Picture This

Getting the right picture for a pendant or pair of earrings can sometimes be frustrating. In order to get started, I open several pictures for ideas in Photoshop. Then I create a new file for my own image. But a lot of times, I just don't know how to get the effects I want.
  

There are a bunch of tutorial websites for Photoshop, as well as websites that offer free brushes. I have been doing this for years and I still find something new.

  

Check out http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorials/photoshop/1 or http://mediadesigner.digitalmedianet.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=19756.

  

Into any search engine you can type "tutorial photoshop" or "photoshop hair". Just replace the word "hair" with the thing you are trying to create.

  

Here's a great tutorial showing how to change Tom Cruise into an avatar. http://www.photoshoplady.com/tutorial/awesome-avatar-transformation-using-photoshop/2661. That particular one offers a free pair of ears.

  

Between the idea pictures and the Photoshop tutorials, after a while I can usually get the results I am after.

Making Picture Pendants - Super Glue

I have used Super Glue, in one fashion or another, since I started making picture pendants and earrings. It is a pain in the butt to use. I finally started using Loctite's Super Glue Gel to reduce the "getting it all over the place" syndrome. It is thicker and comes out slower. Well, except at the very first, then it shoots out of there like water out of a fountain. After the first couple of tries, it settles down and comes out at a decent rate.

Someday, I hope to find a glue that goes on evenly, doesn't frost as it dries, and only sticks to jewelry pieces instead of everything else. Ah, the search continues.