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Jewelry Photography - How to Photograph Earrings

I am no expert on photography and photographing jewelry is not the easiest! Most earrings look best hanging but even though I like to use props like vases or jars to hang them from, they can be distracting for the first photo in my Etsy store. For that shot I like to have my earrings dangling from what seems to be nothing with a plain white background:

 I finally built a heavy duty earring hanger from shelf brackets, scrap wood and dental floss. I used to have fishing line attached to my Modahaus Table Top Studio  with flimsy coat hangers so the earrings would droop and slide around but with these sturdy brackets and dental floss, I can get the line nice and tight and makes setting us so much easier! ( That's 50% of the shot right?)  Now my next project is to find brighter lights and maybe some sturdier lamps, it seems a lot of photo lighting is made very cheap and breaks almost right away!

Some other tips:

I use two lamps on either side plus a handheld light that I can move to get the light just right.
Besides using iPhoto for editing photos, I will use FotoFuze, a super simple way to get the background truly white then I will run all my photos though iPiccy a free online photo editing program that is fairly simple to use also.  iPiccy helps make my photos more crisp and pop! Even if you don't have any fancy equipment you really need to try these photo editors to get your photos looking their best!

Do you have any photo tips you want to share? Like this article? Please comment below:)

Wire Wrapped Fabric Beads - DIY Jewelry Tutorial

These beautiful wired wrapped fabric and ribbon beads are so fun and simple to make and look like expensive art or glass beads!  They are just made from scraps of fabric, ribbon, yarn  and wire with seed bead assortments I got from Auntie's Beads:

Miyuki seed beads mixes in assorted sizes from Auntie's Beads

Scrap fabric, ribbon and yarn

Supplies:

1) Assorted scrap fabric, ribbon and yarn; look for cool textures with shimmer!
2) Assorted wire in all colors ( I like Artistic wire from Auntie's Beads) from 20 gauge to 28 gauge.
3) Seed Beads, I like Miyuki seed beads mixes in mixed sizes from Auntie's beads.
4) Tacky glue

Tools:

1) Wire cutter
2) Bamboo skewers


Step one:

Start wrapping your ribbon or fabric strips around a bamboo skewer.  Here I used sheer 2" wide ribbon that has wire in it and is about 9" long. The wired ribbon is very easy to work with because you can mold it to shape.  For fabric,  I use 1" by 6 to 9" strips; it just depends on how thick the fabric is and how big of a bead you want. You can either add more or cut any excess off if necessary. You can use a combination of fabric and ribbon, lace and even wrap yarn!  If you are not using the wired ribbon,  pin your fabric to hold it together:

Step Two: When you get the shape you want, take a yard of wire and tie or twist it around the center of the bead. Then add a few seed beads as you wrap the wire around:

 Keep adding beads and wrapping until there is about 4" of wire left then loop it though a seed bead  near the edge a few times to hold and then I like to coil the rest of the wire around the skewer at the end:

Loop the end of the wire though a bead a few times to hold.

Then repeat, adding beads to the other half of the wire. Sometimes I need to add more wire and beads. You can squish the bead and shape it to make it tighter as you are wrapping. When I am finished I like to remove it carefully from the skewer, sliding onto a head pin or eye pin with a small bead cap,  adding a dab of tacky glue to the ends so it wont unravel.  I have also cut the skewer and left it inside the bead and wrapped the excess sturdy 20 gauge wire around and formed loops to hang. (see purple bead below) You can also start with a paper coffee stirrer straw instead of a skewer and glue your fabric onto that but I didn't want to raid Starbucks just yet!

 I used 20 ga wire and wrapped ends and made loops

Find my fabric bead jewelry in my Etsy Shop

Be sure to check out my Etsy shop frequently for more fabric bead jewelry or fiber art and even necklaces will be coming soon!

Do you like this tutorial, is this something you could make? Comments welcomed :)

Simple Hoop Drop Earrings - DIY Jewelry Tutorial

Simple DIY jewelry tutorial: hoop drop bead dangle earrings even a beginner can make! I had these extra bead caps I got from from The Beadmixer. I wasn't sure what to do with them until I found some large 12mm pearls and Czech glass beads I had in my bead stash. You can find all of the parts you need at The Beadmixer; I've included links to them.


Tools:
Needle nose pliers

Materials:
30mm head pins (about 1 1/4") in bronze
Antique bronze 35 mm hoops
Antique bronze bead caps
12mm beads

Step 1: Take your needle nose pliers and bend the last filigree loop out slightly so the bead will fit just at the end:

 Step 2:  Add your 12mm bead to the head pin, add the cap, being careful not to scratch your bead.  Bend the pin almost 90º ( I just use my fingers),  holding onto the filigree so the cap will not open and the bead wont slide further into the cap,  take you needle nose pliers and make a loop. Then slide onto the hoop. The 30mm pin should be the perfect length for a loop just big enough to fit onto the hoop.

For more detailed photos on how to make a loop see my previous post:  Jewelry Tutorial for Beginners, there is also a link to helpful videos for beginners.

Find these and other handmade earrings in my Etsy store.

For more jewelry tutorials follow my Pinerest board: DIY Jewelry Tutorials

Please let me know if you like this tutorial and other comments are welcomed here!