Hollywood Spotlight Jewelry creates Gorgeous Handmade Jewelry! I absolutely Love this Unique Handmade Necklace..."The Vera Ellen." http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26356959
If you remember your kindergarten days, you might re-call several occasions in which you mashed and poked away at that vivid and doughy sculpting clay called Plasticine. This stuff would entertain me for hours, and I always loved it more than Playdough because it would never dry up. Whenever something looked all wrong, you could just ball it in your hands and roll it around some more to create something entirely different.
Polymer clay is quite similar to Plasticine. Both of these clays are somewhat solid when you buy them, but are softer from the heat of your hands. They both have an "oily" feel to them that leaves that residue on your hands, and they do not harden in the air. Plasticine is one of those clays that does not solidify at all, unlike Polymer Clay which, when baked, turns hard as a rock. So, if you intend to create a figurine, piece of jewelry, or some dollhouse miniatures that you would like to last forever, than Polymer Clay would be your best bet.
But Polymer Clay is a clay in name only. It is actually PVC based, and is more of a moldable and sculptable plastic than anything. It doesn't actually contain any Earth clay at all. Polymer Clay doesn't require any curing in a kiln, but it does require you to bake it in a conventional oven, ranging from 265* F to 275* F for about 15 to 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of the object you are baking. Afterwards, you may choose to sand buff it to create a surface sheen, file down any imperfections, and than leave it as-is or gloss it with a water-based finish.
Polymer Clay isn't a new concept. In fact, it has been on store shelves for almost 40 years as a sculpting material, and even longer for other purposes. So, it's no surprise that there are a vast array of clay brands and colours to choose from.
The most popular and well-known brands of Polymer Clay are Fimo Soft and Sculpey III. Through the years, these companies have come out with different formulas for their clays, so the texture and feeling of the raw clay in your hands has changed tremendously overtime. For a beginner, I would suggest that working with either Fimo Soft or Sculpey III would be your best bet, namely because they are easy to handle and easy to find. You can easily find other brands as well online, such as Premo or Kato Polyclay, and they can also be found in your local hobby or arts & crafts store.
Polymer Clay generally comes in small 2oz packs of one particular colour, although many brands also offer boxes of 24 or 32 small packets of various colours to get you started. This may be your cheapest option if you have never worked with clay before. If you wish to create something with just a few colours, than you might be better off just purchasing the small amount of colours that you need. You may want to go ahead and buy just one block of each brand just so you can get a feel for their qualities and decide which brand works best for you.
One of the most favourable aspects of working with Polymer Clay is that it comes in so many colours. There is basic colours, fluorescent, metallic, pearl, glow in the dark, translucent, glittery, and even textured clays. Unlike sculpting materials like Terra Cotta, you don't have to spend all the work painting your creations afterwards. The option is always there if you would like to add details after your goodies have been baked with paint such as acrylics.
The great thing about colourful Polymer Clay is that it does not shrink or alter shape after baking, and most of the colours only change hues a very small bit and are quite unnoticeable. The downside of so many colours to choose from is trying to keep them separate. If you have several packages of opened clay, you may want to invest in some zipper-top baggies and an airtight container. If you have too much clay to handle, invest in one of those plastic organizers with the different compartments. Grab some sticker labels, write down the colours, and stick them on the matching compartments. This will keep your colours separate and clean. A good idea is to keep opened clay in one place and un-opened clay in another place to avoid opening several packages of the same colour when you already have some opened.
Cleanliness is another huge factor in Polymer Clay sculpting. Light colours such as White and Yellow just love to pick up specks of dirt and dust from the air and your hands. Even when your hands appear clean, these specks somehow seem to find their way onto your clay. Here are a 3 steps to keeping your clay nice and clean.
1) Keep a smooth and clear work surface. An ideal surface would be a big chunk of ceramic tile or glass. Clean thoroughly with soapy water, baby wipes, or some rubbing alcohol. After the surface starts to get tacky or oily again, keep paper towels and alchohol to give your surface a wipe down.
2) Keep your hands clean. I find that washing up with dishwashing liquid and letting your hands air dry works the best. Cotton towels are monsters for little specks of dust, so avoid them. Also avoid wiping your hands on anything or touching anything. A good hard wipe with a paper towel on your hands does wonders in getting off any dust. Keep a scrap piece of clay to roll between your hands to get off any spare dust that the paper towel didn't pick up.
3) Work with dark colours last. Dark colours leave dark residue on your work surface, and when you are rolling light colours on the same area, you are going to pick this residue up and your colours can get very muddy. Also, red seems to be a bad culprit in bleeding into other colours, so consider this a "dark" colour.
Another addition to Polymer Clay is the very useful "Liquid Clay" usually sold under the names "TLS - Translucent Liquid Sculpey" under the Sculpey brand, or "Fimo Decorating Gel" under the Fimo brand. Use liquid clay on your wire when you insert it into the clay before baking. This keeps it from slipping or falling out eventually, and acts as a very good adhesive or glue. When you attach pieces of clay to each other before baking, try adding a bit of Liquid Clay to the joint before sticking it on, as this will ensure a strong grip onto the clay base. Liquid Clay can make very attractive garnishes, such as frosting, icing, syrup, and glaze. If you add some colour, either by Oil Paint or by shaving in some hard coloured pastel, you can make yourself some glaze or syrup. If you add solid clay to the liquid clay, you can stir it constantly to a smooth consistency and make some very tasty looking frosting or icing for some clay cupcakes. Liquid clay can be baked with the rest of your clay at the same temperature and the same time, so they can be combined effortlessly.
Polymer Clay can be rolled out and cut out with cookie cutters, it can be pushed through a clay "extruder" to create strands in all different sizes and shapes, it can be sculpted with an unlimited amount of tools such as toothpicks and Popsicle sticks, and it can be rolled into different shapes and stuck on itself. Experiment! If you look up "Polymer Clay Tutorials" on the internet or in a bookstore, you will get many helpful resources to get you started as well if you do not know where to begin.
You can do a lot with clay. It doesn't just have to sit on a shelf and collect dust. You can wrap pens in it, create picture frames and light switch panels, or you could do what I do - make some jewellery! Before baking, try sticking some wire loops or eye pins in the clay so that it can be hung on things like jumprings and earring loops. Polymer Clay makes very attractive necklace pendants, rings, keychains, and all sorts of accessories that anyone can enjoy.
Sculpting with Polymer Clay is an entirely different world where you are free to create all that your imagination conjures up. What I have explained will get you started, but if you are ever curious to know more about the art, there is a wonderful Polymer Clay encyclopedia on GlassAttic.com. The creator is a Polymer Clay guru, and she is always happy to explain anything you need to know about the wonderful art of Polymer Clay. Experiment and enjoy!
Original Source: Crafts: Working With Polymer Clay
These are all great tips for photography. I do a lot of photos of Rosaries, which are a great deal like jewelry to photograph. I have tried several different types of lighting, backgrounds and settings on the camera. I recently got a new digital camera. I am still learning it, but have found some interesting things to do with it that have helped.
My additional tips:
1. Learn your camera. Even if you can’t access the on-line instructions, play with it. Take photos in different lighting, different backgrounds and different settings. You may take a lot of photos, but it is worth it. I have seen a lot of very bad jewelry photos. I have seen a lot of very bad rosary photos (those are all mine)!
2. Lighting. Very important, but you may be able to work with what you have. All the digital cameras I have had allow you to choose your lighting settings… fluorescent, incandescent, etc. However, after playing with all of my settings, I found leaving it on the incandescent (or it’s original settings) worked best because I could adjust in photo software.
3. Background or backdrop. I recently purchased several pieces of different colors of satin fabric. After trying photos with various pieces on various colors, white STILL works best. I still have difficulty with photographing white, but I have a royal blue piece that helps a little. Gold and silver tones are also difficult, as sometimes what works for the color of beads does not work with the color of the metal.
4. Flash. With jewelry-type items, I have found setting the camera to flash ALL THE TIME is better than allowing it to decide which is better (the auto setting). It is VERY difficult to fix lighting issues with jewelry-type items. They either become too bright or you can never get the color proper.
Some colors almost never photograph true to color. Purple is a big issue. I try to just make sure if I cannot get the color accurate or close to accurate that I list that in a listing. I also try to get several different photos. Most of my listings here and on other sites have multiple photos. Y’all are more than welcome to check out some of my photos of my rosaries. If you go to the item’s page, you can see how I list several photos for better “look see’s”.
Another tip for photos of jewelry-type items. Make use of your Macro setting. Some cameras will use it automatically. Mine does. I just learned that recently. Macro allows you to take really close up photos.
Tips for taking photos without a flash (sometimes it’s necessary) USE A TRIPOD! I don’t always do this and they come out blurry. I have one item with an additional photo (pink miracle bead cat rosary) that was taken without a flash. I have it listed as the photo is for color reference only, as miracle beads (also known as fiber optic beads) give a halo effect when a photo is taken.
I use Corel Paint Shop Pro, and it allows you to brighten photos, as well as adjust the color balance. It helps with lighting, as sometimes lighting can change the color of metal. I rarely adjust the gold-tones with the color balancing because it washes out the gold.
When worse comes to worse, I paste a photo in Word and adjust the contrast and brightness with the picture toolbar. Then, I copy and paste into Paint and save as a “.jpg”. It’s a last resort I don’t do often.
Hope this helps for all you jewelry-type photo takers. If anyone needs any additional help, contact me and I’ll try to help.
One thing I have noticed here with photos is the lack of using the editor in Bonanzle to adjust the cropping. Seeing only a partial photo is annoying. My suggestion to all those who have photos that are only partially there because the photo is too big, go in to the editor and adjust the cropping.
Another tip…
I noticed I do when I took another photo tonight. I use it when I take photos of enameled pieces or items in plastic sheets or glossy finishes.
If you have a problem with glare or shiny spots…
~ Try to take the photo at an angle. ~
When the flash hits a glossy or enameled finish head-on, it usually creates a shiny spot or “white spot”. I’m sure all those selling sports cards in the plastic protective sheets know what I am talking about. You may have to take the photo several times to make sure you get a “good” shot.
A tip I learned a long while back with any photography… ALWAYS TAKE MORE THAN ONE PHOTO!
I ALWAYS take more than one shot just in case. I hate to have to go back and set everything up again.
Several shots will help if…
1. one is blurry
2. one cuts off something you didn’t realize while taking the photo, one glares
3. one’s too dark
4. one’s too bright
Take your shots…
1. with the flash
2. without the flash
3. from several angles
4. with different backdrops – change colors to enhance colors without washing them out (here’s a tip I learned… just because a white porcelain item is trimmed in gold does not mean it will photograph well on a gold backdrop. I found the gold backdrop is rather distracting and washes out the trim)
It may seem time consuming to take so many photos, but you will be much happier with your photos in the end.
From so many photos, you will learn…
1. how your camera works with the lighting
2. how specific items photograph
3. what angle works best
4. how to make adjustments for certain colors
5. how certain metals photograph
If photographing jewelry-type items, keep this in mind…
once you find a spot – lighting, backdrops, etc. – that works well and produces great photos for your items, ALWAYS start off photographing in that spot. But, don’t limit yourself. There will always be that one piece that doesn’t work and you have to find out the best way to photograph it.
If I think of anything else that may help the jewelry-type photographers, I’ll let y’all know!
Have fun with your photos & God bless!
Sacred Heart Blessings Handmade Catholic Rosaries & Chaplets
Sacred Heart Rosaries
St Francis Paws4Critters Rosaries
~ Hand-crafted by Robyn, Hand-guided by God ~
My Online Shop: http://www.sacredheartblessings.com
My Bonanzle Booths: www.bonanzle.com/booths/sacredheartrosaries
www.bonanzle.com/booths/paws4critters
www.bonanzle.com/booth/texascapes
My Blog:
http://sacredheartblessingsrosaries.blogspot.com
Photography of your item is key to a sale. When browsing through booths on Bonanzle, I have noticed washout caused by flash and brownish photos due to too much red. I have been taking photos since I was a child and have been told I have a “good eye”. However, learning how to use a digital camera and getting the right shot for internet selling takes time and practice.
You should set up an area in your home specific for photographing your merchandise. Through trial and error I have found that a white poster board works very well. I can set up three items at a time, take one photo, and then cut & paste to save time.
If the item is light colored I use a dark colored background so it shows up better. Also, I have noticed that some people stage items around the item they are selling, this can actually be distracting or misleading. A nice clean photo that is crisp makes an item sell faster.
If you go to my booth, you can see I still have a problem with reflection. When I took a photo of my silverplate items, I wore a pink top. Wrong thing to do as it reflected into my photo. Good example of what not to do.
Also, you have to learn how your flash works. Many times I actually turn off the flash to prevent the washout.
Regarding the redish or yellowish tint to your photo is caused by too much color in the room reflecting back into the photo. That is why I suggest using the white poster board. However, you can use your digital camera editing program to adjust the contrast, brightness, and color to remove the unwanted tints.
A photo that is out of focus has to be retaken. Adjust the distance from the item you are photographing. My worse photos are of jewelry because I have not mastered the distance I should be at yet. Sometimes taking a group shot from a distant and then cropping the photo actually works better for me.
Just remember the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words” and enjoy selling on Bonanzle.
