Friday Styling School

Hi friends! Today I have something a little different for our Friday Styling School…I have an experience of my own to report on! This is exciting, because it was one of the first times I have tried my hand at styling. It was an experiment, to be sure, so thank goodness I was working with someone as lovely and kind as Monica Lee. Monica is a talented fabric designer and founder of the fresh new site Smart Creative Women, where she posts video interviews with some really amazing ladies – hello, Amy Butler! I am so grateful that Monica was willing to let me play around with her gorgeous new line of fabric, we really had a ball and I learned so much. I thought I could just walk you through our morning to hopefully give a sense of what it was like to work on a styling project like this. Sound good? Let’s get started!

Monica came over to my house with a bounty of goodies made with her fabric designs, from stuffed “cupcakes” and a child’s sleeping bag, to a fabric globe, quilt, cushions, and a lampshade. We began planning this styling date a ridiculously long time ago, so I had a preview of the items I would be working with and I had been bust brainstorming ideas for the shoot. The idea was to get some fun shots of Monica’s designs “in action” to help promote the line and show ways people could put her gorgeous prints and patterns to use in real life.

I had decided in advance to go for a sort of slumber party scene, so I made strawberry smoothies and popped popcorn to use as props, and gathered together everything I could think of that we might want to use during the shoot. I had a heap of old fashioned paper straws, little china dessert plates, wrapping paper, books, and more at the ready.

When Monica arrived, after a bit of catching up over coffee and tea, the first thing we needed to do was decide on a location to set up our scene. Bixby’s room was a possibility, but we both agreed a white backdrop would be even better. So, the dining room it was! Monica very thoughtfully brought along a few special presents for Bixby to keep him occupied as we tore the house apart got to work setting up the shot. We moved the dining table and chairs out of the way, leaving just the white bench in place to use as part of the backdrop.

We weren’t sure if the bench was going to be too high behind other items placed on the floor, but after checking it out through the camera we decided it could stay. I stuffed the sleeping bag with blankets to give it a fuller, cushier look, and began pulling other props from around my house. It was definitely a process of trial and error, as things were positioned, repositioned, pulled out, and put back again. For instance, I tried pooling a strand of twinkle lights on the ground, which was sort of cool, but didn’t come out well in the photos (I still have so much to learn about photography). We also played around with stacks of books with pretty covers, art placement, etc. It was definitely a little crazy doing all of that while also keeping Bix occupied – he really wanted to lie down on that cute sleeping bag!

We ended up using my “Keep Calm and Have a Cupcake” painting propped up on one of Bixby’s little chairs in the background, placed Monica’s lamp on my overturned Carrie bike basket, and tucked one of Bix’s stuffed animals (from here) into the sleeping bag. I used some of my old fashioned paper straws in the smoothie cups, and put a bowl of popcorn on the floor. Once we felt good about how the objects were arranged, it was time to start snapping away.

It was actually a very overcast day, so it was more difficult than I would have liked to get clear photos, but I did my best! At least I finally have a tripod and know a few tips and tricks that I was able to put into practice, such as using only one type of lighting (we used only natural light) and slowing the shutter speed on my camera. Of course, by this point little B was starting to melt down, so I had to work quickly and hope that we had gotten enough good shots to work with.

Monica took over while I put Bix down for his nap and got a few more good shots – thanks, Monica! By the end of the shoot, it looked like a bomb had gone off…everywhere except in this perfect little corner of the room! It was a pretty hilarious sight, actually. We cleaned up and got to talking about blogging, creative careers, and other fun stuff, and I came away feeling tired, yes, but energized and inspired at the same time. Whew! Well, I think that about covers it.

I would love to hear what you think, tips, tricks, advice, encouragement, anything at all – so please chime in if you feel inspired to. You can also visit Monica Lee on her blog or at Smart Creative Women, and view her work here. Oh, and happy Friday! xo Laura

(all images: Laura Gaskill)

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Tagged as: friday styling school