I had so much fun giving y’all a peek behind the scenes of a photo shoot, I wanted to pull the curtain back even further. What you usually see on social media doesn’t necessarily tell the whole story. Most of the time we post what we want people to know and like and love about us. Our flaws? Not so much. I get it. The internet isn’t always the best place for vulnerability, but it can be refreshing to see that REAL life is messy and imperfect and sometimes chaotic.
For example…my work space.
Here’s my ideal. The picture I posted on social media..
And here is the reality of MOST days…
Organized chaos. Kind of stresses me out to actually look at that!! Haha!
You wouldn’t know from looking, but everything does have a home. Being a wife and mom with a home studio, running every aspect of a small business, trying to create — this is the reality. Start stop, start stop. If I cleaned up after every stop I would only have time to get it all back out only to clean it up again! Creatively I have to regroup at times, clean up and start again, but it doesn’t happen nearly as often as it should. I just push my half finished projects up on my work table to create the urgent pressing pieces!
One thing I do love
Working from home creates great opportunities for community. I love having visitors drop by who want to help 🙂 and chat and drink coffee. And every now and then, in peak season, all the family gets involved.
Of course the Scene is the main thing. The “behind the scenes” exist for the whole point of making the Scene happen. The Scene is the story we’re trying to tell. In our case, the story of bracelets, necklaces and earrings. The story of meaningful creations reflecting and accentuating the beauty we see around us.
Pictures convey volumes, but pictures taken behind the scenes have their own story to share. What you get to see at novi-creations.com is beautiful photography that helps you see the beauty in our creations. Hopefully it engages your mind and your heart to help you see and feel new creation happening all around you.
What you don’t see in these images is the time and effort that goes into making each one of them. I can only imagine what hikers think when they cross paths with models in dresses and styled hair hiking through the woods with their backpacks! Somehow they manage to march through forests and mountains to get to just the right spot, ready to look “fresh” for the camera. As an observer behind the scenes, I get to see the determination to get the shot. I get the joy of suppressing giggles while models awkwardly pose to capture jewelry while still trying to look natural (and somehow succeeding). You’d be surprised to hear the creativity that goes into explaining to models HOW to do that awkward look. All that preparation is great, but what if you are like me and can only use auto focus?? Well, luckily I married a good man who believes in my product as much as I do. He’s the one left with the job of capturing and presenting these images. And he pulls it off well! I leave the big photos to him, while I do the simple everyday shots myself.
What would you do if you stumbled upon this scene in the woods?
So as you browse through our lovely products remember there is a large amount of effort and care that goes into bringing them to light, and I certainly couldn’t do it all myself. In our next post I hope to take you behind the scenes again and show you some of the work that goes into actually bringing these products to you, our customers!
For jewelry makers your preferred metal says a lot about you. Obviously copper is my metal of choice. If you take a quick glance at my creations you might think I’m copper obsessed!
Let me explain a little bit about my love for copper. When starting out searching through DIY videos of jewelry making, sterling was a pretty lure. There is a simple beauty to silver that’s hard to beat. However, having very few tools and very little to invest, sterling was a little pricey to be a trial and error metal. Copper, although a little harder to work with, was more affordable. So for me copper has turned out to be a serendipitous discovery.
Did you know that copper was the first metal that humans worked with? Copper working goes back thousands of years. Ancient peoples associated copper with healing and nurturing, and in modern architecture copper is used to project warmth and comfort. In working with this material I get a sense of connection with the past and with God’s creation. Copper can be recycled again and again without losing it’s elemental properties. Just imagine, the same metal that gets ripped out of an old home’s plumbing can be refashioned into beautiful works of art! Here is a material that, with care, can last forever and only looks better the older it gets.
In jewelry trends, metals tend to drop in and out of fashion. Gold was THE thing when I bought my wedding band. Then white gold was all the rage. Sterling jewelry was the only jewelry to have in my 20’s… (since I was married young I always was conflicted wearing silver on my left hand with my wedding ring. So naturally I kept gold on left and silver on right!) Rose gold made a comeback..now it’s gold again….
Finally somewhere in there came the mixed metal trend. This was just the opportunity I needed. Although I loved copper and kept at it, mixed metal options gave me a chance to introduce my copper love to the world. It turns out I’ve even been able to convert a few of my silver and gold jewelry loving friends. Or maybe more of us have reached a point in life where we finally appreciate all things natural, things that age well and get better with time?
If you’ve never considered yourself a “copper person” I encourage you to give it a second look. The latest trend of mixing styles and materials allows you to express yourself with your own unique looks like never before. I am having a blast creating with copper, and I hope you can find something that brings you a little bit of the joy I experience in bringing these pieces to life.
This video is an insider look at some of my process in working with copper. We’re hoping to add more video content in the months to come to give you ideas on how to get the most out of your Novi products, background on the inspiration for some of the creations and maybe a few other special surprises! If you haven’t already, make sure to subscribe to our newsletter below, and we’ll make sure to let you know when new videos are available.
If I’ve piqued your interest in copper here are some products to consider.
