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This article is brought to you by Brown Paper Stitch, my business that makes your wardrobe pawesome by embroidering your pets on clothing.

In last week’s dispatch, I mentioned that I didn’t get too much stitching done. I was in prep mode for several custom projects including shirts and a patch.

 

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Embroidering a cat eye—this is my favorite part of the embroidery but it is also the most time consuming! #embroidery #custompetportrait #embroiderywip

A post shared by Sara Barnes (@brwnpaperbag_stitch) on Oct 5, 2020 at 6:22pm PDT

I’ve never been great at working on multiple projects at once—I tend to like to finish something from start to finish. But I’m learning to juggle all of the custom orders, although some are farther along (and therefore look better with photography) than others.

Photography was a big focus for me last week. I celebrated my birthday last month, and I used some of the money I got to upgrade my equipment. Seattle has been pretty sunny recently, but The Big Dark (aka rainy season) is coming and reliable natural light will no longer be an option.

My new photography lights against the ‘plaster’ Replica Surfaces backdrop

I bought some photo lights that have a softbox so they offer diffused light and shadows. I also treated myself to a couple of Replica Surfaces, which are rigid, hyperrealistic photo backdrops that look like real surfaces including plaster, marble, shiplap, and more. I got the all-white backdrop as well as plaster for a bit of subtle texture in my photos. They are great! Highly recommend if you do a lot of flat-lay style photography because the textures look so real (but each weighs only two pounds).

If you want to try photographing your work using artificial lighting, I found this tutorial really helpful.

The post How New Photo Lights and Backdrops Are Helping Me Work [Brown Paper Stitch Dispatch] appeared first on Brown Paper Bag.

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