Hello, and welcome to the Distant Horizon third annual Avatar Pumpkin Carving Competition! This is where you can see & send in Avatar-style carved pumpkins, & vote for your favorites! Last Updated: November 19, 2007 The votes have been counted and the RESULTS are up! Thank you everyone who entered, and congrats to Alternatecoppa, Jade/Musogato (srsly?), P-Nizzle, K_Puff, Webbs4sail, and the rest of the top 15! =D As mentioned in the faq, because my entry got in the top 4, my prize will be given to the 5th place winner, Darth Kaeru! Thanks again everyone who entered and everyone who voted, and I hope you all will participate again next year! ^_^ Overview   Rules   How to Enter   Prizes   Help/FAQ 2005 Winners   2006 Winners   2007 Winners Overview This competition is just a fun way to bring together Avatar-related carved pumpkins, and the people who made them. There is no fee to enter, and there is no age, geography, or skill level limit in order to participate. All I ask is that your pumpkin be Avatar-related. ^_^ Throughout the entire month of October, people can send in photos of their carved pumpkin. Everyone is allowed to enter up to 2 pumpkins each, and submissions close at midnight on the first weekend of November. The voting will begin on the following Monday after the submissions end and will stay open for two full weeks. Everyone is allowed to vote once for their top 5 favorites. These votes will determine the top 15 winners, and out of those 15, the top 4 + "mod's choice" will win a prize. These winners will be announced on the following Monday both by email, and the announcement on this page and at Distant Horizon. You can discuss the Avatar pumpkins and etc at the Distant Horizon Forum! Top Rules To be in the competition, your pumpkin photo *must* be sent in before midnight of the deadline. Everyone is allowed to enter up to 2 pumpkin carvings each, but they'll be voted on together. Submitters *must* be involved in their pumpkin's carving. Help from family/friends is fine, but don't submit a pumpkin if you didn't help make it. Anything Avatar: The Last Airbender related is acceptable, but it has to be viewable for all ages. Top How To Enter Get a pumpkin! (other carve-able veggies count too) Carve something Avatar: The Last Airbender related into it. Put a candle/lightbulb in it to make it glow. Take a (digital*) photo of it and E-MAIL it to me! *Note: If you don't have a digital camera, you can try taking a regular picture, developing it, then scanning it onto the computer. Or, borrow one from a friend. ^^; I'm sorry, but I will not accept photos by snail-mail because it would take too long to reach me. Note: When emailing your submission, please attach or insert your pumpkin photo, and include your name or alias that you wish to be listed by. Top Prizes At the end of the voting, the top 15 winners will be announced and their pumpkin photos will be on display for the entire year. All winners will be notified by email, and the winning results will be mentioned at Distant Horizon. Out of those 15, the top 4 + "mod's choice" can request one of the prizes from the group below, then work out the details with me or the provider of that prize. Prizes have not been decided yet ^^; The "Mod's Choice" winner can choose: An Avatar fanart, custom sprite/chao set, or an icon/wallpaper made by Jade (that's me!) Since I liked your pumpkin carving enough to give it the 'mod choice', I'll make your prize myself. :) Top Help/FAQ Q: Will there be another Avatar pumpkin carving contest? A: Yes; Distant Horizon will hold this contest every year during October, and the voting in November. Q: How do we vote? And when? A: There will be a poll that will be available to the public during the voting time, and the link to it will be near the top of every page on this site. On the poll will list all of the entries' names and pumpkin subjects, and you will be asked to type in the names of your top 5 favorites. If you vote for more than 5, the 6+ will NOT be counted. Same for if you vote repeatedly for the same pumpkin. The voters' IP addresses are recorded to help weed out cheating, but that information is deleted as soon as the voting is over. Voting will take place during the first two weeks of November. Q: As long as the participant carved it, is using free patterns allowed? A: While original carvings are always smiled upon, I personally do not have a problem if participants enter carvings using (Avatar-themed) publicly available patterns/stencils. (This does NOT mean copying previously entered contest pumpkin carvings.) Unless the original pattern maker objects to using their design for contest purposes, or a crazy amount of people enter the same carving design (as in, 7+ people), I will allow stencil designs. Be warned though, by using a familiar pattern, if other participants use it too there will be more scrutiny on those designs to see who carved it best. Q: Hey wait... why is Jade (the contest host) allowed to enter her own contest? A: Because carving pumpkins is fun and I resent not being allowed to enter. xP I really like this contest a lot, and it's so much more enjoyable to be involved in the participation than just updating the site and keeping track of votes. Though if ever my entry makes it into the top 4, my prize will be passed to the next winner in line to keep things fair. Q: How come there are/have been pumpkin entries that haven't been carved? A: Because Jade has a hard time saying "no" to entries that have had a lot of time and effort put into decorating them. But this *is* a carving competition, so for year 4 and up Jade will be sure to fully enforce the rules. >> If you have any questions about this competition, you can email me here. You can also discuss the Avatar pumpkins and etc at the Distant Horizon Forum! In other news, AlternateCoppa made this amazing banner to help promote the contest! So if you would like to help spread the word about this contest, why not use this banner? ^^ Has it been a while since you last carved a pumpkin? Not quite sure what you should do? Then fear not! I have found some awesome links for you. =D Walt's Pumpkin Carving Secrets   is an excellent guide for every step in carving a pumpkin, from cleaning it to preserving it and more. I suggest that everyone take a look at this page, unless you're a master pumpkin carver. You probably already know all of this then. ^^; Walt's Pumpkin Carving Secrets: Making Patterns   is also extremely helpful, especially if you are going to make an Avatar pattern and aren't quite sure how to do it. PumpkinGlow.com's Art Gallery   has tons of beautifully carved pumpkins in all types of themes. This is a great place to see how the intricate carvings work, and maybe help you decide how to carve your own pumpkin! :) Stoneykins.com Patterns & Carving Guide   has a ton of amazing-looking intricate patterns and a step-by-step carving guide. Another great site to see how patterns work! Top   Overview   Rules   How to Enter   Prizes   Help/FAQ 2005 Winners   2006 Winners   2007 Winners Avatar: The Last Airbender is copyrighted by Nickelodeon and Viacom International, 2005-2008. No profit is being made from this site or this competition; it's just some fun for the Avatar fans.