YouTube Video

I'm just going to post the url, because it's 7.20 minutes long, and has music. This way, you can click when you actually have time to sit down and enjoy it.

Please, give me lots of feedback!

New Steampunk Jewelry Video

Introducing LolliShops.com!

This is a juried site, and I've been accepted! I'm so excited and honored to be included. As much as I love my edgy, retro-futuristic steampunk work, there's still a soft, romantic, girly side that wants to come out and play. Now I have a venue that specializes in sweet, sparkly and whimsical adornments for both men and women (but mostly women). I'm going to start listing some of my button jewelry and cabochon jewelry that just seems to be getting lost in my Etsy shops.

The site will open to the public in the fall, and until then you can follow along in Sadie Lou's blog.

*cue Cyndi Lauper* Oh girls just wanna have fuuuuuuuun!

How to Create a Photography Studio in Two Square Feet of Space

How to take pictures like a pro, or at least trick people into thinking that you have a large, spacious studio.First of all, get the best camera you can afford. Bring a piece of your work to the camera store, and a piece of something that you use for a backdrop, and use the store cameras to take pictures. Play with the different settings, but pay special attention to our dear, beloved MACRO setting. Your camera can make you look like a total genius, or a complete newbie, so think long and hard about spending that extra $50 for image stabilization (it's worth it!)

My personal favorite is the Canon PowerShot SX100IS with a 10x zoom. The camera increased the quality of my listings so much, my sales picked up immediately, and I had the camera costs completely covered within two weeks. Talk about a good investment!
Second, you will need a West facing window if you are an afternoon worker, or an East facing window if you are a morning person (I've hear they exist, but I've never been up early enough so actually see one.) Then, you'll have to clear off some space on that desk or table that's under the window. (HAHAHAHAHAHA! - no, really. You need to clear that off. )

You'll need some sort of white scrim to filter out the light and soften the shadows, without making the space too dark. I like white silk dupioni, which you can get at any fabric store back in the bridal section. Get two pieces. One for your tabletop, and one for the backdrop. If you want to be really efficient, have an extra piece on hand in case you get a big smudge on your tabletop cloth and you have to go wash it. You can use the backup and keep on working.
You'll need a few extra bits, like some 20# printer paper to use as an additional light diffuser for things that are extra glossy (like cabochons and watch cases), and you'll need a few nice props. The mistake that most people make is that they think they need a zillion props to keep their pictures interesting. Your WORK should be keeping the picture interesting, and the props should be there to hold your work up to the light. Clear and frosted glassware are always good bets. A simple necklace form and hand form are essential. I've found that a wine glass is perfect for earrings. Cheap and easy props can be found at NileCorp
Now here's the tricky part. You have to wait for a sunny day, where the light hits your window just right. In the summer, I spend at least half my day taking pictures. In the winter, I can go weeks and weeks without being able to photograph a single thing. The you get a sun break, you go madly rushing toward your little studio, get your work out, get the camera ready (Oh no, the batteries are dead!) Rush around looking for batteries, and then the sun will go behind the clouds for another three weeks.

This leads me to my final point. Be Prepared. Keep everything that's waiting for pictures in one place. Keep your photograph area clean and organized at all times. Do not let grubby little fingers play over there, do not set your coffee cup there, do not leave yesterday's mail there.

One last tip. If you have pets who shed, keep a can of compressed air handy and hold it an an angle to your tablecloth. Give it a good blast right before you start work. Macro shots will pick up EVERYTHING in the frame, whether you want it there or not.

Click through my Flickr Group, and you'll get a feel for the kind of natural light that I prefer to work with. No extra lighting of any kind was used. Just what the sun sent in through the window and the fabric.

Copper Jewelry and Nutrition

I just learned the coolest thing today! I love working with copper, but I always worry about it turning my customer's skin black or green, and there's no way of knowing ahead of time if it will do it or not because everybody is different.

I know that copper is an essential element in nutrition, and I know that skin is a digestive organ, but I never put two and two together before. I just read that if copper turns your skin colors, it's because you're deficient in the mineral and your skin is eating it! The color it leaves behind is the oxidized leftovers. If the color is bothering you just keep washing wherever the metal touches you, and then put the jewelry back on. In a matter of weeks or months, you will no longer get a reaction from the metal, because your body will be "full" of all of the copper it needs, and won't be absorbing any more.

Wow! Who knew?

They like me, they really like me!

Even more shameless bragging. I'm trying to keep all of my blog mentions in one place. Some of these are repeats that just picked up the feed, but at least they liked my stuff enough to feature the feed post! :-)
The Vocab
RubyRunway
Splendora
GLITT3R
Selectism
Toxiferous
She's a Betty
Cufflinks Finder
AllChic.com
Limited Hype
PerfumeBest
Professionally Trendy
Miss Alt
Darkened Sector
BoingBoing
AisleDash
Sewing Divas
Carpal Tunnel
Infinite Cosmos Girl
StyleDash
Zedomax
Neatorama
Sabrinageek
Uberdandy

A Little Adventure

Don't panic, it's not my house. This house is up the street and around the corner from my apartment building.

Today, I decided to go on a little photo shoot. I am madly in love with textures of any kind, and a burned out shell of a house turned out to be a treasure chest of images. (full photo set here. )

It was blazingly hot as I approached the house, but I could feel a cool breeze coming from the dark interior. Tall grass and wildflowers competed with the remains of the garden along the walk up, with lazy bumble bees droning about. The smell of linden blossoms and clover was so thick in the air that it tasted like honey on my tongue.

The house has stood empty for many years. It had no scent of it's own. No charcoal or soot scent, or even mildew or mold. I seemed oddly antiseptic. There was no sign of kids partying or vagrants squatting, either. Aside from a couple of tiny spiders, the place was completely deserted. The house stands on a large corner lot, quite separate from it's neighbors, with large laurel and rose hedges all around. I could have been in another country, or on Mars.

As I stepped into the cool, dark interior, it occurred to me that I hadn't told anyone where I was or what I was doing. Part of me thought that it was a stupid thing to do - what if I got hurt? Another voice chimed in that if I had told anyone, they'd just tell me not to go because it might be dangerous. To heck with that! I figured I had my cell phone with me, and that would just have to be good enough.

I stomped my feet each step ahead of me before I put my full weight down, in case the floor boards decided to give in. There was a full basement under me, and I didn't particularly want to end up down there. Some areas were blocked by debris, but by going around back I could reach just about all parts of the house. It was a very small, very badly laid out 1930's starter home, what a realtor would call a "cottage". It was probably sorta cute when it was new.

The location was amazing, the view from the back porch stretched all the way across Rainier Valley and beyond. I walked gingerly through the thick layer of charcoal and plaster dust on the ground, being very careful not to disturb anything. The house had the sacred feel of an Indian burial ground or a crime scene, or maybe a cathedral. I knew that I would only want to take pictures of things as I found them, not in any posed sort of way. The house rewarded me for my respect.

When I felt like I had seen enough for this trip, it was like being full from a huge buffet. The sights, sounds, textures, details were so filling. I knew that I couldn't just walk straight back to my apartment, so I took the long way around and photographed flowers along the way. (I'll save the flowers for another post.) The whole experience was simply delicious.

A Little Summer Sparkle

Button bracelets have arrived! Some days I like working on one single piece, fussing and fuming over every tiny detail. Then there are days like yesterday, when Rivka and I sat down and played with my vintage button pile, sorting all the colors and coming up with fun combinations. I made 14 bracelets in 5 hours! Most of them are listed on my Rivkasmom shop, and a couple are in my two Etsy shops. I hope you like them. :-)