After many trials and tribulations I am finally pleased with the pictures I have taken of my projects! It took me quite a while to get to this point though ~ Friday dawned brightly and I was determined to get a handle on my cameras' settings that I needed to produce those top notch, prize-winning pix that I lusted after on all the "in" stamping divas' blogs. I won't mention names. It was eighth grade all over again! My blog was in the dud group! Everything I'd read (and I'd read A LOT) recommended that you just play with the settings and take many, many pictures to figure out what works best for you!! Sounds sooooo much easier than it is in reality!!!
Plus you need "extreme, really kicka$$" lighting! With the help of my optimistic, weary but ever supportive hubby we had constructed my lightbox (according to directions found on the internet here Homemade lightbox directions) out of foam core last week ~ ha! - that was a sight to see ~ us trying to balance 4 pieces of 20"x30" boards while taping them together with 1" wide white tape into a semi-questionable box shape ~ much cursing ensued ~ I'll spare you the ugly details!! This is what the picture at the site shows -
We did finally get the project completed and I had actually found the recommended clampy lampy things at our local home improvement store and they weren't ridiculously expensive! Oh yay!!! The directions recommended using 4!!!!! lights, but being the cheapo that I am, only purchased 2 figuring that that just HAD to be enough light, good grief, it was 200 whole watts!! Well, apparently 200 watts wasn't enough!! Needless to say, as always, I should have followed the directions...yeah, yeah, yeah, woulda, shoulda, coulda..... blah, blah,blah......and so had to scrounge around at home to find a 3rd one as a stand-in! I'm definately picking up 2 more clampy lampys on my next shopping trip to the big"L".
Now, of course, I couldn't just leave it at having a HUGE white box that was lit up (almost) like Times Square at Christmas for my picture taking adventures...oh no! Somewhere along in my reading travels I'd read that a backdrop of white velvet looks especially elegant when photographing objets d'art - okay, not that my cards are of the objets d'art caliber, but hey, anything that helps make them look as good as possible is well worth it in my book!! Luckily, I remembered that I had a length of white velvet stashed away in my "someday I'm going to use this for the most awesomest, fantastic project the world has ever seen" box......(I'm sure you all have a similar box....or 2...or....). The box was currently stashed in the furthermost back corner of my studio closet underneath an equally important box containing 163 pink and white metal mini mailboxes that I had scarfed up at my local Target $1 spot 2 Valentine's Days ago. (I still have plans for those babies!) I managed to fish out the velvet and it was just as beautiful as I had remembered it, although ALOT more wrinkled!! Okay, upstairs to iron it to see if it is salvageable...and it is!! Yay! As per the directions, I sewed a rod pocket at the top of the material, first trying with the only bobbin and spool of thread that I could put my hands on quickly, black, of course!! I tried it out on the white and immediately knew that it wasn't going to work - duh! I eventually found a bent up, unusable bobbin that held what looked to be enough WHITE thread to complete the job!! After removing the black thread and transfering the white onto the good bobbin I was back in business and finished my sewing job up quickly! I slid the velvet onto a rod that I had put through the sides of the box at the very top in the back according to the directions. As I fluffed and fussed with the fabric I could tell that it was going to all be worth it. And now for the debut.......
.......kinda reminds ya of a beached whale in a dentist's chair, doesn't it?.....and it's taken up residence in our dining room......yeah, Easter dinner was interesting ....I kept expecting it to start looking back at me....creeepy!!
After my first photo session (now doesn't THAT sound professional) I turned out the lights and I caught one of our (way too) many cats checking out the whale to see just how comfy a sleeping place it's mouth might offer.....I made it perfectly clear to her that no matter how soft and cozy looking that velvet may be, I would make sure that sleeping in there would definately be hazardous to her health. I can just imagine posting a picture to a contest only to realize that the background is covered in tabby fur - I just hope the card would be chocolate chip and creamy caramel...maybe no one would notice.....yeah right.
Okay, so here is the first shot from Amie's chic new "House of Blubber" photography studio............TA DAH........so......wadda ya think????
Was it worth all the work we put into it?...and more importantly.......was it worth reading through all of this fal-da-rol just to see one stupid card.....no, don't tell me...I'll just hope the answer is yes! I promise there will be lots more pics to come, now that Studio HoB is finally operational!
Oh, and by the way, the pattern for this card is in the March/April issue of Paper Crafts Magazine ~ I downloaded the pattern a while back from the PC online site, but I just went in to make a hyperlink (I'm really scaring myself with all of this techy stuff...) and the link isn't working, sorry. It's under "downloads" if you want to check for yourself ~ good luck!
I made another dress card, but it just needs a little tweaking and then it will be ready for it's debut! I can't wait to share it with you all! TTFN!!