Sparrow on the run...

Eeek, been a while since I entered into blog territory!

My bad but my wonderful customers have kept me rather busy.

Anyway, am here ...almost in running shoes about to start running....almost..monday! Yes yes yes!! Monday!!! <hopes the more i say it the more likely it is I will do it!>

You may remember me banging on about losing weight and getting fit at the beginning of the year - well I was kind of doing ok and then it all went to pot. Life got busy, easy quick junky food snuck back in and before I knew it I felt huge again. I need to nip it n the bud and get my arse moving!!!

I am a complete exercisephobe - always have been. I do alot of walking but I do that because I don't drive. Any exercise I may do or have done would be purely because its a daily activity anyway, actually putting time aside daily for exercise for exercise sake is a completely alien concept to me.....people really do it! Really!!!

So I have been racking my brains of something that:

a) I can do (really important one that!).

b) Won't cost me much (Pah! to over-inflated gym memberships. Big PAH!).

c) May have a hope of keeping my interest.

d) Hopefully no one will see me do.... <majorly self conscious about being sweaty, redfaced and puffy in public)

I have heard alot about 'Couch to 5K' in the last couple of years - after having a quick read and alot of self doubt I have decided to give it a go. I am NOT a runner. Never ran for anything except towards wine, horses or chocolate in my life so its new, scary, and dare I say? A little bit exciting?

Will it suit me? I think it might. It gets me out of the house. (I get bored following the Davina/30day Shred/Wii day in day out indoors) . I am a very outdoorsy person and very lucky that I live in a picturesque part of Somerset really really close to the edge of  town. I like the fresh air, I like the freedom, I like the peace that the great outdoors can bring.

Cost wise? I have bought some trainers and a armband thingymejig for my phone...oh and a baseball hat (essential for disguise and hiding my red sweaty face!) . My legs are free....its free to run outside...the c25k app that I have downloaded to help me out was free.....looking good so far!

I feel very determined to give this a good shot, its my first attempt of 'real proper exercise'(I know, I am almost 26 so that's shocking really!).

 I don't want to be 'slightly overweight and unfit' for the whole of my 20's. I want to get to a stage in my life where I am confident and happy in my own skin, at the moment thats not the case. (I would also like to race Mini Sparrow across the park and win! Not collapse halfway across.....but small steps and all that - that boy is fast!) . :O

I also have a holiday coming up later in the year so that is another incentive.

So come Monday I am going to don my baseball hat,new shoes, and sporty clothes (which I would never normally be seen dead in!), suck up my worries about someone recognising me (they won't because my disguise will be epic!) and start pounding the pavements....and I am really really really going to try and stick at it!

Wish me luck! xx

The most important thing about selling on-line? Images!!! ....and a short Sparrow guide to photographing jewellery!

The issue with selling on-line is that the only sense people can use to buy is sight. This obviously gives us online sellers a big disadvantage from the start.

Customers can't pick something up and feel it, try it on, umm and ahhh over how fabulous it looks in the mirror. All they have is what you give them in a picture. These pictures have to be eye-catching and show a product of to its best!

Time and time again I stumble on pages with dark or fuzzy images...or both! I have no idea how these sellers sell their goods. I just retreat and go and look at something else. I have no interest in buying or drooling over something that I can't see properly, and I am amazed anyone else would.

I am getting lots of compliments about my images at the moment. I won't lie - I'm chuffed hehe!

I was (at  the very very beginning) one of those people who couldn't get a decent picture for toffee. I used a black velvet background and very very rarely did my beloved Samsung phone get a clear image. 

After a while I ditched the black velvet (thank gawd!) and used white card. This was better but in the pictures the white card looked grey. Anyhoo, I carried on with this for a while..still not happy but unable to do much better when some lovely lady told me about picture editing. 

I downloaded Picasa - brightened my images and woooo! A picture that I was *almost* happy with. (Will go more into this in a sec)

Now - when I opened Sparrow's - I had a way in my mind that I wanted things to be...a plain white boring (albeit effective and clean) background just wasn't going to cut it for me - so I started experimenting with other stuffs. Some of my long standing likers may re-call <takes deep breath>.the book phase, the artificial grass with pearls phase, the brown paper phase.....I could go on ;)

By this point I had meself a nifty new camera (Samsung Galaxy Smart Camera) - its my baby - nice and simple to use but 90% of the time churns out a cracking photo in terms of clarity.

Then, after a particularly bad photo taking session in the kitchen with shocking light (Thanks winter days!) lots of reflections and the swear jar filling rapidly, I caved and purchased myself a small photography studio of ebay for £30. This is without doubt the best thing I have ever bought!! 

It consists on a small box like tent, two lights, a few background sheets and a tripod (tripod is not pictured) 

It all folds flat into a nifty little carry case which is great for storage. I would recommend it to anyone who has small items that they need to photograph.

Set up it looks like this...excuse the messy kitchen!

.So, now I have my magic tent and lights I was desperately trying to find a background that was light, bright, not too plain but that fitted with Sparrow's image and showed off my products well. 

I went with fabric....I can't believe it didn't cross my mind before to be honest, but it finally did, and I am finally happy!

So, this is how Sparrow (currently) takes photos of stock ready to sell....

Tent gets set up like above....fabric gets laid in with a bit pulled up at the back for any shots that need to be taken straight on. (Most!)

Lights on - item in - snap snap snap!

A few little things that I have picked up - jewellery persons especially...this my peeps is you friend!

Blue Tac!

Its a bloody god send!
I try not to photograph flat....it just doesn't look right to me on my background of choice for some reason so I try and prop everything up and take a shot straight on rather than looking down. Like this.....(getting good at this talking in pictures thing! )

Just please please please double check that a piece of blue tac isn't peeping out in a shot! Its annoying when you see  it and you have packed everything away! Really REALLY annoying!

If you have a macro setting then use it! Most smart phones do - you just need to find it. (I would tell you but it took me a long time to find mine and I have no clue-look in your camera settings???!) It will make all the difference!

Now, (if you're still with me....long one this aint it!) , you've done all of the above, have nice clear images with half decent lighting...you upload to the computer and 'Oh! Its not as bright as I want' . This is where editing comes into play.
Look at these two images.....

Left pic is pre-edit , right pic is edited.
See what I mean?
The left one is fine - just fine- meh who want's fine!! Its clear but it doesn't jump out like the right pic does! There is nothing BOOM about it! In the edited pic the locket is the main focus and it can't be missed!

What do i use?

Mainly Picasa and PicMonkey - both free, both incredibly easy. (Really! I can use it so it must be!)
I highlight, lighten, bring out the shadows, crop and add my text. It takes a minute once you have the knack and it makes a mahoosive difference!

And thats it! Phew you all think ;) !
I hope someone finds this useful - its only my little way of doing things but I do so wish someone had given me some tips a year ago - I could have saved myself alot of stress and headaches lol.
By no way are all of my pictures perfect (the odd dodge one still creeps in and refuses to be sorted) but I think they are a good standard and judging by some recent feedback so do others!

<skips off to stroke camera and snog tent> ;)

Inspiration & Motivation

-What inspires you?
-How do you stay motivated?

I get asked the above questions alot. You nosey lot!
So, here's some answers.....

Firstly - I think the two words 'Inspiration' and 'Motivation' go together.
 If I am not inspired then I am not motivated. Simples. Sparrow law that! ;)

Inspiration comes in many forms for me. From watching Harvey loose himself in his imagination (happens alot! And when I say lose...I mean lose! ;) ) to seeing some mad colour combo on Pinterest to browsing potential stock items, to seeing the freedom of a bird flying.
Sometimes something will pop in my head and pop right out again only to re-emerge at some random time to be useful.

I spend a lot of time browsing through vintage style shops (a fair few where I am).  I can't get enough of bronze tone, antique style,random stuffs and things that make people look twice. The owl pendant below is a prime example of the look twice thing - I love her! (Available to buy from http://sparrowsattic.com/ )

How do I stay motivated?

Firstly - I love doing what I do. This itself means that motivation stays at a good level most of the time. I know I am very lucky.

Secondly - quite bluntly...the pennies come in handy. Without sales there would be no business. I couldn't afford to fund Sparrow's from my own pocket so when the pennies come it means I can keep my stock levels up and regular new items doing the rounds. It means I can keep going and this means the world to me!
If I haven't got motivation, then there would be no more Sparrow's!

And finally - If I am having a low time and its going on for longer than I would like then I think about all the people out there who think/have thought 'She won't get anywhere' , 'It won't last' , 'She will get bored and give up' ....and that gives me a kick up the arse.
There is nothing better than shoving two fingers up at the people who don't believe in you and proving them wrong!

2014 has arrived with a ton of drive for me. I have no idea why - new year, new goals maybe?
I'm not aiming to take over the world but to be able to continue to do what I do with the success I have had so far then I will be happy!

Who knows what the future holds....

New Year, New Blog!

Welcome to Sparrow's little blog corner!

Its the 1st of Jan 2014 which means resolutions have been made by the bucket load (and many will be broken already ;) ) .

Well, I have made a few, one of them is to lose the extra weight I am carrying - fairly common one I'm sure! I am in a very good mindset at the moment so feeling optimistic - bloody scales helped mind - shock is nothing but a motivator!

Another, and the reason you are here, is because I want to bring a bit more of a face to Sparrow's, more angles, more persoanlity if I can.
I am not the most confident person in the world, I like my work because it means I can hide myself behind a screen...mostly!
What worries me though is being a faceless business. I see them regularly. I get bored.
I try and bring a good balance of post's between business, selling, personal and random rubbish (which incidently you all seem to love - you nut jobs ha!) and I think I do a ok job, but I am aware that not everyone who follows my business page wants to know the Furby did a sh*t or that I glued my fingers to my face, so that why we are here. To give you more of a insight to me - as a person and my very unexciting life (I'm not kidding - its boring but I am very content!) .

So on that note - here's abit about me......

My name is Kylie, not Sparrow (contrary to popular belief!) . I am currently 25 of which I shall stay until I look like a old hag and can't realistically get away with it any more.
I am mum to one small boy aka Mini Sparrow aka Harvey. He talks...alot. I'm not kidding! Think of the average amount of talking a 6yo does and then x5. Its ridiculous but I wouldn't have it any other way.
Sparrow's HQ is also home to two guineas lovingly know as Little Pig and Big Pig, a hamster called Squeak, three fish called...well The Fish, and not far away in a paddock on the edge of town is a small pony called Charlie. He is furniture!

2013 has been a tough year personally. Family issues, money issues, loyalty and sanity got tested, balls got grown, and we had some horrendous low points. From the beginning I swore its was because of the unlucky no.13 and couldn't wait for it to be over.
We are now in a much better place and positive thinking will be the motto for 2014. Things will happen because we will make them happen, and thanks to some hard lessons, mistakes will not be made twice!

From a business perspective I don't think I could have asked for more!  Sparrow's gave me something to throw myself into and its paying off! I relaunched with a new page in May - I closed down my old one with 3700 likers in favour of a fresh start and a new style. Madness?? Maybe but no one got anywhere by being completely sane! ;) It was without doubt the best decision I have ever made!
I gained more sales, more return customers, the confidence to set up a website and in the process made some fabulous on-line friends.

So, there we have it, blog post numero 1!
I have no idea how often this will be updated but watch this space and we shall see! xx