Photoing!

I was recently reading an article on Etsy (okay, so I do visit the Forums sometimes ... if Etsy Success emails link to them) and I think I'm going to spend some time doing what it suggests, namely: Using Picasa's "tuning" tab to turn the whites white.

I've done this with a couple of older photos, notably this one:

Available here.

But that's easily the brightest photo in my shop.

I've decided I'm going to make a real effort to do it more -- look at my light spots and turn them white rather than just eyeballing the whole thing. The article has a good point, even in Gallery view (which I rarely if ever use) I'm catching eyes with a very small image -- it needs to be crazy contrasty.

Here's a more recent photo I did it to:

Available here.

I really do like the look. It's very crisp. I just have to convince myself it's okay to have that much stark contrast.

I'm also contemplating drastically shortening the depth of field in my first image ... but all in good time.

New Special Offer through March 1

For the remainder of the month of February, when you buy one wire-wrapped pendant or ring, you'll get a free adjustable wire ring to keep it company.


Available here.

The above is one of the beautiful adjustable rings -- click the link to see how dramatic these look on the hand! I have a good-sized stockpile of them and am using them as free samples for this offer.

To claim your ring, use the discount code "peanut butter" in the "Notes to Seller" section.

Wire and Bat-Squid and Rings, oh my!

A busy weekend for us! M has no fewer than three squid commissions going (Ron Weasley, Batman and Harley Quinn) so she sewed all yesterday. Batman is adorable. He's made of black fleece and deep grey suedecloth, and has a dark grey mask behind his eyes and a yellow fleece toolbelt (pockets and all) around his head. His heart/mouth (she always puts a heart patch between the tentacles, so it's both mouth and heart at once) is the Bat-signal. Tonight we have to get a fabric marker, because I'm going to draw a chess knight on Ron's heart.

We also organized a lot of my beads, pendants and findings. Since M is obsessive-compulsive on a wonderful, wonderful level, she organized them all by color last Christmas when I was struck down with the demon mononucleosis -- and we hadn't done it in a while. God, the number of beads I have.

Finally, I photographed a whole lot of inventory, which means two things:

a.) New items are being posted at last, and
b.) I get to give a blog preview of the new wire-wrapped rings!

This one is in Christmas colors and distressed copper/black wire. It has a nice layered look.

Available here.

This is a pendant-ring set. Unfortunately, I think the bead arrangement on the ring is a little too broad for comfortable wear.

Available soon!

And this one uses a nugget of rich, chocolatey agate and some brass beads that match the ring base. I think this is where I best pulled off the balance of metal tones.

Available soon!

I'm still playing with the technique (combination of wire gauges=yes, nylon-jawed pliers to flatten the wire=no), but those are the three I like best.