July's Team Member of the Month!

And the much deserved honor goes to the lovely Sandra N.!

Sandra is always wiling to help with the cutting machine and always there to answer questions. She is a great problem solver and team leader and has valuable ideas on how to improve efficiency. She has great knowledge about LILL from past to present. All this and she is fun, friendly and great to talk to as well! Sandra is known for her ability to take on many roles at LILL and you can usually find her working in our cutting, quality assurance, or shipping departments... sometimes all at the same time! Thanks for everything Sandra!

Let's get to know the woman of hour...

Where are you originally from? The Chi

How long have you been with LILL? I started as a seasonal worker when I was 18 in the winter of 05. Then I left and came back as a seasonal worker (I think in the spring or summer of 06) and that turned into a part time job. After about less than a yr of that I decided to become full-time.

Favorite LILL style? I like the sophie, and smaller items like connor and jane. Big bags get in my way.

Top 2 fabric picks: Right now I like Tucan Leaves and Charcoal.

What do you love most about working for LILL? Working with my family, and the ppl Ive gotten to know well.

Do you have a nickname? A couple, they're in Spanish though.

Favorite musician, band or music genre: I enjoy latin music the most.

Where did you last go on vacation? Wisconsin…..I went camping, and I came back home with an ugly bloodshot spot on my neck (idk what bit me).

Anything else fun you’d like to share? I love to dance, work out, and I'm studying to be a chemist (hopefully a rockin' one because I'm smart).

Another fun fact about Sandra is that she's a very gifted artist (as shown below with one of her paintings on canvas).

In awhile, crocodile...

Hi LILL Fans!

We will be taking a little break from updating our blog while our two main resident bloggers are out on maternity leave. Both had baby boys - both named them Charlie - and no, they hadn't shared names with each other before hand. :) So fun. We are so happy and excited for them both!

We're getting our act together to get some new posts up in their absence - but in the meantime, please become a "Fan" of our Facebook page for lots of great updates, contests and special deals.

In addition, our design team is tweeting away - so please follow them on twitter.

Talk to you soon!

CHRISTIE

My bathroom usually looks like a tornado hit it. From the face powder scattered all over the sink to the eyeshadow packets strewed across the counter, my beauty regime tends to leave a mess behind. In honor of moving into a new home with my husband, I decided it was time to stop living like a messy teenager and start organizing my beauty supplies.

In order to do so, I created my very own customized CHRISTIE, a deluxe makeup bag which fits perfectly on my counter and holds all my beauty goodies. For the exterior and handle of the bag I opted for Apple Spice Tea, and for the exterior top and base I chose Kalahari Leopard. Animal prints and bright colors are huge right now and I feel like I am tapping into my inner Jungle Goddess every time I use my makeup in the morning!

Of course, with all of my addiction to beauty products, just one bag won’t do, so I created a couple more CHRISTIES that could store other essentials. I created another with an exterior and handle of Key Lime Twill, and I chose Southern Charm for the exterior top and base. Then, I created another with even more bright colors, this time choosing Strawberry Daiquiri for the exterior handle, and Mellow Yellow for the exterior top and base.

These Bags are for Fashion Animals!

Sometimes inspiration strikes in the most odd of places. The grocery store. A garden. The zoo. As it turns out, my last trip to the zoo with my kids left me with a million ideas for fun, fresh patterns. Of course, animal prints, always a hot trend, were foremost in my mind.

Excited to get to work, I chose our new BRIANNA bag for the base of my “wild” new creation. A recession-ista’s best friend, this roomy and reversible tote is two bags in one. For the exterior color I chose the Wild Zebra print and Bay Blue for the interior accent. Because this bag is reversible, I think it’s the perfect way to test the waters while you search for your inner Jane of the Jungle.


My creating didn’t stop there! Inspiration found me again when I received an invitation for a black tie event downtown. Feeling tired of all my jewelry and even (gasp! ) my collection of high heels, I created the little black dress’s perfect accessory, the little animal print clutch!

Using one of my favorite and most practical clutch designs, the ERINN, I decided to use the Snow Leopard print for the bottom portion and add a pop of color at the top using Pucker Up.

Needless to say, a fabulous bag always makes a fabulous night out!

The Fence Project

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has.
~Margaret Mead

Here at 1154 Lill Studios, fashion is the name of the game. We want our bags to be as bright, colorful, resilient and unique as the women who carry them. However, nothing is more than important giving back to the community, especially when it comes to our children.

In Chicago, Illinois (where 1154 Lill Studios was first founded) a number of children at the Nettelhorst School were being bullied for having families that looked a little different than the traditional nuclear family. Both a fifth-grader and a first-grader were being taunted for having two dads, and in addition, an eighth-grade substitute teacher was being harassed and called a ‘fag.’

Photos by Cat Conrad and Robin Schachtel

The families and the teachers decided it was time to nip this bullying in the bud and start instilling pride and respect in the Nettelhorst students. To do so, they created the Fence Project, in which everyone in the school and in the community could tie a colorful piece of fabric to the school fences in order to signify tolerance, respect, unity, and diversity. 1154 Lill Studio had the honor of donating fabric to this pride project, and the myriad of colors hanging displayed on the fence is a beautiful sight.