testing one of my Pinterest pins!

I am always trying to come up with a great backdrop for taking my product photos.

I love the outdoor shots but sometimes that can be too busy for the jewelry.

So one day this summer I see this pin on Pinterest.

I bought a square piece of wood so I would have lots of surface

for taking my jewelry photos.

I soaked the steel wool in the vinegar just as instructed in the original blog.

and this is what I got...

brown

wouldn't you say?

not black

So I tried it again for another overnight and it didn't change.

I'm not sure if it was the fact that the wood was new and quite hard or why it didn't change it to a nice grey/black finish.

Not to be defeated, I bought some black stain and rubbed it on.

I thought it would rub off easily with a rag for the look I wanted.

no, it didn't.

So I grabbed some sandpaper and sanded away.

I even added more black stain

rubbed it 'off'

and sanded some more.

Eventually, I decided to be satisfied so I rubbed a finish on it.

Here is one of the ways I use it.

Here is what shows up in my Etsy Shop

when God gives you sun, take photos

So today it's in the upper 50's and I've got inventory to do in my 3rd floor studio.  My studio has a sky light so that's a plus.  But, it's really a great place to be when it's cold, even snowy.  Awww, the 3rd floor, the toastiest place in the house.
So rather than spend the entire day with a calculator and bins of supplies to count.  I grabbed whatever needed to be photographed and headed outside.  OK, so 56º wasn't as warm as I thought it would be and I chose today to air dry my thick locks (something I rarely do but enjoy the treat).  Since that takes hours, I flipped up the hood on my sweatshirt and carried on.
Even the slightest breeze wreaks havoc when trying to take detailed photos of jewelry, so I moved the shoot into the porch.

I use whatever is around for my props.  Sometimes it works, sometimes not so much.  This time I had added help from two very old spools of string.  The string was always too shiny to actually hold a knot.  But, hold a pair of earrings?  or a necklace?  divine!  And flip a stone candle holder on its side and you've got another interesting background.
Now it's back to counting and perhaps some RDjr as Sherlock Holmes to keep me company!
Thank you Jesus for the sun!