An Inside Look at Writing 'Modern Faux Flower Projects'
In just over a month, my craft book Modern Faux Flower Projects will be officially released! Writing a book wasn’t necessarily on my bucket list, but when the opportunity presented itself it made perfect sense. I love to write (as evidenced by the archives of the blog, which stretch back nearly a decade). I love making things and sharing inspiration. And most of all I love empowering others to nourish themselves and their own creativity.
The book deal
At the time I was first approached about writing a craft book, I was just 3 months postpartum and not really sure what I wanted my career to look like now that I was a mother. But I had recently written a priorities list of what was most important to me and what kind of life I wanted in this new season. That first email I received from an Acquisitions Editor at Fox Chapel Publishing felt like it came completely out of left field! But the more I thought about it, while wholly unexpected, writing a book fit pretty perfectly into the priorities list I had written just weeks before. So, I took a leap and agreed to write the proposal! That was August/September of 2018.
As the months went by and I hadn’t heard anything, I assumed the book project wasn’t going to happen. Besides, who was I to write a craft book about faux flowers? Yes, I have some old blog posts on making wreaths but there are so many creatives who are more talented and expert in this area than me. Did I really have the skills or the audience to make a project like this successful? (FYI, these doubts cropped up again and again throughout the process - a major hurdle I’ve had to overcome!)
In January 2019, I was offered a book deal. I remember the day exactly, I was actually on the way to the craft store with Sage (for a completely unrelated reason) when I got the call. I snapped this photo in the floral aisle to remember the moment.
Contract negotiations went on through February/March and then I was full steam ahead on creating the book.
The writing process
Planning, researching, shopping, writing and photographing this book was a monumental task - definitely the biggest project I’ve ever worked on! I had my outline and concepts for each project ready to go and I decided to shop for and create them one by one. With an infant at home to take care of, it just made more sense to tackle it that way! The Spring of 2019, Sage and I were at the craft store every week. Often multiple craft stores, multiple times a week.
I worked on the projects during nap times, while Sage was with my mother-in-law, Lisa and sometimes after she was asleep. Slowly but steadily, my studio filled up with wreaths, centerpiece arrangements, garlands, planters and more. I made notes as I went but I didn’t really start writing until I was almost done creating. I wanted to do it that way, because in researching and creating each project I learned so much! I wasn’t an expert on faux flowers or floral arranging before writing this book - I became one through writing it. Hopefully that inspires you to know you don’t have to be an expert to create something beautiful!
The photoshoots
As soon as I was offered the book deal, I knew the only way I could actually pull this thing off was if Savannah Smith Photography was the one shooting the images. We were both in a position of trying something HUGE we had never done before and I’m so thankful she was willing to make that leap with me! All in all, we had 4 days of shooting the book. In April of 2019, we had three days back to back of shooting the finished projects in styled room settings; first at our house, then at my best friend, Jessica’s house and last at Savannah’s house. Then we had one day of reshoots in December. Those days were long and mentally exhausting but I was so glad to have the support of Anthony, Jessica, my sister Frankie and my mom, Bonnie Jo who each helped out behind the scenes at the different shoots. Savannah worked her magic and created the most stunning imagery for the book. Modern Faux Flower Projects would not be the same without her!
Some fun facts from behind-the-scenes of the book photoshoots:
The morning of the shoot at my friend Jessica’s house, we moved all of her living room furniture into her dining room and moved her dining table and chairs into the living room because the light was better there!
Sage crawled for the very first time on our third day of shooting at Savannah’s house!
Anthony and I painted our dining room pink days before the shoot because I thought it would look pretty with the winter centerpiece arrangement.
During our December reshoots, I had a terrible migraine and was literally throwing up in the bathroom in between shots. I don’t know how we got through that day, but we did it!
It’s been nearly two full years since that first email from my now publisher. It’s still crazy to think back to the whirlwind that was March, April & early May 2019! I’ve put so much heart and soul into writing this book and I can’t wait to share it with you!