Have Your Color And Wear It, Too!

I love color no matter where or how it gets applied. 

Paint, paper, cake icing, fabric, Pantone chips, wallpaper, colored pencils and... cosmetics.  I love cosmetic color in all of its wonderful varied forms, from nails to eyelids to lips.  When I flip through fashion magazines, I'm often paying as much attention to the colors of the makeup as I am the color and cut of the clothes!  It's color to be worn and to transform with - how can I not love it?  As a result of this makeup fascination, I have a pretty decent collection of professional cosmetics that I don't wear nearly often enough.

Knowing this, you can understand how thrilled I was when my friends at Decades of Style pattern company brought me along to assist with makeup and styling at a recent photo shoot!  Sensing the need for restraint in order to let the clothes shine as the main star of our photo session, I brought a selection of demure glosses, blushes and eye colors that wouldn't overpower.  Difficult for me - those parrot green pots of MAC eyeshadow were there in my makeup case taunting me, but they had to be left at home! 

This session was going to be all about a sweet, timeless, natural look.  I packed lots of pretty, glowy, tawny basics like my Stila Convertible Color in "Lillium," Kevyn Aucoin Elegant Lip Gloss in "Molasses," MAC Tinted Lip Conditioners in "Plum Perfect" and "Virtuous Violet,"  and Lipstick Queen Oxymoron Matte Gloss in "Deafening Silence."  All of these are gorgeous neutrals!

At the most, I got to add a pop of lip color to Vicki, our model.  Here I am giving her a pouting lesson while I redden up her lips with a dab of  Retrofuturist Red full-pigment lipstick by Lime Crime.

In the end, it was a fun day and I was happy to lend my hands, artistic eye, and my eager stash of costmetics to such a great project.  Thanks to Christina at Meadowlarking, our wonderful photographer, for these great behind-the-scenes shots!

Learning Product Photography In An Afternoon

Sometimes my own can-do spirit is enough to get a project done... and sometimes I need to call in my reinforcements!  Such is the case with photographing my projects and products.  Despite having received four whole years of visual arts training in college, I somehow dodged basic photography!  Unbelievable.  This is when my friend and crafting colleague Christina over at Meadowlarking came to my rescue with an afternoon-long photography lesson! 

I just happened to have a bright and beautiful new apron sample on hand for the lesson, with which I learned that bright green summer leaves can sometimes make the best backdrop for vibrantly colored cottons... who knew?

This is my standard Flat Front Apron pattern, due for re-release by mid-July of this year.  I've been busy sewing up trunk show samples; this one features a bright Moda polka dot and the periwinkle Paradise Garden print from Amy Butler's Love Collection.  Summery, isn't it?  I can't wait to sew up and photograph the rest of my sample aprons - they are a motley group of colorful and witty cotton things.  There are no holds barred when choosing fun and bright fabrics for aprons... the brighter and more outlandish, the better.

As cute (and addictive to make) as these aprons are, they're notoriously difficult to photograph, making them the perfect photography student challenge.  We folded, we draped, we hung this apron on a hanger.  Christina suggested folding the apron in half and swept the ties to the side and - voila! - instantly more photo-friendly.

Of course, just getting the apron folded wasn't the only challenge... In learning how to best photograph the fabric, I also learned how to block and direct excess light using a piece of foam board... here you can see me acting as the gleeful photographer's assistant, blocking out all the dappled sunlight from our cheerfully-colored apron model.

While I am ultimately better trained to sew these projects than to photograph them, I came away from my lesson knowing my camera a bit better, and a I had more confidence about photographing lots of my upcoming projects.  I also have more enthusiasm, which only bolsters my can-do spirit!  Lights, camera, action!...  Awesome product photos, here I come!