Do you think we should have contests for craft projects?

Hmm well sometimes it's about taking inspiration from other people's work, and making it your own. For example, I loved the video Miss Debauchery posted with the jewelry holder, and I thought I would like to do something similar to hold knitting needles. Except..

Then I thought, I'll use elastic to hold the needles.
Then I thought, I'd have pretty much no other way of attaching the elastic other than sewing, and over time it could rip through the cardboard.
So then I thought, I'll use plastic canvas instead of cardboard.
Then I thought, I can attach pockets to it also to hold small notions, etc.
Then I thought, that plastic canvas idea would also be pretty cool as a spice rack (because I NEED a spice rack).
Then I thought, I could also make a bread box with plastic canvas!
And today I realized that I can use plexiglass to make that spice rack.
And I can make them in different colors and sell them. And I could decoupage shit onto them! And I could put Bible verses on one for my sister and her husband!
And on, and on, etc.

So you see, it's not so much about copying other people's ideas, but letting them roll around in your head until it morphs into something else. I took a cardboard jewelry holder and turned it into a plexiglass spice rack! For me, a big part of how I come up with my ideas is that there is something that I need, and there's this material that I have. And then it just kind of works itself out in my head. For example, a few years back I was obsessed with making jewelry boxes out of cardboard and hot glue, and I got really damn good at it. The reason it started was because my best friend's bird died and she was really sad and wanted to bury him, and I had some cardboard laying around and made him a coffin. And because we were goth, it was black and actually like dracula-style, skinnier toward the bottom, etc. I think you're probably better at it than you think, you just have to turn off you brain to let it turn itself back on (does that make sense?). Lol, I hope I was helpful. If we do start doing this, I would still love for you to participate in voting, but I really encourage you to get involved, push the boundaries of your creativity!

Some of my ideas are that sometimes it can center around a medium or material, and sometimes it centers around a theme. Or sometimes its meant to be useful and is judged on practicality and how well it would carry out its purpose (and obviously also how pretty/creative it is), and sometimes the objective would be something purely artistic, and not meant to be functional. It's just an idea I was tossing around in my head, but that's why I posted, to get your opinion. So what exactly did you mean by "it would depend", what kind of contests would you be interested in doing?

I mean I honestly I dont want to sound like an ass or full of myself but I feel I might have an unfair advantage in some contests of crafting. I went to school for special effects make up. So I do prop building, and costuming and stuff like that professionally. And I wouldnt want the fact that I have tons and tons of resources at my finger tips to be an advantage because someone else doesnt have the same resources. Id love to help other people and tell them how to make stuff easily for the contests but I feel in certain ones Id take myself out of running, not to say I would win or other people arent as good. Because there are some very very talented people on this forum. Im talking about strictly resources.

That's where the problem comes in. I want this club to be as fair as it can be to everyone. It's more about creativity and learning than it is pure skill or talent. Even though I would ask people to vote on the creativity, it's hard to do that.

I like the idea of a costume contest that you have to have made yourself. There are some really awesome sewers on here. Id love to see what everyone comes up with. Or a sexy superhero costume thing based on your favorite.

That sounds like a good idea! But one thing I had in mind, I guess to make it kind of a challenge, is to maybe let people do overall what you said, use their choice of medium, but maybe pick a material that people generally don't use and ask them to incorporate in some way, even if it's just a tiny little detail. It doesn't have to be that for every contest, just maybe something we can do now and then to mix things up a bit and get people to experiment with new things. I don't know, but I do like your idea!

I was thinking and Miss D's homework for the next month is make something in your favorite color. That might be a nice tie in for this. Maybe incorporate it some how.

Well, I've been thinking it over. I've been debating ways to make this as fair to all of the community members as possible. I think what would be best for everyone is to do a monthly contest with the how-to videos. I'm really shooting for these to be beginner projects that advanced crafters could take to another level if they need to. With the beginner how-to videos, those who aren't familiar with the medium could pick up tips (and always ask for them in the forum). Beginners could do a how-to on a project they already know how to do. This is the best way to be fair to everyone.

So a contest on how-to videos? I like that. Would it be judged by voting? Also, what would the "criteria" be? Obviously quality of video should be considered important, but I personally would have an advantage in the natural lighting department because of the huge window in my craft room, but have no experience with making videos and have a pretty cheap camera. So would we also judge creativity? Adaptability to different skill levels? How well they describe/demonstrate the steps? What else should be taken into account when members are deciding who to vote for?

I think she means she posts a how to video and everyone does the project they learned from those type of skills.

Oh, lol. Well either way I think it would be a great idea.

I would be ecstatic to participate in the contest!
Personally, I think medium of the month would be best.
The prize should be something appropriate to the material, like a toy of that material or maybe a crafting book about things made of that material.