New

******** A little note about the song above.  I was watching an episode of Ray Donovan on Showtime.  They played this hit.   I had forgotten about this golden oldie.  Big ups to Ray Donovan.********

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New year, new energy, new me(hopefully).   I decided to buy some equipment to take better pictures of my inventory.  I finally broke down.  Since I had some money on the books at Amazon, I was able to purchase a light tent, necklace display and a tripod.  I made a light box from cardboard( I am all about being frugal), but my work space is small and I needed something that I could collapse and put away.   I would rather make a product than buy, but  I needed to make my jewelry POP, I needed (wanted, you pick) these items.  I just hope my frugal crowd understands.     

I had never brought from Amazon before and I found the experience to be well..... alright. 

  I don't really know what I expected.   More fanfare, light flashing, angels weeping. 

 Oh well, let me show you what I got.   

Here is my light tent.   A little smaller than I would like only 12 inches, but it will do.  I have not tired it yet.  I am going to ask a friend of my to build me a stand to hold my clamp lights that will surround the tent.  This way I can get the crisp,  clean white background for my jewelry.

My Tripod came in the mail next. 

Eventually, I will purchase one that stands a little taller. 

 I plan to photograph other items.  

And last but not least, my necklace display.  

Ebony and Ivory.  

I can't wait to get started. 

Jewelry Stands

 One of my revamping projects for my business is to take better pictures and making a better display, while still on a budget.  I want everything to look professional, but when your money is funny, you have to make do.  Here comes my version of DIY jewelry displays.    Let me show you what I mean. 

I found these acrylic cases at my local thrift shop

30 cents is not bad, plus they come apart for additional storage of business cards, bracelets or earrings.   Ya think?

Sorry about the mess.  Sometimes, I create better in total disarray.    I found this photo frame at another thrift shop.  The frame was surrounded by glass beads.  I stripped the beads(to be shown later).  The backing was just the right size for a earring display. 

I added white board, trimmed off the excess, and punched to holes for the earrings to hand from.  At a garage sale, I purchased this photo frame.   Unfortunately I did not take a pic of the beaded frame or the glass.  I plan to use the left over   glass as another back drop when taking pictures.  Waste not want not. 

I can't believe my luck.  I found this lighted display at the same thrift shop.  Only $1.50.   Now I can use an under light to help when taking pictures.  

This is how it looks in a dark room.   I will post my pic after using this light, so you all can see.  Get it?  Never mind that spot in the upper right hand corner.  I plan to paint that and use a bulb with a higher wattage, say about 75 daylight.  This should give my pic's even more definition.   We shall see.

Here is what I am really excited about.  I found this piece at another garage sale.  Only $1.00.    Can you guess what I am going to do?

When you put the pieces together, this is what you have.   I plan to make something else.  I decided I needed something white to showcase my necklaces.   This was the perfect stand.

I traced  the shape on to white board.  I cut two pieces, front and back.

Next, I taped both pieces to the side of a white box that I already had.

Here is the side view.  This old box will help this display stand up.

I used tape strips to adhere the cutout to the display.

Here is one side of the finished(well semi finished) display.  I plan to cover the bottom again with more white board.  If not, I can always crop out the bottom.

As you can see, all I need to do is trim the excess.  

As my creativity holds out, I shall be making more displays.  Stay tune.