Hello Card Crafting Friends!

Today was a fun and relaxing day.  I took a much needed staycation day today.  I spent the morning at the spa, wandered around Michaels (yay!), and cooked a wonderful dinner for my husband and I (with fresh baked bread, or course).  So let’s go back to that magical word “Michaels”, one of my favourite places in the world.  It’s one of those stores you walk into to get one, and one item only, and then two hours pass and you leave with 294,349,304 other items.  The. Struggle. Is. Real.  Today’s retail therapy trip to Michaels was to pick up supplies for photographing my handmade greeting cards.

I’ve been doing some research on taking photos of my newly minted cards.  I’ve been so inspired by some bloggers and instagrammers.  Not only are their handmade cards  wonderful, so are the photos they take of their work.  I got some great inspiration from Maria Russell’s blog.    I’ve found through my research that it’s quite easy to take
some great shots of your work and it doesn’t require a lot of expensive equipment.  For example, this Hubpage gives some great tips.

Here’s my take on greeting card photography.

For this card making idea, you will need:

• Studio Tri-fold with one of the folds removed (I got the one above at the Dollarstore)
• Neutral coloured scrapbook paper or card stock
• Photo frame/easel/plate holder of choice
• Some natural light
• A handmade greeting card
• A camera (my weapon of choice is my iPhone 6)

I went with this cute little rustic looking plate holder that I scored on my Michaels run today.  I figured this would go great with my neutral backgrounds (the paper I also got at Michaels).

Set up your now two-fold on it’s side and line up and glue your chosen paper or cardstock to both sides.  Place your chosen card holder in it’s newly created scene and add your handmade card creation.  Now get ready to be part of the paparazzi!  I’ve found from my research and personal experience today that natural light is the best.  Flash doesn’t do your work justice, trust me.

In a nutshell, here are some tips I’ve found that work well:

• No expensive camera equipment is necessary – most of us have camera phones 😉
• Use a neutral background
• Pick a location with bright natural light (or head outside!)
• Prop your card up (frame/easel/plate holder) to get a good angle of your photo

So there you have it!  I hope you picked up some tips on taking photos of your newly created paper crafts.  Do you have any tips on photographing your handmade greeting cards?  Be sure to leave me a comment with your tried and tested tips.

Warmth,

Kim

P.s. If you are wondering about the card I featured here, it’s a birthday card I made for my husband.  It’s a Mama Elephant stamp that I morphed to resemble our bunny @banjothebunny.  I also used my Martha Stewart cupcake and balloon paper punches, and my Cuttlebug cupcake embossing folder.