Road Trip Challenge

ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!

That's all I could think of this last weekend. Well, it was the first holiday weekend of summer here in the USA, and I did just win the automotive challenge (A HUGE Thank You to everyone who voted for me) And I was stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, surrounded by boats on trailers for more than a few hours.......how could I NOT think of a road trip?

I remember road trips with the family.....with no A/C, a back seat that was no where near big enough for my and that squirmy kid my parents swore was my brother. Trips with my girlfriends, cruising the North Shore in my old convertible. Spontaneous trips that started on a whim and lasted 2 weeks without a map. Trips to see "The Sights" that took a year to plan, and somehow were really boring.
How 'bout you? What is your favorite memory of a road trip? Or maybe that disaster trip?  What would you make to commemorate it?
An old-school charm bracelet?  A permanent postcard for the fridge? A replica of the cocktail umbrella from that amazing bar? A tiny spoon collection? A fence to separate the kids in the back seat?  You pick....but be sure to tell us the story!! 

Entries are due by Midnight on July 13th...the voting will start on the morning of the 14th.

Post your photos and story to the FLICK POOL and make sure to TAG it "ROAD TRIP CHALLENGE"



Official Team Challenge Rules….
To enter and vote you must meet the following requirements:
- Have an Etsy shop
- Be a member of the Aspiring Metalsmith team on Etsy
- Be able to post your photos to our Flickr pool without blocking them from download, so the blog master has access.
- Follow each challenge’s rules as to submission times, materials and/or techniques, or any other rule for that specific challenge.
- Make something NEW for the challenge….not something that you have in stock that fits the rules. These challenges are to push you to try new things, not just show off things you’ve already done.

We politely ask that if you do not meet these guidelines you do not vote either. These challenges are intended to be an internal, skill-pushing endeavor….not a popularity contest. We like to show off how well we’ve done, but really want our peers on the team to judge our technique and skill growth.

Automotive challenger winner!!!!

Hello everyone!!!  We have a winner....sorry for the delay in announcing...darn holiday weekends!

In third place we have Elizabeth from Resurrection Silver and her Ford LTD with the graffiti tunnel.

In Second Place we have Joni from Tattooed Granny's Goods and her Ford Studebaker!

And the big prize goes to Asa of AsaP Designs and her Hudson Terraplane!

A HUGE thank you for all that entered and voted.  The next challenge will be up in the next day or two!!!

Let the voting begin!!! Automotive challenge

So last time we got a challenge, Ryan asked us to think about cars!  He has been intrigued by them forever and wanted to see if they could inspire us too!  We have 3 entries this time around.....
Joni Olmstead of Tattooed Granny's Goods brings us this piece.....

She says  "My grandpa drove Studebaker's and my dad always drove Fords, so this piece is based on the shape of an old Studebaker hood ornament (stylized "S") and is set with a Fordite cabochon. The scalloped bezel is a nod to the flower in the Beetle that I drive!"

Elizabeth of Resurrection Silver brings us this neat necklace

Her story goes like this "So, the first car I remember my family having was a fabulous 1977 blue Ford LTD II. I loved the blue color of the car, somewhere between a royal blue and a cerulean. I remember taking trips to my grandparents' house in this car, traveling mostly at night, sitting behind my dad and being mesmerized by the blue light on the dash that meant the bright lights were on. That same pretty blue. On the way to my grandparents house we had to go through a graffiti clad tunnel hence the stamped arch in my piece. I cried like a baby when my parents traded this car for Mom's new mauve Bonneville and this blue is still my favorite color. "

Asa from AsaPDesigns whipped up this pendant:

"So my inspiration for this challenge was taken from a Hudson Terraplane hood ornament. Hudson Motor company launched in 1909. Eventually they merged with Nash to create American Motors.The Terraplane was christened by Amelia Earhart in 1932.
Hudson had some of the largest motors in production, including some of the first 6 and 8 cylinder cars in the civilian market. They also had one of the first women designers in automotive history.
The Terraplane was so popular that Robert Johnson even had a song about it....sort of... "Terraplane Blues" was recorded in 1936."

So there you have it..... good luck picking just one!!!   The voting will start today and end on Tuesday evening......the winner will give us the next challenge to get our brains in gear!!


Official Team Challenge Rules….
To enter and vote you must meet the following requirements:
- Have an Etsy shop
- Be a member of the Aspiring Metalsmith team on Etsy
- Be able to post your photos to our Flickr pool without blocking them from download, so the blog master has access.
- Follow each challenge’s rules as to submission times, materials and/or techniques, or any other rule for that specific challenge.
- Make something NEW for the challenge….not something that you have in stock that fits the rules. These challenges are to push you to try new things, not just show off things you’ve already done.

We politely ask that if you do not meet these guidelines you do not vote either. These challenges are intended to be an internal, skill-pushing endeavor….not a popularity contest. We like to show off how well we’ve done, but really want our peers on the team to judge our technique and skill growth.