Micro Macrame in Blue and Orange

Okay, so it's not just micro macrame jewelry done in blue and orange (sorry, Broncos fans), there's a lot more going on than that.  There's a couple shades of blue and two or three shades of orange with some copper thrown in, and a bit of bluish green...  All knotted together in an intricate pattern.  Sprinkle in a few seed beads and a copper leaf or two and poof - magic!

And to think it all started with this pile of beads and cord I pulled to do a custom order bracelet (more on that here)!

Who would think that unimposing pile of nylon cord and glass seed beads could be such a wealth of inspiration?  Okay, so maybe I get a wee bit obsessed.  One thing leads to another...  

The bottom one there came first - a nice combination of all the colors.  But then I wondered what would happen if I bumped up the orange, so the top one happened.  Then I wondered what it would look like if I added even more orange, and I got this:

Did you notice that I'm also experimenting with my photos?  I'm toying with the idea of opening a shop for my micro macrame jewelry on Handmade at Amazon and they have some specific requirements for product photos.  They want neutral backgrounds, preferably light, no props and no watermarks.  I have to admit, the no watermarks rule gives me a little heartburn.  As an artist, oh!  Did you see what I did there?  I'm practicing calling myself that.  (If you're wondering what that's all about, maybe you missed this post.)  

Anyway, as I was saying, as an artist, there's nothing more disheartening than having your work stolen, whether it's someone copying your ideas, distributing your tutorials or stealing your photographs to use on their sites.  I put a lot of time and effort into my work; I really do.  I have spent years perfecting my knots and developing my style.  I've spent countless hours trying color combinations and experimenting with different cords and beads.  I've researched jewelry photography and learned how to use my camera, and that's after investing a lot of my hard earned money to buy the camera in the first place.  I put me into my work, so when someone takes any part of my art for their own use without my permission, it feels almost like an assault on me.  It's personal.  

Where was I?  Oh, yeah... so if I decide to open an shop at Handmade at Amazon, I will need to retake all of my macrame jewelry photos.  *sigh*  And not only reshoot them, but restyle them.  So lately when I am taking pics to share with all of you, I'm trying out some different things.  I had a background custom printed that goes from white to gray with a gradual gradient starting midway.  I really thought I loved it, but now I'm questioning the dark shadows at the rear of the photos.  But the stark white just seems so... stark :)

Here's one of the photos I did with a plain white background:

That one I quite like with the stark white.  This one, not so much:

It's hard to keep the white from getting a dingy gray cast.  Anywho...  between experimenting with the color palette (which I like) and experimenting with product photography (which I don't like), I'm keeping busy!