Sophia's Nursery

Julie has Sophia's Nursery all set up - all she needs now is the baby! I wanted to share photos so you can see the letters in place and how amazing everything came together without being too "matchy matchy" which I know is what Julie was hoping would happen! Didn't she do an amazing job?! I just LOVE it all :)




Does that fabric wreath look familiar? It should - because I made that too! Its here in the shop! So, if you want help with your nursery, I'm all set with letters, fabric wreaths, baby bags, curtains and more! Just ask!

Thanks Julie for letting me be apart of such a special time for you and Sophia - can't wait until she gets here!

Waiting for Sophia!

Often times when you run a handmade business, you find yourself making a lot of things for other people to give as special, one-of-a-kind gifts that you have no time, energy or brainpower left, so you run to Target and get the cutest thing left on the registry!



However, because its the "slow season" in craft-land, I was able to take some time to make gifts for the special people in my life - even those who are not yet here! Let me explain, my bestest friend Julie is having a baby girl, Sophia (they are going to call her Sophie - how cute is that?!), due in April but we all think she'll be making her arrival before the end of March (yay!). Ever since Julie told me she was pregnant, I was beyond excited with visions of all of the WONDERFUL things I could make for her! Well, I had the idea to make letters in fabric to match the nursery - which is all pink and green and shabby chic, basically any little girl's fantasy! (Please excuse the carpet background, but Julie doesn't have them up in the nursery yet and I just HAD to share because they turned out so great!!!)

The letters made their debut at the Baby Shower at the end of February and were met with squeals of excitement and tears of joy by Julie! It was an amazing feeling! I hated to make a pregnant woman cry, but I think it was a good thing! And, she is the cutest pregnant girl ever - all belly! Here's a photo of us at the shower.



After the shower, I went back to Julie's house to help unload the loot and see the painted nursery - its a beautiful bright green and the letters match perfectly! And of course, I also volunteered to sew a curtain to cover the closet to match the ones she already had made - which is going in the mail today. Here's a photo of the fabric taking up most of my sewing room.



I can't wait for Sophie to get here! I just know she is going to be the cutest little thing ever, and Auntie Christen (yes I am already calling dibs that I get to be an "auntie") will love babysitting and spoiling her with lots of handmade goodies!

Handmade Valentine's Gifts, Yes Please

Since becoming a seller on Etsy, I've made a conscious effort to support other sellers by giving handmade gifts for all occasions throughout the year. The upside is that the item is still meaningful to the gift recipient, but I didn't necessarily have to make it myself (and to be honest, most of my friends are probably thinking NO MORE BAGS when a celebration for them comes up!). So, for today's post, I wanted to share a few things on my Etsy Favorites list for Valentine's Day. HOMEWORK: If you know my boyfriend, feel free to tell him that anything on this list will be a WONDERFUL gift for Valentine's Day on Monday - I don't even care if its late!

Have a Heart Necklace by Lauren at JerseyGirlDesign

Interesting tid-bit is that Lauren and I were sorority sisters in college at Virginia Tech, we're both Jersey Girls and now we're both successful Etsy sellers! There are lots of great things in her shop and on her blog. Head over there and follow it - she has an item of the week each week with free shipping! AND, she featured yours truly as an Etsy Shop of the Week :) I'm glad I can return the love - and so fitting that Valentine's Day is coming up!

Smitten Dessert Pedestal by Linda at Burlapandblue

I'm completely obsessed with dessert pedestals right now, and I recently purchased 3 pedestals from Burlap and Blue for Mom for Christmas and her birthday - she of course LOVED them! I first met Linda at Chesterfest this past September (although she doesn't remember) and as an experienced and successful Etsy seller and blooger (seriously, follow her blog - you won't regret it, its awesome!) she has taken me under her wing and has been a great craft-mentor!

Fill in the Blank Printable Valentines by Lindsey at eythink

Lindsey is a new seller on Etsy but she is a wonderful graphic designer, as well as a friend! We worked together here in Richmond before she moved to DC to teach and basically just start a new adventure! I can't wait to see what she comes up with next! You can see Lindsey's site here.

Honeysuckle Tula Pearl and Rose Ribbon Necklace by Twillypop

(*Friends Take Note - anything from this shop would be a GREAT gift for me anytime in the future. Just sayin'!)

Shabby Chic Personalized Carved Heart by TheLonelyHeart

Absolutely LOVE this :)

Handmade Home: One Hour Table Runner

After living in our little townhouse for a year and a half now, I'm finally getting around to adding more touches of "me" around the house (aka: getting rid of all his bachelor pad items and selling them on Craigslist). When shopping with his mom recently, I bought a few new pillows at Kohls (I had a gift card from Christmas) in shades of green to update the living room a bit. The addition of the new pillows did the trick, but something was still missing - the coffee table in front of the couch looked naked and screamed to be covered up with something colorful with a lot of pattern (my signature look for all things fabric).

So, I did what I always do - I went to Fabric.com and searched for the perfect matching fabric, and I found it in the new Ty Pennington line that included white, chartreuse and grey that would make the perfect table runner.



This weekend I went to visit Mom and brought my new fabric with me - as we always have time to sew and I knew she would get me started in the right direction to getting it done and not just continuing to sit in a pile on my cutting table - which happens a lot more than I would like to admit!

When I told her what I planned to do - she looked at me curiously for a minute but then we got to cutting. We cut a single piece for the top and for the bottom 17x46, plus strips for the binding.


I found a perfectly sized batting in her closet, pinned it together and she had it quilted in no time (yes, she quilted, I cut and pinned and ironed :)


Then I ironed the binding and we decided to do something different with "quick finish" in mind - we would put the binding on backwards and top stitch the top using a decorative feather stitch (rather than hand sewing the binding to the back).




Now onto what you are really interested in - the finished product in the living room with the new pillows - TA DA! Oh, and did I mention it took only ONE HOUR from the first cut to finished and on the coffee table?! Let me know what you think!

Tuesday Treasury: Sunshine on A Cloudy Day

This morning I woke up to an overcast sky, complete with frigid temperatures and a "freezing mist" (its just as gross as it sounds, I promise!). I could have used a bit of sunshine to get my day started off better! Lately, I've been very inspired by they grey and yellow color combination, and I'm starting to see it everywhere (even in the latest West Elm catalog). So, for my first installation of "Tuesday Treasury" I wanted to share some of my favorite items on Etsy that have both colors - because everyone could use a little sunshine on a cloudy day!

The "Studio" Gets Organized

This weekend I was finally able to get my sewing space organized. I use the term "studio" lightly, as its really just the second bedroom in our tiny, rented townhouse. It also serves as my dressing room (as it holds my closet with all of my shoes and clothes), the laundry room (as it has the washer & dryer), our guest bedroom (as it has a single bed pull out couch), and general storage catch-all (as it currently has the box for a our new 47" TV that is waiting to be brought to the real storage unit!).

A few months ago, I put up shelves with bins (from Home Depot - the bins are Martha Stewart Living and in Love Elaine branding colors) for all of my fabric, and I bought a rod with hanging containers from Ikea (love it there!) to put on the wall to hold my scissors, rotary cutters, pens, zippers, etc. to get them off of my sewing table to leave more room for fabric as I'm mid-project. I finally put the rod up this weekend and I couldn't be happier. I also put up 2 clip-boards ($2 each from Target) - one to hold the notes about the current project I'm working on and my pattern, and the other for my current orders. I also can't forget the wall-mounted, magnetic "pin cushion" (also from Ikea). The one I was using on my sewing table previously always used to get lost under fabric scraps and projects in process, so I love that this one never gets lost and its really easy to access with only one hand as I'm holding pieces of a project together with the other.


So, there's a glimpse into my "studio." I'd love to know how you've organized your sewing or crafting space.

2010 Holiday Recap

I know, its January 26th, and I'm a bit late in providing a Holiday Recap. But, in a word, the 2010 Holiday season would be described as "ABSOLUTELY INSANE BUT I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT!!!!!" Ok, so maybe I needed more than a single word to describe the roller coaster that was my handmade life from October through December 24. Yes, you read that right, things were absolutely crazy right until the day before Christmas. Why were things so crazy, you ask? Here is a quick recap of the holiday cheer that Love Elaine helped spread for Christmas 2010.

35 Christmas Trees stood proudly with new Christmas Tree Skirts
10 Very lucky women opened presents from loved ones that contained a unique, handmade bag
7 Equally lucky women now have a new apron to bake lots of homemade treats for next Christmas
6 Doors were decked with fabric wreaths that sold as quickly as I was able to make them
25 Bottles of Wine and good cheer were given inside a Love Elaine wine bag
20 Jewelry bags made their way to new homes

I know, you are thinking, well that doesn't sound like so much to keep you so busy. And, you would be right. Because, I was soo busy taking orders, calling Mom, ordering new fabric, and shipping the...

175 Christmas Stockings that were hung by the chimney with care this year. 175, its not a typo. Each stocking was custom made to order for the 100+ new customers in my Etsy shop.

Did I mention that I started a new job in October at an Advertising Agency, and that I worked full time hours + during all of this? Yeah, I don't know how I survived it either.

The good news? Sales of the popular tree skirts and the addition of customized stockings grew sales by 350% from 2009 to 2010. I'd say that is VERY good news :)

And last, but not least...

Thank you!

Thank you first to my Mom, without whom Love Elaine would not be possible :) And thank you to all of my friends, family and new customers that have supported Love Elaine and have given me the confidence to keep the momentum going.

Please stay tuned - there is lots in store (at least in my mind right now) for 2011, which is sure to be Love Elaine's best year yet!

xo,
Christen