Modern Wall Art Bulletin Board

Beautiful Wall art for your office. Hang by your desk & you have a great Bulletin board.
See our Handcrafted Gifts

•STYROFOAM™ Brand Foam:
◦Three 36" x 12" x 1" sheets
•Decorative Fabric
•Grosgrain or velvet ribbon, 1" x 2-3/4 yds. per panel
•Poster adhesive or small sawtooth hangers and nails
•Low-temp glue gun and glue sticks
•Thick, white craft glue
•Yardstick or ruler
•Scissors
•Straight pins
Steps:

1.Cut three 12" x 36" panels from Fabric, taking note of desired design placement.

2.Spread white glue on the first piece of Foam and press fabric; smooth with fingers and let dry. Meanwhile, glue remaining panels of fabric to foam sheets. Let dry completely.

3.Beginning and ending at one lower corner, use glue gun to secure ribbon around edges of each foam sheet; trim excess, allowing a bit of overlap.

4.Use poster adhesive to attach to wall. Or, glue sawtooth hangers to back of each panel; for additional hold, insert and glue two straight pins through holes in sawtooth picture hanger; let dry.

Buy Decorative push pins & pin up messages & notes.

Party Platter on a budget

Beautiful 2 Tier Platter for less than $5!

www.handmadeintheusa.ecrater.com

Materials:

•1 Dinner Plate found at dollar store or thrift store
•1 Sandwich Plate or Bowl ( smaller than the dinner plate ) Found at Dollar store or thrift store
•1 Candle Stick Holder somewhat matching the plates. Also found at Dollar store or thrift store.
•1 Tube of E-6000 ( found at Wal-Mart in the craft section )

(The E-6000 cost a bit more if you don't have it in your arsinal of glues)

1. Make sure that all three pieces are washed and dried.

2. Place the dinner plate on a flat surface, like the table.

3. Find the center of the dinner plate and place the candle stick upside down on the middle of the dinner plate. Carefully place a little E-6000 on the candle stick rim and place it back in the center of the dinner plate. The candle stick is the column between the two tiers. Let that dry in place for 1 hour.

4. Place the smaller plate or bowl on top of the candle stick holder, making sure to center the candle stick in the middle of smaller plate or bowl bottom. Now place a small amount of E-6000 onto the rim of the candle stick holder and replace the small plate or bowl, making sure it is centered properly.

5. Allow your 2-tier serving platter to dry for 24 hours before using. I advise hand washing instead of dish washing this platter.

How to make Roses from Maple Leaves

http://www.handmadeintheusa.ecrater.com/

Just found this great tutorial on making a beautiful Fall centerpiece. Maple Leaves Roses.

Mixing Old or Hard Polymer Clay

Great Video on how to get that hard Polymer clay nice & pliable to use. After you are done, you have soft clay to start "playing with". I use this method when making polymer clay items.

How to Photograph Craft Projects

from www.handmadeintheusa.ecrater.com

Many crafters are using the web to sell their items. There are online auction sites, online craft fairs, and places like Etsy to create online shops. The key to selling online is to have crisp, clean photographs of your work. Customers are used to crisp, clear, clean visuals when shopping. A photo that focuses on an item for sale is called a product shot.

You don’t need to invest in the most expensive camera, but if you are serious about selling your work online consider investing in a tripod. Few of us have a steady hand when it comes to holding a camera perfectly still as we click for a photo, a tripod will give you the stability you need to good photos. Some tripods unfold to stand tall while others will only stand 2-3”. The tripod screws onto the base of your camera and a must have for serious photographers. Tripods will help you in normal view and also with macro shots.

Here are some of the best product shot tips from the experts:

•Take your photos outside to get the best light on your items. Cloudy days are best as the filtered light helps bring pop to the photo.

•Display your item in an interesting way, but don’t let the background or display become too busy. You want your item to be the main attraction.

•Contrast your background and item. Light items on dark backgrounds and dark items on light backgrounds.

•Take photos from many different angles and select the one that gives the best view of your item.

•Use a tripod. Shaky hands led to unfocused images. Practice and get comfortable with your camera.

•Take photos from different angles and select the angle that shows off the product best.

•Crop your photos. You don’t need a lot of background, what you need is a nice close up of your work.


For jewelry... using a flatbed scanner is a great way to get a very detailed photo of the jewelry.


This artist used a woman as a model. Your eye goes right to the necklace & you can see just how beautiful it will look as it's used.


If you can't use a model... there are many "Jewelry Mannequin Displays" available.














Glass is a very difficult subject matter. Glass is so reflective that it’s not easy to capture, you need filtered light.

A trick.... for small items, photograph in a cut white gallon milk jug that defuses light.
Cut top quarter off a clean dry milk jug. Set lights outside the jug & you get clean white light with no reflections.