What you see if what you get

Customers are always saying:

"This piece looks so better than the picture!"

There are two ways I take this.....

a) I'm thrilled they are happy with the piece!

b) What the heck did I do wrong with the photograph???

Recently I spent a good week researching, studying, comparing, and experimenting jewelry photographs.  I even dreamt about it.   Article after article referred to using white as a background.  I hate white.  Hate it.  Except on bedsheets and towels.  I'm a color girl.  I need color.  It makes me happy.  White does not.  So I began waging a war with my camera.  I was determined to make this work. 

One day, after my eyes were stinging and my patience was fried, I told my CFO (aka my hubby) that I needed to fork out invest in a macro lens for my camera.  Just a small $500 purchase.  I'm not sure he spoke coherently for a few minutes before I could make out something about 'finding a plan B'. 

My head was swimming with information and I could no longer think clearly.  I cautiously approached our local camera shop where I was certain they would convince me to unload my savings on equipment.  I.  Was.  Shocked.  After a very information conversation with a salesperson, I walked out with a $20 lens hood and loads of easy and cheap techniques.  No $500 lens.  No $70 light box.  

Hopefully now my customers will feel like what they see if what they get. 

You can find this particular pair on my Etsy site!

My Haven

This is my workspace.  My studio.  My haven.  Mine, mine, all MINE.  I love this spot.  I set it up by our front window due to the great lighting that floods thru it all day.  I can watch for customers, my kids at play, or just the general goings on of the cul-da-sac.  My  kids know not to mess with 'Mommy's stuff' for fear of inviting the mean Mommy voice to fill their ears.  But occasionally my youngest will cross it's threshold with his sticky three-year-old fingers.  But let's be honest, he's too darn cute to get upset with so I usually let it slide as I gently shuffle him o-u-t.

I also love this spot because of everything that surrounds it.  Almost everything has a special story.

My main work desk is the library desk of my grandparents.  I've been told that it's a antique, over a hundred years old.  All I know is it is filled with memories of my grandparents who encouraged me more than anyone to continue with my talents for the arts.  Their spirit is soak into the wood, in the drawers, and on it's shelves.  It may wobble and creak as I stamp, but it holds strong.  Every time I sit at it I am wrapped in it's warmth of their memory and love.

The organizer that keeps me sane belonged to my father.  It held his nails, screws, and bolts.  He was an organizing king.  (He use to roll each pair of socks and keep them lined in his dresser. Seriously. Lined up across the drawer. In a row.)  He was an artist as well.  A woodworker.  And a welder.  The smell of freshly cut wood still brings me to a halt for a moment to take it in.  His garage was so organized that even if you used a tool and put it back in it's place, he'd know it had left it spot for a period of time.  It's like he could smell the shift of movement that had taken place. 

I have saved every 'thank you' card I've received and have them each on display to remind me that there is in fact someone on the other end of my work.  So often I finish a product, wrap it up, hand it off to my mailman and wonder where it ended up.  Like a letter sent out to sea.  Did it fit?  Is it worn everyday or just for special occasions?  Will I see it again adorning the neck of an anonymous shopper in the grocery? Do they love it as much as I did?  Yeah, I didn't actually give birth to it but sometimes it feels similar.  Just minus the pain.

 

I love this space so much that I often will NOT sit down in it if I know that Mommy duty will be calling shortly.  I don't like to tease my creativity like that.  It's my sacred place.  My art cave.   MINE.

The Beginning

Today begins a new path in this journey....the addition of this blog. 

I'm not sure what I think of it all yet. 

I'm in design heaven as I tweak, drag, change, and remove all the fun features. 

But I'm not sure quite how to use it to sell my wears (which is the point). 

Late last night I was up looking thru blogs and I found myself instantly connecting to bloggers, especially the SAHMs. I laughed...cried...and bonded.  I found myself thrusted into their world as I read their own words which made me want to check out their Etsy stores...and because I'd spend time in their virtual blogging sphere, I felt like I knew them well enough to possibly purchase from them.  Ahhh, the power of the blog.  So we'll see.  I plan to use it as another form of advertisement, a source of information, and a place to connect. 

If nothing else it will be a place where I can send my words into the world wide web to see what they can do.  And if you know me, you know I love a challenge.