Trade and Consumer Editors Select Winners of the

AMACO Bitty Book Designer's Challenge

CHA Summer 2006

Editors from trade and consumer craft, paper craft and scrap-booking magazines evaluated "Most Original", "Best Use of Product" and "Designer's Choice" awards from entries by fifteen top designers; all of the entries met criteria for size and product use.
Popular author and teacher Lisa Pavelka coordinated the challenge, and then found talented designers, to highlight the mixed media intersection between scrapbooking and crafts.
The use of polymer clay (FIMO®) as a construction material and as embellishment, along with Amaco's metals line, catapulted mini-books out of a papercrafts project into a mixed media event.

	Judging was difficult as all of the editors commented on the level of mastery over polymer clay and mixed media metals, paper construction and embellishment, that required on average 15 minutes of careful evaluation. Book construction for binding and pages ranged in product from FIMO® Soft to WireMesh™ to handmade and store bought papers, with 20% of the entries being star-shaped or lotus. Judging was completed by noon on Friday, July 21st; with ballots tallied for a late afternoon awards reception where winners were announced by the President of F+W Publications Inc. Magazine Group, William Reed.
"Most Original" was won by Sarajane Helm who photo transferred onto polymer pages her own previously published children's story and made 3-dimensional and cane embellishments.
	"Best Use of Product" was won by Charlene Therien who created and bound a large volume mini book of caned pages with a cover that looked painted and sculpted.
Tying for the "Designer's Choice" award, Ellie Hitchcock and Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg both won. Ellie's purple butterfly book, dually bound, was equally decorative from front or back and featured an Emily Dickinson poem. Lynne Ann Schwarzenberg's entry highlighted her trademark floral canes with smooth finish on black FIMO® Soft that mirrored traditional Russian lacquerware painting on wood.

All of the Bitty Book entries from AMACO's Designers Challenge Invitational for CHA Summer 2006 are available for publication by contacting Dawn Sandoe, dsandoe@amaco.com. Additional projects are also available for dimensional scrapbooking and cards, memorable jewelry and bead making, along with memory home décor.