.

You can find the entry form and contest rules on this page of the Fire Mountain and Gems website.

Are you the organizer for an upcoming jewelry exhibit, design contest, or other event related to jewelry or vintage jewelry?  Our friends at Collector's weekly have added a new feature to their site where you can post your jewelry events at no cost to you.

The site has a huge following of visitors, so having your event posted there would give you great exposure.  The event planner has categories for both non profit and for profit entries, and even has a category for towns and cities close to your own.

If this would be a help to you, head on over to the Collector's Weekly and post your site.  You don’t even have to be the official event organizer to post an event – if you have a favorite event and don’t see it listed, go ahead and post it!

Polymer Clay Express 115th design contest for the month of January is ready to be judged.  This month's contest is called "Ring in

the New Year."

Their challenges aren't limited to just jewelry designs, but there are several entries this month which are pieces of jewelry.  My favorite this month is this set of three rings in vibrant earth tone shades, as well as a pretty design with browns and blue hues.

You can vote by going to the Polymer Clay Website.  Which design is your favorite?