My Etsy Photos: Before and After

I began selling jewelry on Etsy in May of 2010. When I first opened my shop I owned a fairly decent point and shoot camera, but didn't know how to use it to my advantage. My shop was open for a few months before I actually made any sales, and I attribute my lack of sales to the pretty awful photos that I took. Don't get me wrong, I spent hours trying to find good places to take photos, arrange props, and "edit" my photos. They simply weren't good enough.

Yikes. Way too much yellow.

Very busy background.

As the years have passed, I have researched different photography tips and techniques. I learned to take advantage of natural light and the importance of simple backgrounds. I bought another point and shoot camera about a year ago that somewhat helped improve my photos, but they were still missing something.

A little better, but still not great.

This year for Christmas Sam got me a Panasonic FZ60. I have been playing around and doing lots of research and finally took some good photos today. I still haven't even scratched the surface, but I am really enjoying taking photos with this camera. It doesn't seem like such a chore anymore!

New pressed flower necklace

Squirrel necklace

I found the blog Click It Up A Notch when I was browsing photography tips on Pinterest a few days ago. She has a great post about shooting in manual mode. I read this a few times, took notes, and printed out a little cheat sheet to keep nearby when I am taking my photos. This helps a lot!

I'm still learning and am by no means a pro, but am really pleased with the photos that I took today. Please share any photography tips that you have picked up!

Oh, and big thanks to Sam for the best Christmas present ever! :)

Have a wonderful weekend!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, friends!

Easy TARDIS Book Page Print

Guys, I am so excited. I have seen these cute book page prints for a long time and never thought to try making one for myself. Tonight I'm stuck at home because I'm semi-sick (dull headache, dizzy sick but not sick enough to lay in bed all day without feeling guilty) and thought I'd take it easy and work on some projects I've wanted to try for a while.

Here's how I did it:

1. Find an old book or dictionary that you don't mind cutting up. I used my old copy of Man and Superman that I had to read in high school. Carefully tear or cut out the page as evenly as possible.

2. Find an image online of what you'd like to print. You will need something isolated with a white background so that it pops off of the page and isn't too busy.

3. Change the picture to greyscale if you'd like, or use the original colors. I'd love a blue TARDIS, but I didn't have any color ink. Work with that you've got!

4. Measure your book page. Mine was around 7x4.5", so I created a custom size in my printer properties.

5. Print your page. Make sure to center it, fit to page, and change the settings to print on the size of paper that you have available.

6. Frame it. I framed the first print in a frame on hand, and then purchased a frame for the second print. The frame was plain black and was $3.99 after the 50% discount at Hobby Lobby. I picked up the closest thing to TARDIS blue that I could find in the store, which is Anita's All Purpose Acrylic in Twilight Blue.

That's it! This was my first try and it was a bit off centered, but once I trimmed and framed it you can hardly tell.

I hope that you guys have a wonderful weekend! Let me know if you try printing anything. I'd love to see your creations!

P.S. If you haven't watched Doctor Who and have no idea what a TARDIS is, you're missing out. Check it out. Now.

Black Friday Sale!

I am offering 20% off your entire purchase in my Etsy shop. Also, don't forget that my Thanksgiving giveaway ends tomorrow. Check out this post and enter to win one of three prizes! 

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Thanksgiving Giveaway!

My Thanksgiving giveaway will run today (Friday, November 16) through Thanksgiving (Thursday, November 22).

Here are the items up for grabs!

First place: 8 foot felt garland in olive green and red (worth $17.00)

Second place: colorful owl necklace (worth $20.00)

Third place: button earrings in your choice of color (worth $8.00)

Let the Rafflecopter load and submit your entries below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wordless Wednesday

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Eleventh Doctor Costume

First of all, Happy Halloween! There's something about holidays that make me feel like a kid again - even if I'm at work. Today my coworkers and I dressed up and I pulled some things together to dress like the Doctor! My favorite Doctor is the 10th, but I just didn't have any clothing that remotely resembled his outfit.

You can't really see all of my outfit, but I wore a black skirt, leggings, combat boots, a white button-up, suspenders, and a bow tie that I made last night. I also carried my trusty sonic screwdriver.

Luckily I wasn't the only one who dressed up today!

Rocky and Adrian :)

An 80's businessman. So classy.

Happy Halloween! I hope you all have a great day :)

Wordless Wednesday

[ a crafty girl's heaven ]

Chair Makeover Part 1 + Fabric Ideas!

So, I super scored this weekend and found this chair at a yard sale for.... wait for it.... $10.00! They were ready to get rid of everything and when she said $10, I immediately said I'd take it! It's covered in a boring blue, gold, and yellow stripe and the wood has a strange finish, but I love the shape of it and it's super comfy.

Painted Twigs

I had some twigs left over from this project and decided to put them to good use! Okay, well maybe not good use, since they aren't actually useful, but it was fun to do and I like the finished product! I was inspired by this post from Scraphacker.

I'm thinking about painting several more and putting them in a jar or vase. What would you do with them?

Pinterest Fall Crafts

I've been in the fall spirit today and decided to browse Pinterest for some good fall crafts. A few days ago I found a great tutorial for making pom pom flowers and decided to make some for myself! I tried using floral wire for the stem, but it wasn't quite strong enough to hold the flower, even when I doubled it. Instead, my nephew and I went around the yard looking for good sticks. We got a handful and I only used three, so I'm going to use the rest for a future project. Painted twigs, perhaps?

Here is the finished product!

New Blog Design (Part 1)

I am in the process of redesigning my blog and my first step was to decide on two or three colors that I like. After a lot of thought I decided on yellow, turquoise, and grey. I want main color to be white to give it a nice, clean feel, and I want the rest to be a combination of these three colors.

I used Paint to give me a visual of the colors that I had in mind and also so I could move them all around and see which I liked best. I started off by searching Pinterest for color palettes that I liked. I found the website Photo Card Boutique and looked through their Color Crush Palettes to find specific colors and their hex codes! I searched hex codes using this website. It gave me not only the color that I typed in, but also darker and lighter shades to compliment the color. These two websites combined with Paint helped make it a fun and productive process!

Wordless Wednesday

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Wordless Wednesday

[ via life geekery ]

Valspar Tropical Bay + Antique Store Makeovers

Yesterday I took a trip to Lowe's to see if I could find any cool hardware for jewelry making. While trying to navigate through pipes, electrical wires, and tools that I can't even begin to name,  I stumbled upon Valspar's Summer 2012 color line. I know it's a bit late for summer colors, but I loved every color in their collection! 

They offer each featured color in a half-pint sample container for only $2.95 + tax. I picked up a half pint of Tropical Bay, which is a greenish-blueish-greyish color a few shades darker than my bedroom wall color. The best part is that these samples are in satin, which means they dry with a nice sheen to them instead of a dull, flat finish. 

Wordless Wednesday

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Green Button Bib Necklace

I've been wanting to make a bib necklace for a while, but I just haven't been able to find the time to sit down and make one! Saturday night I finally got a chance to sit down and spend some time working on this. It was really relaxing and therapeutic - sort of like putting a puzzle together! I can't wait to make more!

[ etsy listing ]

What did you work on this weekend?

Oh by the way, follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Color is Everywhere!

Afternoon snack. Yurm.

Listen.

Wordless Wednesday [well, sort of wordless.]

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In Progress Project: Glasses Makeover Part 1

As much as I'd love to wear my contacts every day, there are some days [especially high pollen count days] where I just have to wear glasses. I somehow have two pair of glasses with my prescription, but I only wear one because the others are just not me. They are tortoise shell, oval frames and while I'm a fan of tortoise shell, these just don't look right with my skin. So, these frames have been sitting in a glasses case, unused for several years.

What I'm Working On

I found this wooden bangle on a thrifty Saturday outing about a month ago. It was pretty beat up and needed lots of love, so I decided to add some color! I'm not finished with it yet, but so far I've mixed a pretty blue (Seafoam Green + a drop of black) for the base and began to paint in the flower details. The bracelet has engraved flowers and designs, so it makes it pretty easy to paint. I plan on finishing the detailing and then coat it several times for shine and protection. 

New Bracelet Excitement!

Yesterday my friend Bryghte and I took a mini day trip to Memphis to go shopping! I found lots of great stuff, but was especially excited about this bracelet. I rarely ever buy jewelry for myself simply because of my "I can make that" mindset, but I decided to splurge on a $10.00 bracelet. I thought it would look great stacked with these bracelets. What do you think?

nashpop Giveaway!

Hey guys! I am so excited to share that I am currently having a giveaway on the blog nashpop. I am giving away my Airmail necklace, which would be just perfect to pair with any of your summer outfits!

Details on how to enter as well as a quick interview can be found here.

Thanks nashpop!

Moo!

I've been hearing about Moo cards for a while now, but had plenty of business cards and honestly didn't really see the point in getting them. I wasn't quite sure what all the hype was about. However, Etsy has partnered with Moo and was offering 100 free Moo minicards. All you have to pay for is $5.00 shipping! This nice little deal sparked my interest and I decided to order some.


My order came in today and my feelings toward Moo have definitely changed! First of all, the ordering experience was very easy and actually pretty fun. You can upload your own photos for the cards or import photos from your Etsy. I was feeling particularly lazy, so I simply chose from my Etsy photos. You can choose 100 different photos, 1 photo, or however many you like. I chose about 20 different photos, which gave me around 5 cards per photo.

Mini Vacation Recap

My boyfriend Sam and I packed up and headed to the Smoky Mountains for Memorial Day weekend. We left Jackson on Friday morning and came back early Monday afternoon. Here is a quick photo recap of our wonderful trip!!

Sam's ginormous sandwich at our stop on the way there. Yes, he ate it all.

A Mini Vacation

I'm taking a break from blogging, creating, working, writing reports, phone calls, scheduling, summer camp planning, lesson planning, and life in Jackson, Tennessee for a few days and going to the Smoky Mountains with Sam. I'm hoping for a relaxing and rejuvenating mini vacation to help me get through the busy summer months ahead. 

I hope that you all have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend! 

A shaggier Sam and a bigger me
two years ago in the mountains. :)

Neon: Vintage Style

I found this cool vintage necklace several months ago and thought it was a great way to incorporate trendy neon colors in my wardrobe! The photos don't show how bright the necklace is, but you get the idea.

What a cool clasp!

How are you incorporating neon in your wardrobe?