"One Word Wednesday"

LIGHT BOX!!

Ok, so it's two words, but I just have to tell you about this!

Ever since starting my etsy shop, I've been working on taking pictures that really showed off the designs. It's been a tough road and I've tried so many things... but then I saw the new and improved pictures that a friend/teammate Kristi, owner of zuzugirl, had been doing. She had purchased a portable light box and got amazing photographs using it. It was then that I started thinking about getting one.

I had seen many sizes and types, as well as ones that had been handmade and just couldn't make up my mind. Do I bite the bullet and purchase one?? Pro being that it's portable and stores easily - Con being the price. Or do I make one myself?? Pro being the cost to make - Con being that it doesn't store well (unless you take it apart between taking pictures).

Well, after getting some wonderful sales advice and a link to a homemade light box (http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tentschool.com/how-to-make-a-inexpensive-light-tent) from another friend/teammate, Sandra, owner of AmyRoseDesigns and Bloome, I decided to take advantage of the last couple of weeks of vacation and try it out.

So... rather than using a packing box and adding white paper to the inside, I decided to use foam core board. It was really easy - I used a fabric cutting ruler, so that I didn't have to mark each piece and a razor blade to cut it. After trying to cut through one board, I realized that all I needed to cut was the outer paper and then I can easily pull the inside part out. The only issue was it was a bit messy from the bits of foam. I decided to use white tissue paper that I had lying around rather than fabric because I didn't have any white fabric on hand, but will be interested to see the difference in photographs when I do get some. So far, I'm really loving the difference!

Here are a couple of pics using white as my background:

I was SO happy with the clarity of the photographs and when I woke up this morning, I tried it again with some pretty metallicy (I know that's not a word!!) blue scrapbooking paper. I really like the color in these pics and think I'm going to take more like this!! (I also changed the ribbon so it was easier to see).

So now the tough part... taking new pics of everything that I have and changing them on etsy and on my website! But, I'm really looking forward to just how wonderful they will look!!!

Wish me luck :)