Hellooo! Here’s one of the handmade presents I gave away for Christmas this year.
This is a handmade patchwork pillow case I made for my mother, matching the patchwork blanket I made her for her birthday.
How do you like it? :)
Happy weekend!
Lu
My super awesome 2012.
Wow, I really don’t know where to start! 2012 has been an amazing year with so many precious memories and I want to share a few of them with you. Here’s the first part of my review, including some special people, happy moments and favorite projects. Of course this isn’t everything and there have been so many magical days and moments where no photos have been taken (but which I keep in my heart), but you can regard this post as an overview of great memories from last year. There will also be a review of 2012 in Instagram photos with lots of photos from my colorful everyday life. :)
In February I turned 25, so old! I spent my special day with Flo, my mother and two of my closest friends. New year, new challenges: I made a list with 25 goals I wanted to achieve before I turn 26, we’ll soon see how much came true.
My dear friend Malin made me a dress as birthday present, my favorite dress ever!! Soo sad that I ruined it shortly after wearing it for those photos, now it’s pink! :D
Lots of creative projects, nearly no day without crafting! In spring I made felt pinwheels and recycled fabric scraps for an embroidery hoop decor element.
Because I wanted to restyle our bed corner, I sewed several colorful pillow cases and introduced a new color concept to our bedroom, so much fun! :)
This was out first year with an own balcony! My mother got us lots of organic plants, I grew many herbs and flowers myself and made our balcony a little oasis!
Although I had already discovered my passion for vintage clothes (especially dresses) back in 2011, I added many unique pieces to my collection in 2012, restyled them and even worked on a vintage shopping guide with some of my favorite fellow bloggers.
In May I visited my friend Malin in Freiburg to spend a fantastic weekend together and of course I always spent much precious time with Flo. :)
In 2012 Flo and I had our 7th anniversary, 7 years full of love, friendship, magical moments, of course also filled with some struggles, but never without endless appreciation for each other!
In summer Flo celebrated his birthday and I threw a maritime themed birthday party for him, prepared lots of decor and matching food and made everything pretty. This year has also been the one in which I discovered my passion for decor conceps, especially pretty party decor. :) On his birthday we had an awesome weekend with some of our best friends and a special party with funny maritime costumes.
During my summer holidays Flo and I drove to the Baltic Sea for a short trip, we enjoyed it so much!
left photo: rights belong to Stef
This summer I met some of my very favorite blogger friends: Stef of Magnoliaelectric, Stefanie of Squeaky Swing and Laura of Tagträumerin. We were having a magical week together in August, shared our dreams, took outfit photos, spent time in Berlin and drove to the sea.
photo right belongs to Stef
Time with those girls was so precious!
photo rights belong to Stef
We spent one afternoon with taking outfit photos in vintage dresses, this was one of my very favorite days in 2012!
photo right belongs to Fabienne who I also got to know and spent some great days with :)
We explored Berlin and took tons of photos.
photo right belong to Stef
I often miss those girls!
Last year included many creative projects and among other things, I spent lots of time (re-) decorating our home. Since my sewing corner is the center of my room, I always want it to look pretty, clean and inspiring and in late summer, I did a little makeover.
Etsy has contacted me in order to throw a craft party in summer, this was pretty amazing and I made a super pretty food table. We have been working on many pretty projects and had lots of fun! My old friend Caro and my best friend from school, Hanna, were here. I love spending time with Hanna, too sad that we only see each other seldomly, because she lives so far away!
In late summer, Anja helped me to make new business cards and postcards, they turned out so pretty. What would I ever do without her in those cases? :)
Of course I designed many new items, there was hardly a day without me being crafty. :) I made things for my shop, for myself and for friends and relatives.
My sales in my online shop increased, my blog became more famous and I made lots of awesome new (online) friends.
Outfit photos became one of the things I love taking a lot, so Flo has been helping me during several tiny outfit shoots all year. :*
Last year I also spent lots of quality time with my best friend Anja. We usually meet each week, cook together, watch our favorite series’, talk about the latest gossip, sometimes take photos or go on a shopping tour. Live’s awesome with her and I’m so glad about having her in my life! :*
In fall I worked on a super big sewing project, my first patchwork blanket ever, I made it for my mama. :)
Some time later in fall I was infected by crocheting fever, I made many headbands for my shop in a really short time and Anja took photos with me.
right photo: right belongs to Laura
Fall is such a nice season, I enjoyed walks with Flo and Mogli in the woods and spent one great weekend visiting Laura of Tagträumerin in Leipzig, celebrating her birthday and being a guest at her birthday craft party. :)
I designed a new collection of handmade brooches on which I was working for several weeks.
At the beginning of the Christmas season I threw a Christmas blogger craft party and invited some of my favorite fellow bloggers. Laura of Tagträumerin, Vivi of matzab and Katha of Kathastrophal came over the weekend and Anja and Sina and Kat of Die Stoffanstalt joined us for a crafty evening full of holiday projects and tasty things.
One big project during fall was working on three handmade advent calendars I made for Flo, Anja and my mum, it was so much fun and totally worth the effort! :)
All in all, this has been such an amazing year and things happened of which I had never dreamt before!
I love this life so much! I had such a great year with Flo (and Mogli, of course! :)). We celebrated our 7th anniversary, went on a short holiday trip, ate lots of ice cream, watched our favorite series’, went on thousands of walks outside, explored Potsdam, shared memories, of course we sometimes also struggled but in the end always got along, we laughed a lot and spent time with our friends.
Anja and I had many girl’s dates with crafty projects, good food, great conversations, so many laughter and support for each other.
Most of our other friends close live far away and we do not see each other that often, but last year (like each year since we moved away from our hometown) we spent many awesome weekends with each other and this always felt so good!
I also spent as much time as possible with my mother who I also do not see that often and who I miss a lot. Can’t wait for the day when we’ll be living close to each other again!
Thinking of my independent business I must say that I still can’t believe how much it has grown last year! Thanks to hard work, endless motivation, a positive attitude and lots of inspiration and the will to enlarge my skills and knowledge, I made so much progress and developed my indie label a lot! I’m thankful for all the people who supported me, helped and motivated me and gave their feedback! And thank you (!) for reading my blog, I wouldn’t be the same without you!
Last year so many amazing things happened with regard to Luloveshandmade. I have been offered being the author of a crafty book (but I denied the offer since the conditions didn’t fully convince me), I have been contacted my many great business partners concerning cooperations, I had my first sponsors and me and my blog have been featured in many different ways, so flattering! Another highlight came at the end of the year, I became DaWanda’s new social media intern for the next six month, a thing I would never have imagined one year ago!
Moreover, this has been a year full of amazing new people and friendships! I spring, I first met Vivi of matz ab and we immediately liked each other and had a super funny afternoon. Some weeks later I finally met my blogger pal Sammy of The Cookie Button who I once got to know through Indie Biz. We also spent a super lovely day with each other! :) In summer I then finally met some of my favorite blogger pals: Stef of Magnoliaelectric, Stefanie of Squeaky Swing and Laura of Tagträumerin. They have been visiting me and together with Anja (aentschie) and Fabienne of 59thStreetbridge we spent several super amazing days with each other. We shared our dreams, encouraged each other, took a million photos and simply enjoyed summer. Can’t wait to see them again! Later in fall, I got to know Sina and Kat of Die Stoffanstalt. We met in Berlin and share the love for sewing and pretty things, I really like our girl’s dates! :)
2012 was full of friendship, love, parties with pretty decor, a colorful everyday life, good music, sewing, crafting, good food, days in Berlin, thrifting, inspiration, working on my blog and in the fabric store and with spending time with my loved ones. Can’t wait for the next awesome 12 months to come, if they are only half as magical as the ones last year, my 2013 will be perfect!
Thanks for reading and may your next year be perfect, too! :*
Handmade Christmas Present: An Apron for Anja.
Hello my dear readers and a very happy New Year, may it be filled with magical moments, love, friendship, inspiration and adventures!
I hope you were all enjoying your holidays! Mine were perfect, but more about that in a few days. :)
Here’s one of the handmade Christmas presents I gave away this year, a kitchy kitchen apron for my best friend Anja. :)
She often cooks and especially bakes on the weekend and I wanted to surprise her with something she can use then. :) So this is the handmade apron which was part of Anja’s Christmas present.
I really love how it has turned out, not only because it was lots of work, but also because I love the fabrics and the color concept. I wanted to make a really girly apron for baking muffins and other sweet treats. :) First of all, I made a sketch (back in fall, a long time ago :)), then I was on the hunt for fabric and then I decided to even use ruffles and ribbons to make it even more cute.
On the lower part there’s a little pocket that I added and you can bind the apron in the back and in the neck.
I wish I had two of them to keep one myself! :)
Happy rest of the week! :)
Lu
My life in Instagram photos: the time before Christmas.
Dear readers, this is my last Instagram photos post this year. The next
one will follow in January and include all the Christmas and holiday
photos. :) I very much hope you were all enjoying Christmas and are having awesome holidays! :)
So here’s what happened in my everyday life during the time before Christmas. :)
This is the pretty fabric store in Potsdam in which I have been working for the last 1 1/2 years, but my last week has come… // Tasty dinner. // Snoooooow on the balcony!! :* // Sleeping doggie baby. // Snow walk with my two loved ones. :)
Tiny St. Nicholas surprises for my colleagues. // Winter outfit. // Mr. Moustache mug production for my shop. // I made a little cape for Mogli to protect him from the cold. :) // Crafting. // Baby! :*
Doggie, it’s cold outside. // We found the most awesome snowman in our neighborhood. // Making a doggie bow tie for a customer. // Cutting fabric for Mama’s Christmas surprise, I sewed a huge patchwork pillow case. // Cozy winter outfit.
Super warm, new winter boots. // Organic shopping. // New, handmade winter loop scarf. // Mogli and his owl neckerchief. :) // Anja brought me the cutest tiny Christmas hat ever. :D // Working in the kitchen.
My rubber boots for rainy days. // Matching colors. :) // Working on Flo’s huuuge Christmas present: a handmade patchwork blanket. // Christmas decor in my room. // Wrapping Christmas presents.
Done! :) // Super delicious brunch. // Wearing my new reindeer sweater. // On my shelf. // Winter outfit for a good-bye dinner with my colleagues. // A pretty surprise from etsy. :)
Candy color outfit. // We bought tons of Christmas cookies. // I made two new pillows. :) // My last day at work! I quit my job in the fabric store because in January I’m gonna begin a social media internship at DaWanda for a few months. :) Can’t wait and I’m super excited about this new adventure, but it was hard to say good bye to my colleagues and to leave the fabric store behind me. I learned a lot during the 1 1/2 years I’ve been working there and I really loved my job! New year, new challenges! ;) // My colleagues and my boss were so sweet to give me super cute presents before I left. I had to fight against my tears all day. ;) // And we finally got our Christmas tree! Prepared for the holidays!
While you are reading this, I’m enjoying my Christmas holidays and I hope you are doing the same! :)
Lu
A Handmade Patchwork Blanket for Christmas.
Hellooo! :) Today I want to share one of the xmas presents I made this year. :) After Flo fell in love with the patchwork blanket I made for my Mama a few weeks ago (and he had already fallen in love with Mogli’s patchwork pillow at the beginning of the year :)), he wanted to have one for himself and added it to his Christmas wishlist.
Of course I wanted to make his wish come true and so I soon bought fabric in green, red and white, matching the colors of his room, espacially of his couch and pillows. :)
It was lots of work to cut out all the pieces of fabric and arrange them in a pretty way, but I think it was absolutely worth the effort and I’m super satisfied with how the blanket has turned out! :)
I took those photos secretly in Flo’s room while he was away, I took them the week before Christmas before I wrapped all the presents. :) While I’m writing this blog post it’s the Saturday before Christmas, only two more nights until he will unwrap his presents and I can see his face looking at that pretty blanket! :) Can’t wait! When you are reading this post, Christmas will be over (the post will be uploaded automatically) and we will hopefully be sitting on the couch, snuggled into this patchwork blanket. :)
As you can see, I used several different kinds of fabric and there’s a matching bias tape at the edges.
Simply can’t stop looking at it!
Here you can see the blanket on the couch in its full beauty!
I’m sooo proud of this patchwork project! :) Hope that Flo’ll love it as much as I do! :)
Lu
