Welcome back, Malin!

1/3 of Mostly Magnets (Malin) is coming back from Sweden today! Welcome back! =) It is exciting to have her back but I know she will be missed in Swedeland. A lot of things have happened in our shop since Malin left at the end of May. We have sold a number of items and heard from people who heart our shop. =) Also, thank you for visiting our blog! It means A LOT to us. Thank you!

For Etsians - How to get perfect pictures every time

Every Etsian knows how important it is to have great pictures of your products on your site. For a long time we struggled with getting the perfect picture. We waited until it was sunny out, we waited until it was cloudy out, we took pictures on the windowsill, we tried everything. We finally decided it was best to take pictures outside in indirect sunlight on the sidewalk. They look pretty good. But what if you want to list something and it's raining? What if you want to list a new product at night? I recently found a way to get perfect pictures every time!! I'm using it for all the pictures in our new shop (http://www.artbloc.etsy.com/). And now you can do it too!

This is my tutorial on how to make yourself a very easy and cheap, but very effective light box.

Materials:

• cardboard box. Mine is 15 1/2" by 10 1/2"
• utility knife
• tracing paper
• scissors
• tape (I used duct tape)
• work light and bulb (I use a 100 watt Reveal bulb)
• craft foam or colored paper (I used brown craft foam. You could use white, or black or any color you want)
  

Directions:

Use a utility knife to cut out three sides of your box leaving about one inch of material on the sides to make three windows....like this:



Cut your tracing paper to the size of the side of your box and attach it with tape to cover the windows....like this:



Place a piece of craft foam or paper in the box so that one side is resting on the back of the box and one side is resting on the floor.

Shine your light into the box. You might want to experiment with different light angles before you get it just right. If you are able, you should set the white balance on you camera to tungsten.

And here is the final product.
You can see more of my pictures on our etsy at http://www.artbloc.etsy.com/

Let me know if you try this and if it was helpful to you!

Artbloc

Mostly Magnets has a new venture. It's called Artbloc! www.artbloc.etsy.com

3 ½ square Artbloc. Definition of Art (red).

My digital artwork is printed on HP paper with genuine Epson archival inks and decoupaged onto a 3 ½ inch square pine block that is handcut and sanded. After a layer of stain and polyurethane, the piece is sanded again, distressed, sealed with a matte finish and signed on the back.

Each 1 ½ inch thick bloc comes with a paper template that indicates exactly where to place nails for hanging. You can position the paper templates on the wall to see exactly what you want your display to look like before putting any holes in the wall. You also receive two of the perfect size nails for hanging these pieces.

Go check them all out!

Beautiful Oklahoma weather

The weather was wonderful today (a bit warm during the day but perfect in the evening) and I sat outside making marble magnets. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful tomorrow as well... =) So I can be productive! I am going to make a few more pendants that hopefully will be posted on our website soon. =)

Congratulations to Joanne!

Joanne won the "Hello" pendant in our very first giveaway. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who visited our shop and entered our contest. Please keep checking back because we plan to have another one soon!

Winner

The winner of the "Hello" pendant will be chosen this weekend. Check back to see if it's you!!