Taking Jewellery Photos

I've been toying around with the idea of taking modelled photographs of my jewellery for a while, wondering  which friends can be bribed with the promise of a bottle of wine or two in return for standing around for a few hours, where to take the photos for the best light? what to wear to show off the jewellery at its best.  With so many questions I usually end up putting my ideas to the side for another day.

But a couple of weeks ago on a rainy weekend I decided to take the leap with my 10 year old as the photographer and me the model, just a bit of fun to see how the photos would turn out.  So with a simple white background and some adjustments to the camera settings Amelie was ready to point and click!

Pre-edited photo shots for jewellery

Above you can see the pre-edited photos, its not that easy this modelling lark trying to ensure the jewellery is being displayed at its best and as can only be expected from a 10 year old Amelie did bore of this photographer business quite quickly with shots of the cat and anything else she could snap in between.

I did however get a couple of shots that where usable from this test and with the help of Picasa 3 managed to edited some shots that I am quite pleased with.

Edited Shots of Jewellery with Picasa 3

And a couple of bracelet shots...

Edited Shots of Jewellery with Picasa 3

I think the results are quite promising especially with the use of editing within Picasa 3 a free to download photo editing programme.  My next goal is to bribe the old man into taking some shots as Amelie has now tired of a future in photography.

What do you think of modelled photo shots do you think they play an important part in deciding if you want to bu an item of jewellery esp from online?

This post is part of Handmade Monday don't forget to check out more great crafter's over on Handmade Harbours Handmade Monday

Polymer Clay Lava Beads Tutorial

Here's a simple tutorial for Polymer Clay Lava Beads, perfect if your new to polymer clay and finding your feet with new techniques.

Lava beads are created using polymer clay and sea/rock salt to create a wonderful effect all over the beads resembling lava.

To start all you need is some sea or rock salt, scrap clay and some clay in the chosen colour for your beads.

Polymer Clay Lava Beads Tutorial - Prepare all your items ready to start

 

 

 

My polymer clay beads ready for salt application

 Once you've created your beads using your scrap clay and outer colour layer (above), start applying the sea salt to your beads by either rolling and squishing the salt into your clay or applying the salt to the beads by hand, you will probably find that your beads will lose there desired shape as you apply the salt into the clay as seen below.

 

My Polymer Clay Lava Beads with sea salt applied loses its shape

 Because I want my beads to be round I gently re-rolled them between my palms this helped to embed the sea salt deeper into the beads which creates a deeper effect, it also give you the opportunity to see if you want to apply more salt to any large gaps on the beads.

 

My polymer clay lava beads have been re rolled, embedding the sea salt

Once your happy with your beads its time to create your bead holes and cook them.  Once they are cooked and cooled simply place the beads into a glass of water and leave them to allow the sea salt to dissolve.

My polymer clay lava beads placed in water to dissolve the salt

It does'nt take long for the salt to dissolve so dry your beads off and they will be ready to use, here's how mine turned out below.

My Polymer Clay Lava Beads

This is quite a nice and simple technique which I plan to use for some future designs.

I would also like to take the opportunity to apologise for my photo quality here, unfortunately my camera decided to die on me and I had to use my phone, sorry.

This post is part of Handmade Monday don't forget to check out more great crafter's over on Handmade Harbours Handmade Monday

Treasury Tuesday

'Let's Play Outside' by TJBdesigns

Children's Play... pumpkinandbutt... $18	Turquoise duck desi... SewGifted $7	Vintage shot glasse... reconstitution... $24.5	Blue Owl Earrings, ... LaurasJeweller... $6
Turquoise Heart Pen... Lottieoflondon $12	knit slipper socks ... piabarile $25	Ford Treasury of St... MonkiVintage $28	Old Fashion Banana ... SerendipityCan... $3
Portlandia Put A Bi... Engelfelt $12	New 2013 Collection... aynurdereli $34	Floral art print, y... OneDesign4U $39	Flower Bobby Pins, ... apocketofposie... $24
Turquoise Floral Pa... ellodesign $2.15	1 1/2 Fabric Cat Bu... CatFabricsandB... $4.95	VW Campervan Plush ... GracesFavours $22	Medium Glass Vase w... MaesieGraceCre... $12

Treasury tool supported by the dog house