Wish List Wednesday!

Today's Wish List Wendesday pick comes with a healthy dose of nostaligia :) As a child growing up in my parents' Vermont farmhouse I often helped my Mom pick lilacs from our gigantic backyard lilac bush or peonies from the front garden to display in the antique pitcher and basin passed down through her family. Since my husband and I have just purchased our first home (a yellow farmhouse with black shutters, just like the house I grew up in!) this pitcher and bowl from floweringceramics on Etsy has risen to the top of my personal wish list :)

Smu's New Camera! Canon PowerShot A480

After working on product shots with the digital camera received as an engagement gift for several years (hubby and I celebrated our fifth anniversary this summer), it was finally time for me to purchase a newer model camera :) When shopping for this new model, my main concerns centered around product shots and related issues with close-up shots of jewelry:

1. Macro Setting! This is the setting on your digital camera that allows you to shoot extreme close-ups (i.e. the lens of your camera is only a few inches away from the subject.) It is usually represented by a flower icon.

2. Easy to adjust focus options! When using the macro setting, it is important to turn off the auto-focus feature on your camera and/0r use the spot-focus mode due to the short focal length (focal length = distance from lens to subject). Generally turning off the AF automatically puts the camera in "spot focus", so no worries if you don't see a "spot focus" option--this camera doesn't list "spot focus" as an option, all I had to do was turn off AF. This Canon powershot not only allows the user to easily switch focus options, but also shows a green regtangle around the focal point when in spot-focus mode (my old camera did not have this, and it is incredibly helpful!)

My advise to anyone shopping for a camera for product shots: get to know the camera you have before you shop for a new one! The more time you spend playing around the better you will know your needs and priorities come shopping time :) I adjusted settings on my old camera, played with props, lighting and camera angles for almost two years before finally buying this new camera, and armed with the knowledge I gained during that time I was able to find a camera that meets all of my needs and takes better pics than my old one for less than 1/4 the price of the camera I am replacing!

Here is one of the pics from my first shoot with the new camera--let me know what you think! The sun didn't want to cooperate, but the clarity is a huge improvement over my old camera :)

Oh Trades, How I Love Thee....

Sales have been a bit slow lately, and while I am jewelry-rich and cash-poor I've been seeking trades with other handmade sellers for gift and supply items. I've traded many items with fellow Etsians since setting up shop in early 2008 with great results. My most recent trade was with FairyCake on MadeItMyself--I will be receiving this adorable blueberry muffin pincushion, and we will both have the opportunity to gain valuable seller feedback for our shops on this new selling venue!

SmuTopia Featured on Affordable Treats!

Stop by and check out this post on Found Paper Co's Blog titled "Affordable Treats"! I'm thrilled to find a pair of SmuTopia earrings featured in the $5 and under section! Visit the original post to see the <$5, <$10, and <$20 picks, all of which are amazing! And stop by foundpaperco on Etsy to check out her fantastic vintage items!

I've Joined the Virtual Craft Show at Cafe Handmade!

Today is the first day of SmuTopia's month-long exhibit on Cafe Handmade's Virtual Craft Show!

Be sure to stop by and cast your vote for best-in-show! I'll be keeping an eye on Google Analytics to see how much traffic is generated for my Etsy shop from this $10 investment. Wish me luck :)

Smu's Friday Finds: B&W

Ebony and Ivory Damask - Large - Hobo Slouch Bag

Galaxy Lampwork beads - Kelleysbeads SRA

Black Satin Flower Ring

Chickadee on bittersweet wall Decal

Smu's Friday Finds: Beachy Beauty

Seaside Dreams of the Beach - Sand, Shells and Planked Fish Necklace

Emerald Delights, Sea Glass Earrings

Sterling Silver Goddess Pendant

Beach Front - sand dollars and starfish 8pc crocheted entertaining set

The Winner is Me!

I often enter handmade giveaways during my daily blog reading, and much to my happy surprise I was selected as the winner of a giveaway on OceansideCreations blog! My prize was the gorgeous blue fused glass dish from BuddhaKittyGlass, which I immedialy began using to spice up my product shots :) The pretty blue dotted fabric beneath the glass is a hand-dyed silk scarf from Flamboyant Scarves (my neighboring booth at last weekend's Designers' Downtown Market in Raleigh) which I traded two pairs of earrings for.

What do you think of my first "handmade collection" photo shoot? Do you use handmade items from other artists as props in your photo shoots? Please leave a comment and share links to your photos as I would love to see your use of handmade collections in staging product photos!

Branching Out

After reaching 800 hearts this week in my Etsy Shop (Yay!) it occured to me (not for the first time) that after devoting so much time to developing SmuTopia Etsy I would be well served to spend more time developing my new shops on Artfire and MadeItMyself. I love Etsy and could never have reached this point without it, but it can't hurt to expose SmuTopia to new audiences in these alternative handmade communities. I have a few token items listed in both my Artfire and MadeItMyself shops, but plan to add new listings as quickly as my free time will allow :)

In addition to adding items to SmuTopia Artfire and SmuTopia MadeItMyself, I've also been creating new project wonderful ads for SmuTopia using photos of new work. Here's my latest, just added to my project wondeful bids today:

Finally, I have made an investment in some additional advertising by joining the Cafe Handmade Virtual Craft Show for next month! The cost was $10 for four weeks in the Virtual Craft Show......more to come on the results of that investment!