Taking Photos of Jewelry

I am not a photographer!  With that said, I feel that I do take good photos of my jewelry and some of you out there in the internet world must agree somewhat.  I have had several people ask about my camera and how I photograph my jewelry.  I am writing this post to answer those questions.

The camera I use is an Olympus Stylus-90000.  It is at least 5 years old.  It is a point and shoot type camera, but with some changable functions.

I do use a light box that I purchased.  Here are some photos of it.  Keep in mind that I keep it in a storage closet!

Notice that in the photos there is a tripod for my camera.  I tend to shake and move the camera about when I take photos without my tripod!  I don't think that the brand of light box nor lights make that much of a difference.  I feel that one must use the settings on the camera to take better photos.

The settings I use on my camera are WB (white balance), macro, and +/-.  I set my WB to the sun symbol for bright light.  I use the macro "on" setting (flower symbol)...sometimes I even use the super macro setting.  These help, but I have found that the +/- (I think its called the aperature.) is the most imortant.  On my camera I can display a bar graph of the lighting and I know to keep the red next to the right side of the graph.  I take several photos at the +/- on 0.0 then move up to +0.3, +0.7, and/or +1.0.  I download the photos to my computer and choose the best looking one as the one I save.  If I happen to use a black background, I tend to move the +/- into the negative numbers and do the same thing.

I know that a lot of people use a photo editing program on the computer to enhance their photos.  I saved my Microsoft Office Picture Manager from 2003 and still use it if I need to crop or brighten.  I like that I can change the light, medium, and dark areas with this program.  Plus it is easy to use!

These are the things I do to take photos of my jewelry.  I hope it will help some others out there!  Remember I am not a photographer and all my learnings have occurred from trial and error!  And a lot of errors!!!

Creating a New Design

For those of you who do not know me personally, you may find it hard to believe that I have a very hard time following other designers instructions!  No, it's not because their instructions are bad (usually they are better than mine)!  It's because I can't shut off my mind.  I am always thinking...Why do it this way?... What if I did it that way?  I usually screw up the beadwork!  In doing this, new designs are developed! (One must always have a positive side to any undesirable attribute!)

I came up with this X pattern when playing around with my beads and thought, "Aah-ha, this will be great!

So I put several Xs together and there it was...a beautiful bracelet!  However, when I put this bracelet on, it collapsed in upon itself.  So I moped around for a day and dreamed about how to "fix" it.  Hey sometimes it works!  Don't laugh!  It definitely worked this time.  With the addition of several 3 bead bridges stragetically placed between the motifs, no longer did the bracelet collapse!  So now I have a new design!

Look carefully between the center motif and the end motifs.  Notice there are no connecting bridge beads.  This bracelet collasped!

Compare this photo to the one above and notice the connecting bridge beads that keep this bracelet from collapsing!

But did I stop there....NO!  I had to see what would happen if I changed the direction of the Xs, and another design was developed!

Notice that now the connecting bridge beads are in a different place.  Yes, I had to add them here to keep this bracelet's structure!

I am in the process of writing an instruction packet for this new design.  I call it Morning Dew.  There are 3 bracelet possiblities and a pair of earrings included!  

One bracelet design not pictured is just a straight line of motifs connected together for those beaders who like a simple design!  Happy beading!!!
Norma Jean

RIght Angle Weave

Just the other day I was teaching a bracelet class where the students had to make a second row of right angle weave.  The first row was fine and fast...everyone "got" it.  But that naughty second row just causes some people to want to scream.  I do understand the reason....  In RAW it takes two rounds to finish one complete stitch.  That figure 8 with the change in direction just trips people up.  So I put together a diagram and I have it here as a freebie!  Enjoy!  Happy beading!!

Deciding what to Bead

After a weekend of yard work, I am itching to get back to my beading!!!  I have started several projects as usual and need to finish them!!!  I will need to make a decision about which one to work on!!!

I would love to work on these flowers but I need more daggers this color and I still haven't figured out where this is going.  I could have 3 flowers front and center on a necklace but that's been done so much!!  I would like to use the just ready to open flower but it seems a little big.  This will just have to wait.....my right brain needs to relax and work out the details!!!

Below is the bottom part of a pendant where I tried doing something different....I added wire to it!  I need to design a substantional bail for this that echos the shape reversed.  I am almost out of the green seed beads and have ordered more, so I guess I can't work on this until they come in!

I think I'll work on this necklace!!  I love the crown on the Swarovski pear shaped crystal.  I want this to have a royal feel.  The neck rope is small...made with size 15 seed beads.  I plan on adding an embellishment on every other section!  Yes...I definitely think I'll work on this!!!

But then again....I have been playing around with some of the new 2 hole bead shapes.  I'm not satisfied with any of these as yet...but I could try exploring some more!!!

If you want to know what I did finally work on...check my Facebook posts....I'll definitely post a photo when I finish my work!!!

Exploring the Possibilities with Super Duos

I see all these wonderful designs using Super duos and Twins!  They are all over the internet and Pinterest...free and fee based tutorials!  There are so many, but the thing I notice the most about them is that most designs are based on a flat plane, where the Super duo just adds length or width.  I even have one of these designs!

But what if we think of using Super duos to form another level to our work...yes actually making something 3D.  Here is a sample of this:

Imagine the possibilities...this could become a bangle or component for something else!  Try to use those specialty beads in new and different ways!!!  Be creative!!!  Make mistakes!!!  Create something new!!!

Southern Bead Retreat Projects

The Southern Bead Retreat takes place every two years at Callaway Gardens, located in rural south Georgia.  I drove down depending upon my phone for directions!  When I ended up in a deserted parking lot on Commerce Street in Pine Mountain, GA, I decided it was time to talk to a real person for directions!  I was so close...it took less than five minutes to get to Callaway.  I checked in, unloaded and went to take my first class from Kimberly Stathsis.  She is an outstanding teacher, who writes the best instructions ever!!  Here are the earrings I made in class!

They have a post bezeled behind the top tiny pearl.  The bottom pearl is encased in a nice pillow.  I just love this colorway!!!

Day two of the retreat was with Marcia DeCoster.  She rocks!  I learned how to do a fast herringbone.  Here is the necklace I made in her class.

The focal is a hand painted (by Marcia) wooden ball that is surrounded by a net of seed beads and crystals.  On the bottom is a wonderful sparkley bezeled rivoli.  The collar tops the focal and is hung on a beautiful fuchsia silk ribbon.

Day three was with Cynthia Rutledge.  She is a very patient teacher and an elegant lady!  Here is the wearable art necklace I made in her class.

The focal is a ceramic cab that depicts a famous painting.  Cynthia had many different cabs to choose from, some were especially artistic!  I especially loved making the dangle and the two beaded buttons for the closure.  I didn't enjoy making the tiny jump rings and placing them in the tiny space provided for the connections!  It was just a me thing as they weren't hard to make!!!

 

Day four was my shopping day....we won't go there except to say I had a blast!!!

Day five was with Sherry Serafini.  Her designs are fabulous and she is a very enthusiastic and creative teacher!  Here is the bracelet I made in her class.

We used set crystals and bezeled them and embellished around them to make bead embroidery components.  The focal cab was done in a similiar fashion. Then the components were connected with seed beads and crystal.  The photo doesn't do the bracelet justice!! 

Day six was with Dianne Fitzgerald.  She is just full of knowledge about beading!!!  We worked with right angle weave to make this bracelet.

I love the bling of this bracelet and we only had to count to four to make it!!  I finished the bracelet early and was so excited to wear it!!!

Day seven, the last day, was spent with Huib Petersen.  He is such a fun teacher with great stories! We were given the option of just making the ladybug with size 8 seed beads or the whole bracelet kit with size 11 seed beads.  I chose the size 11 seed beads.  Here is my ladybug and aphid!!!

This was by far the most challenging project of the week!  First I started with the wrong number of beads (I only had to count to four yesterday!) then I had to start over to get my increases in the right place!  Completed the project was a bracelet with bugs atop, but I chose to just make the bugs!  I think they are so cute!!!  I learned a lot about increasing and decreasing in peyote stitch!!!

All in all the week was filled with fun and lots of new learnings!!  I made so many new friends!!!  I didn't want to leave!!!

Happy beading!!

Southern Bead Retreat

I just returned from the third biannual Southern Bead Retreat.  There were fantastic teachers there!  Below is a photo of the group of teachers along with myself!  From left to right, is Dianne Fitzgerald, Huib Petersen, Sherry Serafini, Cynthia Rutledge, myself, and Marcia DeCoster!  Kimberley Stathsis was also a guest beader who taught an earring class, but she wasn't there for the whole retreat.

I will be posting the completed works in a later post....I still have to finish one kit!!!  For now I would like to tell you about the two new tools I found while there.

The first tool is a new type of beading mat.  Here is a photo of it.

I think it is made of a high quality cotton-based short velvet. The inside velvet on this mat is such a soft shade of sage green.  The seed beads seem to fall hole up when you pour them onto the mat making it easier to pick them up.   The padded ridge, made from a printed short velvet fabric, around the mat keeps your beads in place and also works as a comfortable hand/wrist rest.  I bought this mat from Cynthia Rutledge.  Here is the photo of the tag information.  It was a little pricey, but I felt it was worth the money invested!!

The second tool is probably the most important!  After a long day of beading, we would gather around tables in the home room and chat while we beaded.  We needed some relaxing refreshment, so it was a good thing I brought this tool!

Yes, you guessed it!  A wine bottle opener!!  The wine flowed, we beaded, we chatted, and we relaxed!!!!  We learned a lot and had a wonderful time!!!

Happy beading!!!