Etsy & NASA Space Craft Contest: The Winners

adam

Story by adam

Published on Mar 21, 2011 in Events

Photo by Etsy Admin Laura and NASA Astronaut Steve Robinson

We held the final judging of the Etsy & NASA Space Craft Contest last Friday, March 18, showcasing the finalists’ work to a panel of esteemed judges. The pieces, displayed gallery-style in the Etsy Labs, were eagerly viewed by attendees.

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Astronaut Steve Robinson viewing entries by Hillary Bird, Garrick Bernstein and Chet Phillips.

The judges included NASA astronaut Steve Robinson, Susannah Locke of Popular Science magazine, Shaifali Puri of the NY Academy of Sciences, John Matson of Scientific American, Peter Giles of the NYC Center for Space Science Education, freelance scientific journalist Lee Billings (formerly of SEED), Rob Giampietro of Project Projects Design Studio, and Maria Popova of Brain Pickings. Alison Feldmann, Matt Stinchcomb and Randy Hunt were also on the panel, representing Etsy.

We’re very excited to announce the three category winners and the grand prize winner. Drumroll please…

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Winner, 2D Original. High Texture Hand Embroidery of the Moon by Rachel Barry Hobson

The winner in the 2D Original category is Rachel Barry Hobson (a.k.a. RachelHobson), whose High Texture Hand Embroidery of the Moon won the judges’ hearts. The details are breathtaking!

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Winner, 2D Reproduction. Universal Thoughts by Nikkita Karsan Bhakta

Universal Thoughts by Nikkita Karsan Bhakta (a.k.a. nikkitabhakta) won the 2D Reproduction category. She states, “My original goal was to photograph trails of smoke and succeeded doing so by experimenting with india ink and water. It was later that I discovered the uncanny, visual parallels between the ink trails and images I have seen from space.” Congrats, Nikkita!

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Winner, 3D Original. Brother Sun, Sister Moon Ring by Partrick Burt

We had an unbelievable variety of finalists in the 3D Original category, including a hand-dyed dress, needle-felted Hubble and astronauts, hand-blown glass marbles and a clay and wire sculpture of a fantastical “moon man.” What really blew the judges away happened to be the smallest item — a titanium ring embedded with silver, gold and diamonds, which represent stars, the sun, moon, Mercury, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, and an intricately cut Saturn. The ring, entitled Brother Sun, Sister Moon, and was made by Patrick Burt.

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Grand Prize Winner, Best of Show. Northstar Table by Colleen and Eric Whiteley

Now for the grand prize! The best of show award goes to Colleen and Eric Whiteley (a.k.a. ColleenWhiteley) for their amazingly detailed Northstar Table. The table is not only impeccably made, but also has a secret mechanism hidden within: press the North Star and a hidden drawer immediately appears. Beautiful work, Colleen and Eric!

The grand prize winner will receive a $500 Etsy shopping spree and an all-expenses-paid trip with a guest to attend the shuttle launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida as NASA’s VIP guests. Category winners will receive a $250 Etsy shopping spree and swag from Etsy and NASA. All winners’ work (or photographs of their work) will have the opportunity to be flown into space aboard a shuttle!

This has been an amazing contest — thanks to all of the 600+ entries, those who participated online and to the finalists — we’ve been wowed from the very beginning.

Congrats again to the winners!                             

To view photos from the event, check out the Etsy Labs’ Flickr.

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