Creativity In A Nutshell

Hello Everyone!
It's the end of winter break and back to classes for me! I start on Monday. Wait. Let me try that again with a little more enthusiasm. I start on Monday! Huzzah!
Better?

I wanted to share some Valentines Day Love with you all!

These are earrings I made for my best friend, who can and does work magical wonders with knitting needles and all varieties of yarn. I never cease to be impressed by her tallent and skill.

Today it was finally sunny out! I was able to take some beautiful pictures, and I'm giving you a sneak peak of the treasured you can expect to find their way onto my Etsy shop in the coming days.

Over the past month I have been inspired to create upcycled jewelry using scrabble tiles.
All of my scrabble tiles are created by me :) You can purchase my scrabble tile jewelry in my Etsy shop, Callie's Creations.

Many of them are drawn in india ink and then lightly colored for a vintage or aged look, then finally sealed.

Every single one of them is unique and one-of-a-kind.


More Similar Fun Stuff!

• Indie Girl Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace
• Coffee Equals Happiness Scrabble Tile Earrings
• Fly Scrabble Tile Charm
• Tree Girl Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace
• With Love Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace
• Belong To Paris Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace

More Stuff on the Information Highway:

• Stamping Scrabble Tile Tutorial 
• Project: Scrabble Tile Bracelet

I am so excited by my newest series of jewelry, available for purchase in my Etsy shop

Indie Expressions



What's The Plan, Stan?

• I have been so inspired as I've been brainstorming and creating these peices! Everything from the music I'm listening to, to the materials I'm working with is just flowing with this over-arching idea.
• Well, what music AM I listening to anyways? Indie is probably the hardest most impossible genre of music to define... so, I'll just give you a list of some of the most fun and fantabulous artists I'm listening to:
• Muse
• Mika
• Modest Mouse
• Kings of Convenience
• Damien Rice
• Iron & Wine
• The Shins
• The Decemberists
• Ingrid Michaelson
• Drawn From Bees
• The Middle East
• Red Sparrows
• Ryan Meeking & the Few

Ingredients:
I am in love with every single piece I have made for this series! Here are some of the ones already up and listed in my Etsy shop

I do happen to have a couple pictures from the creative process involved in making the Mr. Owl Necklace - which is sooooo cool (I think!)

I am in love with glass beads, especiall Czech glass. There are many ways to work with glass. Check out my African Inspired Necklace , also made with Czeck glass, but with a totally different look and feel than what you might typically expect working with these kinds of beads. Since I started making jewelry, I have admired Bali Silver beads, charms and findings.



What's The Plan, Stan?
I have created a nifty tutorial using products sent by Artbeads.com as part of their blogging program. Try it out for yourself :)


Ingredients:

• Bali S-Clasp with Granulation and Wirework
• Bali Bicone Bead with Wirework
• 4 Sterling Silver Crimp Beads
• 10 Czech Glass Opalite and Alexandrite Picasso Roundels
• 4 Czeck Glass Alexandried Picasso Ovals
• Peacock Iredized Glass Seed Beads
• 3 Sterling Silver Headpins
• 4mm Sterling Silver jumpring
• 11 Lacy Agate 3mm rounds
• 17 Peacock Freshwater Pearls
• 9 Rice Shaped Peacock Freshwater Pearls
• Stringing material

Earrings:

• 2 Sterling Silver Headpins
• 2 Bali Bicone Beads with Wirework
• 2 Czech Glass Opalite and Alexandrite Picasso Roundels
• 2 seed beads
• 2 Sterling silver seed beads

Tools Of The Trade:

• Round Nose Pliers
• Needle Nose Pliers
• Wire Snips

• Flocked Beading Board
  

Process:

• Step One: Create the dangle pendant. Snip off the end of a headpin, leaving a 2" sterling silver wire. Create a wrapped loop on one end. Add a seed bead, then 1 Bali bicone, 1 seed bead. Finish with a wrapped loop. Use the 4mm jumpring to connect the segment to soldered end-ring of the Bali S Clasp.
• First segment: seed bead, peacock freshwater pearl, lacy agate round. End with a wrapped loop, connecting to the end loop of the Bali segment.
• Second segment: 2 seed beads, peacock freshwater pearl, lacy agate round. End with a wrapped loop, connecting to the top loop of the first segment.

• Third segment: 3 seed beads, peacock freshwater pearl, lacy agate rounbd. End with a wrapped loop, connecting to the top loop of the second segment.

• Step Two: Create the first strand. Start in the middle with 1 rice shaped freshwater pearl, then add 12 seed beads to either side. Add 1 lacy agate round to either side. 10 seed beads, 1 lacy agate, 10 seed beads.

• Add 1 rice shaped freshwater pearl to either side. 10 seed beads, freshwater pearl, 10 seed beads. Add 1 glass roundel to either side. 10 seed beads, 1 freshwater pearl, 10 seed beads, 1 glass roundel, 10 seed beads, 1 roundel.
• Add 8 seed beads, 1 freshwater pearl, 6 seed beads, 1 roundel, 4 seed beads, 1 crimp bead, 1 roundel

• String the wire through the soldered jumpring of the clasp. Thread it back through the roundel and crimpbead. Crimp and trim. Do this to both ends. Be careful not to crush a seed bead or two while crimping.

• Step Three: Create the second strand. Start with stringing 10 seed beads. Add a peacock freshwater pearl to either side, 3 seed beads, freshwater pearl, 10 seed beads.

• Add a freshwater pearl to either side, 3 seed beads, freshwater pearl, 10 seed beads.
• Add a glass oval to either side, 10 seed beads, freshwater pearl, 3 seed beads, freshwater pearl, 10 seed beads.

• Add a glass oval to either side, 10 seed beads, 1 lacy agate round, 10 seed beads, 1 lacy agate round, 3 seed beads, 1 crimp bead.
• Sting the wire through the soldered endrings of the clasp and crimp. Unhook the clasp and hold out the second strand, using the end you have not yet attached to the clasp. Wrap the first strand around the second strand as tightly as you can, until both ends are the same length. Loop the wire through the endring of the clasp and crimp.
• Step Four: Make the earrings. Place a Bali bicone, glass roundell and glass seed bead on each sterling headpin. End with a wrapped loop. Connect to sterling silver earwires.

C'est Fin!

*I have recieved these products free of charge from Artbeads.com to honestly review in this blog. I have not been paid for my endorsement as it pertains to the products received*

I have been inspired lately with my scrabble tile jewelry to create a new series on Etsy:

Indie Expressions


Here is a sneak preview of a piece I am working on... I look forward to sharing the development of this series with you!

Here are some of the most recently added items in my Etsy shop! Take a look and let me know what you think :)
Computer Lady Beautiful Upcycled Necklace


With Love Handmade  Scrabble Tile Necklace

Belong to Paris Handmade Scrabble Tile Necklace

I've been working away like crazy creating jewelry for my Etsy shop and it's been great! I snapped some pictures while I was at it to give you guys a sneak peak of what's to come and some glimpses at the work behind the scenes.


Sneak Peak : Amber Sunrise Necklace

Ok, so you've taken some great shots of your jewelry using some of the tips I mentioned in my earlier blog post, Photographing Your Jewelry but even the best pictures can use some extra help with photo editing software.

First of all, I would advise against any computer editing that makes your jewelry look different than it actually is. Don't alter the color any more than necessary to make the photograph accurate to life. Remember that your photographs will look different on a different computer, particular if your computer is a mac and the photo is viewed on a pc.

That being said, there are some basic corrections you can make to your photographs to make them look better and more professional, without giving your viewers a false sense of what your work is like. My editing process generally uses two programs and goes in three steps.

Step One: I upload all of my photographs (I like to photograph my jewelry in one lump to get it all done at once) and organize them into folders. Once this is done I do an innitial swipe to delete all of the blurry pictures, poorly composed or poorly lit pictures. As you become more comfortable and familiar with taking pictures of your jewelry there should be fewer of the these.
Step Two: I open the remaining pictures in Window Life Photo Gallery - formerly Windows Photo Editor. It's a nifty program with a lot of new accessories since it came out with Windows Vista. If you have Windows 7, this program will not have come automatically with your computer, however, you can download it for free at via Windows Live. It's seriously worth it. I do my basic editing - adjust lighting, heighten contrast, and cropping. At this stage I'm mostly concerned with composition and cutting down my photos. You don't need a million pictures of one pair of earrings. Be really selective and chose your best 5 or 6.
Step Three: Once I've narrowed it down to 5 or 6 photos, I edit them in GIMP. I like to refer to GIMP as Photoshop on steroids. It's completely free and easy to use. I use GIMP to fine tune the pictures, check color accuracy and tweaking brightness/contrast until I am 100% satisfied. Then I just re-name the pictures to match the piece of jewelry and tada! I'm done!

Today it is snowing. Again. And since I've been house-bound for the past couple of days I've been powering through my massive to-do list. What's on today's agenda? Photographing all the jewelry I've made but haven't listed on Etsy. Chances are, if you're making your own jewelry, you're going to want to take pictures of it, to blog about, to sell online, or just to commemorate some kick-ass work.Taking good pictures of your jewelry isn't easy, so I figured today's blog would be all about tips and tools for taking some fantabulous pictures.
Tools of the Trade:

• Ultimately, your pictures are only going to be as good as the equipment you're using will allow. The higher your resolution and the greater your ability to manually focus your camera, the better your pictures are going to be. No matter what kind of camera you are working with, I strongly suggesting investing in a tripod. Sadly, I have left mine at my dorm room, so I'll be working solo for this photo session.
• If you have a good camera, it should have a macro setting. This will pre-set the camera to focus very close up - perfect for photographing jewelry.

• Tip Number One: Try making your own lightbox. A basic way to photograph your jewelry is on a black or white background. The challenge then becomes getting good light. You don't want dark shadows and you don't want to bleach out your beautiful piece. Try taking a shallow cardboard box, lining it with white paper or fabric and using one or two desk lamps to create the perfect mini photostudio for photographing your jewelry. Check out this blog for an interesting example.
• Tip Number Two: The background you chose to display your jewelry on is going to impact the way your jewelry looks to the viewer. So, you should consider this choice carefully. Do you want it to contrast or compliment? Should it follow a theme of your piece, or simply work as a backdrop? These are all choices you should consider every time you take a picture of your work. There are lots of ways to create backdrops for your work. Here are a few suggestions:
• Scrapbook paper is a great resource, and pretty cheap. I keep a nice supply of it for photographing and using in my hand-crafted beads. Sadly, like many things, I've left my scrapbooking paper in my dorm room, so I wasn't able to take a sample picture. Check out some pictures I've taken using scrapbooking paper for my etsy shop:

• Fabric is also an excellent choice for any backdrop. I have a bunch of fabric around anyways, but it's not a bad idea to get a supply going. Peruse sale fabric as JoAnn's or even the $1 yards at walmart. Start out with the basics- black and white, then add some cool stuff. It doesn't take much fabric to make a background. A fat quarter would suffice, but a yard or two certainly gives you more room to play with. Be creative with fabric. You might have a great pattern on a dress that you could snag for a few seconds to become the new backdrop for your jewelry photos.

• Tip Number Three:  You can also use accessories to show off your jewelry. These can range from your typcial bust, to carefully placed stones. Whatever accessories you use should reflect the image you're trying to create around this particular piece.

• 
  
  Although it can be easier to photograph a pair of earrings on a flat surface, people are going to want to see what the earrings look like when they're dangling as they would when you're wearing them. If you're going to keep them, then it's ok if you do just that - take a picture of you or someone else wearing them. However, if you're selling your earrings DO NOT wear them! It's not hygenic or professional.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Try hanging your earrings from a branch, an earring tree, a pretty glass bowl, a ribbon, a metal container... There are lots of funky things out there you can hang your earrings from that will make them look neat, but still totally hygenic :)