A wet Sunday in a tent

Ha ha.......I am sure that you had been expecting to see photos of me trying to camp outside?

Seriously you will not see that, I think I have an allergy to camping. It was fun as a girl guide but a grown up girl needs a little luxury. No the tent that I have been playing with this weekend is none other than a photo light tent. I am quite pleased with the results.

As it has been such a wet weekend our planned walk was rained off. Instead I decided it was time to make a few new pieces of jewellery and to photograph them for my Etsy shop. I have put the above piece up for sale in my Etsy shop here

 At this time of year the light is so poor that I really struggle with my photos and my usual spot on the kitchen side in front of the window just does not work. I own a really good little compact camera the Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ8 (which sadly in no longer made). Although I really enjoy taking photos I have no expertise  at all and I know that photographing jewellery is very difficult. There is an awful lot of reflection to deal with. I have been doing some research and also messaged some of my crafting making friends to see what they do. Some have every elaborate photo tents with lights etc but I wanted something which is quickly assembled and easy to use. I really don't have the time or space to have elaborate set ups.

I even looked at the good home made light boxes shown on the Internet using cardboard boxes and tissue paper. They seem to work well but cannot be stored away. What I eventually bought was this.

It cost £14.99 from Maplin and folds completely flat. I also bought some muslin and some pure white A2 card.
The tent does come with white surrounds and a choice of blue or grey at the base but I found this was not enough to give good results.

The packet unfolds and the sides are held up with velcrose tabs.
I just stood it on the desk in the spare bedroom (which is west facing) and draped the muslin around the sides. I cut the card to size and placed it in the base.

I also tried using a pretty rosebud floral print material background for some of my cards. This was originally a dolly blanket I made for my daughter!

This is the floral print.

 I decided to have a play and started clicking away with my camera. I took photos of the new jewellery pieces I had made.

I then put some of them into Picmonkey (a free on line photo editor)  to edit and I was impressed that even on such a dismal day I managed to get some usable photos.

On sunny days and when I am in a hurry I shall just keep using my kitchen side but on those dismal winter days like today I think I will be "camping" with my tent ;0)









Here are the end results in collage form

 I have started photographing my cards in my tent as well and here is my card challenge card for today

You can see that with this one I used the floral back ground. This card is in fact my Hb's Valentine card....shhhh don't tell him.

Here is a peep inside showing the heart edge I made using my MS punch. The image is again the sweet Bella Sleeping by Wild Rose Studios. This stamp can be used for so many occasions. I coloured the image with my trusty Promarkers. I added lots of my new die cuts and finished off with some gems and a lush black organza ribbon. I love red and black as a colour combo.

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges;



Totally Papercrafts Love/Valentine #153
Raise the Bar A pair of something #130 my pair is this sweet pair of Elephant trunks!
Pretty Little Ribbons  Anything Goes #19
Pan Pastels Love and Romance #6
A+T Emerald Faeries Love #40
Crafty Catz Love #169
Inky Chicks Valentine or anniversary #3
Party Time Tuesday Love and Romance #106
Simon Says Stamp have a heart
Visible Image Love


I would also like to mention that the Ribbon Girl are hosting a give away over at their blog here There is a lovely bridal and bling package up for grabs if you leave a comment over there.

I hope that for those of you in the UK this wet weekend has allowed you some quality crafting time? I also hope my american friends have not been affected by the awful snow storms we have been watching. I have never seen so much snow fall in one time. I also  hope my post may have also given you some helpful information regarding photo light tents? As I type this the rain seems to be even heavier....at least we will be spared a hose ban this year! Have a great Sunday evening and a good week ahead. Thanks as always for you lovely visits and kind comments that you take the time to leave.

Back soon,

Bye for now,

Jane x