At my day job, we are involved in a major project implementation, and part of my role in that is to design a weekly newsletter that gives everyone a snapshot of what has happened in the previous week. Since I’m not the world’s greatest blogger (which is so funny because I started my professional career as a journalist), I thought maybe I would be able to use the same technique to keep everyone up-to-date with what is new in the world of Luvvies, since there always seems to be something happening.

New Designs

I have been experimenting with a lot of different designs, and revisiting some old standbys, to mixed results. I aim for consistency, but it seems like I can never replicate a pattern the same way twice. In a way I guess that’s a good thing because it makes the item more unique with its own personality, and reflects that it isn’t a mass produced piece. At the same time, is it so annoying that I can’t make it perfect every time.

In addition to making Luvvies, I have been adding some novelty scarves and hats to my stash for the upcoming Steel City con. Desi was so excited by the pencil scarf that she wanted to make it into a smiley face.

When I first told one of my besties that I was making a pencil scarf, she didn’t think it literally would look like a pencil. I said that is the absolute beauty of it.

M-I-C-K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

I also branched out a little to try to make a more iconic figure. His nose is a little more rounded than I wanted and his eyes aren’t perfect, but I thought he turned out to be a pretty good facsimile of our favorite animated mouse.

I think that he will be a good addition to my stock for the convention. I am going to try to replicate him again for a custom order, but try to crochet the eyes and buttons instead of having the felt.

Clean up, Clean up, Everybody Clean up

My husband has been rather accepting of the copious amount of yarn that are in our living room – which doubles as my work room – however it was getting to the point where you could barely walk in our living room without stepping on a ball of yarn.

It was a little chaotic and disorganized. So a trip to Target and two big storage containers later, it was at least slightly less hoarders-esque.

The sad thing is those two big containers still didn’t fit all the yarn that I had in the living room – and that’s not taking into consideration the shipment that I have coming in this week….it was a good sale, and I had a coupon, and I needed to make stock for the stores….nope, I just wanted more yarn to play with.

On the Horizon

In the upcoming week, I just plan to keep working on designs and making sure I’m in a good place for the stores and for the convention. Probably the end of July/beginning of August, both stores will be going on a slight vacation while I go to the convention and then recover. I’m sure there will be lots of interesting tales of how that turns out.

Until then, happy Independence Day to all my American friends – have a safe and happy July 4th!

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha

I have a tendency when I get passionate about something that I don’t do things in half measures. I go from mildly interested to complete and total obsession in about 1.7 seconds. It’s been a hallmark of my personality for years. At times it can be an adorable eccentricity that is easy to overlook; at other times, it becomes all consuming.

I’m not quite sure where my amigurumi love is falling right now. I hope it is still in adorable eccentricity, although I think it is crossing the line. I’m fine with that…my family not so much, especially as I get closer to Steel City Con. Now, it’s a matter of what do I make? How many will I make? Will people think my Luvvies are cute enough? I’m sure that many a friend and family member wants to smack me across the face if they have to hear this lamentation one more time.

But, I am ultimately blessed. I do not have a large circle of friends, but the friends I have are loyal to a fault. They are supportive and they don’t call attention to the fact that they have heard me whine about the same topic 500 times already. I’m also lucky that my family supports my endeavors as much as they do…even if there is some yarn that had to be hidden so my husband wouldn’t know quite how much I spent – but I need options.

My friends have especially been a blessing in helping to get the business off the ground. I am an accountant by trade – that is my day job, and ultimately how I earn my living. I may take great joy in making stuffed animals and may want it to be my primary vocation, but 50 hours a week I am at my desk as an accountant. And I enjoy my job…I just enjoy making Luvvies a little more.

As I try to bring the Luvvies more to the center and make a go of an actual business, it becomes harder to maintain that balance.

My friends and family have been very helpful at keeping me grounded. They give me suggestions on what is working and what is not and help me think about different ways to try things.

I have friends jumping in to help during the convention so I don’t go (more) crazy than usual by sitting at the table. One of my besties has had to listen a million times to the concern: What if no one shows up? What if they don’t like what I’ve made? —– Or the now daily refrain, “What if I don’t have anything to sell?”

I’ve been worried about getting out here with a business again – my first experience was not pleasant. But, I think I have a better product; something I definitely love more; and I have infinitely more support behind me.

Now if I can just make it through the next 39 days without driving everyone insane – or making them raging alcoholics – we’ll be good.

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha

Hello my dear friends! I realize it’s been a little while since I’ve sat down to write a thoughtful post to share with you. I’m still here, still plugging along.

In some senses a lot has been happening, and in others not a lot has been happening: It all comes down to a manner of perspective, I guess.

Custom Harley Quinn Comfy Luvvie I made for one of my besties.

I’m involved with a few major projects at my primary job as an accountant/business analyst, which has been keeping me busier than I was expecting to be, which cut down the amount of time I’ve had for lunch and other moments to work on communicating and planning Luvvies (darn adult responsibilities!). Because of how busy I’ve been during the day, when I get home at night, I find time to be even tighter – especially now my husband and daughter are out of school for the summer.

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I think I have mentioned before that in 2013 I took the leap into small business ownership and started an essential oil company. I made many different types of body oils and hand sanitizers using essential oils. I sunk a good amount of money into advertising and having a shop on Etsy – plus buying the raw materials to make the items. After about 18 months, I realized this was just not going to work and I closed up shop, vowing to never to anything like that again.

Because I never learn my lesson, when I decided to start Lil’ Luvvies – which I justify as a completely different product and something that I am definitely more passionate about than I was the essential oil products – I swore I would not do any advertising. I would not sell on Etsy. I would have this site and if I got orders, awesome, if not, it wasn’t meant to be.

Somewhere along the way, my thought process changed. I started to care more and more about getting the word out about my Luvvies. Some of that stemmed from the most recent Salute to Supernatural convention I attended; because I realized that yes some individuals have service dogs or emotional support animals – but others use their stuffed animals as their emotional support, and what a beautiful thing to be a part of to know that you created something that meant so much to you (or me, in this case), and to know how much comfort and joy it affords to someone else.

I came back from the convention re-engerized, but it left me with a conundrum. I have a social media presence – I blast people more times than they care to see with pictures on Instagram; I have a Facebook page for the business, but I’m not exactly sure the best way to engage and use that feature. However, I know if I am looking for something handmade, or something unique there is only one place that I start, and it’s usually not Amazon (that’s my second choice, lol). For unique, handcrafted items, I do start with Etsy.

Even though I’m a little gun shy with it, this week I took the leap and I re-opened my Etsy store and re-branded it as LilLuvviesAmigurumi.

I figure, since I’m new to the amigurumi world, perhaps buyers would be more leery to purchase from my Web site because there is no history behind me. They don’t know if I am reliable or not. However, with a known platform to display my wares on, people may be more willing to take the leap.

I haven’t put a ton of offerings online – right now, there only are 10 Luvvies available for sale. We’ll see how things go and if this spreads the word and love about my site. I’m not marketing on Etsy itself right now, I want to see how things go. I am hoping that things take off and I can share my love of stuffed animals with others, who will get just as much love, comfort, and joy out of the Luvvies as what I get from making them.

Hugs and cuddles,

Elisha

When I first returned to crochet last year, I wanted to keep to small projects that were easy to complete and that I could do in one sitting. This was before I really knew amigurumi was a thing.

I sincerely believe that my earlier attempts at crochet failed to keep my interest because they were too major to keep my attention. Even now I joke that I have crochet ADD because I jump from project to project and sometimes don’t finish what’s on my hook.

What I found was that hats were the best thing for me to make starting out. Once I learned the basic stitches and got comfortable with the repetition of the patterns – how to work and increase in the round – I learned that most hats I could complete in about 30 minutes, which was perfect for my attention span.

However, how many hats can one person have for themselves – even for their family?

And because I use crochet as a form of anxiety control/therapy, I was whipping out hats left and right. For Christmas last year, I brought in four bags of hats and scarves for my co-workers and let them pick what they wanted for themselves or to give as Christmas gifts. I gave another five bags in donations to a local homeless shelter.

I played with a lot of hat designs. Different patterns, different yarn (because I love to play with yarn), different sizes, different colors. And I still play with hats now and then, which is how one of my moose ended up with a beanie.

I experimented with some novelty hats – like this cupcake hat, which actually looked better in person than I was able to photograph (I’m still not a master of the selfie).

Tried some super kitchy hats – this was a prototype, and I think I learned from my mistakes that the next one would be absolutely fabulous.

I made them for the whole family until they were sick of seeing hats because they knew they would have to wear them.

I still go back to hats when I want something quick and easy that I know will turn out consistent.

In a short span of time, I probably made well over 200 hats: It was how I learned my stitches and used trial and error to see what worked best for me…especially with weaving in the ends.

I still enjoy making hats – because it still involves using a hook and playing with yarn, but amigurumi is so much more satisfying to me. Hats are awesome: They are functional and they serve a fantastic purpose; but, you can’t cuddle with a hat. You can’t give a hat a kiss and a hug. You can’t make someone smile the same way with a hat that they will with a stuffed animal. I think that is the reason I’ve backed off haberdashery and am sticking with Luvvies. But, it is good to know that I can do both and can make hats and scarves and mittens when needed…now, let’s find a good Luvvie and get some cuddles in.

Hugs and love,

Elisha