Hello, welcome to my blog! :)

I'm Lu, I'm 25 years old and I live with my boyfriend Flo and our Dalmatian Mogli in Potsdam which is next to Berlin in Germany. I study English and German and I currently work as a Social Media Intern at DaWanda in Berlin. Before that, I have been working as a sales clerk in a fabric store for more than 1 1/2 years. :) Apart from working and studying, I write this blog and run my own independent label Luloveshandmade.

I've always been creative and during my childhood, I have already been given the opportunity to try out different crafting techniques, I worked with wooden materials, drew a lot, painted, my mother showed me how to crochet and many other things. :)

During adolescence, I started working with textile colors and made my own band merchandise and because most official band shirts didn't fit me, I often stitched up some shirts.

When I moved out after I had finished shool, I started to become interested in cooking and tried out many recipes. When I moved from the region where I grew up to Potsdam, I started writing a private blog to show my girlfriends who were then living far away how my new home town looks like, and I regularly started to post some recipes.

Later on, after I had done many little DIY projects from time to time, a fellow student showed me the blog A Beautiful Mess. Elsie Larson, the lady who writes the blog, then offered an online course called Indie Business which was about how to develop a small, creative, independent business and about how to blog effectively. I joined this course and this was where it all started. :)

I began blogging regularly, made some new online friends and became more and more interested in crafting. My friend Anja made some business cards for me, she and my friend Hanna often helped me with my blog or with photoshop and I ordered my own garment labels. :) I got my first own sewing machine and for the last years I have been teaching myself how to sew. :) I've become better and better and in the summer of 2010 I started to sell my own handmade things. :)

In Berlin there's a small local store, Luxury International, where young artists can sell their stuff and can rent some space in a shelf. I was accepted and have then been selling my handmade items there for approximately 3 months. Because at that time I didn't have enough time to produce as many items as necessary (so that it was profitable for the shop owner, for myself and that I could keep the space), I decided to end this first try of selling my goods. I mostly sold felt brooches and hair bows. :)

Then, in September 2010, I went to a designer market as a vendor and tried to sell my things at the Trend Mafia in Berlin. I didn't sell much, but it was a really good experience. :)

At about the same time, I also started selling my stuff online on DaWanda, a German online marketplace for everything handmade, vintage and craft supplies. My sales were slowly increasing and in the meantime, my blog had become a hobby and I had already started posting regularly. :) My main focus is on sewing, crafting, cooking, home decor and everything handmade, but I also blog about some of my free-time activities or show my colorful outfits.

In the meantime, I have also opened a shop on etsy. :)

In the summer of 2011, I quit my part-time job as a tutor for English and started working in a beautiful fabric store. Because my colleagues had really advanced sewing skills and regularly gave me good advice, my own sewing skills have improved a lot. :) As you can see in my posts, I try out a lot of new sewing projects and always create new patterns.

Since I move to my new apartment in 2011, I also regularly share peeks at my home and show my home decor ideas.

Now you know how this blog has developed and what you are going to expect here. :)

Have fun reading my blog and I always appreciate your feedback! :) Thanks for dropping in!

Lu

P.S.: If you want to hear me talking, here's a video I made with DaWanda in which I share my personal experiences concerning blogging (in German). :)