The question was raised by Flaming Hot - How do I present beads for sale?

Since I don’t generally make sets, I think my job is often easier than others presenting beads for sale. I don’t need to worry about arrangements or angles of various beads most times.

I have these great lucite stands from Jeribeads- I get emails every month asking where they came from- not the secret is out. I set my bead on top of white paper in direct sun on a stand and shoot pics from every angle. i also add an obligatory hand shot for size.

Initially, I took some that were more artsy. I was spending so much time arranging a bead that I was losing time to make more. The beads were also being bought as functional pieces- they didn’t need the artsy pics. I think the artistic pictures work when your beads are made to either stand alone or as a small sculpture. My beads are most often used as a statement focal in a larger piece- so I use a white background to let the imagination of the jewelry designer work on the bead. I’ve found that a true designer can do much more with my beads that I had imagined - I need to give them the room to develop without imposing my own ideas.

Recently, I have been playing with having my main picture on a background. This is just to make them stand out in the ebay listings from every other white background bead. Time will tell if I keep up with this idea.

How would you like to see focals? Am I on the right track or would you rather have more in the picture?

• I’ve missed opal yellow
• super davinci heated like raku is awesome
• if the bead release lets go at a bead hole, I should stop working
• regular foster fire is better on my 3/32″ mandrels
• foster fire smooth and tough is better on my 1/16″ mandrels
• The glass that looked white, wasn’t
• Using expensive glass as a big bead base is just wasteful -unless you have nothing better to do with it

• Some shows are worth it for the neighbors, not the money
• If my beads take a concrete roller coaster ride I should check them immediately
• My credit card acceptance does not accept debit cards
• I take up a lot of space

Sometimes I go into a bead knowing the name beforehand. Generally, I look at a group of beads and name them together. I am a serial monogamist when it comes to naming beads- I run on one theme at a time generally.

• Weather names
• Words from other languages
• Cities
• Insects
• Peacock themes
• Seasonal
• One word picked from a title of the first page I hit when choosing random “stumble upon”
• 7 Seas
• Hurricane Names
• Lines from Songs
• First thought in my mind
• Baby name lists

 Today I learned that my beads are often easier to name than others because I have an arsenal of assistance at my fingertips.