A Handmade Apron Weekend

Whew! What a weekend! If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter - you know that I had quite the busy weekend preparing for and holding my first "for real" photo shoot for Love Elaine's new spring line of aprons! I say "for real" because I've had photo shoots with friends and my point and shoot camera, and they have served me well.

But, I finally took the plunge and hired a photographer (Callie Hardman is WONDERFUL - more on her later!), rounded up my friends with cute kids (wait until you see the CUTEST kids EVER wearing the most ADORABLE aprons EVER), booked a location and spent 2 hours and 15 minutes of pure shutter-happiness devoted to Love Elaine items. It was pure bliss. And, because Sophia has graced this blog so many times as the cutest baby ever - here's a behind the scenes look at the photo shoot!!!

However, prior to the shoot on Sunday morning, I had to actually MAKE all of the items needed for the shoot. So, my wonderful Mom and my Aunt Faith got in the car and drove down from NJ to spend the weekend with me, well Friday night and Saturday, sewing 20 yes TWENTY aprons! In full disclosure, Love Elaine has NEVER had that many aprons in stock at a time. I'll be sharing more about the aprons in a couple of weeks - but I'm excited to announce that we're doing things differently! There are new designs and new fabrics - and I promise, you're going to LOVE what's in store! And because I am terrible at keeping secrets, here's a sneak peak at the fabrics for Spring 2012.

Also, there will be a few exciting announcements (I hope!) in the coming weeks. All I will say is that in only 5 weeks of 2012, I'm very close to realizing 2 major business goals for Love Elaine. I'm staying true to my theme for the year and truly embracing all that is coming my way! In fact, in just over a week I'll be featured on a popular sewing blog with a tutorial! How COOL is that?! Here's a peek at the project I'll be featuring...

And, because I'm in the mood to share something super embarrassing just because I have photographic evidence to prove it - last Thursday morning on my way to work I RAN. OUT. OF. GAS. For most, this would be completely devastating and might be met with "what do I do?" For me, and the fact that my gas gauge used to be broken, was actually a regular occurrence over a year ago. However, now that it is fixed, I have no excuse - I had just gotten home late Wednesday night and ignored the yellow light, and the next morning I was running late and forgot! So, of course, its raining. Luckily, I was able to get someone to help me get gas. And, while waiting for them to show, not only did a police officer stop to put on his lights for safety, but a FIRETRUCK, with lights blazing came to my aid as a lady in distress.

Only in Richmond, Virginia folks. Being from NJ, I promise, cars would have sped by, honked and given me the #1 sign (as in you are a #1 loser) and cursed me for being in their way. So, here is the firetruck in view through my windshield. Lesson learned - its never too late to get gas but at least I know Richmond's finest are willing to help! Here's to hoping your gas tank is always full!

Voted Richmond's Best Local Etsy Shop

I'm very humbled and honored to announce that Love Elaine has been voted (in a 4 way tie with three other amazing shop owners) as Richmond's Best Local Etsy Shop in Richmond Magazine's Annual Best & Worst Issue! You can imagine my surprise and excitement when I received a phone call from a writer at the magazine last month letting me know I had won - I didn't even know I was nominated or in the running! If you haven't been in a while, check out my shop on Etsy.



The paragraph gives a quick summary of all of the businesses, and at the bottom of the paragraph where it talks about Love Elaine it says:

"Love Elaine owner Christen Barber's inspiration for sewing came from her mother and grandmother. Her relatives also inspired the company's name. All the women in her family have the middle name of Elaine, and Love is her Grandmother's maiden name."

Thank you to all of my wonderful family, friends, fans and customers who continue to support me and Love Elaine - this honor wouldn't be possible without all of you!

Also, congrats to fellow local Etsy shop owner and friend (who has taught me a lot!) Linda at Burlap & Blue! Be sure to check out her shop and blog - I'm a regular shopper and visitor of both!