Fabric Scrap Extravaganza!

In an odd twist of fate, this weeks storm of the century (or half century as is more accurate) was the final leg of a series of happy coincidences that resulted in these fun, fabulous fabric brooches.

Last weekend in a complete ecstatic frenzy of estate sale buying I picked up several bags stuffed with fabric scraps. I wasn't entirely sure what to do with them because of late I'd been spending so much time on my vintage business I'd had very little time to do any crafts.  I'd been kind of missing my old crafty self but between buying and cleaning and repairing and researching and photographing and listing and marketing..... well crafting just wasn't on the menu.  

But just a few days later Everything Etsy had a terrific blog article on ideas for using fabric scraps.  The ideas were simple and colorful, and one in particular really caught my eye.  I thought these little hair pins from Craftstylish were adorable and a perfect  use for some of the really tiny scraps I had.  Still finding the time to sit down and work on a project, even one as simple as this, was going to be tricky.  Between working full time and launching my vintage business there were weeks I wasn't even getting my laundry done! 

So it was quite a coup when the "storm of the century" gave me the time off I've been needing. The first day I spent diving into marketing my Etsy shop and my blog and trying to get a grip on online network marketing. (I'm getting there).  The second day I spent obsessively organizing and cleaning and working on getting my apartment to look less like a warehouse and more like a home.  The third day we went in for a half day and the fourth day.... 

I made these.

This is one of my favorites. I love the patterns of these fabrics. 

I added a few of my own touches. Some vintage tatting and some leaves.

I cut my circles in different sizes and used pinking shears for some to change the look a little.

 

Creating Clickable Pictures-Lighting

I recently struck up a conversation with a fellow Etsier and our chat turned to the art of good photography.  I gave her a few bits of information I’d picked up in the last year or so, but she asked about lighting and composition and I had to admit I was still learning that one.  Given the importance of good photographs on Etsy, I thought I’d write an article to share my own experiments so that some of you might learn from my process. 

Before I get started I’d like to comment first on just how critically important good photographs are to being successful on Etsy.   When you become an Etsy seller your showroom window is a tiny image, a little more than an inch square.  That’s not much real estate, so you have to make the most of it.  Your primary image of your item is your one and only chance to bring traffic into your store.  If your image does not capture the attention or imagination of the viewer and make them want to click, it won’t matter how wonderful your description or creative your items or how beautiful your workmanship.  All of that will be for naught because no one will ever see those things if they do not first click.

I know this is a lot of pressure, but the good news is there are a lot of resources out there to help you perfect your photography skills.  Etsy sellers are unfailingly helpful to one another and love sharing their tips and techniques with others. However one area that I seems to be a bit lacking in information is that of composition and lighting. So, I thought that’s what I would discuss here, along with some pictures of my set up and the various results I achieved.  I hope this information will be helpful to you in improving your pictures. 

Also, don’t be discouraged and try not to feel overwhelmed. Photography is an art form like any other and takes many years to perfect.  Give yourself a break and realize that it takes time and a lot of missteps before you get it right.  Even then, you’ll always learn more and get better and better. 

To start I wanted to show you a photo of the area I use to take most of my photos. I have an eastern facing window in my apartment that gets beautiful light.  Sometimes my morning photos are terrific and sometimes I have problems. I decided to use the morning light for this article because I think it better illustrates how lighting can be used, and what to watch out for. 

This is the set up I use to take most of my pictures.

As you can see in this photo there is an area that is brightly lit by the sun and another that is shaded.  When I have taken photos in the brightly lit area I am rarely satisfied with them.  It creates hard shadows that make it difficult to discern the details of the item and are oftentimes distracting and confusing to the eye. 

Example of a photo taken in the brightly lit portion of the table.

By moving the item into the shaded portion of the table I get the picture below.

Much better photo with softer shadows that make it easier to see the object.

With softer shadows it’s easier to see the item, but there is still a nice effect from the light.

I positioned the item in front of the window and shot at an angle toward the window. This created the brightly lit background you see in the above image. Some of my best photos have taken advantage of this lighting effect. 

This is an example of the exact placement of the object and location of the camera in relation to the window (light source)

Example of photo shot with the placement above.

Below is a letterpress block I was also shooting.  When I take pictures I will change the angle of the item and take several shots to get the best light. Sometimes the light will be too reflective and sometimes the light shines on the camera lens and creates spots or a fuzzy light over the whole image or streaks.

Example of position of item and camera shooting too directly into the light.

Result of the positioning above. See the white light spots?

To avoid this I angled the block to capture more light on its face and moved the camera so I wasn’t shooting so directly into the light. 

I angled the block and moved the camera.

This is the result of the changes made above. You can see it’s a much better picture and I no longer have the white spots.

Much better photo. Still well lit, but much more definition and no light spots.

As you can see, there is a great deal of trial and error to the process. I hope that by sharing this information I can help you to shorten your learning curve a little bit and help you on your way to great photos and lots of clicks

Fork, Fork, Fork!!!

I found a collection of silverplate forks at an estate sale this weekend. I'm not sure why the owner had so many forks but no spoons or knives, but perhaps she's like me and buys things with an idea in mind and well....somewhere along the way the idea just becomes a pile of forks.  So I decided that one persons pile of forks in another person's treasure. 

Is it your treasure? If so, check out my Etsy site because I'm selling some of them.  If you're not sure, here's some really cool stuff you can make with old forks.

Jewelry-You can make some very unique and interesting jewelry from forks. There are some very creative artists on Etsy using forks to make bracelets, rings and pendants.  There's even an artist who uses the tines and stamps words into the tines. 

fork peace sign keychain

From forclaudiassayke

handcrafted, silver plated fork bent to portray the traditional peace sign, can be a charm, backpack decor, keychain 

 

Recycled Silver Fork Bracelet in Original Heart Design Number Three

From MarchelloArt

This one-of-a-kind unique silver fork bracelet was hand made from a recycled silver-plated fork. A heart is magically formed by overlapping prongs, while the other prongs whimsically wave up and curl down.

 

EinZtein Quote Fork Bracelet

From SpoonerZ

Just a plain ol' vintage fork hand stamped with Einstein's quote "Imagination is more important than knowledge"... 

 

Here are some instructions on how you can make your own.  Looks like all you need is a fork and some pliers. Instructions

 

 

 

 

 

And there's more than just jewelry. Here's a wonderful Instructable (super website) on making a wall hook from a old fork.

And here are the instructions.

This one looks easy. I think this would be best on kitchen curtains.

How cute! Here are the instructions.

So I know what I'm going to do with mine, what are you going to do with yours?