It’s that time again! And if your like me you don’t actually look forward to spring cleaning… so I thought I’d try and cheer you up with a sale! A 50% off sale!!!
Anyway, couldn’t your walls use a new look this year?!
Check out my sale section and take a look around!
Make your purchase soon though, only 1 of each image in the sale section is available… so once its sold, its gone!
Also, this sale could end at any time… so go now! What are you waiting for?!
Your art represents you, and so does your packaging.
Ok, well I’m not that obsessed with packaging, I tend to pay more attention to the art… but I do think you should take pride in how you package items when your selling. So, I suggest you check out ClearBags… their bags are made of excellent quality, literally crystal clear, and “does not easily rip, tear, wrinkle, or fog like other plastics.” PLUS, they are 100% virgin polypropylene which is naturally acid and lignin-free, which makes them safe for photo storage…. And if that wasn’t enough, the regular bags contain 10% recycled polypropylene, and ClearBags also carries a line of biodegradable bags made from renewable wood pulp! (caution, bio-bags are not archival quality)
I personally use ClearBags to protect my items when I sell them, or am transporting items to a gallery for showings. These aren’t just plastic sealable bags, these bags are made to showcase your art. Not only do they make your art look professional, but they are safe from dust, moisture, finger prints, etc…
The feature I absolutely love is the protective closure. The re-sealable seal is located on the bag, not the flap! So when removing your art you don’t have to worry about your image/item getting any adhesive on it.
The other thing I love about these bags, is the storage space! I sell my greeting cards in packs of 4, with envelopes, tied with a ribbon… and have plenty of room to fit in some business cards & mini cards with room to spare!
Now for the downside… You have to purchase these in bulk. They are very reasonably priced, but you have to buy in lots of 100. Now I don’t know about you, but I could only wish for my items to sell fast enough that I would need 100 bags! So being the thrifty person that I am, bought 2 sizes… 11 7/16 x 14 1/4 and the 5 7/16 x 7 1/4, and I just fold the bags down if needed and tape it with my archival mat tape :)
Also, they have a minimum order of $40. Orders under $40 will incur a handling fee from $3-$7… not awful, but I got bugged by it for about a second.
Soooooo, I suggest if anyone is planning on buying, buy in bulk…. or get together with some sellers of art and make a group order! (and let me know so I can get in on it!)
Also, ClearBags does offer a ton of other products that I have yet to try… like boxes, food bags, gusset bags, mats, backings, frames, pretty much everything you can think of for your packaging needs… and more. So if you’ve tried one of these items, please share your experience, I’d love to know if these are just as good as the bags! :)
A couple of promos to add in:
And I always like to end on a good note… so I do want to mention that if you are like me and love to see before you buy, ClearBags does offer FREE samples!!
I've decided its about time to give the listings in my shop a bit of an update! I've been wanting to do this for awhile, just kept putting it off... and now that I temporarily have no camera I feel like I'm getting "other" things done...
My solution ~ snap a photo of my side table with some pretty, but not distracting decoration, then create the mat/frame in Photoshop! Voila.... my photos, matted and framed on a wall!
So now my listing will include a matted/framed image showcased on a wall to give a better feel for what it would look like in real life! You know... the whole visualization factor of advertising. (I almost sound like I know what I'm talking about!)
The other reason, sometimes an image can take on a whole new appearance once matted in white or black... or just even matted for that matter!
Also, I’m looking into putting my images onto canvas… so I’ve created an image for canvas prints as well!
Next…. I’m attempting to create a realistic wooden frame!
Yes, I have quite a few obsessions in my life… and macro photography is one of them! And the funny part is, I don’t even own a real macro lens!
So I have found a few work-arounds that work just fine!!
My macro crew:
lenses ~ Canon EF-S 17-85mm f/4-5.6, Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8, Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0 (not pictured – too cool to show up for the crew pic)
macro gear ~ Raynox conversion lens, Macro reverse ring 52mm-67mm
other ~ Phottix remote for Canon 40D, mini tripod, yummy strawberries
also not shown ~ home depot ghetto lighting, light tent, & of course my assistant Mic
Ok, now that the gear is out of way, on to the fun part! The comparisons!
(Larger images + exif data from this post can be found on my flickr page)
Shot with Canon 18-55mm & Raynox Conversion lens:
As you can see, very yummy close… but we can get better!
Unfortunately as I was getting into my conversion lens shots, my camera gave me the evil error 99… and now must visit the Canon ER… So, my good friend Jason has kindly allowed me to use one of my favorite images of his to use as a perfect example, in fact it was this very image that inspired me to buy the conversion lens! In fact, you must check out his website too... he is an amazing inspiring photographer, one of my personal favorites :)
Shot with Canon 70-200mm, reverse ring, Canon 50mm reversed:
As you can see in this method… very close, very cool… a little vignette but it just makes it look artsy :) It does take some practice with this method though to get the focus just right, a lot of moving closer, farther from the object… but once you get it, WOW!
Obviously, not strawberries, but a daisy! I had to use some of my older shots due to camera errors, but these are great examples of the kind of shots you can get with this set-up. Also, depending on what kind of DOF you want, you need to play with the aperture. Now you ask “when you reverse a lens? how the heck do you change the aperture on the reversed lens?!?” Well, there’s a neat little trick! Put the 50mm (or whatever prime lens your using reversed) and put your aperture as high as it will go, or whatever you want actually (I used f/11 on these). Now see the little button next to the lens release on the front of your camera? That button actually allows you to see a preview of what your image will look like at the aperture you have set! It’s the DOF preview button… learned something new! So, hold down that button down while removing the lens, and voila! Aperture saved! Just take a look inside the lens, you can see it ;)
I also wanted to give credit to the site that got me started with this method, DPS… gotta love em’! If you love digital photography, they are a must visit!
Shot with Canon 17-85mm, reverse ring, 50mm:
Just as using the 70-200mm you can get scary close, however using a shorter lens allows for much more vignette. Hard to pass these off as an artsy effect… Unless you do some major cropping. I would definitely recommend using a telephoto for the reverse ring method… But this is still fun!
Well, that’s about it for my macro fun for today! Unfortunately I couldn’t ramble on longer due to camera issues, but maybe someday soon I’ll have some more comparisons to share! Also, I’d love to hear from anyone if they have any macro tips/techniques or photos to share!!
So what exactly is iStudio?
“iStudio was born from the idea that, "where artists work is sometimes just as interesting as the work itself."” ~ created by Mod3rnArt
So join in the fun and share a photo of your workspace! Visit here for details.
I was lucky enough to be the first volunteer :) So now that I’ve jumped in, its your turn! C’mon, don’t be shy… I wanna see where you create your masterpieces!
And no worries about making things look all neat & pretty, just take a look at my workspace:
As you can see I went for the “realism” effect ~ Crooked photo on the wall from the noisy neighbors always banging something… The tiny shoebox that I live in and cram all of my work into… Computer for editing hidden somewhere back there... Camera equipment strewn about… and of course my favorite photo assistant, Mic! He’s always around when the camera comes out. I believe he’s associated that camera = treats.
Showcase your art at Craftgawker! Seriously, this place is full of inspiring goodies, and so easy to submit your own items! Just sign up, fill out the short form with a link and description, and re-size your image to 250x250px and your set to go! Heck, you don’t even have to re-size if you don’t want to, they’ll crop it down for you :)
What is Craftgawker exactly though?
“craftgawker is a gallery where anyone can showcase their art, crafting and photography skills. It's a place for you to discover new artists and homemade goods to inspire your own creations.”
Plus, c’mon…. its free, simple advertising. And when you submit an image, its usually accepted within the same day. I’ve done 2 so far, with more to come! I’m trying to space them out :)
And if your feeling brave… take a look at the site that started all this, foodgawker!
Warning… excessive drooling may occur.
Photo courtesy of www.earthday.net
What do you do for our Earth?
Recently I was featured on a great blog, Mod3rnArt, and was asked to participate in their give-away! To enter for a chance to win one of my prints, you needed to write a comment promoting your favorite etsy artist. Well I jumped at this chance to be a part of such a unique and thoughtful way of promoting others! About a week later, the winner was announced! Yay!!
The print the winner chose just happened to be one of my favorites
“That’s the life…”
But the part of this happy little ramble that made my day today… was that the winner sent me a message saying that they received my print, and wanted to thank me for being so generous and that they absolutely LOVE it! And that they were lucky to have won one of my prints!
I can’t stop smiling now :D
Hearing people tell me how much they enjoy my work just makes me want to give my prints away for free! It just makes me so happy to hear that something I created can put a smile on someone’s face! I mean, really… wow! Maybe one day I’ll be able to offer my creations for free… but in the meantime I will just have to get that joy from participating in charities and give-aways when I can :)
This almost makes me want to try a give-away on my blog… hmmm, deep thoughts… may still be too early with not enough visitors though. But if anyone is ever interested in giving away a piece of their art, or jewelry, or whatever your heart desires… please let me know and I’d be more than appreciative to feature you! And you/your items don’t have to be etsy-related… this is open to all :) I just have to think up a fun contest now! And figure out when to do this!
And please go check out Mod3rnArt’s website, weekly give-aways, loads of great info, and always new inspiring artists being featured! Plus check out the cool graphic on the home page, I love that thing! I could watch that animation for hours :P
Once you pass the sea of wind turbines you know your almost there.
Metallic ~ ok, this stuff is just fun! It makes your images sparkle, stand out, 3D... really something different! Very super high gloss, but absolutely cool.... you just honestly have to see it to know. Please do try it, its inexpensive so its so worth it!! A note - b&w photos look outstanding on metallic, portraits look awful, in my experience anyway. Also, as far as signing the backs of this paper requires either a pencil, or a special pen for really really slick surfaces (American Crafts slick writer works, I know).
