Photography Woes!

Good Resolution, Not so Good color

Decent Color-Bad Resolution

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I suck (sorry, there's no alternate word that conveys such frustration) at taking pictures.

The only C grade I was given at UCSD was in photography.  And the sad thing is, I actually tried, and honestly didn't know what I could have done differently.  It just doesn't click in my mind.

So taking pics for Etsy has been rough.  I read through my camera manual the other day, figured out how to change the white balance and EV and actually in the last few pics the color came out much better than the first round.  However, somehow I'd adjusted the pixel size so everything came out blurry. It wouldn't be so bad, except that the best light I get is right before sundown, so it's race home, get everything set up and shoot, shoot shoot.  I hate being in a rush to do things.  But I have tomorrow morning too, so hopefully I'll have some decent pics posted by tomorrow afternoon.

Sidenote, we're going to family dinner tomorrow night and it's a costume dinner.  I haven't gotten to truly dress up for Halloween since Erik and I started dating, and consequently working at the Halloween store, 6 Halloween's ago.  We're so excited.  I've decided I'm going as Amy Winehouse.  It would be weird to dress up super hot & sexy since it's family dinner, and if you're not going hot and sexy, you've got to do something fun.  Can't wait!

My first sale!

I made my first Etsy sale yesterday, so exciting!  It was actually a wine bag, which I started making as gift bags for the dolls but then thought they would make a good side project, plus a nice excuse to paint a little.

It really is a lot of work figuring out how Etsy works.  The tagging, the listing, the shipping, etc.  Very cool and really exciting though.  I didn't realize how many great tools there are for checking stats.  Here are some great ones:
http://www.craftcult.com/
http://www.cr8tvity.com/

However, it's been hard getting new things done in the meantime.  Tonight I'll be working on new pics of existing dolls (I finally read through my camera manual and figured out how to adjust the white balance) and  on finishing four girls that just need shoes and shirts.  I'm also working on a doll for my psuedo niece that I'd like to have shipped off for her this weekend.  I had a hard time finding the right colored plaid, so I'm dyeing the undershirt to sort of liven it up.  Some samples:

And finally, I'd really like to finish the two witches by next week, seeing as it is almost Halloween.  That really is hard to believe.  I feel like summer just started yesterday.
Almost Finished:

And I almost forgot, I also need to reorganize the loft:

Progress!

Okay, finally some new pics of the witches. The Magic Circle girl is close to being finished, she just needs the front of her dress seamed, a bottom hem, and her collar and waist shawl put together. Oh, and I'm stoked, I finally have a reason to make ribbon flowers. I was reading one of my current fav books (Cloth Doll Couture, Patti Medaris Culea) last night and got totally inspired by a dress with ribbon flowers at the hem. (Love this book, definitely check it out.)

Lady of Shalott is getting there, I'm trying to figure out exact sleeve placement and what to do with her collar. Plus the dress just seems a little bland to me. I'm thinking the sheer fabric should maybe have a really slight tinge of a pink-peach color. I like to think of it as 50's pink. I'm really into 50's colors right now. Weird. Anyway, I like how her face turned out. Pretty funny, she really does look like she saw her life flash before her eyes.

More pics (I hope some complete dolls) by Thursday. In the meantime, I'm also on the lookout for some cool fabrics for 80's glam metal costumes. I swear people must think I'm a real freakin wierdo. That's alright, I kind of like it that way.=)