My First Etsy Treasury

Today I put together my first Etsy treasury. I've been lucky enough to have been featured in many treasuries since starting my new account: I've even been on the Etsy frontpage several times in one day. I figured it's time for me to come up with my own treasury to show the Etsy community that I'm on the lookout too. Below is a screenshot of what I came up with:























I never realized how much time and effort it takes to assemble twelve items into one group. I focused on photographs that I liked. That was it. I didn't have any special requirements. If I like your pic you're in. It took me about an hour and 35 pages of scrolling. Maybe I'm just really picky and don't know it.
One thing I did keep in mind is that Etsy seems to favor gray and white items for treasuries, so I used a lot of color. But I just like colorful things so it worked out perfect.

I have a new respect for the people who put these things together on a regular basis and for fun. I'm sure there's a more efficient way to do it than just choosing a single broad category and randomly scrolling, but the hunt is part of the fun.

the old wall becomes the perfect backdrop

I always try to take nice pictures of the stuff I make. Lately I've been posting lots of vintage items on Etsy. Just because I'm not making it doesn't mean I don't take pride in my photos. So many people seem to not care about how they photograph their vintage items. They simply toss them on the old plastic dummy and fire away. Take a look below to see how I use what's available at the time to shoot my vintage items.I'm working in a small office upstairs from a cute antique shop. My room is full, and quite small. There is a second room that's in pretty rough shape and off limits to customers. The shop owner was kind enough to let me shoot in this room. As you can see from the picture above, it's rustic, rundown, and full of unique beauty. It's the kind of beauty that escapes most people, but I saw it right away. This full garment shot give you a pretty good idea of what the room looks like. What you can't see are the stacks of chairs, buckets of silverware, large dusty wooden furniture, glass table tops and 100 degree heat.

Close cropped shots are the best way to class things up. Here you see the name brand dress form and just a touch of rusticity with the exposed boards. Had the boards not been there this would have been a very bland shot that could have been taken against a paper backdrop. The focus is still on the garment - just a much smaller area. This allows the viewer to see the buttons, ruffles and fabric texture. It's so much warmer that a sterile white catalog shot.

This black Oscar De La Renta blouse was a real pain to shoot. The sheer fabric, intense afternoon light and high contrast between black and white really toyed with my camera settings and photography skills. I tried everything I could think of to get a nice pic to show the tie and gathers, but nothing worked. Finally I stepped outside the box and used the objects in the room to beautify the piece I was shooting. In the back you will see (blurred out) a vibrant 70's couch, an old table, a bed frame, a gold framed picture and a ton of dust. But your eye concentrates on the garment.

I can't tell you how to take your pics. And I can't make you take your time and take pride in your work. I can't even tell you how to find beauty in what you have at your disposal, I can only tell you that it's there if you look.

The Advantages of Working From an Office Instead of Home

I've been working from home for about five years and it's been great. Those of you who do it know all the advantages: no commute, comfy, convenient, handy fridge, etc. I've always used the master bedroom as my sewing room and usually take one more room for misc cutting and designing tasks. But I had to move into an office, and after the initial shock I've found there are some advantages to working OUT OF THE HOUSE.

The advantages can be summed up easily: it all boils down to productivity. Away from home I've become far more productive. So much so, that the time spent commuting and cost of rent and gas are offset by the amount of work I've gotten done.
Above is a corner shot of my workspace. The main thing to notice is the lack of distractions. It's very spartan and all business. I've wasted so many good working hours watching TV. But here it's not happening. I've always been a very disciplined person, but I am human so time wasting is in my DNA. I'm so much more focused now that time wasting is not an option..

Another advantage I've found is that once you set up a workspace you kinda become part of the community. While working from home I was very isolated and even a bit out of touch. Now I get out each day and see what people are wearing, I hear what they're taking about. It helps me break out of the myopia and makes me more creative as a designer. It also helps to get my name out locally.

Working in sweats or pajama bottoms is no problem around the house, but it's a huge no - no out in public so I've taken to dressing up for work and that has also been helpful. Over the next few weeks I'll be mapping out new routes to and from work so that I can check out so local thrift shops. I'll put together some outfits like the one in my previous post, wear the ensemble, clean it and post it on Etsy.

I guess it doesn't matter where you work from as long as you're doing something. I'm very lucky to have found a cute place to work. I'm going to stick it out for a little while, but I don't know if it's a permanent thing.