What makes a piece of craft great? Is it technical mastery, innovative approach or creative ideas? In late April, the CraftFoxes team launched The Craftys in search of projects that bring the techniques and materials of crafting to new heights. For example, Linda Bellosi took scraps of paper and turned them into a beautiful quilled clock.
With 10 categories and over 1,100 entries, not every project could be a winner or finalist. Some of the categories, like sewing/quilting and knitting/crochet, lent themselves to the work of traditional artisans, while others, such as Best DIY Pinterest Board and "General Crafts" opened up the field to new possibilities.
Even though the public showed ther opinion with hundreds of thousands of votes, the members of judges panel did not have an easy time choosing the winners. In a creative contest, there will always be differences of opinion, and this team -- which included Mark Montano, Brett Bara, Lasette Canady from Nick Jr., Brie Dyas of Huffington Post Home, Wade Wilgus of Instructables, Simone Collins of FaveCrafts, Haley Pierson-Cox of Craft -- had great reasons for their choices.
To see all of the finalists, check out TheCraftys.com.
Here are The Craftys winners:
KNITTING AND CROCHET
Stephanie Klose - Silvermine Knitted Wedding Dress
Stephanie Klose designed designed and knit a dress with a modernized Gibson Girl silhouette, a fitted bodice and waist, and straight front skirt panel.
EDIBLE CRAFTS
Rose Cake - Elizabeth LaBau
Elizabeth LaBau of SugarFreak used organic rose petals to make her Rose cake.
JEWELRY MAKING
Poseidon's Embrace - Rebeca Mojica
Inspired by seaweed dancing in the ocean, Rebeca Mojica's chainmaille necklace is made of 14,500 titanium and stainless steel jump rings individually linked by hand.
PINTEREST BOARD
Pretty Packaging - Lauren Taylor
A collection that underscores the great wrapping may be what really matters.
BEST YOUNG CRAFTER
Black and White Freeform Scarf -- Angela Nardone
Angela doesn't like to read crochet patterns, and she knows a good variety of stitches, so freeform was a perfect fit to make this scarf.
SEWING AND QUILTING
Dianne Koppisch Hricko - Equation
Dianne machine and hand-stitched this wall piece, which incorporates many scraps of my hand-printed and dyed silks. She was taught to embroider by her grandmother who shared her collection of silk crazy quilts as examples.
PAPER CRAFTS AND SCRAPBOOKING
Paper Flower Wreath - Carole Farber
Carole made this wreath from 80 lb. card stock, shaped and curled and glued.
BEST CRAFT BLOGGER
How did you make this - Carly DeGraeve
A collection of photo tutorials for projects using high-quality, long lasting materials and techniques.
HOME DÉCOR
Amboyna Burl Capped Winged Bowl -- Bryan Tyler Nelson
This beautiful Amboyna Burl Cap Winged Bowl is hand turned from a single burl cap. Amboyna was one of the first woods used in dash boards of Rolls Royce cars.
GENERAL CRAFTS
Metal Flower - Erik
Erik welded this stainless steel flower as a DIY craft to propose to his fiancée.
The Craftys Award Trophy was designed by Brian Castleforte, author of the book "Papertoy Monsters." Winners who receive the poster can build a trophy out of the paper. The category winners also receive $200.