Having a clean Camera

This is SUPER IMPORTANT when you have an online store.  I realized earlier yesterday that it's been over a year since I've cleaned the lens on my camera, and during that year, the camera went on a vacation to Mexico, was loaned to my 1yr old son several times, and had an accumulation of saliva and dust.

Why is this important?  If you lens is dirty, you're not going to get a good focus on your items, and when you're photographing something close up, like I do for the store, you need a CLEAR and CRISP focus.  I cleaned my lens yesterday and am very happy with the results.  Check this latest listing out:

The focus is clear and crisp and the photo is beautiful!  There is very little noise in the black, the colors are strong and wonderful.

So, how do you clean your lens?  Very simply.  If it's a compact, turn it on, so the lens extends.   Get a cotton swab and wet one end with rubbing alcohol and then wipe the lens down with the swab, going in a circle starting from the outside.  Make sure to get as far to the sides as you can.  Depending on how dirty your lens is, you may want to dry it with the dry end of the swab, then wipe it down with the wet end again.

When it's clean, lightly blow on the lens to dry it.  DO NOT put your mouth too close to the lens.  The vapor from your breath can get into the lens and condense on the inner elements, making it impossible to focus.  Make sure to keep your mouth about eight inches away from the lens when you blow on it.  It should dry after a minute with no streaking.  If it streaked, clean it again.

And, there you have it!  Your lens is clean so you'll get cleaner photos.

Headpin Tutorial

So, I finally finished the tutorial for making headpins.  It's in .pdf format and hosted on Google Documents, so you can read it directly from the net or download it to read it later. 

Making Headpins

If you'd like to see a finished piece where I used this technique, see this ring.

A Brand New Item

We've just posted a brand new bracelet! It's a lot of fun. If you like ruby colored crystals, this one's got'em!


On a side note, we've been very busy these past couple weeks. Or however long it's been. I've had a bunch of work to do in my day job and Karla's been working in every bit of free-time she's had to create new pieces. She has a jewelry party scheduled for later this month. A lady from church is setting it up. And I'll get to stay home and take care of the little guy. I'm sure she'll have a lot of fun!

And, I still have those photos for the tutorial, I just haven't made time to write anything yet. Hopefully soon!

Bunch Ring & Our First Tutorial!

Well... the tutorial is soon to come.  I've taken the photos for it and will write the text up tomorrow.  I'm so tired right now!

As I said in the last two posts, I've wanted to make a ring out of wire and beads.  A Bunch Ring.  And I've succeeded in doing that!  The design came out of 'Step by Step Wire Jewelry', but I made it!  I'm so proud of myself, can't you tell?

So, our first tutorial is going to be on making headpins.  I hope our readers will find it useful.  I hope to post the completed tutorial tomorrow.  If I get too busy, well, it'll probably have to wait until the weekend!

Tutorials?

I've been thinking about how to drive more traffic to this blog and the store over the past couple days.  I read some tips on Etsy and they say that it's beneficial to make tutorials and other things that are interesting and that people want.  I wonder if that would work?

What kind of tutorials should we make?  Simple things, like, putting a clasp on a bracelet?  Crimping the end of a necklace?  Or, should we design pieces of jewelry and put up a tutorial to make the entire piece?  It bears thinking on.

I know that when Karla and I first started, tutorials helped a LOT!  Now that we're (a little) more experienced, maybe we should help pass on our knowledge...

Etsy Promoting

Etsy is all about promoting your store, your items. I think they do very little advertising for themselves, let alone anyone listing at their site.

So, to promote our items, I create a thread in the Promotions forum everytime I post a new item. And it just annoys me to no end that people derail our thread to promote their items. Is it so hard to create your own promotion thread? Or are they just afraid that they won't get any traffic to their item? What's the deal? I wish I had an answer. It seems like it would be common sense, courtesy, to leave the thread they created to promote their item alone. Why should you steal their thunder?

Oh, well. That's my rant. Soon I'm going to make a tutorial of product photography and making your own lightbox. Seeing as that's my (Devon) specialty with the store, I think I can do that. I had someone ask about it on Etsy the other day. So, stay tuned and watch for more information!