Recently, the big photo shoot for our book took place at the Interweave Press Studio. Yay! Very exciting for us! Lorelei and I didn't get to actually attend the photo shoot, but our editor, Michelle Mach was there making sure everything went smoothly. Before the scheduled shoot, Lorelei and I had to prepare, pack up and mail out all the items for the Tools, Materials and Findings Sections to the Interweave studio to be photographed. Umm...Yeah, that was no small task! Everything from wire cutters right down to crimp tubes were packaged up into individual baggies, labeled, wrapped in bubble wrap and boxed.
The pictures below are a very small sample of what was actually sent into Interweave for the photo shoot.
A small sample of items photographed for the Materials Section.
A small sample of items photographed for the Findings Section.
Okay, hold on. I have a confession to make. I myself, am guilty of not giving much attention to tools, materials and findings sections in other books. I know, shame on me. In the past, before I even thought about writing my own book, I used to flip through my favorite jewelry-making books and I often wondered if all those items in the Tools, Materials and Findings sections were ACTUALLY the authors own personal possessions. "No, probably not." I would think to myself, as I turned the page, barely skimming them. I seemed to think these parts of the beading books were most likely "staged" by the publisher with pictures of tools, beads and findings that fit the descriptions in the section, but weren't necessarily the authors own. Where on earth I got that notion from, I have no clue, because I couldn't have been more wrong.
The tools, materials and findings you will see in our book are plucked straight from our own studios and our own beading tables. As it should be, I think and we wouldn't have wanted it any other way. You'll know that all those items are the actual things we reach for every time we sit down to make jewelry. I have to say I was a little unprepared to be separated from my one set of essential jewelry-making tools for months at a time while our book is being created. Luckily, we have a very generous editor who let us borrow some of her own tools. Thank you, Michelle!
Going through the book writing process myself, I now know the effort that is put into creating those tools, materials and findings sections. I know there is a more personal connection to the authors of my favorite beading books just through the images of their items in those beginning sections. Not to mention, all the time and work involved writing up those sections! But that is a whole other story. I have so much more appreciation for all the beading books in my own library and I will certainly never look at another tools, materials or findings section the same way ever again!
