Winner and other updates

I said I would post the winner this morning, sorry for being late. Pinters, you won! please email me and I'll send the little dress your way.

I'm late writing because this morning I was busy=late getting the kids ready for school, then I was off to the California textile show. I had to take Mr. William with me, I was a bit worried about bringing him along because I usually go on my own and I didn't want him to be bored and tired, but he was such a doll. Everyone kept trying to talk to him and he had a smile for everybody. It took me way longer to see everything and place orders while taking care of him and answering questions about his age and hair (he has long hair at 6 months) but it was so much fun. Most of the designers that attend these types of shows are single or have no kids, so William was a novelty, I even had one of the reps ask me if she could hold him.

It's always a very interesting crowd to say the least, I usually try to dress nice when I attend the show, everyone there is so stylish and original. Having my baby attached with an Ergo carrier doesn't really allow me to be very fashionable, so today I was wearing yoga pants and a t-shirt, it made me feel a little "frumpy" around all the skinny jeans, layered tops, heals and hats, and that's just what the guys were wearing!

I found a few fabrics for Fall 2011 and lots of trims and embellishments, oh the possibilities!! I'm not even done with Spring 2011 and I'm already dreaming about Fall. But seriously; ribbon, buttons, flowers, fabrics and bows are so cool, can you blame me? I could really spend all day at the show, some people spend all 3 days looking, but I have kids to pick up, piano lessons to drive to and homework to get done, so a few hours has to do. I'm not complaining here, I wouldn't have it any other way. I mean, I love everything about designing and fashion, it's a little bit of an obsession, but I have a few (4 at home) loves that are way more important.

I'm having the Spring line photo shoot next week. I'm so exited that Zenia from ZeniaPotography will be taking the pictures. Zenia is a great Los Angeles photographer, she so talented and has such a great eye for children's photography, I just know the pictures will be amazing. I can't wait to share them with you!

Well, I have to go get some more sewing done before I crash tonight and dream some more about fabrics and color combos. Do you have "little obsessions" that you love and dream about?

Litlle Silk Dress Giveaway

I really love how this little dress turned out.

Thanks to my wonderful customers the Courtyard Collection 2010 has been one of my most successful lines so far. I only created a few pieces for this transitional line (between Summer and Fall).

I was a little nervous when I decided to design this line, most stores just stick to Spring/Summer and Fall orders, but I was out of Spring items and stores wanted more inventory. I tried many different colors before I settled on navy, steel blue, green and white, I added some ruffles for fun and gave it a bit of a bohemian vibe.
I only have a handful of dresses left, I didn't even get to sell them on my site :). If you are interested, you can play and win one of them. I have sizes 2/3 and 8/10 left (retail value is $50++)

To play:

All you have to do is follow this blog then to go to my site www.alejandrakearl.com-> Collections -> Look Book Fall 2010 and then leave a comment on this post letting me know what you think of the current Fall collection before Tuesday Sept 28th.

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. You will win one of the Steel Blue Silk Dresses (size 2/3 or 8/10) We will announce the winner of this give-away on the morning of Wednesday Sept 29th. So don't forget to come back and check! Free Continental US shipping only.

Missing Family

I love Holidays; Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Easter, 4th of July, well all of them. A few of my favorite things about Holidays are; family gatherings, trips, planning, gifts and special meals. But Holidays can be hard when you live far away from loved ones.

The month of September is a month of celebrations in Chile. Fiestas Patrias is the equivalent of 4th of July, it's spring time, people gather and have parties with lots of food, drinks and music. I miss that, I think I've always been "the glass is half full" type of person, but I can't help to feel a little sad when I'm so far from family during these Holidays.

I just talked to my family in Chile, they were visiting my grandma, today was her 89th b-day. The whole family was there, aunts, uncles, cousins, young and old. Our family parties are always loud with laughter, stories and there is usually some kind of "difference of opinion" happening amongst the chaos. But above all there's lots of love, I miss that too.

I have to say I'm very thankful I still see my family often, my parents and brother were just here for a month. I generally go to Chile once a year and we Skype 2 to 3 times a week. We also facebook and talk on the phone. I think many of you can relate, everyone has someone far away that they miss, it's OK I guess, it is true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.

I hope to see them soon, for now I'll just be thankful that we live in the time of Skype and I look forward to talking to them tomorrow while they have yet another party.

Who do you miss?

Decorating fun

Since we moved I've acquired a new love for interior decorating. It's been so fun to shop for furniture, fabric for drapes, pillows, rugs, plants, etc.
I've always loved making our house a home and this time around there is so much to do that I've been able to really have fun with it. I still have a lot more to do, some rooms are almost done, some are still untouched.
I get inspiration from catalogs, stores and websites. I plan on showing you pictures of some of the finished rooms soon, here are a few places that help me get inspired:

decordeprovence.blogspot.com

restorationhardware.com

decor8blog.com

dream-kitchens.com

What are your favorite inspirations spots??

33 Alive!

I was born and raised in Copiapo, Chile. A small mining town in the northern desert of Chile. I grew up around miners, generally speaking miners are hard working lower class men. I had uncles that were miners; 1 of them died a couple of years ago in a tragic mining accident and my dear uncle Pedro (Perico) died from stomach cancer last year, they think it was the result of being exposed to fumes for so many years. My dad also mined a few summers while he was a college student to make ends meet.

Just a few weeks ago on my birthday August 5th, 33 miners were trapped in the San Jose mine in Copiapo. The rescuers knew that there was a refuge where there might be food and water for them and it could last for about 2 days. Nobody knew if they had survived when the mine collapsed, 3 had escaped the accident and 33 were buried in the mine.

The President of Chile was involved and heading the rescue efforts from the beginning, he had the best of the best working to save these workers. Unfortunately days passed and the rescuers were unsuccessful in all their attempts to reach the miners. I would talk with my folks via Skype everyday and ask them for updates on the miners, I was constantly checking online and I saw no good news. The families were camping outside of the mine, they named the campground "Esperanza" Hope. It was so sad, depressing, tragic and I have to say after day 10 people started to lose hope (including me). It just did not seem possible that 33 men could survive for that long underground with no food, no water, no medical help.

But on day 17, a miracle.

I was home when my sister called, she said "Estan vivos!" THEY ARE ALIVE! I started to cry, It was unbelievable, what a joy! I ran upstairs and told Matt, then I asked my sister to give me the details: one of the drills had reached the shelter, the miners had attached messages to the end of the drill. One of the messages said "We are OK. In the shelter. All 33". What a miracle! My thoughts were with the families, their relief, their happiness. Husbands, brothers, fathers, sons, all safe. After I got off the phone we had to kneel as a family and thank God for such a blessing, it was such a wonderful overwhelming feeling of gratitude, I get chills just thinking back on it. I don't personally know any of the miners, my father knows some of them, he is a principal at an elementary school and 2 of them have children at his school. All the same, I feel a connection to them, to the families, to the pain/joy of the people in my town, my country.

I love the US, is my new home, but I of course love Chile and I feel so proud of my people. Sometimes I feel like living in Chile is a constant test, the devastating earthquakes just happened a few months ago and now this! How much can the people take?! They endure so well, they do it as a family, they support each other, pray for one another, they suffer and rejoice together.

My mom told me that after the good news broke, people went to the streets with flags, horns, music and celebrated. It was a party, the whole country was thankful and happy.

There is still a long hard road ahead for the 33 miners. They now have food, water, medical help, even some entertainment. But it's going to take months to get them out, the whole country is still praying for them.

I want to share a little video I was able to find (in English) with images from when the rescuers first found out the miners were alive, enjoy!

P.S. This video will take you to youtube, there are more videos about this topic if you want to learn more.