Monday, August 31, 2009

Exciting Sale Reminder

Tomorrow is the first day of September and the last day of my Buy 2 Get 1 FREE hair goodies sale!

http://grumblebeedesigns.etsy.com/

Photographing jewelry- A Lesson For Me

I spent my morning being completely frustrated. Not only because it is Monday but because I decided to take pictures of some jewelry that I have been dying to list on Etsy. I woke up and it was cloudy outside so thought it would be the perfect opportunity. Boy was I wrong. Everything is blurry, the color is washed out, or you can't even tell what color it is. So, I spent the day hunting for tips to take photos of jewelry and decided to share my findings.

  • Choose a background that will allow the item to pop but not distract from it. I tend to use a black t-shirt (my own little secret) but I have seen people use pieces of pottery or often they use drinking glasses. Today I added a chunky black candle stick to use as a platform of sorts. Just look around your house, I'm sure you will find something. Something bright or too busy may take away from your jewelry.
  • Use macro mode when taking pictures. I had no idea what macro mode was or where to find it on my camera. I googled macro mode and the model number of my camera and found out what it is and how to use it. Macro mode allows you to take pictures of items less than three feet away with very sharp focus.
  • Lighting is of course incredibly important. Especially because you should avoid using your flash which will washout your colors and leave bright spots. I prefer to go outside and use what mother nature gives us. The sun is awfully bright in south Texas during the day so I have to catch it first thing in the morning or in the evening. A cloudy day will work too.
  • Take more pictures than you need. This is my philosophy with taking all pictures. I constantly get compliments on the pictures I take of my baby. What people don't realize is that I have taken 1000 in her little five month life- they are only seeing the best 60. Give yourself plenty of options. In this digital age, it is free to snap away so do it!
  • Computer editing software. My camera came with Kodak software that I feel like allows me to do some extensive editing. There are also a number of programs that you can buy. Photoshop seems to be the biggie.

All of this made a total difference for my pictures. Check out the before and after shots below. There is a world of difference!


































Teach me more! Teach me more! Leave your great tips in the comments for us!

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Fabulous Feature

DZ Fantasy was kind enough to honor me by featuring my little shop in their sidebar this month. I think it is wonderful when Etsy artists work for the good of eachother. You can check the feature and DZ's blog out here and the whimsical shop out here.

Buzzzzz

To celebrate my new blog and in honor of my name, I decided my first Etsy feature should be everything Bees! There is a wealth of items on Etsy- more than I can get my mind around so I will be doing a feature each week! If you see something you adore, please show some love and visit the artist's shop. If you click on the picture, it will take you to the item and there is a link for each shop in the text at the side of the picture.



To kick it off, we'll take a look at a little bee hair clip from my shop! This little bee made from ribbon would look great in your busy bees hair!

$3.00


A wonderfully unique ring by Dillon Designs. This is a ring and a seller that already has a place on my favorite item list. Its made of acrylic, stamped with waterproof ink and has permanent gold paint on the edge.

$8.00


Mmmm... I believe there is nothing more soothing than a wonderful bath. This honeycomb styled soap should do the trick. A huge 5 oz bar that has a rich honey frangrance. I'm feeling more relaxed just thinking about it.

$6.00



Custom stationary makes a wonderful gift for someone else or for yourself! This modern stationary features little honey bees buzzing around honeycombs on the stationary and even in the envelopes! Set of 8.

$11.75

A wonderfully sassy yellow and black feathered headband. You would surely stand out in the crowd wearing this! Can be worn two different ways.

$16.00




Saturday, August 29, 2009

Christmas in August

I am working furiously on Christmas cards and bows- which is exciting and disappointing at the same time!! I adore Chrismas but hate when it comes in August. None the less this will be my first Christmas on Etsy and hope it is awesome! What are you working on?? When do you start Christmas stuff! Post some links so I can see!

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog! I have been wanting to start a blog for some time now but wasn't sure what I could write about day in and day out. I LOVE to talk so anyone who knows me knows that this shouldn't be a problem but I just couldn't commit. Then it came to me like a beautiful light out of the sky- I LOVE creating things and would LOVE to share this passion. I hope you enjoy reading and hopefully we can show eachother something along the way!

Shameless Self Promotion