Hey my Fellow Fuse Bead Fanatics! My name is Jasmine Kelly, but you can call me Jaz. I am the owner, founder, and COO of Top Tier Beads.
This is the second blog post I have written covering the Fuse Bead Competitions. Here's a link to the first blog post covering the previous Fuse Bead Competition - Classic Artwork. These contests are held on the Perler Facebook page and are sponsored by Top Tier Beads. Be sure to follow the group to participate and vote on future Fuse Bead Competitions as well as engage in thoughtful discussions and sharing of Fuse Bead art.
As a professional fuse bead artist and purveyor of all things Fuse Beads, it brings me so much joy to sponsor this Out Of This World Fuse Bead Competition. It has really brought out so much creativity in all of our participants, as you'll soon see! This is such a powerful way for us to show the entire world how incredible this art form is, and all of it's potential. So many folks think of Fuse Beads as a children's craft, but that's barely scratching the surface of what you can accomplish with Fuse Beads! I feel that this blog post as well as this competition is proof of that very concept.
A ton of credit goes to Heidi Adams. She has singlehandedly organized this and the previous competition all on her own. Without her, I wouldn't be writing this blog post, and you wouldn't be here reading it! So thank you Heidi for all of your hard work, dedication, and love for the Fuse Bead community. Here is a statement from Heidi Adams herself:
"Out of this World was a theme picked by the members of the Perler Beads Facebook Group. I was thrilled that it was the winning selection. As a big fan of all things Sci-Fi, I knew the artwork I would receive would put a big smile on my face. Receiving submissions of Aliens, Astronauts, Constellations, and more... you guys certainly didn't disappoint! I love all of the creativity my fellow fuse bead artists have to share. You inspire and entertain me with every post you make, during the competitions and just for the love of beads. Thank you for participating in my competitions! I feel lucky to be able to do this for you and look forward to hosting future events for you all to enjoy. Thank you to Jasmine Kelly from Top Tier Beads for everything you do to help make these online events successful. Your dedication to the Fuse Bead Community is beyond compare. You Rock!!"
Well said, Heidi! One last note from me. As you scroll, you'll see an image of each submission as well as a link to their Instagram and a blurb from the artists themselves (not all links/blurbs have been provided). Take a moment out of your day to click those links and follow our talented artists to show them some love!
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"I wanted to make something for this competition that was 3D. When I was looking for ideas, I found a pattern for the center planet. My mom suggested that I make a mobile with other stars and planets to hang in my room. I am new to Fuse Beads so this was something easy for me to make. Even though the 3D planet took a long time to make, it was a lot of fun. I was very happy when my Glow System won in the competition. Now I bead all the time to decorate my room. Thank you to everyone who voted for me."
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"I chose the two entries (One Small Step and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) because they are two of my favorites and they fit the “Out of this World” theme. As far as why I enjoy beading, there are a few reasons. One, it gives me a creative outlet. Even when I’m not beading, I’m working on new ideas and concepts for future projects. I have ADD, so beading is something that relaxes me…it’s something I can focus on for hours, and gives my mind a break. It’s so rewarding to see projects come to life on the boards….beads placed in just the right spots and shades to turn into something beautiful."
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"Everyone has layers and hidden depths made up of many colours. Everyone has a rainbow, the possibility of inner peace... We just need to find it.
Not everyone is born with their space helmet knowing how to breathe right, with confidence in who they are. It takes us a while to find our planet and our people in the midst of aliens who do things in ways we don't understand!
But when you find your space and your place you can be free to be the colour you were born to be!!!
There is only one you! And you is the best you there is!!! And this is me! A rainbow space cat!"
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| "I got into Perler beads about 5 years ago after a really long absence (since childhood) a friend decided to try it and so we did and it was so calming. When my niece and nephew and children got over it, I got more into it. My husband likes to 'challenge me' and let me know if he wants something. One day he said he wanted a sun and moon. I created one and a few months later I created the second one. What you see is my second rendition. It is always enjoyable to watch a piece come together after hours of creating a template and putting beads to boards." |
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"Well I made the painting for my brother who loves the movie "Bad Taste" that's where the alien is from. So I tried to convert a photo into beads with mixed results, and then I only used gray colors and black and white, because the skin color had so much variation in tone and I had barely any colors of that. It took about 2 days to make and went on fine. Now I do not as much Perler beads because I try to make cosplay stuff, but I have many cool plans to make more bigger Perler bead paintings😊"
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"I chose to do Rocket man because I loved all the colors! I was looking through images to use and the one I ended up making my husband actually found! And I chose the name "Rocket Man" for it because all I could think of was the Elton John song. Beading is very therapeutic for me. I deal with anxiety on a regular basis and beading really helps me calm down."
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"I chose the black hole as it represents mental illness. We get ourselves in a state of mind which can spiral downward out of control. As a paramedic, I have lost many co-workers and friends to suicide. The reverse of the black hole, is resourcing and getting one's self out of a dark place and knowing that there is help available either professionally or personally."
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"I made Orbitty because I love the early cartoons. I also made Orbitty because you don't see much of him in the Jetson's. I like to make characters that you don't see that much in the cartoons. I grew up watching the Jetson's and have been beading since I was 4. Beading is something I love doing because it is calming and takes my stress level down a lot. Beading has taken a big turn since I was 4 and it is so much fun to learn different techniques from other beaders."
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"I chose the two entries (One Small Step and Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) because they are two of my favorites and they fit the “Out of this World” theme. As far as why I enjoy beading, there are a few reasons. One, it gives me a creative outlet. Even when I’m not beading, I’m working on new ideas and concepts for future projects. I have ADD, so beading is something that relaxes me…it’s something I can focus on for hours, and gives my mind a break. It’s so rewarding to see projects come to life on the boards….beads placed in just the right spots and shades to turn into something beautiful."
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"Step into Space was created in a bad mental space for me at the time, it represents that little escape door into somewhere else that we all crave from time to time. Space itself for me is freedom, all that chaos, but also so so calm.
My beading is in itself a self soothing therapy, although the stress and "arghhhh" moments of knocking a board make you want to scream, that all fades away when you see that finished piece, whether it’s a flat piece or a 3D piece, it’s the feelings of self confidence and achievement even if no one else understands it. I love the targeted beading comps run by you guys :) It gives the ability to create and build things I wouldn’t normally, which opens the mind to unknown possibilities that wouldn’t normally pop into my head giving me a challenge I wouldn’t normally undertake :)"
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"I chose Sol Invictus because I really admire Alex Grey's artwork. It has so much detail and I wanted to try to capture that with beads. I enjoy beading because I find it to be very soothing, and it gives me a great sense of satisfaction. I enjoy the competitions quite a bit because I'm competing against other very skilled people, and it's really fun to see what everyone comes up with."
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"I chose the piece because I really like Elon Musk, aside from all of his current decisions. I have listened to numerous TED talks and he is a true visionary. For me, the picture represents what future space travel is going to be. The man is what the current space program is and the little girl represents the future for what all women to strive to be - larger than life. To dream big and go where their heart and desires lead them."
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"I’ve been only beading for under a year now. I’ve worked my way from small designs to bigger designs. I choose Galaxy girl because I thought it would be cute for the competition. This is the first large design I did on Perlypop. My husband and I both started beading at the same time and both really enjoy it. We both worked on the project together."
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@perlerhub
"We Are All Made of Stars" is pretty, and pretty self-explanatory... This world is caught up in the differences, when.. Really we're all made of the same stuff that's around us. Isn't that reason enough to love, and support each other?
Heavenly bodies all of us... Zoom out from the minutia, we are like a single mini bead in a giant portrait of the known universe (which might be in a black hole... In an entirely different universe btw)
Be kind. We're all in this together."
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"The biggest challenge I had (besides keeping cats away lol) was just finding the image I wanted to work on. After scrolling through Pinterest, Etsy, and Google, I wasn’t really inspired. I have made patterns from tee shirt art in the past, so I went on a mission to find space shirts. Out of astronauts, rockets, and aliens, this caught my eye and I fell in love."
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"I grew up watching Sailor Moon. She and her friends have always been a part of my life ever since I was a child. I remember getting into beading when I was a kid. My aunt gave me a jar of glass beads that I turned into jewelry. My love for beading has changed and evolved since then. I still make jewelry from time to time, but I love how fuse beads allow my mind to go from just bracelets and earrings to big and massive pieces. Beads in their many forms have always been therapeutic for me. The competition was fun. I loved seeing all the many different pieces others came up with. And how each person's personality and interests showed thru their pieces. That's the great thing about art. There is no right or wrong way, and it allows the individuals to express themselves how they see fit."
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"This project was commissioned. It was 118x152 beads size. I used 71 colors and high blending for this project. It was challenging since it was my first commission! It took almost 24 hours in a span of 1 week just to build it."
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"I love pixel art and have been making pieces for a few years. I have always wanted to do portrait/realism work. I chose the alien because it gave me the opportunity. I wasn’t happy with the outcome as I was limited to the colour palette of HAMA. I really enjoyed doing something more complex than my usual cartoon/sprite stuff so I switched to Artkal and I now do greyscale portraits (which I love). The competition is a great idea because it gets you to make things you wouldn’t necessarily normally make."
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"For my piece, I really wanted to try inlaying mini beads into a larger piece made from midis... I really liked the notion of a higher resolution focal point in (full color) framed in a chopper greyscale piece. I honestly just did a ton of searching around for space themed pieces for the "frame..." Shuttles, planets, aliens... Eventually I settled on an image of Buzz Aldrin on the moon, and I cropped it down to give more attention to his mask. From there I played with a *ton* of different designs for the mask. I found myself continually drawn back to various nebulae, and recolored a portion of the Horsehead Nebula to show a nice astral scene. As I was doing all my photoshopping, I wasn't contemplating how we have more knowledge and maps of the moon than our oceans, and I thought it might be fun to play off of that a bit... So I tossed in the scuba diver last minute as a reflection in Buzz's visor.
From there, it was mostly just a matter of beading! I'd never worked with, mini beads before, so I'm glad to have had a reason to push myself! I really enjoy the competitions and the opportunities they provide for me to try something new!"
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"I enjoy the challenges of the competitions to give me something new to try. I have also learned a lot about how to do bigger projects. Since I've decided that I prefer doing bigger projects for more details."
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Credit for organizing and creating these contests (as well as so much more) goes to Heidi Adams. I created the graphics, edited the photos, and wrote this blog post. This contest has been sponsored by Top Tier Beads.
To stay updated on future contests and engage with an awesome community of fuse bead artists and enthusiasts, be sure to visit and join the Perler Beads Facebook page. For more of my content and Top Tier Beads news, visit my Instagram: @Top Tier Beads and my Facebook Page: @Top Tier Beads.
See you next time for Contest #3: Horrific Halloween! In the meantime, take care and remember to Stay Top Tier! 😉
All artists featured have given their consent for their submissions to be posted on this blog post and other marketing materials.
