Archive: May ’09 on The Blog

The other day I was just sitting around with nothing to do (yeah, right!) and I started wondering about how often different items were used and which items were most popular to use in your Fresh Picks. We have compiled a very interesting set of winners… Check it out!

Favorite Gemstone Category to use in a Fresh Pick

	1st: Black Onyx
	2nd: Labradorite
	3rd: Coral

Most used gemstone bead in a Fresh Pick

White Opal Round 3.5-4mm

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While half our team has been working on expanding our product line (a top priority for us in 2009), the other half has been working on something completely different. I’d like to tell you a little bit about it today. It’s called “The Garden,” and it’s a place where beaders can congregate, share ideas, meet new people, join groups, and showcase designs.

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Now that you’re taking beautiful photos of your jewelry, you may be wondering what you should be doing with them. In this post, I’ll explore the different ways that you can edit, share, print and market your jewelry.

Editing Your Photos

The first thing you should think about is editing your photos. While it’s important to use the right camera settings when taking your photos, it rarely turns out exactly the way you expect. That’s where photo editing software comes in handy.

There are dozens of options when it comes to editing your photos. It all depends on what you’d like to do with your photos and how much you’re willing to pay. Prices range from free to $699. I’ve lost almost all of my math skills over the past couple of years, but that sounds like a pretty huge disparity to me.

You’re probably not sure which features that you’ll be needing out of your photo editing software. Here’s a quick list that I came up with:

• Cropping and resizing
• Color management
• File and folder organization
• Import files easily
• Cloning tool for removing flaws

Based on that list, I’ve come up with a few possible software solutions.

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Click to Enlarge

Photography has always been an interest of mine, but it never really developed into a hobby. So, when Kevin asked me if I wanted to take over the reigns for photographing the new products for the site, my answer was an enthusiastic “Yes!”

I’m not sure if you remember this, but a couple months ago, we purchased a new camera for photographing our beads. It’s big, it’s awesome, and it’s pretty intimidating if you’re anything like me. That’s why I decided the best way to tame this wild beast would be to learn more about it. In doing so, I wanted my experience to benefit our customers as well.

While some of you are already well-versed in the ways of jewelry photography, I bet that most of you are more like me. Maybe you’ve tried a couple of times, but nothing seemed to click. Well, that’s where I come in.
You’re probably familiar with taking pictures of people and landscapes, but photographing jewelry is different. Not only are you dealing with much smaller objects, but the different textures and colors of your pieces make it much more difficult.

What Kind of Camera Should I Use?

There are plenty of ways to photograph your jewelry. You don’t need the greatest, most expensive camera. In some cases, you can use a point and shoot camera or a flatbed scanner. For professional-looking results, I would shy away from the flatbed scanner trick, but if you’re in a hurry, it works just fine.

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The spring craft shows/fairs have begun. We’re in the midst of graduation and wedding season. There are lots of birthdays this time of year. It’s spring, everyone wants new jewelry! This is the time when the beading world is usually buzzing with activity, but it seems a little quiet this year.

My questions is — what are you seeing out there? Whether you’re selling at shows, having home jewelry parties or trunk shows, or getting requests for graduation jewelry, what sort of designs are people asking for? We try to keep up on the latest trends, but they’re all over the place this year. I think the economy is driving people to use supplies that are a bit less expensive like: brass stampings, recycled parts, and base metals. Ali tells me that the items below are being reported as “hot” for this summer, but doesn’t it seems like a huge variety? I’m not sure what to think.

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At Lima Beads we know how important Mom’s role is. Mom made us who we are today. Mom is always going to give advice (whether or not we want it ). Mom unconditionally loves us. Mom makes a really great babysitter. Mom loves to be a Mom.

I though it might be fun to see Mother’s Day through the eyes of our team leaders at Lima Beads.

What is the most special thing you did for your Mom on Mother’s Day?

Ali: My Mom is big into family traditions.  Every year growing up my dad would make reservations for brunch at Gratzi at a table by the window.  She loves it there, but I think she really loved all of us there with her.  I usually start to get some subtle hints being dropped about  2 weeks before m-day like – “I just love longer chunky necklaces” or ” I was looking for something to wear with my new top and realized I didn’t have anything with pink, orange, blue, purple, and gold, hmmmmmmmmmmm”.  I guess subtly is not my Mom’s way…  So I typically make something special for my Mom as a thank you.  She gets the biggest smile on her face so I know she really loves it.

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This week, we had an important milestone for Fresh Picks. It’s the first birthday of our customer-designed Fresh Pick gallery! It’s been a giant success, and we have one person to thank: YOU! You’ve made the gallery a huge success by creating, critiquing, and commenting on thousands of picks made by our customers. Here are some stats from the first year:

• Over 8,000 total Fresh Picks have been shared
• 1,200 different beaders have created picks
• 4,400 different products are represented in the picks
• Most used item: Champagne Freshwater Pearl Semi-Round 4.5-5mm

To celebrate, we’ve got a fun little game. Try and solve the puzzle below by dragging and rearranging the squares to reveal the hidden scene… UPDATE: the prize offer expired Monday night (5/11), but you can still solve the puzzle just for fun

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We haven’t posted the favorite fresh picks for awhile, so we thought we would do the whole month of April. One thing was clear — there were a lot of fresh picks designed in April!

The top April fresh pickers were:

• Elaine aka Belly Chick – 229 picks
• Smoky Rose -  227 picks
• Luv2bead – 190 picks
• Movie chick aka susan – 155 picks
• Mommykat Bubbly Chick – 144 picks
• A Golke – 111 picks           
• D D Mystic Chick – 104 picks
• Cuban Queen Crazy Chick – 81 picks
• M mccallister mrs chick – 68 picks
• J Yee smart chick – 61 picks
• Michelle Downy Chick – 60 picks
• Allure of Gems by Julia – 55 picks
• Kitty Chicky Cat – 48 picks
• Chicky D aka Debra – 46 picks
• Southern Chick – 42 picks

The most popular (most viewed) picks were:

• Casa la lanchita by kcdesigns AKA sporty
• Ocean Deep by A Golke
• Canyon Riches by Smoky Rose
• The Wishing Pond by Cuban Queen Crazy Chick
• Just a Thought. by Allure of Gems by Julia
• Leafy Sea Dragon by Sandy S
• Shades of Gramma’s Lilacs by BelladonnaLee
• Hallelujah #2 by Elaine aka Belly Chick
• Lemon Lime and Chocolate by Foundling
• Proxigean Spring Tide by D D Mystic Chick
• sweet summer spumoni! By J Yee smart chick
• Red Appletini by Karen H aka Fancy Chick
• New Leaves On The Hillsides by CAS
• define the line by lilys mimi
• Early Morning by TucksMisfitChick

Happy Birthday Fresh Picks!

Tomorrow, we’ll be celebrating the one year birthday of “Design your own Fresh Picks” — can you believe that? We’re having so much fun with it and we hope you are too! There will be a special birthday treat for everyone, if you solve the birthday puzzle