Vivalamoda November issue out!

AH! I love this magazine! Since I'm getting married next year, I have been browsing wedding items for awhile, so I decided to share my findings!

Check it out!

http://www.vivalamoda.co.cc/

Here is my Fall Wedding Article! Thanks for featuring me! Pages 34-36!

Vivalamoda fashion magazine!

FINALLY!! I'm so excited! I wrote my very first article for an online fashion magazine and it also features an AD of my jewelry!

Let me know what you think!

check it out http://www.vivalamoda.co.cc/

Taking Proffesional Pictures of Jewelry

OK. I have struggled with this for a long time. When I decided to open up my jewelry store, I took horrible pictures! I could not figure out how to take proffesional pictures. I scoured google and read alot of articles. I found products that were over $300+ that guaranteed proffesional pictures! but I did not want to pay that much! And I found services out there that took the pictures for you, all you had to do was mail it to them. BUT, I wanted to learn myself. This is what I found out from hours of research. I know there are other ways of taking proffesional pictures..this is the route I took. Hopefully it will save you some time and money.

1. Get a cheap lightbox or make one yourself! I bought my lightbox from ebay. It cost me $45 total. right now it's on sale for $38. It comes with a 16x16x16 lightbox, 2 lamps, 1 camera stand, portable carrier, and 4 background colors. The lights that are provided heat up very quickly, so you shouldn't leave it on for more than an hour. I placed this in a regular room with regular lights on the floor and that was a bad idea. I did not get enough light and my pictures came out very dark even with the lights that they provided. You need to place this in a well lit room. I put mine in the kitchen. If you want better lighting, I suggest you buy better lights and a 3rd light.

2. So, After setting it up as shown in the picture above. I noticed that even though I had placed this in a well lit room, the pictures were still turning out a little darker than I wanted. SO, if you have a digital camera, you should play around with the settings. I have a Fujifilm Finepix F31fd. I went into the A/S and set my apertures to 4, F4, +1. This is a trial and error procedure. I played around with all the settings until I got what I wanted. REMEMBER to use your MACRO mode! It's perfect for close up pictures! Your jewelry piece won't come out all blurry when shooting it from a close range! it's brilliant!

3. Know how to show off our Jewelry. I still struggle with this today, having a simple white background has worked for me. I have been told to place some of my pieces on darker backgrounds so there is a contrast. I'm still working on it.

So, this is a BEFORE picture (horrible pictures eh?, I'm ashamed to show them, i obvously don't know how to show off my Jewelry properly, I'm still learning)

AFTER HOURS OF PRACTICE AND RESEARCH THIS IS WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED with this lightbox and camera settings!

I am always learning and wanting to showcase my jewelry differently. Any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated! What do you do to show off your product? Do you place them on rocks, nature elements, water, plates? what are your backgrounds like? I am curious as to what other people do.

Thanks for reading!

Featured in a Blog!

Hi! I am thrilled to be featured on other blogs! Since I have opened up my jewelry boutique, I have encountered wonderful supportive people! thanks for all the love!

http://lookingwell2009.blogspot.com/2009/05/do-you-love-lucy-jewelry.html

http://southernscraps.blogspot.com/

An Awarded Blog!

Lisbet from Life as I know it: Southwest Edition awarded me the  Lovely Blog Award!Thanks so much for thinking of me! I truly appreciate it. I love reading other peoples blog, and I'm excited that people read mine. I hope you enjoy what I have to share.

 

 So, in response to getting this award I have nominated 15 more blogs that I find interesting. These blogs are all blogs that I either read, recently found, or just can't miss! Once you are awarded, you must then make a post about receiving the award and list the blogger's name and blog in your post (the person who gave you the award), choose 15 of your own fave blogs, and make sure you let each of those blogs know they have been awarded! Check out my 15 below and see if you won! I'm going the extra mile, I decided to write why I like each one.

Daily Garish Markings

Mashli Designs

Adventures of Ishkabibbles

Time Crafted

Huggermugger

All minxed up

Jenell's Jewelry & Beads

LillyShayStyle

Wichita Handmade

Cabin+Cub

A Spring Handmade Market

Caprice Creates

Deb's Pane in the Glass

*LIVE*LOVE*CREATE*

Ooh! That's Pretty!

SHOPPING ON ETSY!!!!

Etsy is an amazing shopping site! I can't get enough of it..i'm addicted!

So...I ran across this beautiful dress and I instantly fell in love with it! It did not take me more than 5 minutes to make a decision. I FINALLY got the dress and it's prettier in person! I have to share this finding with you! 

Zoe Chen is a graphic designer and illustrator from San Francisco (one of my favorite cities).  She is one of my favorite designers! I love her work!

This dress is made with a pink Swan applique that has been sewn onto a cute dark purple dress that has cupcake sleeves! ( *drool* I love cupcakes...) It's so adorable! find this dress here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25586587

I was thinking about my Jewelry line and it fits perfectly with my Forever Yours Bracelet. what do you think? I don't want to wear too much jewelry that will draw attention away from the dress. I believe the Forever Yours Bracelet is all you need to spice up this dress! Find my bracelet here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=24699187

 

How to make Glass Pendants

WOOHOO! MY FIRST POSTING!

What shall I blog about?

hmmm...maybe I'll blog about my glass pendants! So, this past month, I decided to try and make glass pendants. I love the magnifying effect the glass has on paper. I always purchase already made pendants...and I thought..you know I should try making my own! So, the first time I did tried, I messed up pretty bad. At the end of the day, all my pendants had bled through, so all my pendants were ruined. I redid ALL 20 of them and I learned my lesson. I finally got it down and I would like to share the CORRECT and PERFECT method of making glass pendants...ready? lets get ready to rumble!!!!!

SUPPLIES

This is what I used: (from left to right)

1. one inch square paper cutter

• used to cut perfect 1 inch squares
• purchased from an etsy (online handcrafted shopping site) supplier

2. Mod Podge

• used as glue, sealant, and a finish in all..its amazing!
• purchased at michaels

3. Diamond Glaze

• used as a glossy layer and glue, (you still need mod podge, I thought diamond glaze was enough, but that's why the paper's bled through because this is not a sealant)
• pruchased from an etsy supplier

4. E-6000 glue

• high performance industrial adhesive
• purchased from an etsy supplier

5. Brush

• used to apply mod podge
• purchased at michaels

6. Scissors

• used to cut away the left over paper from the glass

7. Silver plated bails

• used to link the glass pendant to a necklace chain
• purchased from an etsy supplier

8. one inch glass

• used to complete a pendant
• purchased from an etsy supplier

9. Paper, I used Chiyogi Japanese paper and cardstocks I bought at Michaels

• used to complete a pendant
• purchased from anywhere! you can even design your own and print it out!

10. thicker cardboard paper or photo paper

• used to seal the bag of your artwork to the glass
• purchased anywhere

STEP ONE

I used my one inch square paper cutter to cut out what I wanted. Its great that you can see where you are cutting.

STEP TWO

I used mod podge to seal the paper, so the paper does not bleed. This is a must..as I have learned the hard way. So, brush on a thin layer to the front of the paper and let it sit there for 20 minutes. Flip it over, and apply another thin layer to the back side of the paper and let it sit there for 20 minutes. I did all 20 square papers at once to save some time.

STEP THREE

Next, use Diamond glaze. I squirted a semi thick coat to the middle of the paper.

STEP FOUR

Apply some pressure to the glass to get rid of air bubbles. Make sure all four corners are well stuck down. You will get some diamond glaze oozing out, but thats ok. You can wipe off the excess glue with a damp cloth before it dries. If you do it after it dries, you can peel it off. Allow time for it to seal. I waited about 30 minutes.

STEP FIVE

I used my 1inch square cutter to cutout a thick cardstock to be placed behind the japanese chiyogi paper. I glued it the thick cardstock and chiyogi paper with diamond glaze.

STEP SIX

Cut any excess paper that sticks out of the glass. To avoid a messy unfinished back, use an Xacto knife to trim it down a little more than just cutting the excess off from the paper. I would trim 1mm all around the square.

STEP SEVEN

To finish off the pendant, use E-6000 and glue the bail onto the pendant. I left these on over night to insure proper bonding.

STEP EIGHT

TADA!!!! FINISHED!

Here are some finished pendants!

You can also view some of my glass pendants here: www.doyoulovelucy.com