Spring Top Week Submissions...OPEN! (4/30: Now closed!)
UPDATED (4/30): THE CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED! Thank you to everyone who submitted tops! Tune in next week to vote for your favorites!!!I AM SO GEEKED about Spring Top Week! Not only have the Spring Top Week Sponsors (see them over there to the right?) provided a fantastic prize package for the winner (more on that later this week), but we also have ten ridiculously talented judges to help us narrow down a finalist. You are going to be SO impressed. Am v. pleased w/ self and am patting self on back even as I type this. My tops are coming along, slowly but surely. I've got a bunch (four) cut and ready to sew and another one is finished but I'm not sure I like that one enough to post it anymore. Meh.Soooo....I'm really excited to see what you guys come up with. I can't wait to see the entries. To enter your tops, maximum FIVE tops per person, you'll need to add a photo of the top to our official pool (see link below). You may only add ONE PHOTO OF EACH TOP. And would you please read this post through before submitting your top? Thanks!DEADLINE TO SUBMIT TOPS: Friday, April 30, 8 PM ESTYOUR PHOTO:Ideally, try* to pick a photo that:
- is square (it will really, really help us with the mosaics if you can crop your picture to a square before uploading)
- is well-lit and not blurry. If possible, photograph it in lots of natural light, either in a well-lit room or outside in non-direct light (early evening is best for this).
- shows the top either on you or a dressform (do your best here, I understand this isn't always possible but remember that it's tons easier to get the full effect when it's ON someone!)
UPDATED: The judges have expressed a strong desire to see the top ON YOU if at all possible; I will not disqualify dressform pics (and some of you who are pregnant have emailed about having a sister or similarly-figured person model it, and that's fine) but do understand that it is harder for judges to judge if they can't see it on you. Thanks!
- the top occupies a large % of the picture. Think about picking a photo where the top is shown close up instead of a full-body shot (which are fun, but make it harder to see detail on the actual top).
*I say "try" because non of these things are required, just suggestions/hints on helping your top make the best impression possible!YOUR ENTRY:Once you upload your photo to Flickr, you'll have the opportunity to edit the photo. You MUST do the following before adding it to the pool:
- Give it a title that includes your first name or screenname (example: Striped Boatneck Top by Kathleen)
- Tell us where the design came from (pattern? and if so which one? your own original design? anthrocopy?) in the description
- Tell us about the fabric (thrift store? vintage? recycled? designer, if so who? can you still buy it somewhere?) in the description
- This is NOT required, but recommended if possible: if possible, link to your blog, website, or Flickr set where we could see more pictures or read more info about your top. That way you can post more pictures (besides the one you've entered) of your top so everyone including judgeswill be able to see them. I'd encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity to "sell" your top. If you upcycled another top to make your new one and have a "before" picture, this must be linked here. You can always add links later if you need to, so don't feel like you need to have a whole blog post ready to go before submitting the top. And oh, remember to put "http://" in the web address so it will be recognized as a link by Flickr.
THEN CHECK THAT IT GETS ENTERED:One of the pool moderators or me will comment on your picture to let you know that it has been officially checked/entered. This should happen within a couple days of adding it, so you don't see this after a few days, please email me to check on it. This is our way of checking and "stamping" your top, and if this doesn't happen, it will not get scored by a judge, so please double check for us.SCORING AND VOTING:The judges will be scoring the tops starting in mid-April until May 1 (so there's an advantage to having your top in early!) and we will take the tops with the highest scores and post them on my blog for reader voting during Top Week. Specifically: the reader votes will take place on a new batch of tops each weekday, Monday through Friday, May 3-7, 2010. Each batch will get voted on for JUST 24 HOURS, so you'll have to watch closely to see if your top goes up so you can vote for it. Those finalists will go on to the final round.I really like having you guys vote for the winner, but last year there were SO many tops (and this year I expect even more) that I just don't think I can handle having reader voting for every single top. I think this system will provide a good balance between judge scoring and reader voting and help keep it fair while at the same time preventing the massive amounts of work it takes to get every single picture up on my blog in a measly week. I honestly haven't decided yet whether the final round will be determined by judges scoring or reader votes. I'm leaning toward reader votes but don't want to give Monday's finalist an advantage over Friday's, you know? So I'll keep you posted on that.
