Inari Design Studio Blog

Countdown to the Kentish Wedding Fair at Darenth Valley Golf Course on June 30th

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 16:04:00 +0000

9ct Gold Freshwater Pearls

This Sunday will see me join my very first wedding fair! I'm really excited about it as I love working with the organiser Helen from Kentish Wedding & Food Fairs . The buzz looks great and the event promises to be a one stop shop for Bride's and Grooms of Kent and surrounding areas to find the perfect accompaniments to their wedding. From gorgeous wedding cakes and treats to photographers, musicians, limousines and of course jewellery, it will all be there! I've been working on a number of special sets for brides, from simple and elegant to WOW! I'll have something for mum's and Bridesmaids too.


Sterling Silver Filigree Heart & Silk cord

Every Bride will receive a special goody bag at the door and there will be free ice cream, music and champagne for visitors. I'll be giving away a special gift to the first 15 Brides to place an order with me on the day (pictured at right!). And one of my favourite wedding suppliers, Bethans Beauty Treatments will will also be offering free manicures on the day. Beth provides a mobile beauty treatment service that is bespoke to her clients and she offers an assortment of pampering treats for anyone, not just Brides to be! Beth is a highly skilled beauty therapist having achieved numerous qualifications and certifications in manicures and pedicures as well as massage from West Kent College and Kent Beauty School. And most of all, she is lovely.

So there we go, just a taster of what's to come. If you're a Bride to be, and in the Kent area, you can pre-register here. And even if you don't pre-register, you can register at the door. So don't forget, Sunday June 30th from 11am - 4pm at Darenth Valley Golf Club on Station Road nr Shoreham, Sevenoaks TN14 7SA. See you there!

Photographing jewellery - a complete idiot's guide

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 11:07:00 +0000

I often get asked if I use a professional to photograph my jewellery (now whether they are just being kind, is a different question!). And the simple answer is no, I do it all myself. I'm no expert by any measure and I rely on tools and a little bit of experimentation to get an acceptable shot. So I thought I'd share a couple of tips on what I've learned and what I use.

Firstly, as I mentioned above, I am no expert. But I do have experience of fiddling! So any guidance I offer is strictly fiddling expertise!

Probably the most important thing I've learned about photographing my jewellery is lighting. It's critical to get a decent shot. Sunlight is fantastic, but it's not always available and you can't always control for shadows or unevenness or unwanted tints etc. Then there's ordinary room lighting, which is seldom bright enough to adequately light your pieces - it's surprising how much light you need to be honest! I've tried various light boxes/tents, lights and assorted domes et al, but the one thing I've found that has given me consistent lighting has been my lightbox that I found on ebay about six years ago. I'm a big fan as it's small/portable with the lights integrated into the box and provides even and consistent light and light balance every time I use it. (this is the one I bought, but there are a few others slightly less expensive available too). My work space is very compact so I really couldn't afford set-up that was space consuming. And I wanted to be able to photograph at any time without having to set up the box and lights etc. This one is as simple as turn the switch on and let it warm up. Plus, ss I mentioned I bought it nearly six years ago and have not had to change a light in it yet, it's been very cost effective.

The second thing I've learned is white balance. If you don't know what that is, take a little time to learn. There are lots of resources online to read up (here's one I just googled, no endorsement). Basically white balance let's the camera "see" true colours, so that, for instance, white appears white rather than the yellow you sometimes see in photos taken under "normal light". Most digital cameras will have a manual white balance setting - learn to use it. It's also useful to understand a little bit about shutter speeds and focal lengths and iso - adjusting these can help give you greater depth of image. Though strictly speaking you probably could get away without them.

I use an old minolta digital with 2.1mp resolution. So it's not a high spec camera, but it does have the ability for manual adjustments to shutter speed and white balance. So you don't have to spend a lot of money on a fancy camera, just one that give you a bit of control of your camera. So there you have it, a coupe of tips. Hope they're useful!!

Yes another disaster!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Fri, 03 Dec 2010 20:03:00 +0000

The webserver crashed yet again. So once again, I am in the process of rebuilding. Thankfully the backups of the catalog and webpage seem to be intact, it's just the infrastructure that I need to fight with. So cross your fingers, the site should be back in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, enjoy the snow!!

Jelly and Ice Cream!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 15:01:00 +0000

Inspired by the hot weather and a desire for jelly and ice cream, I've just finished making this latest piece. A bit of festive fun for the summer months with handmade Razberi lampwork beads, swarovski crystals and silver swirl beads. All in gleaming .925 Sterling Silver. Yum! Still having some problems with the server, very annoying, but I think we're almost there. And as someone once said, it's all character building ... not sure what kind of character though!!

Beautiful Baroque Pearls ... oooohh ahhhh!!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 12:55:00 +0000

I've recently come across some simply gorgeous Baroque Freshwater Pearls drops. These mismatched pearls are beautiful with loads of lustre and iridescence. I've been having a wonderful time crafting pieces with them. I'm hoping to find more, but for the moment, what I have is all I have. I've had so many requests that I'm afraid I'm very nearly out! So do take a look, I hope you like them as much as I do!

Starting from scratch!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 21:56:00 +0000

Well after 6 weeks in limbo, I'm finally getting Inari put back together. The hard drive hosting the site crashed and unfortunately, the backups were corrupt so it's been a labour of love pulling it all back together. But we're getting there slowly. The catalog won't be back for another couple of weeks at leas, but on the plus side, I've a whole new collection of jewellery that I'm photographing and getting ready to upload. I've come across some fabulous baroque pearls and have had a ball creating new designs wth them. Hopefully you'll love them too! Time to run ....

Happy New Year!!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Wed, 02 Jan 2008 15:33:00 +0000

The online shop is finally open after much work, and I'm delighted with the final version. I'll be making adjustments little by little but in the main it's all done. So now on to the fun bit. Finding new gemstones. My current favourite is the paraiba or blue tourmaline. Gorgeous blue is difficult to come by in tourmaline and I was very lucky to come by a pair of stones recently. I'm still trying to decide what to make with them .... any suggestions? .....

Slowly Slowly ....

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 12:49:00 +0000

We're getting there little by little with the new website. It's mostly there but the shopfront is being a pain ... well the shopfront is wonderful ... the interface with paypal is a pain. If you ever need a really good shopfront look at OsCommerce ... www.oscommerce.com. Cracking good and easy to use and because it's all open source so you can do a lot and there are a lot of add ins that you can download to customise it ... a little ingenuity and a lot of patience, but I think it'll be worth it! ...

Rain Rain Go Away .....

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 15:13:00 +0000

The weather has really been a bit blah lately, wind rain, rain wind and grey, but on the plus side I've had a seat on the train to into London everyday so it can't be all that bad. And now that it's the weekend I'll have a bit of time to focus on making some new pieces. I've some new Sapphires that I'm really excited about as they're some of the best colour I've seen and they are only heat treated, and not coloured. It's getting harder to find good quality ruby and sapphire beads that haven't been dyed these days so I'm delighted to have found these. Well time to create ... watch this space!

A New Beginning ...

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:04:00 +0000

With a bit of luck and some work, I'm hoping to launch the new catalogue in the next few weeks, hopefully in time for the new year ... watch this space! Once it's up and running I'll be sending out announcements ....

It's that time of year ... Craft Shows!

noreply@blogger.com (Inari Design Studio Homepage) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 21:01:00 +0000

Well this time of year are all of the craft shows. The challenge of course is finding shows that highlight genuine craft and not the imported goods that are resold. I'm on the search for a really good fair to do, but that said here is one to visit if you happend to be in the London area. Country Living Crafts for Christmas - Islington Nov 14 - 18 2007. They have a good selection of handmade and unique items ... I get most of my Christmas shopping done with this one!