Building a photography light box

New year...new adventures.  Yesterday I decided it was time to get more professional with the photos for my etsy shop. I found inspiration from this site, WikiHow.

So, here it is in all its glory...

Finished project.  Ready for the camera. 

A display board for science projects.
I bought this because it is already lined white on the inside.

I scavenged the house for products that matched the list online, then I headed to Lowe's for the rest.

I cut the board to make it into a box, then cut
one inch borders around 3 sides and the top lid
for the parchment paper.  See finished product below.

Lamps with clips, from Lowe's.  Thanks to hubby
for help in finding these.  Bright halogen bulbs.

Voila!  The finished product.  The openings in the sides and top are taped with
parchment paper.  More white to brighten up the photos.  The lamps are attached to
the sides and top for white light all around.  I'm still using the maps as background.

Here's how the first photo turned out. I'm liking it, but it still needs some work. 
I'm going to play around with the angles of the lights...

I'm the creator behind Moondog Treasures: yoga jewelry for women and men, mala bracelets, Sanskrit mantra necklaces, and wire-wrapped beaded crosses. I use this blog to share what I do and to feature other talented Etsy artists whose work I admire. Contact me at moondogtreasures@live.com.

A Tip for Recycling PMC Silver Clay

PMC (Precious Metal Clay), or silver clay, is a recycled product.  See my posts here and here for details about how it originated.  It is so much fun to play with (I mean work with) this product.  You can imprint just about anything into the clay, put it in a kiln, and it comes out looking like this...

One of my favorite things about PMC is that you can actually recycle and reuse your "mistakes" (pieces that were chipped or just didn't turn out right).  I had been saving those "mistakes" for just such an occasion.  I read countless tips about how to reconstitute unused dried clay - adding distilled water to the clay, wrapping it in cling wrap and waiting for it to magically turn into the expensive clay that I had bought.  It didn't work as I had planned.  I found it difficult to get the right consistency. Using a little rolling pin (pvc pipe) to press out the lumps helped, but the clay was too sticky to work. It kept clinging to my hands, until... 

I discovered a new tool - the toothpick!  I kept working the clay, poking it with the toothpick, exposing it to air to dry it out, then spraying with water for more moisture. Voila!  I came pretty close to re-creating the original product.  Here are a couple of photos of my new discovery and how it worked for me:

I especially loved how once the clay was in ball form, I was able to use the toothpick like a handle and pick up all the loose bits of dried clay that sticks to the cling wrap.

Hope this tip helps those out there who are frustrated with the challenging process of reconstituting pmc. 

Finishing the Precious Silver PMC Pendants

The previous blog entry showed precious silver in its clay form, after it had been shaped and stamped.   These next few photos show the finishing process.

(Above) Fresh from the kiln. Fired at 1200 degrees F for 20 minutes


(Above) Soaking in a baking soda solution after being dipped in liver of sulphur.

The two pics below are the finished pieces.  The "namaste" is a custom order for a friend.  The "Be the Change" is for sale in my shop.



 

All about Precious Silver with Moondog Treasures

PMC is Precious Metal Clay.  This material was created by the Mitsubishi Corporation in the early 1990s as a way to recover silver, gold, and platinum from old computers, medical instruments and photography supplies.  A method was developed that allowed the combination of precious metals into a type of clay that could be used to make jewelry and other products.

The PMC comes to me in clay form.  It contains of particles of pure silver mixed with an organic binder. I take images and letters and press them into the clay (see photos below), then fire in my kiln at 1200 degrees. When the binder is burned away during firing, it leaves a pendant of 99.9% pure silver. 

It's nice to know that PMC is made with sustainable/recycled materials.  I am even able to use the leftover clay and “mistakes” again by re-constituting the clay and creating a new product.

Clay in its raw form, before firing.

I'm adding a few new designs to my PMC pendant collection:  Mahatma Gandhi's quote, "Be the Change"/"harmony" with lotus flower/tiny om pendants/"moksha" (sanskrit word for freedom) with om symbol/"ananda" (sanskrit word for bliss) with lotus flower.  Some other best-sellers I'm including are the "namaste" ring pendant, Ganesh pendant and om symbol pendants.

All of these will be for sale soon (after they're fired in the kiln and polished) in my online shop, Moondog Treasures.

PMC in its finished form.

The Soldering Iron is Hot!

Here are a few photos of what I've been up to on a rainy Saturday.  The soldering iron heats up to 465 degrees F.  I take images and secure them between two hand-cut pieces of glass.  Then they are soldered together with lead free silver solder and a super hot iron!!  The pendants go on faux leather black or brown cord to become a necklace.  I also create Christmas ornaments with favorite photos that I solder together.  They'll be featured soon in my shop.