Fire Mountain Swarovski beading contest winners 2018

[SwordfishMining]

The pieces are large this year. I like how the makers get to model their own pieces. I remember these folks before they moved into the warehouse. Then I used to stop there on the way back and forth to the coast.
http://www.firemountaingems.com/beadingcontests/bc2017swarwinners?emv=2&cid=1459485433523009052&rid=d6da21a55929c4dd469ac53ed0cf2c6c&wt.mc_id=NL180220

[PinkDiamond]

John, I was just looking at them before coming to the forum, and was laughing at the gargantuan sizes of the winning pieces. The gold medal winner appropriately named her piece 'Eve', and it sure looks like a giant boa constricting around her neck, although I doubt it was a boa Eve encountered in the Garden of Eden. I was even thinking this one should go in the humor thread, because they're all so absurdly oversize, and overdone they're sheer amusement. They also made me realize that the more product they use, and the gaudier, and more overdone they are, the more likely they are to win FM's contests.

If y'all click on the link to each piece, you can hover your mouse over the pic to enlarge it and see the designs up close for more laughs on some of them.

My favorite is actually the simple dolphin brooch, among the runner ups, which is also the cleanest piece. Thanks for posting this so I can focus on other articles, John. What a riot!