See ya later, alligator...

This will be my only post this week.

(At least I'm still making one right? Hurray for goals)

We will be getting ready for deployment.

(As if there's actually possibly ever a way to be 'ready')

See you sometime next week.

 (Maybe)

<3

Lindsey

Behind the Scenes: Product Photography without a Home Studio

Hey Hey!

Second post this week! I'm on a roll!

Got another DIYish type post for ya! With any home business that sells primarily online, product photography is a big deal. If people can't touch and hold your product, you've got to make them feel like they can with your photos! 

It may seem like you need lots of fancy equipment for this. I thought so too, but I promise you don't! I'm no expert by a long stretch and I'm still on the learning curve myself. Really, I'm just making this up as I go along, but the results just keep getting better! I've done lots of research and read lots of articles and such and I'd like to pass on some of those tips to you! So if you don't have a swanky home studio with all those nifty gadgets, FEAR NOT! Awesome pics are still within reach!

First off, all product images I will show you were taken with this camera. Simple point and shoot. No fancy gadgets. And at this point its... at least 5 or so years old? Probably more.

One of the most exciting things I've learned so far is how to make my own light tent. These are great for small object photography but buying one retail can cost you some major bucks. To make this one, I think I spent a grand total of like $5 for the fabric and paper inside. I already had a suitable box and tape laying around the house. I also already had the lamp I use to light it. 

I followed this awesome tutorial: How to Make an Inexpensive Light Tent - DIY

And here's the result!

I was so excited when I was done I had to try it out! I grabbed the nearest object at hand (happened to be a pair of scissors) and my phone (who knows where the camera was hiding...). This is what I got. Like I said, quick snap with my phone cam and absolutely no editing and it already looks pretty amazing!

 

To show you the difference something like this can make in your product photography, here's an example. The photo on the left is how I started off shooting my product. Fairly simple background, so its not terrible... but the coloring was never quite right and there were often awkward shadows that were hard to get rid of. And, even though there's not much going on in the background, it still distracts some from the necklace.

The photo on the right is a re-shoot I did yesterday in the light tent. Same necklace, same stand. (Plus the seashell. Props are fun!) See the difference?!?  It looks soooooo much more professional and really focuses on the product. The first thing you see is the necklace. Not the top of my desk and the texture of the wall. It's still not perfect, I'm still experimenting on exactly how to light my tent, but its a BAZILLION times better!

See this necklace here

Before.......................................AFTER! :D

You can also change out the background (paper) inside your box for different looks! Colors, patterns and textures galore! Experiment to see what makes your items POP!

Check out these articles on Etsy for more before and after shots, tips and ideas for product photography! Etsy Success: Product Photography for Beginners & Before and After with Etsy's Old Timers & Full-Timers & Shop Makeover Series: Feature Friendly Photos

A second really exciting thing I've come up with for my product photography is a "set" to photograph "models" wearing my jewelry. And by "set" I mean a couple curtains slung up between a couple doors. And by "models" I mean... me. Anyhoo, here's the basic set up below.

Pretty snazzy right!? Yeah, I know. Shut up. Really that's it though. It doesn't look like much but carving out this little spot in my "studio", like chopping up a cardboard box, made all the difference. And! BONUS! It was free. Everything you see in the picture were things I already had. Nothing new. No money spent. That's the truly amazing bit. The second most amazing bit?

view here                                      necklace & earrings 

   Going from this.....  ...................to this!              

In the photo on the left I'm sitting in front of a blank wall literally holding the camera out in front of me. Profile pic, yo! And yes, this photo is still up on my site. Don't judge me. I'm working on replacements. Lol. Anyway, the photo on the right is from my latest photo sesh with my set. Again, both me and both taken with the same camera. Crazy, yes?! I'm slowly working my way to replacing all my old icky photos with awesome ones like these!

For more inspiration, here's a fun video about model photography which I found quite helpful: How to Take Photos Using Models

The Etsy Seller Handbook has tons of great articles and tips for all subjects related to small business online sales.

You can also cheek out these items and more at my etsy shop!

Thanks for reading! 

-Lindsey :)

DIY Jewelry Display Cards

Hello! 

I'm back! Just like I said I would be! :) 

I'm as surprised as you are! Lol :)

Anyhoo, I've been trying to work out my packaging for my jewelry for a while now. I've been shopping around trying to find earring cards that I liked. Didn't want just plain ones but any of the decorated ones just didn't seem to fit my shop. In the end I decided to try and make my own so I started experimenting. Here's what I came up with:

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN JEWELRY DISPLAY CARDS:

I knew I needed some kind of heavy weight paper or light weight cardboard. I couldn't find anything really satisfactory at Hobby Lobby (Gasp!) which made me tre sad. In the end I came home and dug through my art supplies and came up with a pad of water color paper. Pretty sturdy. Figured it was as good a place as any to start.

But white? No. That won't do. I wanted them to be bright and colorful to go with the rest of my shop identity. I thought of using inks... buuuuut nice colored inks are kinda 'spensive. Solution? Make my own. But with what? Watercolors, duh. Watercolors on watercolor paper? It's ridiculous how long it took me to think of that. 

Formula:

tube watercolors + cheapo mini spray bottles + water = SPRAYABLE WATERCOLOR INKS!

Just squeeze a few blobs of paint into the water-filled spray bottles and SHAKE! These yellows were are pretty light colors so it took a good bit of paint to get to the color I wanted. Darker colors might need less. I just kept adding, shaking and testing till I got the color I wanted. 

Next? Pull out the paper and spray! Spray! Spray! (be sure to cover your surface. It's water soluble but still messy!) Comes out looking something like this: 

 

After spraying several sheets I left them to dry. Wet paper has a tendency to curl though, so after they dried I pressed them between a couple heavy books over night which worked pretty well to flatten them out. 

Next day I pulled out the good 'ole paper slicer and my corner punch. I cut the paper down to 2x3 inch pieces with fit quite nicely inside my earring boxes. I rounded off the corners with my punch more or less cuz I thought it looked better.

(Ugly carpet shot! I have work surfaces... but I still

tend to do a lot of crafting sprawled in the floor...)

Not done yet though! They were still too plain for my taste so I pulled out my tool box o' stamps and added a little design.

 Then just use a small hole punch and voila! Custom earring cards!  I think they came out pretty neat :)

They also work well with necklaces if you cut a slit from the punched hole to the side of the card so you can slip the chain in. If you needed to hang them you could just add another larger hole punch in the top center of the card!

 Tie it up with a bit of coordinating yarn and they're all packed up and ready to go to their new home!

 Hope you enjoyed! 

xo

Lindsey :)

The customer is always right!

Alright guys, I did. I dropped the ball on this whole blog thing. Been quite a while since I've posted but I'm going to have a lot more free time in a couple weeks so I'm wanting to get back to it! Going to shoot for (I wouldn't risk holding my breath if I were you..) at least one weekly post.

I've got a lot to share now that I'm getting deeper into this running my own shop thing. Should be a lot of fun stuff there. I've also got a bunch of DIY around the house kind of projects in mind, so I will share those as well. And, ya know, whatever else happens to cross my mind when I sit down to talk to you :)

Anyway, I thought a great way to revive and reboot this blog would be to feature some awesome feedback I just received from a very satisfied customer! I'd been working on a custom set of earrings and a necklace for a very nice lady in her college colors so she can show off her team pride come football season!

Results were as follows:

 

The necklace and earrings are made from fire polished Czech

glass beads and sterling silver plated beads and findings.

After receiving her order, I got this glowing email from Deb:

"Hi Lindsey,

Received my delivery and the set is just AMAZING.

You definitely have some talent. Keep up the good work and thanks for making these special items for me."

And here is the lovely lady showing off her new jewels!

Makes me :D like a crazy! In case you're wondering... I love doing custom orders! Collaboration is one of the best things about art. Its always wonderful to get a new perspective and new ideas to keep you fresh! Custom jewelry. Custom artwork. If you've got an idea- Bring it on!

Lots of love and sunshine to you all on this manic Monday. Hope yours is going as well as mine!

-Lindsey :)