Jewelry Photos- Fun with FALL Props

by Genea C-K

Hello friends!

Yeah, it's late. It's a Sunday night, strange time to post a blog except I just had a TON of fun with this new program Pic Monkey. It's fall, my FAVORITE time of year! Yesterday I got to enjoy creating inside while a thunderstorm rumbled on through out the day. It was WONDERFUL! 

Here is the view from my studio window. When I lampwork this is what I get to enjoy seeing :D

Here is the view out of my other window that was taken today when it was sunny. The weather was a windy 68 and sunny. Perfect for taking some photos.

Here is one of the photos that really made me swoon.

These earrings are by Pink Poppy Studio. Aren't they absolutely GORGEOUS? The beads are so beautiful, but you add a gorgeous fall colored leaf and the piece just comes ALIVE!

So I went out in the sun today to photograph some beads and jewelry for my shop updates this week. It was  very windy and leaves were blowing all over. As I snapped a few pics I reached over and picked up a beautifully colored red leaf.

WOW! You see how this is working? You take  some gorgeous jewelry, add a nice prop and VOILA! You have just created an environment for your piece! I must say I was a little unsure about starting to use some props. I had had a mentor help me with my Etsy shop and she just stressed having plain photos of JUST your work. I knew how much I loved seeing these type of photos and decided to jump in! Clay dings and spacers by Karen Totten. Enameled hoops and lampwork beads by me.

Mmmm gorgeous, huh?! Clay by Marsha Neal Studio, patinated hoops by Karen Totten, weeny dings by me,  Rubber o's by My ELEMENTS,.

Isn't this amazing?! Clay beads by Marsha Neal Studio, Rubber o's by My ELEMENTS, Weeny dings and enameled hoops by me.

All beads by me.

Isn't this photo so beautiful with this red leaf?! I love it! Heart by Staci, clasp, connector and rings by Karen Totten, recycled glass spiral bead and wing dings by me.

Want to know how to really make your photos look pretty?

Hop on over to Pic Monkey(it's free!) upload your photos and create one of these collages!  Hooray for jewelry and fall!

Enjoy!

xo Genea

Inspiration into design- The "Sea Horse" hearts.

blog by Genea C-K

Hello friends!

I am SOOOO excited about my new series of beads inspired by the lovely and talented, Marianne Kasparian of MAKU Stuido, and our very own, Staci Smith of S L Artisan Accents.

From left to right: MAKU heart, Staci's Heart, my heart. The thing about being inspired is to take an idea and make it your own in your medium. It was a total feat in glass to pull of this similar style with my spin. My hands were sweaty and my heart raced! The birth of the "Sea Horse" heart was born!

Here is a photo showing the sizes of some of the hearts. I tried them in a few different sizes, but really loved making them BIG. These are some of my LARGEST beads to date. When you get to making beads this large they get heavy and it's lots of glass to keep warm as you design.

Here is a close-up of one of my favorites. I just LOVE the stripey rainbow snake cane and the gorgeous twisted spiral sparkling pool :D

Love the back side too( he he). The whole " I hate to see you go, but I love to watch you leave." So many wonderful design elements to look at!

But... success usually comes with failure. When making these HUGE hearts I focused most of my heating efforts on the fin and the little antenae while flashing the rest of the bead to keep it warm. The thing I failed to do was keep the bottom part of the cone warm. OOPS! Duh, right?! This is the thinnest area of glass besides the fin. I was literally "heart broken" about this particular heart.

This one too :( Oh sad. The good thing about failure is that is presents us with an opportunity for a new success. So how does that work? Well upon sharing my sadness with Staci she had some ideas to repair the heart and enhance the design. Her idea is add some precious metal clay to the hearts and "restore" them! I am SOOOO excited to see what she comes up with!

I hope this will inspire you do push the limits of your medium and to take all of your failures and turn them into a new success.

Have a wonderful day!

xo Genea