Bed Rest Photo Studio

Before I was placed on bed rest, I would do most of my product photos from the HypnoEars studio, or hire a photographer. I don't have those options right now, but I still need a way to take pictures of my newest creations. I began researching light boxes, and other ways to get good pictures. I didn't really have the resources to purchase a lightbox or a new camera, but I knew there had to be another way. 

I used my old desk lamp and changed the light bulb to a daylight light bulb 

Sometimes it's hard for me to sit up so I had to find  a way to get shots from differetnt angles. While on a skype session with my best friend, she suggested that I invest in a tripod for my cell phone or digital camera. I found one for $4.00 on ebay.

My digital camera is in need of repair, so I had to use the camera app on my Droid 4.  I found a few articles that helped me with adjusting the exposure settings . I will post them at the end of this post. 

I added about 10 sheets of pure white copy paper to get a crisper background.Here is the outcome from the mini photo shoot....

Here are the results after editing the exposure in photoshop....

I hope that this post inspires you to get creative  and work with what you have.

Links: 

Editing Photos in photoshop

Product Editing Tips

Be Blessed

Almost there....

Today I completed most of my plastic canvas clutch purse. I still need to find a nice clasp to keep it closed. My intent was to write a quick post about the tips and tricks that learned while creating this project, but it ended up being a much deeper experience for me.

When I first chose to take on this project, I was excited and my mind was full of endless possibilities. I was inspired...full of excitement , and ready to dive in head first. I put so much energy into figuring out which colors and stitches I would use. I was passionate about this project. I finished the first section, and I was proud of the progress that I made from just 3 hours of work. I put the project away, and went to bed with the intention of waking up and finishing another section.

I woke up and started on a new section. This particular section required more detailing than the previous section. After an hour of stitching, I realized that I still had 4 more rows to complete in order to finish the section. The overwhelming thoughts of how much I had to complete made me feel as if I would never finish......so I put it away for 2 days. I didn't want to finish. I felt as if it was too much.

Something in me wouldn't let me quit. Something in me was telling me that I could do it. I have a habit of starting projects, and not finishing, but I made a choice to do something different. I had to dig deep to find a way to keep going. So I picked up the project and focused on one stitch at a time. Anytime my mind decided to travel down the "I will never finish" road, I had to shift my focus back to taking things one stitch at a time. Even when I was almost at the end, there were times that I wanted to quit. Before you knew it, all of the stitching was complete. I had done something that I didn't think I could do. I was excited at the beginning, but when the road got a little tough, I felt drained and depleted. I took a moment to rest and be still enough to quiet my brain. It was there in that moment when I knew that I had everything that I needed to get through this project. Instead of focusing on how much time it was going to take to do the entire project, I focused on living in the now....taking things one stitch at a time.

When you feel yourself wanting to give up on something you were once excited about, be still and reconnect, and find your focus. It could be your marriage, starting a business, or maybe fitness goals. Don't quit! Just focus on improving your marriage one day at a time. Focus on building your business one task at a time. You may be aiming to lose 50 pounds but somewhere along the way you got discouraged, depressed, and defeated. Don't quit! Get up and take it one day , meal , or exercise at a time.

Keep going!

Be Blessed

Newest plastic canvas adventure

Being confined to a bed will make you do things that you don't normally have time to do. Normally I spend my days making HypnoEars, but I decided to try a new project....just for fun.

I found this plastic canvas clutch purse on one of my favorite craft supply sites and decided to give it a try.

I didn't have much of a game plan, but I wanted to create something that I knew I would one day wear. My go to colors are black and red so I thought that would be a great place to start.

I wanted the top part of my clutch to have a textured appearance , so I went with a  Rhodes stitch.

My daughter thought it would be cool if we outlined everything in red. So far so good.

Stay tuned for the finished  results.......

Bed Rest Business Office

So the doctors have put you on bed rest. You can no longer go to work to provide for your family. You are starting to feel depressed, hopeless, and a burden to your family.  You wish you had a way to generate income from bed. I know exactly how you feel. I went through the same exact thought process..... then I decided to get  crafty. I had to tap into my crafty side that laid dormant for so many years . I decided to start a craft business from bed.

I didn't have much experience beading and wire wrapping, but I wanted create unique earrings that were different from everything that saw on the market.  I couldn't get out to craft shows and hair shows to take advantage of the many vending opportunites , so I had to dive into the world of ecommerce.

If you have a craft that you can make from bed and you need some assistance with how to set up shop from bed, take a look at my bed rest craft office.

The Setup

First I had to make sure that I had some kind of way to access the world wide web.  With the help of my husband we set up a mini desk for our imac and printer  using an Ikea lack side table.





I made sure I had plenty of room on my bed side desk for pen , paper, planner, and timer.

I can't sit up for long periods of time, so my tv tray doubles as a lap desk for my wireless mouse and keyboard.

On the opposite side of the room we used an Ikea shelving unit  and storage bins to create the storage station for all of my  earring supplies , shipping supplies, and business books.

You can add more necessities to your bedrest office, but I hope that this post at least helps get you started.Please feel free to comment and let us know what you think of  my bedrest business set-up. I would love to see how you set up your bed rest office if you've decided to get started on your bed rest business.

From Business to Bedrest

Peace and Blessings to you,

Thank you so much for supporting me this morning on my first blog post! Well not my first ever, but the first post since the revamp of the new site.  I'll admit, I'm feeling a bit nervous but I think that it's important to let you into my little world.  So for this post,  I'll start off with a brief.... but hopefully informative summary of what we are about over here in my bedrest world.

The Birth 

As some of you may know, HypnoEars is what I like to call my bedrest business. It all started back in 2009 when my husband I found out that we were expecting a new little bundle of joy. For most this would be exciting news, but for us it meant bed rest. Bed rest for the entire duration of  the pregnancy.......sounds exciting right? Well not for me. I was at a point where I was really comfortable in my career growth as a natural hair stylist, and I can admit to not being happy about laying in a bed for months.

I won't bore you with the details of life from then to now, but in a future post I will formally introduce the entire HypnoEars team ( aka my family). One thing I will tell you is this.... It's 2013 and I am once again back on bedrest, patiently waiting for my little son to arrive in about..... 18 weeks.

This blog  will primarily be about being on bedrest,   HypnoEars,  natural hair , poetry as well as some things to help you feel good about life.I'm going to do my very best to blog  often.  I enjoy making HypnoEars because it helps me put the energy I would normally put into worrying and stressing about being on bed rest into creating really fly, custom,  unique earrings. I put a lot of love and positive energy into every pair that I make. I hope that they truly help the wearer feel beautiful both on the inside and outside.

Thank you all again for coming! I really appreciate your support. I hope that you will enjoy this blog. Feel free to comment below

Be Blessed

Olivia Thompson