Portable Photo Studio

www.instructables.com with tutorial... too ugly for me

Etsy.com : affordable until you add the shipping... it's cheaper to make my own

The reason I don't have photos of my latest work is because they don't lend themselves well to photography. They are encrusted with Swarovski rhinestones, fire polished beading, cut glass buttons and you just can't capture that with the old "natural light on an overcast day" trick. Or at least I can't. So today, I am forced to finally take the plunge and build my own portable photo studio setup. I'd seen a tutorial on instructables.com years ago and I've marked many a commercial set on Etsy and Ebay. I've collected the supplies to make them, but I could always get by with natural light and a white background, so that's what I did until now. I will hopefully be posting some awesome photos of my work by tomorrow, along with a photo of my little studio setup.

Jewelry Affaire - Spring 2011

Hello from Ragtags studio! I have been away from my blog for a while but have been inspired to return having realized it was included in the tagline of my article. Please feel free to read through my previous posts. Rest assured I will begin posting amazingness to help you learn how to make fabulous jewelry on your own, where to find great supplies, some eye candy to enjoy, and little interesting stories that happen regularly in my creative life. Please join the Ragtags Facebook page for regular updates and promotions.

Finished and Mailed Pocketwatch Pendants

* Finished Pendants

* Mid-process

These were so much fun! I'm glad I had the chance to revive them and relieved they are on their way to their new owners. Now, back to my regularly scheduled program....

A Fairy Pocketwatch Commission

Did you know you can take an old pocketwatch casing and turn it into a miniature little world to wear as a pendant?

I've been making these for about 5 years but stopped last fall because, as you can imagine, I got distracted by other ideas and projects. I do offer a tutorial on Etsy, but last week I received an Alchamy request for two pendants, so I brought out my supplies and got to work!

First I had to purchase two casings on Etsy. I bought these from Kimagure. They have to have an open front that is removable. I'd prefer to find some with the bezel still intact, but those are rare. Not to worry, I will create a custom fit faux bezel when I am finished creating the diorama inside the case.

The casings must be thuroughly cleaned with rubbing alcohol before adding anything to the surface of the metal. Adding a patina of faux wear spots that expose the copper base and then a layer of faux verdigris really brings a lot of charm to the casings, contributing to the illusion that they are really old and forgotten.

As those dried, I went through my collection of vintage images and chose some little girls and wings to print out. These two spoke to me so I carefully trimmed them out with precision. Then I chose background pieces and embellishments from my stash....

There is so much more to do, but I'll be sure to post the finished pieces when they are done in a day or two. In the mean time, if you'd like to learn how to make your own, I still offer the tutorial in my Etsy store along with a page or two of vintage images to work with!

Statement Necklaces have Lead to Learning about Organza Flowers

Along my journey in discovering how to make bib necklaces, I stumbled upon a hot new trend that captured my imagination and work space. Organza flowers.... so I have been perfecting my technique by practicing, experimenting and purchasing tutorials here and there. What a fantastic edition to all the other embellishments used to make jewelry! I've seen them used as brooches, hair clips and combs, even on little rings. They're also beautiful on sweaters, scarves and shoe clips.

Finding Supplies on Etsy at Rock Bottom Prices

Shopping for treasures is sort of an organic, opportunistic process for me. Ok, it's kind of an obession. I have found the most fantastic lots of rhinestone jewelry, swarovski crystals and vintage chains on the internet at the absolute lowest prices. My supplies primarily come from Etsy, eBay and occasionally off Craigslist. Basically I run some back-door searches where I find odd lots from people who normally sell unrelated goods and do not know the value of what they have or how to list them. I also find sellers with excess stock who just want to free up space in their studios or have changed their artistic direction and no longer need the supplies they have.

Some of my favorite Etsy keyword searches for finding jewelry supplies and vintage jewelry stashes are: destash, junk jewelry, jewelry lot, estate, single earrings, vintage, harvest (ing), repair, reclaim, costume, rhinestone lot, watch movements or parts lot, and jewelry destash lot. Bits and Bobs is another favorite.

You can combine these keywords in any number of ways, for instance, single vintage earrings will bring up a mix of finished jewelry pieces but it will also bring up the odd lot of vintage finds. Rhinestone destash jewelry is another of my favorites! In fact, I'm actually surprised with myself for sharing my most valuable techniques.

I would also recommend searching "All Items" instead of just "Supplies" or "Vintage". Sometimes people mislabel their listings and I like to catch those too!

And last but not least, the subject of sorting. I search so regularly that I am familiar with all the recent listings, which is the sort order that comes up by default, but I also sort by lowest price when running a search I do not do regularly. I try to make those searches as specific as possible soI don't get too overwhelmed with results. For instance, if a trend toward enamel flowers catches my eye, I will try all the search terms I mentioned earlier with the words "enamel flowers" and also try terms specific to the source like "enamel flower brooch", "retro enamel pins", etc. I look at the first few pages of "most recent" and then also sort by "lowest price" and scroll through until I've seen all the results up to my price range. Don't forget to check shipping charges too. I don't mean to say that people gouge on shipping to make up for the low selling price, but it does happen sometimes and is very disappointing once you've already put it in your shopping cart and are whacked at checkout time.

When you've found what you are looking for, make sure to save the seller and check periodically for more if you think they may post similar listings in the future.

In my mailbox: One Serious Pile o' Bling

I couldn't believe my eyes as I opened the packages that arrived in my mailbox today. I ordered some "destash" lots on Etsy. These are the best of the best, but there's much more! I have some barely damaged pieces and some harvest pieces that I will work with later to restore as many as I can to their former sparkling beauty.

Soon I will post my secrets to finding Eye Candy for Reclaimed and Junk jewelry on line, along with general shopping tips, so you know what to look for at brick and mortar stores.