Mike made his first front page!

I'm so proud of you hun!  You can all visit my husband's shop at LampLightPottery!

Front Paaaggggeeee Baby!

For those of you who are coming across this post & don't know why all this hub bub about the front page, I'll explain.  On Etsy they have a group of sellers featured and it cycles evey hour.  It is pretty special to be on the front page, because not only do you get a ton of exposure to your shop, but you also know your doing something right.  Especially as a book binder, you need to make a book LOOK fun & pretty & accessible.  It's not as easy to do that with a book as say maybe, a pair of earrings or a great top.  You have to make people say, "ooo... i want!"

To be on the front page it's all about the photo.  The better your photo is, the more likely your shop will be seen and make it to the elusive front page.  In the last week I've made it to the front page 3 times!  At first I sat here scratching my head.  Why all of a sudden am I getting noticed?  Then it hit me... I am cool!  No, seriously!  I have taken photos, and retaken photos, and taken them again... each time getting a bit better.  I also had a great Etsy friend explain my husband's Rebel Xsi to me, thank you Jen (aka JennaDesigns).  I know it's a pain.  As they say, practice makes perfect.  I think I still have a ways to go.  I know my shots can be better, and they will be better.  But I need to practice.  I thought I would throw up past backgrounds for you all to see.  Sometimes it's all we need, is a little inspiration... or an absolute accident!

The first photos of my journals my wonderful husband took, on the back of a quilt I made.  These photos were nice, but the lighting in our old apartment was not the best.  With experience I know now that I just should have moved around to get the right window at the right time of day.

Then we built a light box.  It was great to be able to take pictures at midnight when we had time and could control everything... but do you notice that it looks like I forgot to put pages in the journal... white is just too harsh for my journals, soo....

I used a tan peice of kraft paper.  This was better, but still boring.  And tan matches some of the journals and not others, as you can see.  This is a beatiful journal... but the background does nothing to make it look extra special.

Then a custom order came from my graphic designer, Melissa at TheSpeckeledPear, and that was it, I took shots on this table & hooray!  This is a table I used in my gallery (yes, I owned a gallery).  I bought it from a friend of mine's father that made it out of old barn boards.  It has so much personality & character.  I have taken all my pics on it since.  It gives the journals a romantic feel.

And these are the shots that made the front page.  Better, right?  I hope you all go out and work on your photos, I know there are a few of mine that need tweaking :D  Don't be afraid to try something new!!!

A bit of an update...

I haven't posted too many personal things on my blog lately.  I've been busy trying to be productive.  I think some of it has to do with the fact that I am going to be putting myself out there a little more than usual.  I have been trying to silk screen my own journal covers.  I have been struggling with materials more than the actual designs.  I do admit that my first design is a tad 3rd grade... but I love to doodle, and I came up with this...

I printed this onto fabric, but I'm used to working with card stock & papers.  What do you guys think?  Like I said... I like to doodle.  I tried different colors.  I tried on card stock.  We'll just say a lot of trial and error, a lot. The next prints I make will be on blue... I think.

So aside from all my frustrations & growling & hair pulling I was on the front page of Esty TWICE in the last two days!  I added the craftcult versions of the front pages to my sidebar because Etsy hasn't gotten the screenshots to their flickr pool yet.  It takes them a while sometimes.  I can wait...

So not wanting to get myself frustrated further, I put off doing anything for my shop tonight & joined my husband in the studio.  I haven't gotten a chance to work with clay since we moved in... so this was long overdue.  I pressed out a few platter molds.  I was only out there for about 45 minutes, but it was nice getting back into it.  I've never been able to throw, but I make a great assistant.  We are de-molding them in the morning.  Wish me luck!  I hope they come out nice... but if not I can just start over :)  I love clay!

And an update for my husband's shop... he is working on getting enough for another firing.  He made a dish mold for a butter dish, but I think it would make a perfect chocolate or small cookie platter.  Of course there will be mugs... lots of mugs :)  He has also made some tumblers that are extruded and then altered on the wheel.  I'm hoping we will have tons of wonderful people to come help with the firing, it is going to be COLD!  I think I might have to find a great hot cocoa recipe before then!