Thursday, May 14, 2015

A Couple of Orders and a Cheap Light Box

Recently, it occurred to me that I hadn't spent all my Christmas craft money yet, so I went a bit crazy.



These are just two of the orders, both from Ellen Hutson. Gina K and Impress Rubber Stamps both shipped orders for me today. Yay!

I plan on having fun...assuming I will ever again have time to sit in my craft space and make something. Things have been just a little crazy around here. Not bad, just crazy.

A few months ago, I got fed up with taking pictures with four pieces of card stock propped against each other as backdrops, so I cobbled together a virtually no-cost light box. It's working pretty well for shooting cards. The photos require less photo editing because the light is better.


A cardboard box with one side cut away serves as the base for my light box, which is lined with smooth Bristol board paper that I had lying around, although I would have preferred to use lighter-weight paper. The top is ordinary white tissue paper that softens and filters the light pretty well. Everything is held together with masking tape, but I used some left-over carpet tape to secure the draped sheet that curves from the top-back of the box to the bottom-front.

The light is provided by two desk Ott lamps positioned on either side.

I'm NOT a professional!!! But, this nearly-free box is easier to use and gives better results in my opinion than my previous method of creating a temporary "box" of four sheets of card stock propped against each other.

If you just play around, you could easily make your own version. When I find some good, white wrapping paper, I'm going to replace the Bristol board, which isn't quite as white as I'd like.

But it's good enough for government work, as my husband says.

Random Funny Story: Years ago, when my husband was stationed in Wichita, Kansas, we stepped out of a Barnes and Noble to see a pair of teenage boys cruising the parking lot. One hung out the window, saw me, and shouted, "Book-worm bitch!"

I cannot make this stuff up. Book-worm bitch. My husband and I cracked up.

Today, my book club considered naming our group Book-Worm Bitches. But we're not bitches, so we decided not to. When I told George, he said, "Just call it Book-Worm Babes." I'll propose that when we re-convene in September.

You'll sleep better tonight knowing this.

Or not.

7 comments:

  1. Ha!! Book worm bitch or babes cracked me up!! Babes does sound a bit better, I suppose but I'm still amused by the original

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  2. I have to pass on that story to our book club - we meet tomorrow.

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  3. I think I actually snorted out loud when I read "book worm bitch". Made my day! And I would consider myself a BWB.

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  4. Book Worm Babes sounds pretty good to me. My group doesn't have a name, and seems to be more about our book themed potlucks than discussing the books we read. Oh well. At least we're reading!

    Love your quickie light box. I've been procrastinating on trying to build something, but I must give it a go before summer is done and the days get shorter again.

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  5. I love reading your posts, I find in you a lot of valuable information and advice. Thanks for the picture lightbox, so simple you can achieve such great results!
    Greetings
    Bozena

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  6. I used this method to make a light box: http://tinyurl.com/kvu8u8f It calls for white lightweight fabric instead of paper for the light to shine through and poster board for the curved inside. No shadows! And it would be good for photos of products in packaging—no reflections! :-D

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  7. Nice haul. I have what i call a ghetto photo studio, with two Ott lights and a propped-up piece of neutral card stock for a background. I actually have a real photo contraption, but I get no light through it, so it's still in the garage somewhere. If you'd like to borrow it, let me know.

    Also, Book-Worm babes works, until I tried to acronymize it, and it became BWB, or BeWBs. My brain might be a little warped.

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