Bead Table Wednesday

A few times a year I buy large closeout lots. Several boxes full of bits and bobs and loose beads and stringing material and all sorts of unrelated things. And I go to work with my Ziploc bags and I bag everything that needs to be bagged. I pull out what needs to be put aside for eBay and Etsy, and what needs to be stashed, and what can be sold loose or on a strand. I price everything, bag everything, and put it all away.

First, though, it needs to be sorted.



I used to sort at the coffee table, with everything spread out everywhere. But now that I've switched desks around, I decided to try to use the new larger jewelry desk to sort. The results are mixed. On one hand, it means the office isn't quite so much of a disaster area, and we can still have dinner while sitting on the couch. But on the other hand, I haven't made anything because the desk is so overrun.

Last time I introduced you to my possibly stolen 1978 ruler. This time, you can clearly see the Super Aytinal Vitamins metal ruler. I'm not certain how I managed to get such a strange collection of rulers.

I'm getting to the end of the sorting, thankfully. I think I will have most of the desk cleared today. I'm going to hold off on stashing my personal stuff until I have a little more time, I think; I really want to get the desk cleared off so I can make some jewelry.

I am growing very fond of this desk, though. At first I wasn't so sure, but now that I've been using it for a little while, I really love it.

Each day, a new photo

Today I've been working on my weekly eBay listings. Usually I rush to get them done quickly, but today I thought I would spend a little extra time and take additional photos.

I'm still getting the hang of photography; I don't think I'll ever understand it completely. There is too much to learn about it. It's fascinating and sometimes very rewarding.

I've been looking at my old scans and pics, and seeing the difference in the photos I'm taking now. Here is a scanner photo from a couple years ago:



Because I used a scanner for photos for years, I got very used to a top-down look. And of course, it's important that the buyer see the full front and back, which is what a scanner can do. However, a scanner cannot give the piece a more three-dimensional look like a photo can:



I'm starting to use this angle for most of my thumbnail shots. I like the way it looks. It looks best if there is a single item in the frame. However, for multiple-lot items, I don't like the thumbnail to be a single item, because I'm afraid people won't realize that it's for more than one piece.

So I am trying shots like this:



I'm still not certain about using this as the main photo; I think it might be a little confusing. I'm going to try to take more shots next week and see what I can do.

I do think that experimenting has definitely paid off. This week's photos look even better than last week's.

A treasury! My goodness!

The treasuries just keep on coming! WatercolorsNmore featured my Tree of Wisdom set in the Words of Wisdom treasury!



Thank you, WatercolorsNmore!

Wow...the treasuries just keep coming!

The wonderful sarajoseph has featured my starfish necklace in her Into the Deep Blue Sea treasury!



Thank you so much, Sara!! I really appreciate it! What a beautiful treasury!

Bead Table Wednesday!

Or should I say...Bead Mess Wednesday.



This is a very small section of the mess. It was pretty overwhelming at its height.



This is a little slice of the detritus of ten years of hoarding.

I have a tray on my desk, which I alluded to in the last BTW post, that has lain dormant--er, has "caught" extra beads for years. Every so often, I rake through it, and put some of it away, and the dregs are put into a big ziploc bag.

This afternoon, I wanted to make a special piece of jewelry to celebrate listing my 100th item in my Etsy jewelry shop, but instead, my Avoidance Trap got activated and suddenly I had to go through the bag. And the tray, too.

Fortunately, I curbed my OCD tendencies and refused to get farther than sorting. I put everything in piles according to where it should go. One pile for "keep for self," one pile for "sell," one pile for "broken," one pile for "sterling silver scrap," and one pile for "why on earth did you keep this in the first place." I've bagged them all by type, which should theoretically make it easier for me to subdivide or dispose of everything.

And with that out of the way, I could finally concentrate on the necklace.

I'm in two treasuries, this time for supplies!

The kind http://www.etsy.com/shop/LauraBScott has featured my vintage Japanese bumblebee beads in her treasury, Bees and Buttercups.



Thank you, Laura!

The lovely AmiciThai has featured my vintage Italian seed beads in her treasury, Yellow Supplies.



Thank you, !

I'm in a mermaid treasury! Yay!

My favorite mermaid necklace has been featured in an Etsy treasury called Mermaid Treasures!



I absolutely love this necklace. I love the chain, the aquamarine, the gorgeous pearls, and the wonderful Green Girl pendant!



Thank you, GemdropsoftheFalls!

My 100th item is up at my Etsy jewelry shop!

I've just uploaded a new necklace to my Etsy shop, bringing my total to 100 items! To celebrate this occasion, I've activated a coupon code good for 15% off, good for this week only. The code is ETSY100.



I've hoarded a small collection of stamp pendants for years now. They're really nicely made, with sterling silver frames, lovely smooth backs, and glass set in front of the stamp to protect it. I have several from many different countries, but some of my favorites are the stamp pendants from China. I love the beautiful clothes and the long white expanse of negative space around the figure. I'm so glad to celebrate my 100th item with such a great pendant!

Click here to see the Chinese stamp pendant necklace in my Laurel Moon Jewelry Etsy shop

I'm in another treasury!

The wonderful PhotosByChristine has featured my mermaid necklace in her beautiful treasury, Stormy Seas!





Thank you, Christine!

Never-ending photography

I just realized that I am taking about 100 photographs a week. At least. Sometimes more like 200.

The beads, waiting for their closeup:



I've been steadily working on my photography skills. I've started using the manual settings on my camera, and fiddling with white balance and F stops and such. Someday I hope to get some new backgrounds, but for now the white cloth helps make leveling a snap using Photoshop's leveling feature.



Jewelry is even trickier. There are high spots and low spots, and silver is so easy to overexpose.



I have been trying to make my photos more visually engaging and increase the "texture" and focus in more strongly on the main elements. It's a challenge, definitely.

Photography is such a learning experience. I still have such a long way to go.