Photography Love!

Well, it finally came. I received my portable photography studio on Monday, but because of school I hadn't been able to play with it until today. It is so neat, because everything stores in this portable case with a handle. This case is actually what pops up to become the studio.

Everything I need came with it. The case opens up and their are 3 walls that you open up. It has black, white, red and blue backdrops, 2 lights and a camera tripod. The 2 side walls act as filters for the lights. You set your lights outside the walls and shine them through  the walls to filter the light so that you get less reflection on the objects you are photographing.

I had two initial pendants that I recently wrapped that I photographed today to try it out. The first one is this letter B initial pendant:

It is black fused glass and green dichroic glass, wrapped with gun metal colored wire. The top picture shows the true green color of the dichroic glass and the true dark silver color of the wire. The picture on the wright shows the correct green color of the dichroic glass, but the wire color has a slight yellow look, so I should have probably moved the lights slightly.





The next photograph I took was of this letter M initial pendant:

This piece of dichroic glass is more of a blue/green/silver color depending on the way the light hits it. The color of the glass in the photographs matches the color of the glass in the actual pendant. However, the wire color in the pictures is lighter than the actual antiqued bronze color that it is. So, again, I probably need to adjust my lights.

I did edit these in Photoshop, but the only edits I made were to crop the pictures, reduce the file size, and brush out a couple of dog hairs that Cheyenne has already donated to the studio that I didn't see when I took the picture (lol). I didn't do any color correcting.

Overall, I am really happy with the set up. Glass is notoriously hard to photograph because of the reflection on your light source. Having this set up is much better. Here is one of my previous pictures:

You can see much more of a reflection of the light source on the glass and the sterling silver, plus the heavy shadow behind it. I think that I will get better as I practice with it and experiment with placement of the lights. I can already see that is going to save me lots of time with photo editing and color correction.

I apologize to everyone who just wants to see jewelry for going on and on about the portable studio. But, I know my jewelry making friends are always looking for input on tools to make their photographs better.

Holiday Sale!

Considering that I have only bought one Christmas present so far this year (and that was on Friday because my 11 year old pointed it out to me), I thought it was probably time to have a sale in my Etsy shop. Use Coupon Code HOLIDAY11 on any purchases in my Etsy shop from now to November 30th to receive a 15% discount. I will be adding new items all through the month so check back often. And, as always, if you are local to me use Coupon Code LOCAL1 to receive free shipping and then message me to arrange pickup/delivery. Also for those local, don't forget the Holiday Heritage Sale at Southern State Community College South Campus is coming up on December 3rd. I may just have a treat available for those of you who stop by my booth. Stay tuned...

I feel Official now!

I now have a fully functional Web site! That is not to say it is perfect, but it is up and online. In a former life I use to be big into street rods (old cars). I had a saying that there was no such thing as a done street rod. There was always something to fix, or add, or chop, or paint. Web sites are the same way. There is always a link to fix, a picture to add, text to rewrite, etc.

I put this off for so long. Considering that Web design is a lot of what I teach and do on a daily basis, you can imagine that I just wasn't overjoyed at the thought of spending the little bit of creative time I have in building and maintaining a Web site. Anyway, I have tried to keep it simple so that there will be a minimum amount of maintenance time that has to go into it. That is one reason that I am not planning on moving my store out of Etsy anytime soon. Etsy offers me the convenience of not having to maintain my own online store. To list an item on Etsy takes a relatively small amount of time and hassle. I may change my mind in the future, but for now Etsy is all good.

Isn't it funny that only now after getting a Web site online for Big Grass Farm Designs do I really feel like an official business person (lol). In the mean time, tonight I am a happy camper. I feel accomplished because the site is up and running (http://www.bgfdesigns.com/) and I have a kiln load of some potential Christmas ornaments and jewelry pieces. Not to mention the fact that after today the Bengals are 6 and 2 and Tony Stewart is 3 points away from the championship (yeah, I'm a sports geek too)!

Lusting!

I am so lusting over this photo backdrop set that the Beading Gem journal is giving away. I am posting this everywhere I can to try earn more chances to win it. Modahouse Table Top Photography Set up

Make Your Own Jewelry Party!

Last weekend was the Appalachian Mountain Artisans Festival that I have talked about before. It was long and it was tiring. It was my first multiple day festival that I have done. But, I did enjoy the experience. The thing that I enjoyed the most was the wire wrapping classes I taught. I just can't get away from the teaching thing. I guess since I come from a family of public school teachers, and I have been teaching computer science for almost 20 years and fused glass for 7 or 8...you could say it is in my blood.

 Anyway, as I was saying, I really enjoyed the wire wrapping classes I taught last weekend. I had a mom bring her two daughters and a grandmother bring her two granddaughters, plus several other lovely ladies who joined us.

We made some bead and wire pendants with some accent beads and a little flourish of the wire. It was fantastic. They were all really happy with the pendants they made. It really is fun for me to see everyone's reaction and to see how happy they were with the pendant they made on their own and got to take with them. There really is no right or wrong way to do it, and each and everyone is beautiful in its own way. Everyone has their own style, and the twists and turns of the wires makes each piece unique and very personal. I guess that is why I like doing this so much. Each time I finish one, I know there will never be another one like it.

So, with all the fun I had teaching these classes over the weekend, it has given me a new idea. I have been thinking about some mini-classes. These would be projects that could be completed in a short time frame, anywhere from half an hour to an hour. I could travel to meet groups and teach a mini-class. These classes could be done for different types of groups and occasions. Birthday party for a friend, ladies auxiliary group, girls night to get together...a perfect setting to do a short workshop and make a piece of jewelry.

I am working on some ideas for projects for earrings, pendants, etc. I am also trying to figure out a fee schedule. Since I will be doing the traveling I will
have to come up with some different rates depending on how far away I have to travel. Once I get this all figured out I will make a new blog page to explain it.

If anyone has any ideas that they would like to see me incorporate into any of the mini-classes, please let me know. This is all in the beginning planning stages and I am wide open to suggestions. All input is highly desirable, and welcome...as always, I am just flying by the seat of my pants. Lol.

The Countdown Is On!

Well, one week from today is the Appalachian Mountain Artisans Festival. I am extremely nervous for several reasons. The first one is the usual...will people like my jewelry...will they like it enough to buy it. I have managed to keep this fear under control for the last several years, because my jewelry and glass work have become more popular and I know I have many who buy from me frequently. That tells me someone likes it (besides my mom, who has too.) lol

More than that though is the fact that it is my first outdoor show, and it is three days long. All the shows I have done to this point have been indoor craft shows. No worrying with the weather. I have my canopy, and thanks to my wonderful husband I have all of the panels I need to close it up. I'm going to have to put it up by myself on Thursday while he is at work because I have ceramics class on Thursday night. Let's hope that goes smooth.

I am frantically making jewelry, and the kiln is running non-stop when I am at home. I think I have plenty of jewelry and glassware that people will like, but you just never know. It has been a mad rush with this and school. It won't stop any time soon. I have another show in Leesburg the first weekend in November and the Holiday Heritage show at Southern State Community College (where I work) the first weekend in December. I'm happy to have so many shows before Christmas. I hope I can keep up.

Three days...outdoor show...October in Ohio...need I say more. Everybody pray for good weather next weekend.

New Shop

See this piece at bgfdesigns.etsy.com

Another first for me, I finally have my Etsy shop up and running! I guess that makes me an official online business. I have wanted to do this for years, but it seemed like life, work, kids, etc. were always getting in the way. I could barely keep enough inventory going for the shows I did and the shops I consigned to.

 Now that I have made a commitment to myself that I am going to grow my business and do all of things that goes along with that, I am starting to get some things accomplished. I now have the blog up and running, I am increasing my inventory in preparation for all the shows that I am going to be doing between now and the first of the year, and now my ETSY STORE!!!

See this piece at bgfdesigns.etsy.com

It seems that I am still really nervous about all of this. I am almost as nervous as I was when I started doing shows. I guess that I will always worry about people not liking my pieces. I don't seem to have that problem at the shows I do anymore. My sales are always good and I get a lot of praise about my work. I guess I will have to get over the jitters, just like I did when I started doing shows.

The one thing I did find out was that it takes a little time to get an item listed. Between taking pictures, editing pictures, writing descriptions, uploading, tagging, promoting, etc. its not as easy as just slapping an item up there.

See this piece at bgfdesigns.etsy.com

Any how, I have taken another step on my journey and it makes me feel accomplished. Now, if I were that close to being ready for school to start that would be saying something. lol

If you get the chance take a look at my Etsy store, bgfdesigns.etsy.com. Let me know what you think, if you have any comments, requests, or just a pat on the back that would be good too. :)