Photographing Items For Sale on Etsy - Part 1

Hello My Loves!

Yesterday I decided go back and re-take a bunch of photos of my items that I had listed when I had just started out on Etsy and didn't know what the heck I was doing. My original photos are taken in bad lighting and from bad angles and were just not appealing to look at. I've learned a lot in the past couple months about how to take (and digitally manipulate) photos of products that are nice to look at and I wanted to share this knowledge with you! I am by no means perfect, I still have a LONG way to go, but I wanted to share what little I had learned already.

So this is just the first part of a 2 part post on photo tips and tricks. I want to talk about no-no's and tricks as well as how to digitally enhance your photos, but this post is just focusing on how to take a standard photo and jazz it up a bit like the example below!

So click below to see step-by-step how to take a great picture! (You can click any of the pictures to make them larger)

Toxic Heart Giveaway

Hey guys!

Just wanted to let you know really quickly that my friend is having a giveaway for her etsy shop Toxic Heart Couture over at her tumblr! All you have to do to enter is reblog her post on Tumblr, Twitter or FB. There's gonna be 3 winners and if it's popular enough she'll do another one. So definitely take a second to check it out :)

Woo! Just got back from a fun little vacation up in Denver. The husband and I went and got massages, drank lots of beer, ate some really good food and just generally really enjoyed each others company. The doggies came with us and were definitely super stars at the hotel we stayed at. Everyone loves a Corgi!

Anyway, now I'm back home and it's time to buckle down and start putting out lots of pretty sparkly pieces of cuteness. The fall means people are going to start shopping for the holidays, and I am really hoping to have several sales. The shop has been FAR more successful then I had ever hoped, and I want to continue to push myself farther and create TONS of amazing things.

I have plans for lots of new things, including perler bead accessories (gotta hop on that 8-bit bandwagon for sure) and I'd love to be able to start doing some resin work and even making my own 3d animal sculptures. I have a head full of ideas and I cannot wait to show you all what I come up with!

Also if you're not following me on Facebook, be sure to check out Artistic Geeks' review of my shop here:

http://theartisticgeek.net/2011/07/19/fgotd-electricsparkle/

and also here:

http://sabrieththeartisticgeek.blogspot.com/2011/07/fgotd-electricsparkle.html
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Nothing like a little free press to make your day!

Y hello thar!

Woo! I finally stopped putting it off and spent several hours slaving away over this blog. I'm pretty pleased with the results! I've been spending a lot of time working on my facebook page, twitter and this blog in order to try and promote myself a little more (especially since this is the slow season). I've never owned a real online shop or business before, so I'm slowly attempting to muddle through it and come up with some fun ideas!

I'm looking forward to using this blog to show you a little more behind-the-scenes of my business. Tutorials, tips on running an online business..that sort of thing! Of course I'll also be notifying you about sales, giveaways, and all sorts of other fun goodies. Plus I want to have weekly or monthly spotlights, to help support my fellow Etsians!

I also have a F.A.Q tab up at the top that I will slowly be filling in with information about the types of materials I use, places to find great tutorials online and that sort of thing!

On a totally (but still crafty related) note, some of my lovely friends had taken a trip to Shipwreck Beads last week and were kind enough to pick me up a few requested items. They showed up yesterday and I am SO psyched to start doing things with them. Not quite sure what I'm going to do yet, but I'm sure it will be BRIGHT and FUN~


Lastly, here's a cute little custom Dino necklace one of my husbands friends commissioned as a gift for his wife. He turned out super cute!

Be sure to also follow me on Facebook and Twitter!