Daily Ramblings - So neglectful!

I really do feel like I've been horribly neglectful of my blog readers recently.  2012 has proven to be positive in many ways, but it certainly hasn't given me an over-abundance of time.  It's times like these that I'm glad I decided not to set myself a ton of new year resolutions - I blinked and it's March, and I've done a lot but strangely feel like I've not accomplished enough!

A quick rundown of the highlights from last week.  I finally started posting some new jewelry items in my shop.  For example, I found these donut beads a while back and immediately knew I wanted to present them with cord.  I really like how they turned out, and each bead is so unique!  I also changed the backgrounds for my jewelry photography.  The plain white wasn't highlighting the pieces in the way I wanted to show them, so found a really cool pack of metallic scrapbooking papers to use instead.  I also got another order of beads and findings from Artbeads.com, which I hope to start working with soon.  I see stitch markers being available some time in the future.


I missed Foto Friday again, but I've still been keeping up with my photography project. Here's a couple of my personal favorites from last week.

From the brilliant (if not slightly deranged) mind of my co-worker, Randy. 
He makes amazing rock sculptures, which I just had to photograph and share!

A photo from a poetry book I had at my parents' house. 
I think the illustrations are beautiful and hope to pass this down to my own kids some day.

Then, this weekend, I did an engagement photo shoot for some friends of mine - Marcy & Kent. Marcy rides horses, so we decided to go with a horse themed shoot, and spent the afternoon at Sullivan Canyon - one of L.A.'s little secret spots with beautiful trails to walk and check out the houses of the rich and (potentially) famous.  Then it was off to Santa Monica to catch the last few minutes of sunlight before the sun set on the horizon. We were lucky to have such a beautiful SoCal day. If anything, there may have been a little TOO much sun on occasion, if that's even possible! You can check out the entire set of photos here.


I have so many things that I want to get started on, and I'll find the time at some point (I hope). How has your 2012 been so far? Don't forget to take time to breathe!

Daily Tip - Jewelry photography

When I started photographing jewelry for my shop, Crave Creation, I wanted a consistent clean background with as few shadows as possible.  I discovered that for earrings, this wasn't a big problem as they're quite light. I taped some thread across my lightbox, and was able to suspend the earrings to photograph.  However, necklaces were proving to be a bigger problem.  I wanted a way to photograph them that would show how they hang but the thread I was using for the earrings just wasn't going to be strong enough.

The answer?  Use a wire coat hanger!  I bent the "neck" of the coat hanger at a 90 degree angle so that it provided a base, and then I can use the rest of the hanger to drape the necklaces from.  That allows me to take a photograph from this....

...to this...

...or even something more like this (which shows more of the necklace length).

I can also use this for earrings as the wires are easily moved to whatever position you need them in.  I finally have a purpose for those dry cleaning hangers!

I found this tip while surfing the internet on a lunch break.  Unfortunately I've forgotten which site I found it on (as I'd love to give credit where due) but it was too good not to share.

Daily Craft - Jewelry tags

I've been trying to decide what I want to do for jewelry tags now that I have my online shop up and running.  Naturally, I figured I could make the tags myself, but wanted to go for something that wouldn't be a huge time-suck, would still look nice, and wouldn't cost an arm and a leg!

I wanted to stick with simple cards that have the company name, my name, and the website - i.e. nothing too fussy that would be a distraction to the jewelry itself.  Using thin white card stock that I had on hand, I made some proto-types.  I already bought some small clear bags that the jewelry can be placed in for protection, and these cards will fit nicely inside them. I'll probably switch out the top to have my actual logo (although need a little Photoshop magic which isn't accessible to me on a lunch break) and, while I do like how clean the white looks, I'll be looking for some nicer card stock to print onto.

For now, it's a work in progress, but at least I finally have a starting point.  Of course, I'm open to suggestions!

Daily Craft - Some recent ventures!

The problem with having so many crafts at my disposal is deciding what to make on any given day.  Some things can be made pretty quickly, allowing me the chance to hop between crafts in a single sitting.  Other things are a much larger time investment.  Recently, I've been tempted by the quicker items - instant gratification for sure.  I've also been trying to build a decent inventory for my online shop, so it can be hard to find a balance between bigger pieces and a nice offering of smaller things to enjoy.  The most important thing though is that I'm still enjoying what I'm making as I'm of the opinion crafting shouldn't be a chore.  My most recent offerings were made in the same night, and are very different, but each fun to make in their own way.

First up is this pair of cluster/dangle earrings.  I'm a little obsessed with these cluster-type earrings.  It allows me to play with different beads that compliment each other, and they're just so cute!  I used a collection of glass beads, each with a slightly different color, shimmer, or size, all hanging from a silver chain.  

I named this pair Brenna, which comes from my Welsh heritage and love of Welsh names.  I find the names so lyrical, therefore decided to keep the Welsh theme for all my jewelry pieces.     

Then I made these quilted coasters using fabric scraps.  I'm not usually into floral prints, but this particular print is so bold - with the pops of bright red for contrast - that I fell in love with it the minute I saw it.  The only thing I'm sad about is not having much more of the fabric at hand seeing as it was a remnant to begin with.  The coasters are a simple but effective design and there is something very therapeutic about creating the quilted design for each.  

Not sure what I'm itching to make next but it's like a food craving and changes from day to day!  Are you multi-craftal (yes, I'm making up words)?  How do you find time for each of your crafts?