Photo friendly?

[snakeadelic]

New member with low-to-middling beading pearls, happy to trade your work for my materials to get a few choice favorites strung up. I also have at least most of a broken vintage pink faux pearl choker that needs re-stringing. I have LOTS of photos of said materials available, as macro photography is something of a novice obsession for me . I know very little techical data about my camera, but I know what it takes GREAT shots of on my desk! What I don't have is stringing/knotwork ability. De nada, zip, outta luck on that one. I also have a fairly thin supply of what they call "social skills" so please pardon me if I get on anyone's nerves by being a dorky noob or anything like that. I'm blessed in having a life I get to mostly really enjoy while surviving on disability for severe anxiety, and I do try to behave myself on the average day.

 

[lisa c]

Oh, I think we all have a bit of a dork in us, but we're a friendly bunch!

Have you any interest in learning to knot up yourself? It can give you enormous creative freedom.

 

[Isabelle35]

Can't help asking. I, for myself, do have interest in learning how to knot myself. Have any recommendations to learn?

 

[lisa c]

The best place to look for this information is from the forum the lowly beaders club. Chock full of info about what you'll need, etc. indispensable!

Also check out the video link from pearlessence's site, and there's one you can get to from Jeremy's PP site.

Please, anyone more tech savvy, can you take up this post and help?

 

[lisa c]

Snakeadelic, I'm not sure if you meant you don't have the knotting skills, or can't develop them having tried. In the second case, perhaps you could be more specific about where you are? It can give someone a better idea of whether they can help.

 

[Isabelle35]

Thanks for the info Lisa! I saw Jeremy's and wendy's videos already. they were quite informative. I think I need more "hands on" practice in company of a mentor though. Good idea! I will go and read more carefully 'the lowly beaders club' thread.

 

[snakeadelic]

Oh, I think we all have a bit of a dork in us, but we're a friendly bunch!

Have you any interest in learning to knot up yourself? It can give you enormous creative freedom.

Sadly, I'm staring down the barrel of osteoarthritic hands plus some weird neurological problem that major testing did not track down. 4 of my fingers are numb most of the time (rings & pinkies), which is why I stopped making teeny animal sculptures. My camera I can hold; small supplies not so much any more. I would also love to contribute to a thriving barter culture by swapping supplies I have but no longer need for work it'd be a bad idea for me to try to do myself

And yeah, my list of life challenges is pretty long

 

[snakeadelic]

Snakeadelic, I'm not sure if you meant you don't have the knotting skills, or can't develop them having tried. In the second case, perhaps you could be more specific about where you are? It can give someone a better idea of whether they can help.

I have taken beading workshop-style classes, plus five semesters of jewelry design & manufacture way back in the mists of high school. I've always been a much better designer than crafter or artist when it comes to jewelry at any level--I've read a lot of the forums here and there is just no way my feeble measure of talent in finishing such projects can compare to what I've seen of members' work here. Alas, too, my heart is truly with my camera--I'm on my 2nd one, and the first was a factory refurbish that took nearly 120,000 images in 2.5 years for me.

By "hinterlands" in my profile I mean the Bitterroot Valley in sw Montana, where the last town I lived in had about the same population as an average day at my small-ish old Oregon high school It's a great place for those of us not all that IRL social, but it can make getting exotic art supplies (local definition placing everything but paints & pencils on the "exotic" list) difficult & expensive for those of us who do not drive. That challenge list again--I have frequent major panic attacks associated with my anxiety issues, and it will not likely ever be entirely safe for me to drive again.

 

[snakeadelic]

Well drattit I was going to try to attach a photo of some of the pearls I have, but the FAQ says I have to do that without using the Quick Reply, which is the only option I'm given when I click on Reply To Thread above or below the current posts. I'll see if this little Include Image icon helps...Nope, it wants the URL for an image not in use online. Must dig around for image management options later, but right now it's time for me to go hit the gym at the physical therapy office down the street

 

[lisa c]

Thank you for your detailed answer, that's exactly what I was getting at. Good for you for keeping a good attitude!

What an amazing set of skills you learned! Marvelous! I hope you get a good response and can set up what you need, if not here then elsewhere.

 

[lisa c]

Yes, a look at your pearls would be an enticement since it seems you'll be doing this by mail of one sort or another.

 

[Isabelle35]

Yeah, you are right Lisa. Thank you senior PG'ers and administrators. Keeping the forum up and working must be time consuming, on top of all your other daily occupations...

 

[snakeadelic]

...and this is why I describe myself as something of a technological troglodyte. Go to Advanced: worked perfectly. Upload Image...will not upload from my computer even when it takes me to my own hard drive to browse. Pic is just over 800 pixels long way & 600 short way, is a .jpg, and is 29 megs, did not get any oversize warnings or such. Upload gave me right image title, just a giant ? in place of the actual image. If anyone's got their email visible in their profile, I'd be happy to direct-email pics until I can figure THIS mess out! Attempting the attach anyway in case it's just the upload display that's confused...



And so it appears to be the upload screen as Preview Post gave me the correct image! This is the pre-sorting "peacock-blackish" pile shot in a purple glass candleholder. Many rings around pearls, many flawed surfaces, some if not all probably dyed and certainly cultured.

 

[snakeadelic]

As will hopefully be accepted by moderation, I did get the upload & attach to work And I have a WORLD of patience for ppl who fix anything computer-related, be it hardware like my squeaky processor cooling fan or software like this forum or one of my other few forum hangouts that specializes in Magic: the Gathering card trading (one of my notably non-feminine hobby interests--like most RPG and card games, something like 90+% male target demographics). Guys with the skills, time, and willingness are rare & wonderful critters!

 

[snakeadelic]

Rather than swamp ppl who are already 99% likely to be WAY busier than me, I'll check back in the afternoon my time ('tis now 9:05 am...) and if the photo post was successful & moderated in, I'll upload a couple more of the dozen-plus pearl pix I took as prep for joining I'm really excited about the prospect of re-homing my extras with other beaders/crafters/jewelers of any sort, but wise enough to avoid inundating the thread with too many pics or posts.

 

[Caitlin]

This is your thread. We can handle all the pix you got! You uploaded properly, it does only give the name of the photo when it uploads, but it displays properly.

Post away!

 

[snakeadelic]

Here then should be the "blackish" smaller pearls in an old silver dish, with a penny for scale.

 

[snakeadelic]

And here is the same dish, same penny, different pearls:

If I've done this right the penny will be at top right. Going clockwise are flat-backed dyed dark purple cultured pearls, two square-ish black baroques, one wildly shaped baroque directly below the penny, five long narrow flats with gorgeous surface shapes & tones, five garishly dyed blues, a single smoother white, a single poorly shown VERY shiny peacock-black, and the larger fairly irregular pearls that were originally in with the small darks are just to the left of the penny.

I don't remember most of the sources. The dyed purples I bought for a wire-tree project, probably from someplace like Fire Mtn Gems. The five long narrow flats came from the local, for lack of a better term, "hippie enlightenment" store. It's a GREAT place--books, art, soaps, incense, pretty rocks, beading supplies, knowledgeable owners who prefer to stock from local sources, and decent prices too. My darling dear sweetie took me on a delayed Valentine's shopping spree there the other day, the poor thing, after I'd been reading forums here off and on for about a week...

You lot can now officially say you're a bad influence! (snicker snort giggle) Not everything I got was pearls (labradorite also makes my inner not-a-child swoon) but I did make sure to check what they had!

 

[snakeadelic]

Last one for today:

Dark-colored dyed faceted. I know a lot of pearl fans do not care for the faceted look, but I find my inner not-a-child (that li'l brat is half magpie and half packrat, compelling me to hoard small shiny things!) simply falls into a swoon. Only for the darks; though--as a later pic will show, the gold/tan dyed faceteds I have look abysmal.

 

[snakeadelic]

My "generally gold, tan, greenish, earthone" pearls. Starting at the penny & going clockwise are baroques, all but one long & narrow & thin. Next are dyed gold/tan/brown of varying sizes. "Not tan but not part of any other color group" is next, including a couple of greenish pearls. Last are the other dyed faceteds I had mentioned, the ones that look okay in this picture and appallingly blotchy & uneven in person except that one deep brown.