Our 1st Holiday Market this past Saturday was a success! We invited 20 local Chicago designers to sell their wares with us at our Headquarter's location. The event space looked great and the local designers are so talented- check out the list of vendors and their websites - www.1154lill.com/holidaymarket

I took care of several gifts - which I'll keep under wraps till they are given, but also picked up a couple things for myself and my kids. I couldn't resist the adorable spaceship hat and chocolate brown onsie with striped tie applique for Grey from "Sam and Coop." For Hadley, I got the cutest apron from "So Silly" - its plastic coated oil cloth makes it perfect for her to wear as she "helps" with the dishes. And, after seeing several people try on this perfectly styled red and orange sweater from "Orangyporangy," I succumbed and bought one for myself. Its my new go to weekend wear! A big thank you to all who participated and attended. What a fun day!

Speaking of holiday events, our Chicago boutique is hosting our annual Holiday Cheer event on Thursday, November 19th from 6pm-8pm at 904 W. Armitage Ave. We're offering amazing discounts to our LILL fans- 15% off all handbags and 25% off accessories, event night only. If you want to get some holiday shopping done, rsvp for the event www.1154lill.com/holidaycheer

Hope you can join us to kick off your holidays!

-Jen Velarde

What's better than a Gift Certificate?

Our customers often want to share their love of LILL with a friend or family member and choose a gift certificate as a way to give the experience of creating a LILL product to someone special. We see many happy faces coming into the stores or to parties excited to get started creating courtesy of their newly received gift certificate. And while these are always a nice gift, this year we wanted to expound on the gifting possibilities and offer something extra special.

So, what could be better than a gift certificate? How about the whole design experience in a box? How about we offer a way for customers to receive a gift they can get to work on immediately? What we came up with was a "Design a Bag Kit."

How does it work? Send your friend, family member or significant other to LILL via the web, party or store. They select a style they think is perfect for you and order a Design a Bag Kit for that style. Next, we package a sample bag of the chosen style, a set of fabric swatches, step by step design instructions and an order form and send it off to you. You happily receive the adorablely packaged kit and get to work picking fabrics for your new LILL. Invite a friend over and mix and match fabrics together or make your selections on your own - either way you get to create in the comfort of home. When you've found the perfect combination, you simply fill out the order form, pack up the sample bag and fabric swatches and send it all back to us with the pre-paid shipping label. In approximately 3 weeks time, your personally designed bag is sent back to you and you are off to show all your friends and family your newest creation!

Its really a great idea for the holidays and all of those special occasions through out the year. Its a gift that offers the ultimate in creativity right away - no waiting to visit the store, find time online or set up a party. And nothing beats the try on, tactile experience that the sample bag and swatch set provides. Check out our website for more details and be sure to tell all your friends and family that LILL's new Design a Bag Kit is on your wish list this holiday season!

https://www.1154lill.com/designabagkit/shop.asp

Happy Shopping!
Jen Velarde

Designing with Jillian Harris

Jillian Harris of The Bachelorette fame visited our Chicago Store last night with several girlfriends. She recently relocated to Chicago to be with her fiance, Ed Swiderski, and has been finding her way around the city. She was introduced to 1154 LILL by a friend and was excited to come in and try her hand at designing.

She was a natural! With her innate sense of style and interior design background, she quickly chose three styles to design. She then selected classic textiles for the exteriors of each of the 3 bags so she could "wear them as much as possible." She chose bolder prints - our fresh green and white Southern Charm pattern for her Hadley interior and our graphic black and white Moroccan Tiles for her Erinn interior. She kept her Carolina wallet smart and classic by combining our Black Ink Linen and Charcoal woven grid - the perfect every day wallet to compliment any bag she carries.

Her girlfriends jumped in and designed as well - each one helping the other find something that suited them. After a couple hours of laughter and designing, they left the store and headed to dinner... They'll be back in a few weeks to pick up their bags were all too excited to start carrying them!

They were a really sweet group of friends. As they left, I thought about my own group of girlfriends and how nice it is to get together, have a little wine, a little design and a little dinner. Laughter inevitably fills the space and you relax into your best self every time. I'm looking forward to some good girlfriend time myself this fall..... right after trick or treating tomorrow!

-Jen Velarde

Happy 5th Anniversary to our Rep, Shelley P!

As you may know, LILL celebrated its 10th Anniversary this August (my how time does fly!). And while we were busy turning 10 this year, our LILL on Location Party Rep program turned 5! One of our Minneapolis reps has been with us from the very beginning and all of us at LILL want to wish a happy 5th anniversary to Shelley P.!

Shelley has been celebrating all month long with special prices on her Fave 5 Bags and lots of great LILL parties. This weekend she's having her official celebration party and since we can't all get there, we wanted you to have the chance to get to know Shelley a little bit. So we asked her a few questions...

Where are you from originally?
I was born and raised in the Western Suburbs of Minneapolis, MN where I have made now my home with my own family. However, I spent 4 years (ok, 4 ½) at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Where did you meet Jen (our founder & president) and Robin (LILL's vice-president)?
Robin lived on my floor my freshman year at Drake. We rushed together and both pledged Delta Gamma which is where we met Jen. We have been friends for a very long time!

What do you love most about working for LILL?
It has been so cool to watch LILL grow from its most humble beginnings in Jen’s studio apartment in Lincoln Park to the successful company it is today. It is an honor for me to have the opportunity to share my own personal account of the company’s history. I am so proud of my friends and the work they have done. And, in my role, I get to have all the fun. To introduce women to this company and the fabulous handbags is such a thrill! And I have loved meeting such great people at these events. I have forged friendships with a handful of my hostesses whom have now become some of my best friends.

How have the parties changed since you started working with LILL?
If you can believe it, when I first started, I had to take the orders by hand and FAX them to LILL headquarters. The other major distinction is that the brand awareness and general familiarity with LILL has grown exponentially. This is not a typical sales job, I am merely a facilitator. The bags sell themselves and the process is so interactive and engaging people look forward to doing it again and again.

What about family?
I have been married for 7 years and we have two wonderful kids, Jenna Grace (age 5 ½) and George (age 3). I was so flattered when Jen chose to name the Grace bag for my Jenna Grace. No George bag yet... but that's probably OK!

What are your three favorite fabrics right now?
Not sure I can just pick three, but I'll try. Ooh La La... Lime Leaves... and any animal prints (Kalahari Leopard, Wild Zebra, Lemon Zebra, Snow Leopard)

Do you have a nickname?
In college I was called Link. Its origins are not all that interesting but the name does come out every once in a while now among our friends.

Favorite musician, band or music genre:
It seems like right now we are so kid-focused all we listen to is Kidz Bop and Disney princess soundtracks. But music really isn’t my thing. I don’t even own an iPod (but my 5 year old has one…go figure).

Where did you last go on vacation?
To Chicago to visit my best friends and their kids!

Thanks Shelley for all your help spreading the word about LILL and helping to get our LILL on Location program going. You have been a fantastic assest - AND a great friend - to the LILL Studio! Happy 5th Anniversary!

My Little Fashionista

So as the weather turned colder here in Chicago, I was inspired to create a new bag for fall. I have been hooked on the Hadley bag - which is named after my daughter - for a while now. When picking my fabrics, I chose a black strap with a brown accent stripe so I could wear it with either my go to brown boots and cap or my favorite black coat. I chose Cosmo Tweed for the body - a blend of berry tones and black/brown flecks for a pop of color that also works well with my fall staples. It's such a great carry-all, for both my things and the variety of things I'm "holding" for the kids. (My favorite kid item in my bag today is the comic section of the newspaper. My 5 year old was fascinated when he saw this at my parents house and wanted to save it to hang up in his room.... a sign of the times that he rarely sees a printed version of the newspaper at our house).

I got my bag on Friday and as I started to load it up for my first carry, my daughter Hadley, in her two year old speak said "ohh mommy, soo pretty!" She has taken to commenting on my bags and shoes almost daily - a little fashionista in training. I'm often taken off guard by this as most of her activities involve cars and balls, following after her brother. So I am rather pleased to hear her commenting on fashion and in fact, styling herself. It must be an inately female trait as she is very opinionated about which accessories should be worn with what outfits. I've attached a picture of her in a self-styled outfit. I'm still trying to explain to her that jeans under dresses is a trend that was only popular before she was born and that 2 dresses are not better than one.... her response - an eye roll and an "Oh, mommy..." And thus the next generation of mother /daughter fashion debate begins....

Jen Velarde

Fun Finds for our Holiday Market!

In a meeting earlier this year we started talking about how many creative local designers we were happening upon. It occured to us that it would be fun to invite similiarly minded creatives to get together for a holiday market and provide a venue for all of our customers to shop for unique holiday gifts. So this fall we sent out applications for our first annual LILL Holiday Market that will be held at our Chicago warehouse on Saturday, November 14th.

We are thrilled with the collection of applications that came in. They are brimming with beautiful products and business concepts.... it was fun to review, but also tough to decide! We only have room for 20. We met yesterday and made some decisions. Here are some pics of products from companies we invited. We'll post the full list of vendors on our website as soon as everyone is confirmed. Mark your calendars now and get your whole list taken care of in one day!

Pics from:

www.orangyporangy.com

www.circlestreet.etsy.com

www.uncharted.etsy.com

Jen Velarde

Boutique Parties!

We recently particpated in an event called the Indie Collection at Oakbrook Center here in Chicago. It was a really fun event for us as we saw so many of our suburban customers, made some new connections and were joined by several other local designers. I personally loved getting to see other designer lines amongst the traditional retailers at Oakbrook. I bought a dress from a new designer, whom I loved - Kate Boggiano, http://www.kateboggiano.com/ Some of her work was also just featured in In Style. I love her unique twist on classic such as button downs and shirt dresses. Check out the collar on the picture attached.

I know I'm not the only one who loves to shop at these kind of events. And, lately we've had an influx of opportunities to showcase our line at area boutiques. We're excited to bring 1154 LILL to customers while shopping at some of their favorite boutiques.

Here are some upcoming dates -We'll be at Holly G Boutique in Baltimore on 10/17, Urban Belly in Des Moines on 10/20, Avant Garden in Milwaukee on 10/22, Splendor in Milwaukee on 10/31 and Poeme in Cincinnati on 11/5. Check out the line and get some of your holiday shopping done - custom ordering available at all events! No appointment necessary.

You can find more info about all of these events on our facebook page or on our calendar of events page:

http://www.facebook.com/1154LillStudio
http://www.1154lill.com/events/default.asp#ongoing

We'd love to bring our line to one of your favorite boutiques as well. If you have suggestions, we're all ears! You can email your ideas to locallill@1154lill.com

Hope to see you at a boutique near you soon!
Best,
Jen Velarde

Emily's Pick of the Week~ How About Orange

Hello LILL fans! Happy Friday! Today I'd like to feature a super cool blog called How About Orange. How About Orange is a blog written by graphic designer, Jessica Jones. How About Orange features a wide variety of posts related to art, design, DIY projects, and much more. Jessica features things on her blog that she truly loves. I have had so much fun reading this blog! I love that she updates the blog nearly everyday. Jessica even runs her own etsy shop! I recently added How About Orange to the list of blogs that I read everyday. You should check out How About Orange today! How About Orange has teamed up with 1154 LILL Studio for a free giveaway. Go to How About Orange and scroll down to the entry written on October 6, 2009. Check out the post and leave a comment by 12 midnight CST tonight (10/9/09) for your chance to win a free NIKKI bag with G is for Giraffe fabric.
I hope you enjoy reading the new posts and looking through the archives at How About Orange. Scroll down to the entry written on September 28, 2009, entitled Hey, Matt. What's Up. Too funny!
Have a great weekend! Emily R.