Picture Perfect

I love reading & looking at blogs with beautiful photography, don't you?
One of the reasons it took me so long to start my own blog was because I don't know how to take beautiful pictures.
I wanted to get a nice camera and learn how to take pretty pictures, so for Christmas the only thing I asked of Santa was a good SLR camera, "Santa" didn't know which camera to get, so he had me order it online :). The camera came, I opened it and it has been seating in its box ever since. There are just so many buttons, options and settings. I became very confused and intimidated by this camera, I was starting to think I should return it and just get a nicer "point and shoot" camera.

But then, I found this blog:Nicole is a professional photographer and also a photography teacher. I'm so exited Nicole is offering classes here in Los Angeles & they are affordable!
The event is called: The Mini Art Weekend. Classes are the weekend of February 19 & 20. The class I'm taking is Photo Basics, is a 2 hour class for $45. They have many other interesting classes, including an all day Crash Course.

I would love to go with a friend, let me know if you are coming, I hope to see you there!

Booties

I have not been shopping much for my upcoming baby boy, being my 3rd boy, I've saved a lot of my gear and clothes from my previous 2. But, I had to buy these:



They are the most adorable thing I've seen in a long time! Hand made from repurposed leather, they are so original, soft, simple and practical. These boots are made to order and cost $28. You can get them here: Kaboogie's Shop.

Is not often that I find "must have" gifts for my boys, but I had to have these little boots. What do you think?

What are some of your "must haves" for kids?

Helping Hand

I have felt so helpless watching the news and seeing all the devastation in Haiti. What gets to me the most are the little children, their scared faces and vulnerable situation just breaks my heart.

I want to help, but I'm always a little hesitant to send money to charities, I've often heard that with some charities 50% + of the money goes to managing costs and very little money ends helping the needy.

I looked around and was so happy to find a small way to help, there is an organization called K.I.D.S Kids in Distressed Situations, Giving back in a brand new way. The great thing about this charity is that 97% of all donations go directly to children and families.*

I was able to send 24 of my dresses to them and they sent them to Haiti, it was so easy! You go on their site, tell them what you can donate and they tell you where to send it. They even give you their UPS account to ship the items if you don't have one or don't want to pay for shipping.

Here is their site if you want to help:

http://www.kidsdonations.org

* I'm not affiliated with or represent this organization.

And the Winner is....

It's been such a busy and productive week. I had given myself until the end of the month to finish my Fall 2010 collection, but then I found out that Ashley was going to go back to London and I only had a few more days to do the photo shoot. I wanted to do it Monday since it was a Holiday and that would give me the weekend to finish, but the rain was coming so it was a race against time to do it on Saturday.

I had all the sketches, fabrics and some of the clothes done. But, I changed my mind so many times, narrowing things down was not easy and a few problems with the dye house just made things a little harder. I was going a little crazy, but it was so much fun! This collection is bigger than any I've done so far; more fabrics, more prints, more styles and the colors...I can't wait to show you!

The girls were all adorable, the clothes looked amazing and we all had a great time at the shoot. I loved seeing the proud moms and the exited little girls as they wore the clothes, they were all so sweet, helpful and willing to work with me on such short notice.

With the collection and photo shoot done, I slept so much better Saturday night. My brain stopped thinking about ruffles, colors for the twirl skirts, leggings and buttons (for a few days at least). It was a restful night and I needed it, being 30 weeks pregnant I'm already up enough if you know what I mean.

Now what you've been waiting for, this give away was a lot of fun, reading the comments was so cool. I love learning what everyone favorites are and to be honest, who doesn't love a compliment?

Now drumroll please!!! The winner of my 1st Give Away is:

James, Kitty and Charlotte Murray

Congratulations!!

(Please email me your mailing info)

Thank you all for the sweet comments, I really appreciate your support and compliments. I will have more give aways soon. I'm also planning of making one of a kind items, I still love sewing and designing things outside the collections. I will be showing those items only in my blog and list them for you to purchase from here only.

I hope you all have a great week and keep in touch!

First Give Away!!

So today I woke up before the alarm went off, this happens a lot when I'm working on something new. At the moment I've been trying to get my Fall 2010 line finalized and I have a million ideas in my head that I can't turn off at night, so they wake me up! I know it sounds crazy, but is the truth. I'll give you a sneak peak soon of what's been keeping me up at night.

Anyways, I've been thinking of giving away some of the new Spring 2010 designs that are coming in and I decided to do it today; is early, I saw this beautiful sunrise from my backyard and it put me on a giving mode :), isn't that pretty?

Here is the deal: There are 5 outfits in the new Spring 2010 collection.

All you have to do is to go to my site www.alejandrakearl.com then to Collections -> Look Book Spring 2010 and pick 2 of your favorite outfits from my Spring 2010 collection (not summer 2010, that will be a later give away) and then leave a comment on this post with your favorite items and size before Sunday January 16th. If you win, you will get the outfits you picked!

To double the chance of winning, please help me spread the word by writing a post about this give away on your blog, and then leave a separate comment. We will put your name in twice.

The lucky winner will be randomly selected. We will announce the winner of this give-away on the morning of Monday January 17th. So don't forget to come back and check! Free Continental US shipping only.

P.S the gift box picture at the top is from Martha Stewart.com, I'm not really going to wrap the winner's box like that... wish I could ;)

The New designs are finally here! Part I

I've been waiting for these boxes to arrive and they are finally here!

The design and manufacturing process can be very long, I started working on these Spring 2010 designs back in June 2009, I only had samples to use for the photo shoot with Ashlee Stalker from White Balance back in August, and I've been anxiously waiting to see them all finished since then.
The funnest part of the process is designing, picking colors, fabrics, sketching, making samples. The manufacturing process, not so fun, I'm trying to be positive here because I love what I do, but sometimes I wish it were easier, it's hard for me to have to someone make them all (giving up control), but I realize I can't make them all.

It is so nice to finally see my designs, the hand embroidery is beautiful, the fabrics soft and colors perfect. They are all neatly packaged, with tags on and in so many sizes, I love it!
The work is not done, now we have to check each piece to make sure they are all perfect, then pack them up and ship them off to boutiques. I'm still waiting for a few more designs and sizes to arrive, but I'm thankful that I can do it in stages.

People often ask me how I started designing girls clothing. Many children's clothing designers have started their companies because they couldn't find clothes that they loved for their babies. Since I have 2 boys and I mainly design/make girls clothing I can't say that.
My business started with my need to create something pretty, to use my imagination and put all those ideas that are constantly in my head to use (I seriously dream of color combos, dress patterns and twirly skirts). I love starting something and at the end of the day have something done that I can say "look what I've made today" it makes me feel productive.
Most of my jobs as a mom are great and very fulfilling, I would not change staying home with them for anything, but then we have all the extras that even when you are done doing them it feels like you've done nothing, because it has to be done all over again the next day, you know what I mean?
So, that's how Alejandra Kearl Designs started about 5 years ago; making blankets, bibs, dresses. Is being growing little by little, in between naps, meals, lots of late nights and now after the boys are of to school is when I get to create this little line I love so much. My husband, family, friends and neighbors are all very supportive and it helps me stay positive and moving forward.

Here are some pictures of some beautiful little girls wearing the designs that have arrived:





And here are 2 more designs that I'm making and are almost done:


I have to tell you that the moms were a huge help in the photo shoot, their little girls are all so pretty, nice and natural around the camera that things went pretty fast that day.
Thanks again Ashlee, Lynsey and Robin for letting me "borrow" your cuties!