Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Spiderweb Welcome Sign

With Halloween quickly approaching I thought I would share this fun and easy project with you.

I hate spiders...the real variety, but I'm always intrigued by their webs. So delicate, yet strong and very intricate. I thought it would be fun to hand-stitch a web of my own onto a welcome sign. Of course it wouldn't be complete without a spider gliding down from the web. And I added my letter stickers to look as though they're caught in the web.

To make my sign, I used a felt page from the Fancy Pants Mixed Media Half Bracket Book. The felt is easy to stitch through and the black really makes the white embroidery floss pop! The yummy, distressed letter stickers are a combination of Fancy Pants Alphabet Stickers from the It's Your Day collection and the Like Father Like Son collection. Buttons are also Fancy Pants and the spider is from Little Yellow Bicycle. There are lots of fun spider accents out right now. You could even use a toy spider if you want it to look more realistic...I opted for a cutsie one because I did NOT want realism! I already jump sometimes when I see this one hanging on our door! Did I mention I hate spiders?! ;-) Oh yeah, I did.


I've had several people ask me how I photograph my projects, so I thought I'd show you how I photograph something like this welcome sign. Generally I like a white background. The reflective quality of the white will help light up your project for a better photo.

So here is a wide shot of the whole scene. I photograph near a window for natural light. 


I use a large, white paper, drawing pad as my backdrop. I simply open the pad and hold a page up using a magnet clip. No magnet board? You could still make it work with some tape...the key is, to use what you already have on hand. Some people use fabric, rather than paper as their backdrop. I tried that for a while myself, but didn't like fighting with the wrinkles in the fabric, so I opted for paper instead.  :-)

To hang my project in front of the backdrop I used a smaller magnetic clip stuck onto my adjustable light. I then moved the light around to get the welcome sign in the best position for photography.

So that's it, my make-shift photography studio! Sure, it would be fun to have some real photo studio lighting, reflectors, etc. But it's really not necessary, and I love to use what I already have on hand if it works! So, when photographing your own projects, just look around your house and see what you already have that will work for you!

Thanks for stopping by today and don't forget to enter this Fancy Pants giveaway.

Happy Wednesday!

5 comments:

leah said...

Oh, I love how the letters look caught in the web! Fun project! :)

Bonnie said...

I love this sign. Love how the letters look caught in the web.
Thank you for the photographing tips.

Anonymous said...

Love it girl!

JENNY K. said...

Great tips Cindy! I like to photograph in the morning light that comes through my back patio door. I'll have to try photographing with a white back drop for even better contrast.

The sign is adorable and that bracketed felt is great!!!

Anonymous said...

Fun stuff Cindy!
~Julia

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