ATC Swap partners revealed

Hi, Virginie from ViviBijoux here. So as most of you know, we're organizing an Artist Trading Cards swap within the team and today, I'm revealing the name of the participants and who they will be trading with!

(Please click on banners for links to blogs. Didn't get a blog address for all the participants, if by any chance I have forgotten one, please let me know!)

Bee http://www.beeliciouscrafts.etsy.com/ + Beth http://www.magpieandbutton.etsy.com/

Ruth http://www.nicedaydesigns.etsy.com/ + Mary http://www.myrasimon.etsy.com/

Carrie http://www.cherryblossomtatoo.etsy.com/ + Suzie http://www.littlewhitedog.etsy.com/

Tanya http://www.tanymac.etsy.com/ + Virginie http://www.vivibijoux.etsy.com/

Rachel http://www.balanced.etsy.com/ + Fiona http://www.patchworkdelights.etsy.com/

Linda http://www.clickdecourcyni.etsy.com/ + Jessamyn http://www.homespunireland.etsy.com/

Aine http://www.missaine.etsy.com/ + Virginie (uneven number, sorry!) http://www.vivibijoux.etsy.com/

Brigitte from http://www.purlsofcoulour.etsy.com/ + Jessamyn http://www.homespunireland.etsy.com/

So just a couple of reminders, double check the dimensions, rules and FAQ in this post.

Showcase will be on Saturday 4 September through personal/team blogs. Each participant who owns a blog will write a Reveal post which will be sent to me by Friday night and then will be linked to my article on the team blog. Participants who don't have a blog can simply send me their pics and comments by Friday and they'll be added to the saturday article.

Brigitte from http://www.purlsofcolours.etsy.com/ is kindly designing an official widget for the swap so that the team and the participants can display them on their blogs. It should be available soon here.

Meanwhile, anyone who would like to help spreading the word about this challenge and the team is more than welcome to pick it up and stick it on web sites and personal blogs! :)

My button is ready for grab too, and the code is on my blog ( address below) don't hesitate, it's free and pretty!!

Hope you all enjoy making your cards, Can't wait to see the result!

Happy crafting!!

Virginie ^_^

blog http://www.vivibijoux.com/

http://www.vivibijoux.etsy.com/

How-to-Tuesday: Photography

As always people are talking a lot lately about photography and how to get good product shots. Now I don't claim to be an expert but I may have a few handy tips that might help you out along the way. There also tonnes of really good resourses onthe Etsy forums, just do a search of the titles.
One good place to start is to research your area on Etsy, see what other sellers are doing in your catagory, so what works and what doesn't and try to avoid the mistakes that others have made. This can be a good way of figuring out the style and feel of the photographs that you want. I think people often don't know what they want until they see what they don't like. Some questions to ask. Do I want to use a model? Do I want a plain background? Do I want the pictures to be fun/bright or moody?
Any of the Irish sellers I've been talking to recently have said that they've struggled with light in the gloomy Winter months. I've now made a rule that I don't photograph after 2pm, it may look bright but for a camera there just isn't enough light this time of year to take good shots. The number on rule is NEVER use your flash, ever ever! It will destroy the colours of your item and make it look flat and mawkish.

You don't have to have an amazing camera to take crisp pictures. I used to have a beautiful super duper posh camera until we were burgled and now I'm working with a basic point and click Canon IXUS, it set me back 200 euro and it does exactly what I need it to do. Obviously it makes life a lot easier with a good camera, and you will get phtotos that look that little bit better, but it's not the huge hindrance people think it is.

The products I'm usually taking pictures of are small so I always have the macro setting on (that's the button of the little flower your camera has). All camera have this setting, some lenses are better than others, play around with yours and see what your camera is capable of. When you are taking close up shots it's essential that you have this setting clicked, or your photos won't be crisp and in focus. I also have my ISO set at 200, and usually I have the shooting mode set to vivid to try to combat the grey daylight. I never use extra lighting as it adds a yellow cast to the colour of your photos. You can buy white bulbs in photography shops, but as yet I've never needed one.

Remember to take you time when taking the shops, if you are using a cheap camera make sure you are very stable when shooting the image or you will get camera shake. I tend to place my elbows on the table. Or small table top tripods can be very handy for this. I also try to keep in mind that the image will have to be cropped to a square for the thumbnail on Etsy. At the start I was very frustrated at having to crop nicely composed photos, now I automatically gear the images to this format. I usually take 6 shots of each item. A couple of arty interesting shots for the listing, and then others that show the basics of the object, like the back/clasp/underside. Here is where all that research comes in for the arty shots. It will help you decide what you want to do for your 'magazine' photo. Lately I've started doing playful things with the background, when I was phtographing a friends jewellery I placed them on a mirror so it looked extra luxurious.
After taking the pictures your next stop is photoshop, which is your best friend if your camera isn't too good. I try to take my pictures on a background that is a very different colour from my object, it makes this stage far easier. Here are a few steps that i put every picture through:

Go to Image>Adjustments>Replace Colour : then high light the background colour, adjuest the fussiness level until you have most of the background but not your object, and increase the brightness. Try not to bleach out your shadows, and don't make it look too unreal.

Go to Image>Adjustments>Brightness/Contrast : I push the brightness up a little bit if the image is a little grey, the contrast helps here too. If the vivid setting on the camera has over saturated the colours I can take down the contrast a little here

Lastly use the crop tool (the tool on the left 5th from the top that looks like 2 set squares put together). In the grey bar at the top I type in my measurements of 25cm x 25cm with 72 dpi, and that means that all my images will be a uniform shape. It's very important that you do this step last after all of your changes as you are decreasing the image size/quality so much it makes it difficult to work with afterwards.
There are lots of other things you can do with a stubbourn image like using the clone too to get rid on marks or dust. Or using colour adjustment to get rid of a yellow cast, but i rarely have to do this. As I said this isn't the complete guide to phtography just a few things that have helped me get a better piture over the past while. I've included some before and after shots of images from my own shop and from friends whose photograghy I did. The jewellery is from DBDesigns and the scarves from Farapinalia, and obviously the buttons ar mine from Nice Day Supplies

Ps:sorry if there are a tonne of spelling mistakes, I'll check it later, I've to run to work...agh late!

I'll Show You Mine...Nice Day Designs

Hi this is Ruth from Nice day Designs and Nice Day Supplies, and here is a peek into my studio. I was really lucky when we moved into this house last April, the recession was good to us in the fact that rent prices came down. So we were able to afford a second bedroom that I could use as a studio. Cheekily I took the large master bedroom, that uses up the whole top floor of our house. I really love the high ceilings and exposed beams, and all that great storage was already here when we moved in.
As you can see I have A LOT of stuff, I work in many different disciplines, so this means I need tonnes of supplies. I try to keep it somewhat tidy, but it's a contstant struggle to control the chaos. Since I've started selling supplies I now have loads of extra boxes in the space that I really haven't found a proper place for yet. But I'm hoping to take a trip to Ikea soon, and all my troubles will be over then.... hopefully!
I attempted to make the place look a bit tidier for the photos, but I realised I will never have one of those pristine spaces. It think this room looks a little like the inside of my head, lots of things/ideas going on, lots of colour, and a bit scatty, but with a strange kind of logic. Having said that it looks a lot better than during the start of January, which had the left over carnage from the Christmas madness. I also hung up a few extra drawings/paintings that I had lying around, left over from exhibitions. It's nice to have pretty things to look at, I must also get myself a notice board so I can make some cool collages....oh another thing for the list!!
I feel really lucky that I have loads of space to let the business grow, it's heaven working there all day. Most of the time I'm squirrelled behind my desk sewing and listening to my audiobook. I also have a second work desk set up, because over the past year I've had a few people come in and do work experince, which is nice to have a bit of extra company.
Hope you liked my little tour!
Nice Day Designs
Nice Day Supplies
Nice Day Blog

Introducing: Nice Day Designs

Hi all, my name is Ruth Crean of '...Nice Day Designs', and I'm one of the new members of the Etsy Ireland Team. If you've got a few minutes to spare you can fritter them away while I self conciously babble about myself and my work.
I'm originally from Celbridge in Kildare but I moved down to wonderful Limerick 9 years ago to attend the art college here, and a mix of a great social/cultural scene and the love of a good Limerick man has kept me here since. I originally studied Fine Art: Printmaking, but in my final year I dabbled in photography and model making. Since graduating in 2004 I have tried my hand at many aspects of visual art, having a few exhibitons in photography, painting and digital collage. I spend about two years working with a great company, Impact Theatre, doing all their graphic design for them. With them I learned tonnes about design and creativity as applied in practice in the real world. It was while working with them that '...Nice Day Designs' was originally born, as a label for my design and for my handmade cards that I had started making.

In 2007 I started selling my cards and illustrations at a local craft market here in the city. It was after a year of this blind optimism that I realised that I would never make my first million selling cards, so I decided to capitalise on my life long hobby of sewing and customising clothes. My mother is a dress maker and it was something I always did on the side, either brightening up a jacket with a few buttons, or making halloween costumes. Things started out very small and tentatively, with one rail of clothes, and a few listings on Etsy. But quickly things grew and there was a growing demand for the clothes I was making.

At first to be honest I didn't have much focus but after a few months I realised that I should promote the fact that they were recycled clothes, as I started to see the growing trends in greener products. Since those first couple of steps I have started selling in a few boutiques around Ireland, and I was lucky enough to be on RTE's Nationwide earlier this year. In Autumn this year I had my first fashion show, which was a daunting and amazing experience. Since the show finished I've been catching up on custom orders and trying to get my cards and accessories sorted for the Christmas rush. Since then I also got my hands on a large lot of vintage buttons which led me to set up my second Etsy shop nicedaysupplies. I was really fortunate to find them, and I know it will take me years to get through them but I am a complete button addict!
It's been a tricky balance with all the different things that I work with, but that's what I love most, one day I could be sewing an evening dress, the next designing my pocket mirrors, and another day making Christmas cards. It means I never get bored and all the different techniques keep me inspired for the next project. I know this sounds nuts but I'm happiest when I'm working away in my studio, with a hot cup of coffee, and listening to a good audiobook.

Unfortuneately I don't have any of my clothes in my Etsy shop at the moment because I have prior commitments to shops to get through first, but check out my blog for more pics from the fashion show.
http://www.nicedaydesigns-ruth.blogspot.com/
http://www.nicedaydesigns.etsy.com/
http://www.nicedaysupplies.etsy.com/

Thanks for reading!