The latest project! I made a very pretty apron! This apron is special. The material comes from my grandmothers attic, I inherited a lot of material from that attic. This apron is black with bouquets of pinkish daisies and the words “He loves me, he loves me not” scattered across it.I actually made the pattern from scratch, so it’s all completely original.
Here it is!
I thought everyone should know, I am able to do clip-on earrings now! If you see a pair of earrings at my store Johanna’s Designer Jewelry, and you don’t have your ears pierced, just email me at johanna@johannasjewelry.com and let me know if you need clip-ons.
Also, I plan on adding drop down boxes so you can choose clip-on earrings from there, but until then, just send me an email.
Nature is producing beautiful spring colors here! Greens, browns, yellows, purples, etc.
Spring definitely inspired me as I made these beautiful handmade gemstone necklace, and handmade gemstone earrings.
They are sold individually, or together.
Hey folks, here is a new handmade gemstone necklace that has been added to my store!
Check it out sometime.
These unique handmade chandelier earrings are so gorgeous, and perfect for spring!
I used sterling silver wire and diamond curb chain to make the chandeliers. I then used sterling head pins and attached lilac and and light topaz swarovski crystals.
I am very happy with the results, the yellow and purple go very well together.
Are you waiting for those new handmade jewelry additions for spring? Well, I am designing like crazy, and I can’t wait to share my new handmade jewelry designs with you!
I will be working with gemstone chips, swarovski crystals, and delica seed beads.
Colors I will be using in my handmade jewelry designs will be purple, yellow, green, and garnet.
Just wait and see!
Here are three new unique handmade jewelry additions. Purple and green are in right now, so these will be perfect for spring.
Don’t know about you, but I think they’re all quite beautiful!
This unique handmade beaded necklace with a sterling silver butterfly pendant has been added to my store.
This unique handmade crystal necklace makes a beautiful sparkling new addition.
Beautiful handmade crystal earrings are made with sterling silver ear wires, jonquil swarovski crystals, and clear swarovski crystals.
Check out the newest handmade pearl necklace at my store. A beautiful handmade freshwater pearl necklace, the cultured freshwater pearls float around your neck. A very nice spring time piece to add to your jewelry collection.
I have added a new handmade crystal necklace to my store. Check it out, it’s beautiful! (click on a picture to go to the products webpage)
I have also been making a new feature available to you. Drop down boxes that allow you to choose a size. This feature will allow you to customize my handmade jewelry to fit you perfectly, since you would know what size you need better than I do. Most of my handmade necklaces have options for sizes 15″ through 20″.
The new Handmade Crystal Necklace
I decided I really wanted one of those jewelry displays that has the head so that I could display my handmade earring and necklace sets together. So I decided to make one! I took pictures of my progress, and decided to write a tutorial on it. So here goes.
Materials you will need:
A large piece of cardboard,
Material, (I used velvet),
Scissors,
Knife,
Pen or Pencil,
Tape,
Hot glue
Large sheet of Paper
Construction paper
Instructions:
Begin by drawing the pattern on a large piece of paper. Make her with her head turned partly to the side. Keep her from looking bald by adding a little something like hair to the back!
Next, make the pattern for the stand. The stand will consist of two pieces that will fold.
Lay your pattern pieces out on a large piece of cardboard, and trace with a pencil. With a knife, cut carefully through the top layer of cardboard following your pencil lines.
Now set the cardboard upright and start cutting through the back layer letting the grooves from the top layer guide you. After cutting your display out, use a metal fingernail file to file off the rough edges.
Now lay your jewelry display out on a large piece of velvet and trace. Cut the velvet at least 1 1/2″ bigger than the cardboard.
Lay the velvet wrong side up and lay your cardboard display on top. Begin folding the velvet over the edges of the display, taping into place as you go. Cut slits at inside curves when necessary.
Once you have finished taping, using your hot glue gun, begin gluing small sections at a time, removing tape as you go.
Using thick paper, or construction paper, trace your display and cut out a little smaller than actual display. Glue to the back of your jewelry display.
Now cover your two pieces for the stand in velvet. Fold sideways so that when you attach them, your display will tilt back slightly. Glue into place.
I made kind of a mess on the back of mine! This is the first one I’ve done like this, so hopefully next time I’ll do better.
Now use a needle to put a hole about where her ear would be for displaying an earring.
Your jewelry display is finished!
Make her look beautiful with your favorite necklace and earring set.
You can even wrap a scarf around her to match.
If you have any questions, let me know. I’d love to see your jewelry displays if you decide to make some.
Recently, I started a tutorial on making a jewelry display. I will try to finish it soon, but it seems to be going kinda slow. The hardest part was getting nice pictures so you can see more clearly what I am doing.
This jewelry display is unique, but quite simple. It is a large piece of cardboard with velvet stretched over it. But this one you can actually display not only a handmade necklace, but also handmade earrings.
Just wait and see!
Photographing handmade jewelry is always a big challenge for the artisan. How to obtain beautiful photos of your jewelry that bring out the true beauty of your jewelry? Photography is an art in itself. It takes decent skill to bring out the sparkle in a crystal, to make colorful stones look vibrant. But with a decent camera (preferable one with manual controls) a little practice, and some patience, you can learn to take good pictures of handmade jewelry.
I myself am still learning. I am always looking for ways to improve my skills.
Below are some things I have learned. Perhaps you can learn from them.
The Light Box
First, I will explain the light box. While there are exceptions, a light box is one of the most important things to photographing handmade jewelry.
Here are some quick instructions for making a light box.
You will need to make a frame. You can glue pieces of wood together, or you may cut large holes into the sides of a cardboard box. Once you have your frame made, you can either tape tracing paper over the sides, or drape a white sheet over it. If you use tracing paper, leave most of the front open for your camera. If you use a sheet, just put your head and camera under the sheet to take the pictures (don’t laugh at me!). The purpose of all this is to be able to diffuse your light source, that is, to soften it. For the inside of your light box, you can use velvet, or colored paper to lay your handmade jewelry on. Now all you need is light!
Bright white light is best. Two or three light sources is best. Position your lights around your light box, and bingo! You are ready to take pictures. If you don’t have lights, a good alternative is to wait for a bright sunny day, and take your light box outside in the early afternoon.
Taking your pictures
I hope you have a digital camera with manual controls! I say this because I have never been able to completely rely on automatic. The camera is often fooled by elements in your pictures, and often makes the wrong decisions. For instance, if you use a black backdrop in your picture, your camera will think you need more light, and give you a longer shutter speed than necessary, resulting in an over exposed picture. If you have a manual option, read your camera manual to learn how to use them. Set you ISO (sensitivity) to 200 or lower (results in a better quality picture, you should have plenty of light and won’t need a high ISO),
Now you will adjust your camera’s shutter speed and aperture. Experiment and find out what is best. This picture was taken in a light box. The shutter speed was 1/125 and the aperture was f3.3.
Light Box Exceptions
A light box is not always necessary. The below picture was taken outside in the early evening…the sun was starting to go down and turning a soft orange-ish color, so the light was not terribly soft, but was not to hard either. This particular light source was well for this picture, because the handmade necklace is all crystals, so the light really brought out the color and sparkle. The shutter was 1/500, and the aperture was f4.2.
Aperture
The aperture will determine how much of your jewelry is in focus. If I had been closer to the above picture, focusing on only a small part of it, half of it would have been out of focus. But since I was far enough back, allowing a portion of the backdrop to surround my picture, the necklace was within the focus perimeter. You will notice that the backdrop is blurry. Had I wanted it sharp, I could have set my aperture to f7.9 or so, but a blurry background set off the necklace more sharply.
If you are wanting a close up picture, you can set your aperture to either blur the remainder of the necklace, or bring it into focus. When taking a close picture, such as with a pendant, place your camera very close to the object of focus, and set your aperture to about f2.0 or so. this will bring the pendant in focus, and the rest of the necklace will be a blur in the background. Also keep in mind the more you zoom in, the harder it will be for your camera to focus close up (assuming you are using a normal lens). Instead of zooming in, get close.
Be Creative
The last thing you want is for your pictures to be boring. On the other hand, you don’t want other elements to distract from your handmade jewelry either. Objects to drape your jewelry around or over works wonders. As in the picture above, I used a wineglass. A friend recently suggested spiffy rocks, a tipped over glass, placing jewelry on mirrors, etc. Experiment with different backdrops and find out what works best for different pieces of jewelry.
I hope this information helps you in photographing your handmade jewelry. The techniques I have used will work with many other things, not just jewelry. I often use these basic techniques when taking portraits, or photographing plants, etc.
More Reading
Making your own photography studio
How to make an inexpensive light tent
Moving Truth is a christian photography site. Check out the forums, get involved!
Get prepped for spring people! Soon, I will be digging into the bags of summer clothes all stuffed away in my closet, and restock my wardrobe with short sleeves and knee skirts. I need to start working on new spring time handmade jewelry creations, too. It’s quite warm today, though I still have to wear a sweater. I’m looking forward to the day when I can just walk outside for a walk without having to put on my shoes and don a jacket.
Saturday night we turned the clocks forward. That is, except my watch. So while I lay in bed reading, I thought it was only 10:00 when I turned the lights out. Until I remembered My watch was an hour behind. As a result, I was tired while I played the piano at church next morning.
I didn’t do much better Sunday night either. Some of us stayed up late watching Star Wars. I think it was midnight when I went to bed. Surprisingly, I don’t feel to bad today.
On the subject of handmade jewelry for spring, while I do need to come up with new creations, I do have some some handmade jewelry that would be very nice to wear this spring. For instance, the Mauve and Pearl Necklace, or the Purple Hearts Illusion Necklace, and a rather dainty Crystals and Flower Necklace. I think nearly any of the Crystal Necklaces would work great , too. Check them out for yourself and see what you think.
Below are some links to help you find my handcrafted jewelry. Have fun!
Freshwater Pearl Necklaces.View all Pearl Necklaces.
A mauve and pearl necklace…really quite beautiful! Tiny mauve beads with small pearls spaced between them.
Go see this necklace
Pearl and crystal necklace. I think this especially makes a great gift for the bride or bridesmaid.
Go see Pearl and crystals necklace
Light pink pearl necklace with fire polish glass crystals.
Go see pink pearl necklace
Light pink pearl necklace with fire polish glass crystals…same as above only with three small drop-down pendants.
Go see Pink Pearl Necklace
Crystal necklaces
View all Crystal Necklaces
Beautiful crystal necklace that dangles nicely down the front. Different color options are available to you.
Go see this crystal necklace
A crystal and bead necklace made in earthy tones with a swarovski crystal topaz pendant.
Go see this topaz crystal necklace
A crystal and wire necklace that seems to float around your neck. Crystals are held in place on the wire with crimp beads.
Go see this floating crystal necklace
A crystal necklace with vibrant colors that sparkle wonderfully around your neck.
Go see this crystal necklace
Purple hearts illusion necklace…made with purple crystals and floats around your neck. Knotted on clear illusion cord.
Go see this crystal hearts necklace
A romantic crystal necklace. I call this the Romance Crystal Necklace because of the soft colors used, but there are other color options available for you to choose from.
Go see this crystal hearts necklace
Beaded necklaces.
View all Beaded necklaces
Two strand beaded necklace. This one is unique in that it doesn’t have a clasp. Instead you pull the strands through the circle pendant. Take a look!
View this Beaded necklace
Bead necklace with a tiny heart pendant.
View this Beaded necklace
Hey folks, I’m back home! It was cold in Michigan! We decided not to go see the relatives in Illinois because of all the snow storms. Our van got stuck twice, and we had to get pulled out. Fun!
I had the privilege of making the necklaces for the bridesmaids. They loved them! I used horseshoes, silver banana beads, crystals, and black seed beads. They went very well with the black skirts and maroon shirts we wore. Here is a bad picture of me wearing one.
