The first Barnsley Fashion Creatives project was back in October and it was a brilliant day with a brilliant team! We now can show you our favourite picks from the bunch, which we ended up with lots of usable photos for all who was involved. We worked with local designer Spirit Original Designs who creates clothing and accessories, make-up artist and hair stylist Nicola Whitfield, Photographer Kevin Hinchcliffe and our two models Sammi Scargill and Megan Pickering and shot our photos around the Barnsley Colliery and Jakto's Transportation yard. You can look back on our previous first project posts here:

BFC Project Brief #1

BFC Project #1 Updates

BFC Project: Profiling the Team

BFC Project: Behind The Scenes & How To’s

We are currently organising our second project for a bridal themed shoot with another local designer. You can read more about it here.

All of the below outfits are on sale and available for purchasing, you can visit Spirit Original Designs facebook page to enquire about any of the outfits, jewellery and leather bags. Visit www.facebook.com/Spirit-Original-Designs-170351533010366/?fref=ts

 

Sammi was one of our models, her favourites are:



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Nicola was our make-up artist and hair stylist for the shoot, here's her two favourites:

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'Fab team to work with, really enjoyed the day and everyone really mucked in and helped where needed. Trish was lovely and her designs are amazing, organisation by Hannah was done very well. Both models were amazing and I couldn't believe they hadn't modelled before as they both were really good and took direction brilliantly. Kevin did amazing with the photo's and my two favourite outfits were Sammi with the leaves and the pink & grey dress on Megan. Stunning, thanks team you were great.'

 

 

Here we have Megan's favourites who was one of our beautiful models:

[caption id="attachment_4164" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 'I really like how the coat drops on this photo, I think it shows off the waterfall effect really well.'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4163" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 'I like how this photo showcases the variety of rings on offer at Spirit Original Designs. I also think it emphasises Nicola's skills with eye make-up, I like the choices she chose and this is complimented in Sam's skin tone really well.'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4173" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 'I like this one showing Nicola hard at work. Out of the two looks I had, this was my favourite as it was a bit more grungey. I also like how you can see the glitter fading across the eyeshadow.'[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_4177" align="aligncenter" width="500"] 'I really like the colours in this dress and Kevin has done a really good job with editing the photo and angling it to get the best possible effect for this outfit. I love how the dress has a roughed detailing to hide my wobbly bits, but the belt still shows off my figure. I also think Nicola has done a great job doing a subtle look with the make-up to not distract from the dramatic colours in the dress, yet still managed to create the wow factor with the hair.'[/caption]

We all make silly mistakes even at the best of times and when running a business and facing your customers, the best corkers come spilling out. The thing is, we're only human and we all do it at times so don't beat yourself up about it because in the years to come, you'll laugh about it. Some things are just what we've learnt not to do and things to remember to do the next time we're in that situation, but these are all growing points for us and our businesses. Here's what some Barnsley Fashion Creatives admitted to..

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="400"] Credit[/caption]

Emily Roberts of Emi B Designs, "At the start of my business I wasn't very organised at keeping everything in one place, such as writing down what I'd sold or keeping all my receipts in one place. It meant I had to hunt high and low for all the bits of paper with this information on when I needed it ! Now I am much more organised."

Here's a few things you can take from that, get a receipt book where it duplicates everything and then you have a record of everything you've sold, the day it sold and your customer gets a copy of it as well! In my own dressmaking studio I have a 'receipts tin', everytime I buy fabric or some other items to run my business they went in that tin until the end of the month when I log everything into my accounts and then go into monthly envelopes.

Nicola Whitfield Make-up Artist, "I Forgot my make up brushes on a photoshoot once, fortunately I had time to nip to the shop and pick up some to use, now I have a checklist so when I pack my kit up and I know I've not forgotten anything"

Lists can sound tedious to some people but are definitely an effective tool when done well (and you don't loose that list!). There's many ways to do list-making such as apps on your phones or tablets, special notebooks specifically for lists, a plain old pad or the ever favourable, post-it notes!

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Laura Fletcher of Something New-Wedding Specialists, "I do remember going to a dress fitting without my tape measure lol... the bride had to borrow one from a neighbour!"

If your business has a few main tools that let you do what you do, it's always good to have spares and stuff them in places where you're likely to be when you need them. For example, stuff some tape measures in a pocket in your car. Or have a couple in the zipper pocket of your bag. If they're small things that always come in handy, why not grab a few extras next time you go shopping.

Sandra Hill, "I used to just randomly pluck prices out of the air when I first started. No working out costs, profits etc, I've had to be more methodical in the business side of things."

This is always a tricky subject when working out your prices. Do you work at a cost that your customers will pay? Or work it out perfectly adding in all your costs and profits and hope that it's still an affordable price? It's a hard decision, but one thing you should remember is to never work at a loss! Make sure you are at least covering the material costs, otherwise you aren't doing business.

[caption id="attachment_1853" align="aligncenter" width="400"] My business cards ready to be cut.[/caption]

Kellyann Garforth of Klue by Kellyann, "The only one I can think of is always forgetting my business cards and having to write my email down on random bits of paper, but then I still do this now "

Ok, some daft mistakes are still alright to happen and they aren't the end of the world. Like I said, we're only human! Do you have any things you used to do and have learnt from? Silly mistakes that you laugh about now? Comment below or drop an email to hannah456@hotmail.com

 

Whether you're doing a photoshoot, an event, or whatever project that requires help from other creatives, the age old question is, to ask my friends? Or to hire professionals? There's pros and cons to both sides and it all depends on the outcomes you want to achieve. If you want to just have some fun, get your friends involved. If you want to boost your business sales, are you better off hiring professionals? Here's some food for thought.

Pros-

• They're your friends!

• They're free.

• You can quite easily say no to them when they have an idea for you that's totally in the wrong direction.

• No awkward meetings.

• You already know their skills and quality levels.

• Talk more freely about your ideas.

Cons-

• Fall outs can happen!

• You may only get up to a certain quality.

• Friends can ditch out on you last minute.

• Could have low experience.

Pros-

• Guaranteed good quality.

• They have the relative experience.

• They can prove they'll get your desired outcome with previous work & testimonials.

• They have high level contacts and networks.

• Reliable, reliable, reliable.

• You can learn things from them.

• You can explain your idea and they immediately understand what you're after.

Cons-

• Costs, they charge what they want for their services (and sometimes rightly so!)

• They may have more experience than you and could use that against you.

• They could run away in their own style that they've built up over their career.

• Could put a time limit on how long they work with you, they're busy people!

After all this, the best position to have yourself in is to make really good friends with professionals and then you can have the best of both worlds. I know we're not all that lucky though, bare in mind these thoughts when you come across this dilemma. Do you have any stories of using friends or professionals? Or other pros & cons to add? Get in touch with your comments.

Photo Credit Here.