Learning to Photograph Jewelry

I've gotten some great feedback on my wood jewelry and I've decided to list some of them in my shop. So far I've photographed about 10 pair of earrings and I'm finding that jewelry is a whole new ballgame for me when it comes to product photography.

I'm used to photographing larger objects and most of which stand on their own. Jewelry is small, but you still need to show its size and how it hangs. And since Jesse (my boyfriend) doesn't have pierced ears, I'm attempting to photograph myself wearing the jewelry...lol!

I know there are several jewelry artists that read my blog and many jewelry buyers, so I'm looking for input! Above are the two photos I'm debating using for my feature photo. Are either of them eye catching? Which should I use and why?

Here are the other photos I plan to use in my listing. What are your thoughts? Are there better angles I should be using?

Next I hope to photograph some of my pendants. I suppose I better get all my earring photos edited first!

 Thanks in advance for your input and advice :)

Cutest Invitations EVER

I got the opportunity to create the cutest invitations EVER last week!

Little Noah will turn one in November and his mommy wanted special invitations for his birthday party. Of course Noah will have a Noah's Ark themed party :) His mommy requested invitations cut in the shape of an ark...how cool!

These turned out SO cute! The funnest invitations I've made to date!

Noah's mommy and daddy are buying him an ark toy chest for his birthday and wanted helping filling it with animals. So they are requesting that each guest bring a specific animal. They were going to include a picture of sticker of the animal, but I suggested engraving a picture of the animal on the invitation and they loved it! Each invitation will have a different animal on it.

This got my mind thinking of other shapes I could cut out instead of just rectangles. Now my mind is thinking of states/countries for destination weddings, a tree for wedding invitations, and how about those Mason Jar Invitations I made...why not cut those out as well! Oh what fun!!!

Custom Key Chain

If you saw my Wordless Wednesday post last week, you saw that we got a "new" truck. We had to get a spare set of keys made and Jesse mentioned that he wanted to buy a cool key chain for them. I said: Why buy one when I can make one :)

I love getting to make things for him :) Coming up with things for guys can be hard! So I thought these key chains would be a great gift idea!

I cut the key chain in the shape of the Chevy bow tie. Then I engraved 454 (the motor size) on one side and his last name on the other.

 I wanted him to carry it around for a while to see how it holds up. I told him to carry it in his pocket with some loose change. Put it to the test! I want to know how well they hold up before I list them in my shop. I want to have them listed by fall as I think they'll make great Christmas gifts for the guys :) And maybe even groomsman gifts!

Graduation Banner

Yesterday I teased you with an In the Works photo. I've been working on something new for a friend's daughter's graduation. It's a banner!

It was also a tricky project! And rather time-consuming as well! I started by cutting all the purple zebra paper into strips. Then each piece had to be fan-folded at 1/4" increments! I placed the finished "flower" on a large black circle and then topped each one with a smaller black circle and letter.

Joining each piece was the tricky part. I thought ribbon would be my best option, but I think I put my holes down too low and they didn't hang well with ribbon. I thought I was going to have to punch a second set of holes higher up, but finally found a better solution. I used silver brads to attach each circle and it worked great! I put ribbons on each end so it can be hung.

I love the finished product and can't wait to see it hanging at her graduation party!

I thought about adding these to my shop as I think they're fun and cute, but I'm not sure I want to make another one quite yet...LOL :)