Art:Build Your Own Familiar

Vitals
Ever wanted a familiar, but can't work up the word, illustration, or puzzle skill to get one? Why not build one? Using found objects from around your house, build a familiar. Maybe you'd like to sew together a socktopus... or make a parrot out of pieces of fruit leather. Perhaps a monkey cut out of wallpaper samples? Whatever you like! Just build it, take some pictures, and send 'em in. Easy, eh?

Dates and Times
This contest will open officially at 12:01 AM PST on Saturday the 2nd of December, and will close at 6:00 PM PST on the 31st of December. (When the clock ticks and it becomes 6:00.)

Entry Instructions
To enter, you just have to provide a materials list, as well as some pictures of your entry:
 * A "materials" shot (This should show what your familiar bits looked like before you turned them into a familiar)
 * A "finished product" shot (Show us the finished product)
 * A "glamour" shot (Prove the familiar can "perch" by perching it on something; I suggest your shoulder, although your wrist, a chair arm, a tree branch, etc. are perfectly suitable.)
 * As many more photographs as you like (Especially "work-in-progress" shots!)

All photographs must have either a card with your pirate name on it, or a rubber duckie, somewhere in the shot. If you are under 18, please get your parents' or guardians' permission before posting any photographs of yourself on the internet. Perching the familiar on a piece of furniture (a chair arm, for example), your wrist, a tree branch, etc. are all acceptable alternatives to your shoulder if you feel uncomfortable showing your face. You simply must prove your familiar can be perched.

Post these entries to the entry thread, which will be avaliable once the contest opens.

There are only three rules around the entries themselves:
 * Enter as often as you like! If you build a dozen familiars, submit all 12!
 * Familiars must be valid in-game familiars. (Monkey, octopus, parrot.) Colour restrictions, however, do not apply to entries!
 * Familiars must be "sturdy". Not necessarily 3-D, but you have to be able to somehow perch it on something (preferably your shoulder) without it collapsing.

Judging
Entries will be judged on the following criteria:
 * 15 points for creativity of materials (Plasticine, for example, is a typically "arty" supply and would score low in this category.)
 * 10 points for realism (Does it look like what it's supposed to look like?)
 * 15 points for artistic merit (Is it attractive to the eye?)
 * 10 points for tilt (Did you like the entry?)

The materials category is huge, so try and avoid "arty" stuff and go for the outrageous instead!

Prizes

 * First place: A familiar, of type and colour to be determined by your entry. (If you create a purple octopus, you win a purple octopus. We do have to meet the standard rules, though. [No black-black, no white-white, no green monkeys, etc.] You can still enter a black-black parrot, white-white parrot or green monkey if you like, but you'll have to pick another colour as a prize. If there's a conflict, you can choose the colour yourself.)
 * Second place: A tan familiar, of type determined by your entry
 * Third place: A sleeping turtle
 * Fourth & Fifth place: A parrot feather trinket, your choice of colour (Excluding black and gold as primary colours.)
 * Sixth through Tenth place: A clam shell trinket, your choice of colour (Excluding black and gold)