NOVA Trunk Show Recap

Last Sunday, my friends Julie and Jenn hosted a Love Elaine trunk show in Northern Virginia for all of my friends, family and fans of Love Elaine! It was so great to see everyone and catch up with friends I don't get to see that often.  It was my best show yet! A FABULOUS time was had by all - the food was wonderful (although I didn't get to eat any until everyone was gone!) but the company was the best!

 Totes, bags and clutches on display at Julie's Mom's gorgeous home!

Choosing fabric for custom orders! (Don't mind Jenn pulling an eyelash out of her eye!)

Me & my LOVE BUG Miss Sophia! She clearly stole the show, how cute is she?! I get zero credit as she's Julie and Min's daughter, and has the sweetest personality! She's getting SO BIG and I'm just so proud to be "Auntie Christen!" She's going to be one SPOILED little girl, because I have so many things I want to make her! Who could resist those cheeks?

Everyone loves CUPCAKES! Jenn made these amazing confections - do you notice they are in my branding colors?! What could be better than PURPLE frosting?! I was blown away by the cupcakes and the wonderful dips and munchies Julie made! They went all out! Psst - If you are in Northern Virginia, Jenn is starting "Girl Next Door" bakery and her cupcakes are totally amazing.  I even hooked her up with the fabulous Carter (another regular on this blog) for a good ol' fashioned services swap! Jenn made cupcakes for Carter's wedding reception in Richmond in exchange for Carter designing her a logo for the business.  Check out Away We Go Studios on Facebook - I think the logo looks just as delicious as Jenn's cupcakes!

So, I'll use this time to say a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who came and placed orders! Special thank yous to Julie and Jenn for hosting and to Julie's Mom, Carol Jo for opening up her home.  And, thanks to all my friends and family (and Mom who drove from Jersey to be there) who came to support me - I'm so blessed to have all of you in my life! I couldn't do it without all of you!

My Pinterest Ode To Halloween

Ok, I'm going to reveal a secret about me that only my friends know - I secretly hate Halloween.  Well, scratch that, I hate the dressing up/costume part of Halloween.  It wasn't always this way, as I have many a fond memory of dressing up in costumes and having a blast at the Halloween parties my mom threw for me and my friends - there was the crab apple toss, bobbing for apples and apples hanging from a string in the garage and you couldn't use your hands to grab a bite! Clearly, my mom knows how to throw a Halloween Par-tay!

Well, all that changed once I got to college.  With Halloween came serious amounts of PRESSURE to think of the most cute/creative/sexy/funny/witty costume, and each year I failed. Miserably.  So, now that there is no group pressure to participate, I have just given up. Which is OK by me, and probably everyone else in the world - see photographic evidence below.

However, there is one thing I like about Halloween - I LOVE handing out candy to Trick or Treaters! LOVE IT! (I promise its not as creepy/crazy as it sounds!) See, I'm not a total Halloween Scrooge.

Anywhoo, this year thanks to Pinterest I came to the realization that I might actually like some things about Halloween - I pinned them without even knowing! Who's surprised that all of them are handmade? Not me.  So, without further ado, here are a few things that are inspiring me to at least think about making a few decor items and actually decorating for Halloween NEXT year.

 Love all of the Black & White Glam decor ideas from Ellie G. at Less Cake {More Frosting}.  

More photos and ideas on her blog!

Love the Black & White stripes with contrasting orange flowers in this yarn wreath on etsy!

Just discovered an awesome blog, The House of Smiths, for this great pillow - which includes a tutorial! 

And finally, every holiday is not complete without rhinestones! How cute is this white pumpkin from BHG.com.

Has anyone created anything fun for Halloween this year? I'd love to see it and get more inspiration! Oh, and please feel free to share your own Halloween horror stories - still can't believe I shared that photo of myself...

ps - Do you like us on Facebook? Stay tuned for an exciting contest on our Facebook page next month! You won't want to miss it!

Fall Fabric Wreath and Pumpkin Crisp

Thought I would take a bit of a mental break from all of the Christmas thoughts in my mind to bring you a little bit of Fall.

Fall Fabric Wreath by Love Elaine

I just love this new fall fabric wreath - its bold and bright yet subdued, just like the season itself. You can't go wrong with bright orange, deep brown and sage green.

With the change of season and the onset of cooler weather, I've been in the mood to cook and bake wholesome, hearty meals! I thought I'd share a new recipe for a dessert that is sure to be a new favorite in my family - it is boyfriend tested and approved, so enjoy!

Pumpkin Crisp

Prep: 15 min.

Bake: 1 hr., 5 min.

Stand: 10 min.

Yield:  Makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients:

1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin

1 cup evaporated milk

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 (18.25-ounce) package butter-flavored yellow cake mix

1 cup chopped pecans (I used walnuts because of a food allergy. These can be optional if you don't like nuts or have other food allergies)

1 cup butter, melted

Ice Cream or Whipped Cream (optional)

Ground nutmeg (optional)

Stir together first 5 ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture; sprinkle evenly with pecans. Drizzle butter evenly over pecans.

Bake at 350° for 1 hour to 1 hour and 5 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with Ice Cream or Whipped Cream, if desired. Sprinkle with nutmeg.

This dessert went together in no time - it is super easy and makes many servings! Perfect for a family gathering or leftovers for those with a sweet tooth! What new recipes are you trying with the change of season?

Announcing the Love Elaine 2011 Holiday Collection

Wow! I can't believe its October already! September as flown by along with the entire summer.  I'm so excited to announce Love Elaine's new Holiday Collection for Christmas 2011.  We've been busy planning and sewing since July.  That's right, in our world, we go straight from summer to Christmas.  It is totally fine by me - I love Christmas and love Christmas Fabric even more!  This year we're bringing you new fabrics in Elf Stockings, traditional Cuffed Stockings and Christmas Tree Skirts in both modern and traditional fabrics sure to bring a twinkle to anyone's eye!

Elf Christmas Stockings

Cuff Christmas Stockings

Fun Christmas Tree Skirt - Available in 30" to 72"

Pet Stockings - Available in Large & Small

For more items and to purchase online, visit my Etsy Shop, click here!  Be sure to check back in November, as I have an exciting Facebook contest in the works with a fabulous giveaway! Do you "like" Love Elaine on Facebook yet? Click on over there and like us already - we already love you!

Work Not In Progress

This week's post was supposed to be very different - as I had planned on making a ton of progress and finishing a custom order for a bride by today and sharing lots of amazing photos with everyone! However, Hurricane Irene had much different plans for me, as we are now on day 5 without power. I must say that we fared better than most, as the storm hit the Richmond area harder than we were expecting, and many people are still without power. Some even had trees fall on their homes and cause a lot of damage. And, to make matters worse, the current estimate for power is FRIDAY! By that point we will be a week without power.

Tree down on power lines in our neighborhood.

View from our front porch during the storm - luckily no homes or cars were damaged!

So, no power = no sewing. And no sewing = no finished products to show you. However, I do have this photo as a sneak peak of some linings I was able to cut during the day on Sunday.

Don't you just LOVE the bright colors? I am so in love with all of these patterns! Anyone want to guess what they are going to be?

Hopefully, our power will be on soon and I can get back in the sewing room to finish these custom orders! And with that, I'll leave you with something I did get to finish last week - a gorgeous pink & green fabric wreath!

Hope everyone on the East Coast weathered the storm! Hopefully I'll have some updates on finished projects soon!

Oh Baby! Oh Boy!

There has been a lot of baby items flying out the door this summer! I recently had the pleasure of making items for my bestest friend Julie's sister Katie, who is expecting a little boy, Jackson, in early October. Katie smartly put in her request for a baby bag and nursery letters at Julie's shower this past winter - here is the link to Sophia's letters in case you missed those.

The best part is that I was able to see her reaction to the items at the shower! Unfortunately, I was too engrossed with holding Sophia, but I do have photos of the items!

Custom Baby Bag

Jackson Nursery Letters - Custom made to match Pottery Barn Junior Varsity Bedding. For more amazing photos of the letters, check out this blog post at Callie Hardman Photography. Katie used the letters in her maternity photo shoot - and I am just in LOVE with the photos of Katie & Ricky, and the letters too of course!

And finally, because everything on this blog doesn't have to be fabric related, I also provided my "crafty consultation" to Julie on the shower's munchkin cake! Katie requested a munchkin cake, and the night before Julie asked me "So, umm, do you have any ideas on how one would make a munchkin cake?!" Julie made the final product, but it was my idea to use a styrofoam cone from a craft store as the base. Didn't she do a great job? It was very yummy!

Munchkin Cake - made of roughly 200 donut holes

And, we don't want to forget the girls! Here are a couple baby quilts with personalization that have found their way into new homes!

Fabric is Lilly & Will II by Bunny Hill for Moda. Pattern designed by me, quilted by Mom. Don't you just LOVE the Pink, Cream and brown? And the bunnies?!

Love this quilt with the name and birthdate! Fabric from Connecting Threads.

We have lots of new baby quilts on the way! If you have a shower coming up or a baby on the way, I love to do custom orders based on your nursery theme or colors. You can either check out my shop on Etsy or send an email to christen (at) love-elaine (dot) com with your request.

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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!