An Etsy Artist Feature of the Day

Today I am featuring the designs of Contrariwise. She works magic with silver wire. Take a look at her shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5280132

These swirled earrings are a design I especially like.

Winter??? or Spring?

Here in North Carolina it's easy to forget that it's still winter. We've had some warm days and things are starting to bloom. I picked these daffodils the other day before it turned cold again.

These Lenten Roses are blooming all

over my yard.

It's nice to know that winter won't last forever.

A Challenge for Me

I have found that photographing my work for the internet is very challenging. I have been working to improve my pictures. I have tried the following:

Making a Light Box - I used a tutorial on Instructables. It didn't cost me a thing because I had all the materials right in my basement. I used an old moving box, some thin white cloth, and duct tape.

Trying different light sources. Right now I am using some halogen desk type lamps at the sides of the box and a gooseneck desk lamp over the top. I just bought a GE Reveal flood type bulb today. I don't know how it will work yet.

Purchased Photoshop software to edit my photos. It is definitely better than the HP software that came with our printer.

Using a tripod and sometimes the timer option on my camera.

Adjusting the white balance to incandescent and adjusting the EV setting for each picture. I have been experimenting with different EV settings for each pose and then choosing the best look when I edit the pictures.

These are some things I am trying. I have been trying to replace all the pictures in my Etsy shop, but it is a slow process. I think the pictures are getting better.

My Weekend

I spent the past weekend taking a Silversmithing Class. It was a great class. We made a pair of sterling silver earrings and 3 bracelets. I learned lots more about soldering and finishing silver pieces. I'll be adding some items to my Etsy shop as soon as I get more supplies. I added some pictures of my work. I will be taking part 2 of the class in March. Now I just have to find the time to use all this new knowledge.

Back at Work Today

Last week the belt on my jewelry tumbler broke. When I tried to order a new one they were backordered for about a month. I was so bummed. I can't get the polish on my wire work without that tumbler. I decided to search the internet for another source and low and behold Ebay had the belts. They were cheaper and better quality. They arrived yesterday. Yeah!!

Today I had two tutoring students out sick, so I had extra time and spent all of it working on some new earring designs. They are in the tumbler now. I hope to have pictures in a few days.

It felt great to be able to get back to my jewelry designs.

First Blog

I am a jewelry designer trying to work on promoting my shop on the web. I am working on creating this blog. It is a work in progress. This is definitely a learning process for me. We'll see how it goes.

Visit my website at:

http://beadsnbanglesbykim.etsy.com