Champagne Chair Contest Winners Announced

DWR announced the winners of it's Champagne Chair Contest late (for EST) this afternoon. They did something different this year by choosing 10 finalists and 7 honorable mentions.  I don't think my email had anything to do with that decision, since I have yet to receive a response from them. (I wonder if they received my original message? Doh!)

Nevertheless, the blog post announcing the winners read...

"On behalf of our judges and everyone here at DWR, we would like to congratulate the winners and all of the contestants on their beautiful, innovative and functional designs this year. Thank you for taking the time to create a champagne chair for our special contest. Please browse all 319 submissions here." 

I guess that's the part I found most meaningful. I was surprised to discover that there had only been 319 submissions. Perhaps, I should feel less bad about not making even a ripple in the design pool that is the Annual Champagne Chair Contest. And who doesn't like being told they had a "beautiful, innovative and functional design"?

F8 Chaise, Aaron Padilla---3rd Place

There's no need for me to cut and paste the DWR post since it was pretty short and to the point. You can read all the details for yourself here.  However, I will give a shout out for the F8 chaise, my personal favorite created by Aaron Padilla. I cannot believe it only won third place, the $250.00 DWR gift card! But hey, I'm not a professional designer. Well, perhaps Aaron will enjoying picking out a nice pillow or some other sort of accessory. Actually, I've taken the liberty of "recommending" a few items for that gift card. We all know DWR products don't come cheap and $250.00 spends like $10.00 elsewhere. He he he...

18"x26" Design 9297 Pillow, $250

Geneva Sound System XS, $249.95

5 Neutra House Numbers, $24 ea

Eames Hang It All, $199.00

8 Almoco 5pc Flatware Settings, $30 ea

2 Corniche Shelves,  $235.00-250.00

Congratulations to Jeffery Molter and Miwa F. as well for their designs of the second and first place winning chairs respectively. Hope to see them all on display at the DWR Georgetown before too long. 

Tutorial: Modified Director's Chair

After enjoying a great bottle of Lunetta Prosecco distributed here domestically by Palm Bay International. Its extremely affordable ($11.00 USD) with a crisp, light taste.  I loved it! (Forgive me, I digress.) I saved the cork, cage and foil packaging and proceeded to undertake my first attempt at designing a chair to enter into the annual DWR Champagne Chair contest. I gathered the following additional supplies: steak knife, X-Acto knife, wire cutter, scissors, glue (the only adhesive the contest would allow), and an emery board nail file.  So here were my starting materials:

a great sparkling wine

salvaging raw materials for building

Not too sure where this little project would end, I just stared at the raw materials for a bit. This is after having looked at some great designs from past years as well as current entrants. The name on the foil label made me think of the name on the back of a director's chair, so I went with that. I also thought it might be a little different to do a rocking chair.  I proceeded.  First, I carefully removed only the foil covering the cork, making sure to keep the round piece in tact. I uncorked the bottle and enjoyed a great glasses of wine (not the same day I made the chair...ha, ha). Later, I separated the bottom wire (that you untwist while opening the bottle) from the rest of the cage. By slicing the foil with the X-Acto knife close to the adhesive, I was able to remove the foil from the neck of the bottle in one large piece. Next, I cut the round top of the cork away form its narrower neck. By cutting that piece once again, I was left with two half circles. From the neck of the cork, I carved what was to become the seat of the chair.  That shape is called a trapezoid, I think. I had no idea that cutting sawing cork would be such a challenge but it was! I changed blades often, switched between knives and made do. As a result, the emery board made it easier to smooth out and even up the edges after I made my cuts. Here's what I had about mid-way through the project:

I used the wire to form an open ended rectangle with rounded corners. Using scissors, I trimmed the foil around the typography elements I wanted to feature. I folded the large 'lunetta' piece then wrapped it around the wire away from the open ends. I glued the foil to its self, sandwiching the wire inside. An additional piece of plain foil was glued over this to give a finished look to the piece. I attached the half circle pieces of cork to each open wire hanging at the bottom of what had become the back of the chair. I bent the wire so that the rounded part of the half circles become the "feet" of the chair. Next, I glued the second piece of foil over the seat of the chair, like upholstering. The sides of the seat of the chair were then glued to the sides of the feet (adjusting the angle by eye). Finally, a small triangular shaped pieces of cork was glued along the back of each half-circle shaped foot of the chair. I did end up removing two of the four twisted wires making up the cage, using each of them as an arm. I bent each piece like an 'L'. I inserted the raw edge of the wire into the top, front portion of the half circle allowing the finished edge of the wire meet the back of the chair.  Each arm was 'upholstered' with a small rectangular piece of cork. This was the final result from various angles:

Call-small did a wonderful job with her "Circle Chaise" and urged others to participate.  Did anyone else answer her call and make a cork chair for the 2013 DWR Champagne Chair contest? 


Update. More Blogger friends answered the call...

• Linda's Upright Hammock at The Hard Way
• Megan's Squared at Modern Mini Houses

An Open Letter to DWR...

Champagne Chair Contest

I want to thank you for creating a contest and marketing event that continues to inspire creativity and enthusiasm for modern design year after year.  For the first time, I decided to create my own design and enter the contest. I have no professional design training. I am a homeowner who, at best, can be considered to have very good taste. I am also an active member of a growing niche community online  that focuses on modern miniatures. A small group of us (about 4) all chose to enter your contest for the first time. In our discussion of the experience (conceiving then executing a design) a recurring theme emerged. We each spoke of intimidation due to the field of talent. This is not a criticism, it only speaks to the event's success. It inspired me to consider ways in which you might redesign this contest that has grown well beyond its infancy.

Perhaps you might...

1) divide the contest into amateur/hobbyist and design students & professionals 

2) consider superlative recognition in categories like wittiest, most intricate, most creative use of materials, most minimal. 

I'm not necessarily recommending you increase your investment in the budget for prizes. The recognition alone however would be very meaningful to many of your contest participants.

Sincerely,

(Modern Miniatures Collector & Blogger)
http://miniaesthetics.blogspot.com

I submitted the above to DWR via the contact function on their website. It occurred to me that others may also want to join the conversation and share their opinions. To that end, I share this email as a potential catalyst.

Cheers to Chairs: My 1st Contest

A sensible someone would not choose such a formidable challenge. Yet, after inspiration and suggestion over at Call of the Small, I decided to go ahead and create a cork chair to enter in Design Within Reach's (DWR) annual Champagne Chair contest. I hope I followed the rules correctly.  It seemed you could only submit one photo.  The smart ones submitted a single collage photo but several others, like me submitted only one view.  If you submitted your entry via Instagram or Twitter as I did, only one view in a single photo was possible.

I chose the option of tweeting my entry under #dwrchampagnechair.

The talent in this long-running contest is phenomenal and quite intimidating.  I decided to go for it anyhow. I wanted to share a few of this year's entries that intimidated the he*l, I mean stood out to me.

Elevate by elainenmak

"My Loose Interpretation Of" by jackstastic

F8 chaise by asp628

Perch Chair by djasoncrowder

an untitled piece by jcsonifrank

another untitled piece by nandy1702

I doubt much will come from my efforts, but you can best believe I will be taking a screen shot once my little chair is uploaded to the gallery of entrants on the DWR webpage. (A wry grin follows.) You can also check out contest entrants on twitter at #dwrchampagnechair. I'll share more on my chair making experience in a post to follow very soon.  The contest ended today.  They will select 10 finalists.  In the past, a traveling exhibit of these finalists go on display at DWR studios across the country. Be sure to keep your eye out for that. The winners will be announced online on January 28th.

Update. It's official. Here it is...my chair in the gallery of contestants at DWR.com!

Update. More Blogger friends answered the call...

• Linda's Upright Hammock at The Hard Way
• Megan's Squared at Modern Mini Houses

Christmas Crafting with a Conscience

Earlier this week, I volunteered at a holiday party co-sponsored by Homeless Children's Playtime Project and my sorority, the Xi Zeta Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. This gathering had the works: food, crafts, picture time with Santa, and a gift table for parents. I was tasked with creating an ornament making project with a recycling theme.  It turned out to be such a hit, I've decided to share it with you. Here's a list of supplies we used:

1.    old/discarded data or music CDs

Viola...here are a few of the finished ornaments.

2.    last year's Christmas and holiday cards                  
3.    decorative/scrapbook paper scraps
4.    chipboard shapes
5.    small mirror tiles (square & round)
6.    self-adhesive gems (assorted shapes)
7.    felt cut-outs (assorted holiday motifs)
8.    ribbon
9.    Crayola Glitter Glue
10.  Fiskars Decorative Edge Scissors
11.  scissors
12.  Disposable foam or paint brushes AND
13.  Aileen's Original Tacky Glue OR
14.  Scotch Double-Sided Tape

Begin by deconstructing the holiday cards, cutting out specific motifs on the front of the card or words and phrases from the front and inside. Using the CD as a template, cut 'background' field as a complete circle or as complete as possible given the size of the card. Use complementary scrapbook paper scraps to complete the circular shape of the CD. Using the decorative edge scissors where papers and/or card piece will overlap provides a very finished look. The more you collage, scrapbook and collage the easier this process will be but the point is to be creative and have fun. 

After you've dry-fitted your design, cut approximately 3.5-4 inch length of ribbon in a coordinating color. Fold the ribbon in half and attach it to the non-shiny side of the CD with open-ends pointing towards the hole in the center of the disc and the closed loop extending beyond the disc. Secure with tape. From here on you can use tacky glue and brushes to adhere your materials or double-stick tape, it's your preference. Recreate the design you laid out earlier securing it with the adhesive of your choice. Finally, go to town tricking out your ornament with chipboard shapes or felt-cut outs then finishing of with bling: self-adhesive gems, mirror tiles and/or glitter glue. We decorated only one side leaving the shiny iridescent side uncovered but you may elect to cover both sides.

You can go as strict as you'd like with the recycling theme. Items such as buttons, envelope sticker seals (and promotional return address labels), collected leaves, thin branches and even holly berries can be collected from items you have on hand in (and around) home.

Adorn your tree and enjoy!