Wordless Wednesday...

Tip Tuesday....Photographing Jewelry Tutorial

There is no denying it. It doesn't matter how fabulous your jewelry masterpiece is. If the photos aren't good, it won't bring lookers and potential buyers. It is also no secret that photographing jewelry is one of the most hardest subjects to capture. However, there are a few secrets to making your jewelry photographs look like they came fresh from a catalog. It may be worth noting that these secrets can be used for photographing any small item. Let's face it, capturing small items on film that look enticing in the photo is much harder than landscapes and "fun-with-your-friends" photos. In this series, I will walk you through everything I have learned in the last two years of trial and failure in the hopes that it will help fine tune your photography.

1. Light
Please don't waste your money on one of those light tents that is available for jewelry photography UNLESS you live in an area that experiences months without sun. I happen to live in New York by Lake Erie, therefore, we go through spells of lake effect snow and cloudiness from December to February. In this case, a light tent is paramount if I am going to need to photograph during those months. Now that spring is here, however, I am retiring my light tent until next year. In the future, I will have a tutorial on using a light tent.

With that being said, every one's house has light. Take a few days to scope the way the light comes in your house through the south-facing windows on sunny days. Every window will have a daily period of diffused lighting, then bright light, then diffused lighting. You want to try to pinpoint the time of day that the light goes through it's first diffused period. To describe diffused, look at the light that is cast on the carpet. If the light is about a 45 degree angle, that is perfect!

Notice how the sun hitting the floor is at an angle. This means that sun is on its way up but is not up all the way. This lighting will be much softer. This time of day for me is about 11am depending on the time of the year. In the months of winter, I have to revert back to the tent because the sun is so low in the sky even in it's highest position that this time of day doesn't render enough light for me. (In actuality, this window is either north facing or the sun is on it's way down...however, it's the angle of the light cast I wanted to point out).

If the light shining on the carpet is straight ahead, the sun is in it's highest position in the sky as in this photograph. (BTW, these photos are sourced...click the pictures to get to the source of origin.). By this time of day, the sun will be too harsh, not to mention, in your way.

Now that you have found your time (and it will fluctuate, so pay attention to it), choose a room with a table large enough to spread things out on, making sure it is pretty close to the window. You don't want to photograph on the floor as you are greatly limiting the angle options of your photos. You definitely don't want it too close to the window and you certainly don't want the item you are photographing to be in the direct sunlight cast from the window. You only want to take the luminance from the light coming in to aid in the lighting of your photo session. This will eliminate any need for artificial light with will add either pink, yellow or blue tones to your image.

The specs of my area are as follows: my light source window is 36" x 45" and I use my dining room table which is about 3 1/2' from the window. I do have a light source that I use over my table while I'm photographing to add extra luminance if it is needed. It is a chandelier using 5 daylight colored bulbs. Here is a picture of my "photo shooting area". You don't need a fancy-schmancy area, all you need are a window and a table. The table is important because if you shoot on the floor, you are seriously limiting potential camera angles. I learned this the hard way.

As you see, the window is really not all that large, but at about 11am, the light filters in angled towards the back wall (you can kind of see the luminescence already and it is only 9:30am). You can also see the artificial light source I use to boost the luminance for the pictures. I recommend that if you are going to use artificial light sources that you install day time lamps. They do have a blue tinge to them which may show up in the photographs, so only use them if you really, really need them.

Oh, one more really important piece of advice. Wear white while you are taking the pictures. I don't care if it is your favorite bathrobe or an old out-of-style white sweater you picked up from a thrift shop. Wear white. Whatever tone of the clothes you are wearing while taking the pictures will effect the light in the actual photograph image. Since I wear mostly black and neutral colors, my clothes tend to steal the light from my shots. One day last summer I did an experiment and took a white sweater from my daughter's closet, put it on and shot a few photos. I was amazed at how much brighter the pictures were.

So, for the next couple of days, keep a log of where the light falls in your windows over the course of the day so you can pinpoint when the best time to take your pictures falls. The point of this is so that as your inventory builds up, you can have them all ready to take at the proper time on the next sunny day.

Here's what to expect in the coming weeks:
Part II: Composition and Background, What best compliments
Part III: Your Camera and Angles, Don't be that photo-shooter
Part IV: Photo Editing, You can make something of nothing

Monday Moodboard....Crocus Fever!

Clockwise from top left:

Purple Striped Crocus Photo Scrabble Tile Pendant - $6.95
by JewelsbyJMarie

Crocus Earrings - $18
by lkfarnsworth

Daffodils and Crocus Flowers Bracelet - $17
by KIMMSMITH

Victorian Crocus Clay Earrings - $16
by greatexpectations

Pandora Style Lampwork Bead Set - $32
by BeadCrazed

Purple Crocus Satin Lei - $45
by foreverlei

Purple Crocus Earrings - $13
by EternalEden

Regretsy...Making the Cut

By now, I'm sure many of you have at least heard of Regretsy. If not, click on the pic above to get to the site.

Regretsy: Where DIY meets WTF....When It Looks Like You Made It With Your Foot!

Regretsy is a fun little site that scours the handmade world looking for items that look like, well...you made it with your foot! There are some hilarious things out there! But there is a little story behind my excitement...

Months and months ago, I was scanning the Etsy Forums and found a thread that a website is looking for handmade items to feature in an upcoming book being published by Random House. All I saw was "handmade items to feature in an upcoming book", totally missing the fact that it was from Regretsy.

"Regretsy? What's Regretsy? Oh well....featured in a book? I can do that!"

So, I go to my email program and offer this piece up, attaching the photo:

Right after I sent the email, I went to the Regretsy site. (insert dark cloud here). Oh, you have got to be kidding me! What did I do? So I sent an email back right away:

"Please disregard my last email. I didn't realize this was supposed to be for horrendous pieces that look like you made it with your foot! I found this in a link...guess I should have read it better!"

Later on that day, I get this response from Helen Killer:

"Oh, I'm so glad you followed up on this! I didn't know how to tell you that your work was way too nice for this project!"

For the rest of the day, I could not get this mistake out of my head. The following day, I came up with this idea (because it is better to make lemonade from your lemons instead of just letting them sit and rot):

"You know, after I realized that I send a very inappropriate piece (the gorgeous Victorian cuff), I began thinking about a piece I have appropriately named Ugly Betty. She has been living in my shop for a year and a half now and I think it is clear that no one wants her. She only has 69 views and no hearts....after a year and a half! I thought of axing her and giving her to the garbage dump in my area, but I have grown very fond of her ugly beauty and just can't let her go. Literally, she looks like purple intestines. After I really understood the scoop behind this whole book, I thought, "You know, Ugly Betty may find appreciation here!" She might be a perfect match for your book! Check her out:"

Shortly after, I get this response:

"Wow! It's hilarious and I love it!
Hats off to you, Lisa. Clearly, you're someone with a lot of skill and taste, and you make beautiful things. But you also have a sense of humor about your work, and can laugh the things that don't come out as well. That is very rare.
I will definitely add this to my submissions to Random House, and we'll see what they think. It'll be a few weeks before I know what's going to be included, but I'll keep you updated. I think everything has to be decided before Christmas.
Thank you for your submission, your support and your sense of humor!"

Since my submission, I make regular visits to Regretsy to laugh at the items, but also to make sure none of my stuff is there!

(Fast Forward Time)

Last week, I got the confirmation from Helen Killer that Ugly Betty was chosen to be in the book! I know I should feel insulted, but hey....lemonade, right? I am just glad that Ugly Betty finally found a place where she can be appreciated. Hmmmm....maybe she will finally sell!

Photo Stroll Through My....well, Photos *AKA* 2 Long Years of Bad Photography

Inspired by Nfall2rt's and Lenox Knit's recent posts about strolling through beautiful pieces that they have sold, I have decided to take you through a stroll of two years worth of learning how to photograph jewelry. I probably don't have to tell you that it doesn't matter how good you are at photography (I even studied it in college!), photographing jewelry is a whole other world! In fact, for Tip Tuesday, I will post some photography tips!

As a note, I use a Kodak 4 mega pixel DX6490 digital camera that I traded my SLR film camera for. At the time of the trade (2004), it was a really good camera! All photos were taken with manual settings in macro.

Date: January 2008
My first piece listed on Etsy which sold two weeks after listing it. Judging by this horrible photo, it is a wonder it sold at all! At the time, I was using Microsoft Photo It! for cleaning up the photos...bad mistake. Not enough features. This photo is washed out and dull and the angle is not very interesting...

Date: April 2008
I hated my set up of draping jewelry on a crystal wine glass over lace (too cheesy) and water colored textures on cold press watercolor paper. Too bad it looks twice as cheesy! And talk about harsh lighting and bad overhead photography! It's a wonder this one sold, either.

Date: July 2008
Feeling exasperated by my horrible backgrounds, I tried to adopt that "total white background" that was so popular on Etsy back then. Remember the showcase in the upper right hand corner that randomly showed images of items with a solid white background? I tried so hard to make it there, however, over time we all discovered that it is the same items being shown over and over again! Blank white that make pieces seem to float just was not working my jewelry...oh, and the angle is super-horrible!

Date: December 2008
So, to remedy the "white" problem, I did what every other Etsy photographer did....raided my scrapbook paper box! Which actually made the problem worse than the lace! Background is too busy and item is still a little too dark. The ring gets lost in the photo. However, by this time I finally broke down and purchased a copy of Paint Shop Pro (Photoshop is still a little too expensive for me and PSP is a good competing software program), so you do see some visible improvements....
Date: March 2009
I put the scrapbook paper away and tried the "furniture in front of the window" approach. Wow...could the lighting get any harsher than that! Even PSP couldn't help this one :) However, the angle is much better and the colors are a little more richer despite the harsh lighting.
Date: June 2009
Here's where the biggest mistake of all came in. Purchasing that horrible photography tent! It came with two halogen lamps that you put close to the sides of the tent to diffuse the lighting. Ooops, it diffused it way too much and messed with the smart-white balance. No matter what light source setting I put the camera on, they all looked either pink or blue! Can you believe these pieces even sold? Horrible!

Date: July 2009
In an attempt to remedy this problem, I purchased what is called a "twinkler" lamp. It is actually a LED lamp that you point directly in front of the item. The theory is that it makes things sparkle a little. Epic fail...all it did was keep the background pink but made the items have a blue cast....

Date: November 2009
So, I took my photo tent, lined the back and bottom with thick white batting, covered it with white special occasion fabric, took one of the layers of the sides off and grabbed my favorite Pottery Barn tea cup and saucer set. I ditched the "twinkler" light and added another light over the top of the tent. I also played with better angles. Wala! Things are getting much better....two years later! However, I do miss drinking peppermint tea out of my cup and saucer!

Date: March 2010
Since I don't have room in my studio to keep my tent up all the time and am super sick of putting it up, taking it down, dropping the halogen lamps, buying more bulbs at $7 a whack, I have adopted my most recent way of photographing jewelry. At 11am, the light comes in my dining room window so wonderfully. I purchased a yard of white and a yard of grey satin. I drape the satin on the table, arrange my piece and shoot! I don't know, I think the item pops out a little better than it has in the past...
Should I go back to using the tent again? I am so very sick of dragging it out and putting it away, but there is no where in my studio or home that I can leave it up all the time. I am hoping to make this last set-up work.

Now, with all that said, your honest opinions of my first photos to my last photo is greatly appreciated! Please let me know if you think I should go back to the tent, or fly on the dining room table......don't be afraid of hurting my feelings....I'm tough! However, I do dread having to go back and photograph everything ALL OVER AGAIN...for the millionth time!

Fabulous Friday....Wrapping Up The Week

Friday is finally here and I'm wrapping up my week. My day will be filled with finishing the processing of orders that came in this week and hopefully making the final touches on projects I'm completing so they can be photographed and listed next week.

I received a lot of great comments on my post yesterday about advertising...thank you to all my commenters! It appears that you have helped several people with this issue! I realized that I utilize more advertising than I actually thought! I don't know why I got it in my head that advertising isn't advertising unless you pay for it, but Twitter and Facebook are advertising, too. Now if I could only remember to keep them all updated! Why does there never seem to be enough time in a week to accomplish everything I set out to do after my Monday staff meeting?! Doesn't it seem that there is always one more thing to do?

Before I forget the shout-out, Casto Creations is hosting a giveaway from Dana's Jewelry Design.
You may remember my posting a couple weeks ago for a giveaway of this fabulous copper set by Dana. Well, I lost, but never fear! Casto Creations is giving you another chance! And it's easy...you don't have to comment on her brother's girlfriend's mother's blog 20 times! For a chance at this great set, click on the picture!

Which reminds me, a dear blogging friend will be hosting a giveaway for me in the coming weeks...keep your eyes pealed for the info forthcoming!

In other news, I finished Harriet and Friends 1000 Comment Challenge for the month of March. See my little award on the right?! Whew...it was a lot more work than I thought! I actually ended up racking up 1002 comments, I got so into the swing of finishing it. Harriet and Friends will be having another challenge in April, so if you want to get in on the fun, stop on by! You, too, could have a cute little widget! Be warned, though, you must stay disciplined to complete it!

Let's see...I baked a bunch of rolls for a fund raiser at church, nursed my teen daughter back to health this week (she had bronchitis and another sinus infection), finally got around to applying for an Etsy street team I have been wanting to join, and am working furiously to inventory my pieces to chart the cost of goods per piece. All this while trying to create new pieces! Whew...busy week!

So, why the nose art picture at the top of the post? I love all things World War II, even the nose art on the planes! I have been dying to paint my own little nose art on the front quarter panel of my Jeep...imagine how cool it would be! Bettie (my glossy black 1987 Jeep Cherokee tricked up with dark tinted windows...can you tell I love her?) with a cool painting of a pin up girl pulling up in the church parking lot! This is why I haven't done it yet! I love Bettie so much (of course, she's named after Bettie Page!) that every ding, scratch and rust spot gets her a visit to the doctor so fast...She is so well taken care of, if you didn't know Jeeps, you would never know she was over 10 years old! I want to still be driving her when I'm 80! If I want Bettie to take care of me, I have to take care of her, but what can I say? She's my girl so that's easy!

Thinking Thursday.....Advertising

So, I'm thinking about the whole advertising thing and need your opinions. When I met with my accountant to do my taxes for last year, I had a very small amount put into advertising; something like $40 or so. She indicated that the IRS wants to see advertising expenses in your taxes which is a great positive reinforcement to do it. By the way, she also said it helps to show that you have your own website, which I do, I just need to finish tweaking it.

As far as the advertising thing, I have done Adgitize, EntreCard and Project Wonderful, however, Adgitize and EC advertise my business blog, not my actual business. Advertising is advertising and I have made sales through my blog in the past, so I will keep that up, but I want to start incorporating more diverse advertising into my business this year. My main form of advertising is renewing items. If you think about it, it's cheap ($.20 an item) and brings the item up to the front (advertising is drawing attention to your stuff, right?) My husband suggested we make up fliers and put them in people's newspaper slots in their mailboxes. I'm not so sure I like this idea...I hate when we get junk in ours. It just annoys me (I don't know why) so I am trying to keep him at bay on actually doing this.

Here is where your opinion comes in:

1. What forms of advertising have you relied on for your business?
2. Which one's worked the best?
3. Can you state to the IRS that Etsy renewing fees are your advertising?

Please take a moment to comment your opinions on this :)

Wordless Wednesday

"Fashion Queen"
Artist: AllKindsOfArt
$20

3 Minute Challenge...

Today, I am challenging you to find three minutes of solitude to pray for our country....

Don't you think it's time we start asking for help?

AHHHH.....SPAM!!!!

In this case, it's

"They're coming to my blog, I'm in a Jam..
I know they're going to leave some SPAM!"

Really? Really?!

I know you have seen it on your blog, too. Spammers saying something about a college assignment.
Yea, right.

Spammers touting their marketing links and knowledge.
Who cares?

Spammers leaving links to sites, spammers leaving non-working links to sites.
Learn your html, pal.

What about the random word list spam that makes absolutely no sense?
ADD much?

And then, of course, the infamous porn and Viagara spam.
Honey, if buttons turn you on, that's your business. What you do to help that situation has no concerning of me!

As it has been mentioned before by another one of my fav bloggers, this only occurs on older posts. However, sometimes they really do appear on new posts. Well, since I don't want to wade through pages and pages of posts and comments all the time to keep checking them, I have had to institute comment moderation for older posts. Sorry for the inconvenience to my regular readers and blogging friends.

You think you are going to up your rank in the blogging world by leaving these pathetic comments on people's blogs. Hello? Haven't you heard the latest news? Bloggers can delete comments!!!! Doh!

I'm sure you understand. Spam has no place on kitchen table....or my blog!

Spammers, Spammers, Go away...
Everybody else, Have A Nice Day!

UPDATE:
Since writing this post...I got a spam for weight loss.
Do you have any idea how skinny I am?!
I can't even bank my own blood because I'm too thin to donate! And I have Type O Negative!!!!
Sheesh!!!!

I Learn Something Every Year...

...when it comes to taxes. As you know, I began my business officially in January 2008. I got my business certificate and my state tax id number. I purchased a little bit of supplies, got my account on Etsy, sampled a few craft shows and ran with the ball. Taxes for 2008 were a piece of cake - total amount sold vs. supplies and expenses. A guaranteed loss, but should be expected. Before this business venture, I was a financial counselor working for an agency accredited by the New York State Banking Department. I specializing in credit and bankruptcy. I saw so many clients who opened a business, took out massive loans to purchase start-up inventory, then had to file for bankruptcy when the business didn't take off as they anticipated. Their problem was that they were still liable for loans they took out for start-up supplies that they couldn't repay. I figured that I would take the years of experience I had counseling these ex-business owners and apply it to my business. I was determined to keep my business out of debt.

So, I ran with this concept. I purchased very little supplies, using mostly what I had on hand to create my pieces in 2008. I purchased little equipment; only what I needed to get started. I was so proud of myself that my business did not carry a debt load that I would be responsible for should the business venture fail.

Now, as you business owners know, the IRS expects you to make a profit of over $400 within your first five years of operation. If you fail to do so, you are considered a hobby and they will shut your business down. I figured I would not make a profit for the first couple years but still refused to get my business wrapped up in debt.

With all that being said, this is what I learned this year doing my taxes that I am offering to you if you are early in your venture or considering beginning one. This is actually worth looking at the more we hear about the IRS toying with the idea of applying this rule to non-business owners who sell online:

1) Purchase as much supplies as you can afford in your first year of operation.
As stated before, I did not purchase many supplies in an attempt to keep my business out of debt. This both helped and hurt me this year:

A) Helped: It certainly helped my pocket as my business has absolutely no debt tied to it. None. This was paramount in importance to me right from the start.

B) Hurt: When you are in your first year of business, you can fully deduct ALL the supplies you purchased during the course of the year. This is because the IRS understands that you have no supplies and need to purchase them to set up your business. No supplies, no product. However, in your second year of business, out of all the supplies you purchase in that year, you can only deduct the ones that were actually used. So, if you purchased a 16" strand of cultured pearls for $8 but only sold one piece using several of the pearls within the course of the year, you can only deduct the pearls on the strand that were used in that piece. Say there are 68 pearls on the strand. Each pearl essentially costs $0.12 each. Now, say you used 30 of those pearls for a bracelet that sold that year. You can only deduct $3.60 out of the $8 that you paid for the strand you purchased that year. If none of the remaining pearls sold that year, you cannot deduct them until a year that they do sell.

Well, I was not aware of this. Now, remember that I didn't purchase too many supplies in my first year. I took much of the profits from my first year and used it for supply shopping the second year. The problem? I could only deduct the supplies that were actually sold. Had I known this, I would have tried to purchase more supplies in the first year. So, if beginning a new venture, try to purchase as many supplies as you viably can in your first year to get the full deduction right away. I still advise you do everything you can to remain debt-free, however. A good piece of advice would be to wait one calendar year from the time you want to begin your venture and start setting money aside so you can pay for a larger amount of supplies with cash.

2) Keep track of the cost of all supplies used per piece after the first year and take that figure to your accountant at tax time.
I actually have a software program that does that for me. There are two on the market and I have tried both (one out of necessity because my first program encountered bugs that the creator couldn't fix right away when I needed them fixed immediately for business sake). I prefer Jewerly Design Manager Pro. With this program, you input your supply inventory as you acquire it. After your pieces are made, you inventory them in the program and it calculates the exact cost of supplies. So, needless to say, I had this information on my computer already. However, I didn't realize that my accountant needed that information and didn't even consider recording it for her and bringing it with me. Therefore, we had to "guestimate" what my cost of actual supplies used was for 2009. I had no clue what to guestimate and my mouth opened up and said "I don't know, 10% maybe?" Big mistake. It was actually more than that. Think about that: The lesser the actual amount, the higher your profits show. The higher your profits show, the greater your chances of paying self-employment taxes. I am not trying to discourage you from paying self-employment taxes, I actually think it is a good thing to have to pay this tax. Why? Because it means that your business is actually profitable, and if it is profitable, you are definitely doing something right! I am trying to make a point to be sure your figures are absolutely correct so you don't pay the taxes in error. So, when I got home, I started a new spread sheet of all the pieces that sold so far in 2010, the date it sold, the price it sold for, the total cost of supplies used in the piece and the remainder that would show as my profit according to the IRS. Now, when I do my 2010 taxes, all I have to do is total the columns and take the figures with me when I see my accountant.

3) Be sure to set aside 15% for every sale so you are prepared to pay the taxes should you show a profit.
Due to my ignorant little error, I showed a profit. The profit came dangerously close to the prescribed profit for self-employment tax. Had it been over that figure, I would have had to come up with 15% of that right away...something I didn't plan for. So, in the future, I will be setting aside 15% of each piece sold. That way, if I do break over $400 profit next year, I will be prepared to pay it right way. If I don't break over $400, I can always use it to upgrade my tools and equipment. Don't get me wrong, part of me was elated that I showed a profit in my second year of business. However, the profit was an erroneous number because I was not properly prepared come tax preparation day. My records do not show a profit, my mistake does.

4) Finally, remember that your labor and overhead is not a deduction.
I don't know how it got it in my head that it was, but I did. I figure price of each piece like this:

• cost of supplies
• my labor to create the piece
• a certain amount for overhead (utilities, marketing, research, designing, supply shopping, etc)
• markup for your profit (which the software program helps you with)

I had it in my head that my profit is the markup and the rest is deductible. I'm actually a little embarrassed by this. I still don't know how I got this in my head. According to the IRS, profit = cost of supplies - sale price of the piece. Don't make that mistake.

So, to sum it up, try at all costs to keep your business out of debt, but don't shortchange yourself in the end by making simple mistakes in your second year of business. In my case, everything worked out very well. Had I been better prepared, I would have been a little more satisfied with myself.

Wordless Wednesday...Tomorrow You Get The Post...

Fruits of My Labor...

Handwired Button Rings - Oh What Buttony Fun!

As I promised myself, I spent some time in the studio. Here is what I came up with! I made a fist full or rings (pictured above), and created another button princess length necklace with matching earrings. I beadwove around the buttons and created a piece based on the components I made.
Close-up of the pendant part of the necklace:

Close up of the earrings:


Oh, and I played around with altered pages. One of my favorite blogs is Jane Campbell's Altered Pages. Well, her creative pages inspired me to try my own. Believe me, folks, these pages are not as easy as you think! You may have to click on the picture of the page to bring up a larger image to see it better:

So, that's what I was up to all weekend. But I think you already knew I would be :)

Giveaway Alert!

Found a couple great giveaways I thought you might want to check out!

Akane Designs is having a giveaway for Herrohachi!

To enter, simply click on Akane's banner at the top of the post. Rules and such are there. Hurry, though, it ends March 13, 2010!

My favorite thing from Herrohachi!

******************************************************************************
Here's another giveaway:is doing a givaway for Beth Stone Studios. Here is what is up for grabs:


To enter, click on the Etsy Interviewers banner above :)

Working In The Weekend...

Everyone is finally healthy and the sun has been shining for three days in a row. I actually got tons of photography done over the last few days. Believe me, I had so much backed up to do! So, I will be spending the weekend listing things and hibernating in my studio trying to get caught up on inventory. I have missed so much work over the last 6 weeks caring for everyone who has been affected by the multitude of viruses that have been slamming our house. Am I angry? Not a chance...I don't mind working the weekend away as long as it is in my studio doing things I love to do. I already told my husband not to plan anything with me this weekend. You know you love your job when you look forward to working the weekend away :)

So, what do you plan on doing over the weekend?

Thinking Thursday...Storing Left-Over Seed Beads

How do you store your left-over seed beads? Not new one's, but the one's that you have just a little bit left. Not enough for a complete project, but enough to embellish something.

So, I'm thinking today that I may want to change the way I store my left-over seed beads. I already have a terrific storage system for my other beads that serves me quite well, but what about those darned seed beads?

The picture above is how I store my left-over stash. I keep them in little plastic bags in one of those tiny drawer chests that men use to store their hardware. Of course, one drawer per color (pink, red, orange, yellow, etc.)

I prefer to keep my full-supply stash in a dresser drawer in the studio and also prefer to use the same brand Japanese seed beads for uniformity in my pieces. However, I tend to inherit a lot of people's left-over stash (as well as my own), and I guess I was thinking of different ways of storing them without spending a small fortune. Sheesh, storage boxes can be so expensive!

Maybe I already have this simplified as much as I could possibly have. That's where you come in. Perhaps you have a better storage system than me and would like to share....

So, how do you store your left over seed beads?

Found a Couple Givaways...

Dana is giving away this gorgeous copper set she designed and created, but you gotta hurry up...the contest ends March 3! Click on her picture or banner to get to the post.....HURRY!

***********************************************************************************

Beautiful garden weed I tend
allowing to grow in the Summer's light
the Lace of Queen Anne

The second contest is for another artist I admire: Waterrose. She is giving away free advertising on her blog and a chance to win this gorgeous Queen's Anne Lace bracelet...that I have been drooling over for about a year now :)

Click on the picture below to go to the post:



Enjoy!

Studio Tip Tuesday...

My tip for Tuesday:

Don't Run With Scissors!

No matter how tempted you are, even if you are in the studio all by yourself. This poor lad ran with scissors, and look what happened to him! Learn from young zombie boy!

By the way, this image is a poster by Fizzgig. To purchase the poster or a print, click on the image :)

There. Now you have your tip. Have a great day!

Monday Moodboard...

Anyone need a little blast of spring? Me too! Enjoy these great Chartreuse Etsy finds!

Cup Cozy
$12

Summer Purse
$30

Altered Couture Empire Waist Dress
$14

6 Chartreuse Leaves Ceramic Buttons
$30