Taking good product shots

{photos}

I participated in a little madeit promo /competition for several weeks and I have to say some days it was painful finding GOOD photos!!!!!!!! Bec (founder of madeit) seems to find plenty of nice shots but she might spend a lot more time looking for them, than I had time to.



A good photo goes a long way to selling your product - especially when you are relying on online sales and customers can't touch your items! I have been guilty of taking photos in a hurry just to list an item in my store and I don't claim to be an expert but I try hard to make them as appealing as possible. My light cube has really helped product shots at night and I mostly try to shoot in natural light with no flash. Notice the simple, consistent backgrounds in these photos courtesy of Decor8.



There are lots of helpful tutorials online and you can even make your own light tent. Etsy's has a few great tutorials on their blog re: photographing products. Have a happy weekend! I am having a little holiday with my family next week which includes NO internet connection - a real holiday! So see you in a week :-)

Clay flowers by DK Designs on Etsy

It is hard to believe these flowers are made from CLAY!!! Yes- you read right! An amazing find on you-tube lead me to this Etsy store. I would LOVE to learn how to make flowers out of clay. These are made from Deco-clay which is a soft, air-drying clay. Stunning images I could stare at these all day.



I actually found a place in Melbourne that give Deco Clay lessons! This book looked fabulous too - Clay Art for all Seasons by Yukiko Miyai. This is on the to-do list once Josiah is weaned and I take myself to Melbourne for a girls weekend... a trip to Ink and Spindle is on the wish list too.

Spring Fashion Week Paris 2011

Ohhhhhh, ahhhhhhhh - got to love those sequinned numbers by Elie Saab sashaying down the runway.





I love these two floaty numbers of his also - isn't that blue colour simply divine.

Images courtesy of PopSugar who I discovered via Maria's fabulous newsletter Build-a-buzz. I am definitely not a celebrity junkie (couldn't care less) but enjoy browsing the odd fashion site - especially runway!

Madeit Monday - Pocket Carnival

I decided to focus on one Madeit shop today - so enjoy this ever so cute range from Pocket Carnival! Penny is a Melbourne girl who designs these gorgeous characters and has a stationary and fabric range! Too cute I say... Christmas is how many weeks away ladies?..... (assuming no man but my husband actually reads my blog!)

Friday Favourites - Ferm Living

Ferm Living - Danish store sporting gorgeous wares and deleriously delicious wallpaper... found through another cute Danish blog.



Wallpapers



Perfect for my letterpress letters... if I had some :-)



Love this plywood birdcage - better than a decal and you don't have to remember to feed it - the perfect pet for me. Have a fabulous weekend.

My Creative Space - fancy napkins & more hair candy

Its always nice to make something different once in a while! I made these cute little designer fabric napkins for a sweet little girls 2nd birthday. The lovely recipient was getting a tea set and her mama suggested napkins - they were a winner.



New Hydrangea clip - I love these... time consuming but so cute. I sent this solo clip to Shop Handmade but hope to get more in the online stores soon...



This new little headband was inspired by my custom order last week. Limited edition fabric/colour... to me anyway... such a pretty shade. My current supplier of this lovely scalloped elastic tells me she no longer stocks it! EEEEEEEK! What a bad time of year to find out... the search begins. More creative spaces over at Kirsty's!

Gorgeous Danish Design Blog

I found this lovely blog - Ifra Lahell a while back - who knows where? You know how you can get lost in the link trail... If you add google translator to the page you might understand some of the text. From what I can gather the lovely blog author is in Interiors and shows fabulous images of her home and homes that are inspirational. I love finding a blog like this and then going on a tour of her blog roll! That is how I probably found her in the first place! Enjoy!

Chandelier #23 - Recycled Bike Chains

Hubby sent me these fab bike chain chandeliers via Lost at E Minor by artist Carolina Fontoura Alzaga.



My morning started well before 6am - ughh after only getting back in bed at 3am. My head feels like lead.. I think I will be on the go-slow today. On the upside we have a date night tonight... if I can keep my eyes open at dinner :-)

Friday Favourites - Notemaker

Notemaker is an Australian company who handpick their stationery supplies from Paris, Seoul, Rome, London, US and Australia. LOTS of lovely goodies.




I always wondered where you get these from, cute huh!



Stickers to complete a lovely parcel - you receive 50 stickers.

Mmm, Italian leather journals - you just know they smell really good. I have a little journal collection for my daughter (I may have mentioned once before) to present to her on a special birthday when she is older. Ramblings of her mother - my thoughts, family history, likes, dreams, reflections on motherhood etc...



Some lovely finds for this rainy day - it makes me want to snuggle on the couch and write a good old fashion letter! Truth is I have a pile of birthday cards to be written, cupcakes to make for a baby shower, orders to wrap, orders to make - children to cuddle (perhaps not in that order :) Have a fabulous weekend.

My Creative Space - custom orders and birthday prep

A couple of custom orders for a friend for her brothers wedding :-)



Baking for my daughters 3rd birthday. We had two small celebrations spread over two days! The cupcakes were a recipe from the Donna Hay kids magazine - not sure how I liked the meringue icing - it was like eating pavlova mixture before it has been cooked.



I did a VERY easy no fail, 1 bowl cake to take to Floriade Saturday morning. I used one of the gingerbread biscuits to decorate. She originally wanted a butterfly cake - this was my compromise for this busy mummy!



My happy little family. We had a gorgeous morning with friends. For more creative spaces...

Gorgeous new stock - A little Red Ribbon

My cousin Gret has some gorgeous new stock in her etsy store! Some divine mini clutches made from 100% linen and vintage cotton. The bibs are the same materials. Soooo nice to have something a little different than the disney branded bibs etc.. Nice if you need to take bub somewhere nice like a wedding, restaurant or christening!

Chandelier #22 - Champagne Glasses

What a sensational event idea, as seen on the Amy Atlas blog. I bet the risk management policy for that event was a fun one! One would hope that if you got the job of champagne/ribbon hanger that you would be a very skilled knots-man/woman! It reminded me a little of this....



Did you ever see the flying wine angels on Oprah that time? Girls on harnesses who fly around wine towers collecting whatever it is that you wish to drink for dinner! I bet that bottle of red just got more expensive!

Madeit Monday - Butterflies

Left to right

1. Fabric Brooch- Navy Butterfly by Buttons By Lou Lou 2. Sweet Paper Garland- Snow Butterflies by 3 girls and a goat 3. Brooch- Little Red Butterfly by My Bearded Pigeon

Friday Favourites - Sarah Paloma Pottery

I found these gorgeous wares on Etsy by the talented Sarah Paloma.



Nesting bowls are so lovely all snuggled together along with the divine votives below.



Sarah describes these as having "burnt brown edging" - which really make the votive so pretty... Have a fabulous weekend people. We are having some more birthday celebrations!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful girl

Anya is 3 today! She is a determined little girl who knows just what she wants (like someone else I know :) My daughter can push my buttons and make me laugh in equal measure! She is a creative and smart little bunny who is well-read and has a fabulous vocabulary. We love her to death and thank God for the blessing she is to us - Happy Birthday gorgeous girl.

My Creative Space - Ice Cream and Echidnas

We made some home-made ice cream this week! A friend lent me her ice cream maker - yipee. The instructions of doing it by hand sound long and tedious... let me know if you have made ice cream the hard way and how it was? Anyway the above picture is the mix in the saucepan before it is churned and turned into this....



This consistency was like soft serve so we froze again before it turned into this!



We don't usually do ice cream after Vegemite sandwiches but the wait to make ice cream ( a couple of days) nearly killed the poor child :-)



After using so many egg yolks you need to make something with all those egg whites! Friands are basically, egg white, sugar and butter! No wonder I hardly make them - they were delicious though. Where do Echidna's fit into ice cream and friands you might ask? After baking our friands I went outside to discover this.... (Echidna on the left).



Anya needs her own MCS corner!! Admittedly the outside of our house looks like a chalk board and we let Anya draw on the pavers with chalk.... I hate to stifle creativity but the house... really!?!? Stern words followed then I whipped out the camera :-) My daughter was obviously inspired by the Echidna we found and released back into the native parkland last week with Posie's children.







That was a long MCS - thanks for hanging in there! See what else everyone is up to this week over at Kirsty's.