More Answers!

Hey guys, sorry I have been scarce - things have been CRAZY busy! Things for our move got rearranged, again. Now, me and the kidlet are hitting the road August 13th, and we will be staying with my cousin until closing on our house. That way I can get him enrolled in school there, be there for the inspection and all that stuff. Trace will come down with all our worldly possessions a few weeks later when we close on the house and we will move into our new home together! ♥! Super exciting! :D I will hate to be away from him though, but with 10 years of long distance relationship under our belts, I think a few weeks will be a breeze. ;)

Besides just getting ready for the move, I have been sewing like a crazed seamstress to stock (and sell as much as possible from) luanded.com to a) eliminate as much as my stash as possible so I don't have to pack all that fabric and b) because all the money from monster sales is what is funding our big move half way across the country. So if you have your eye on a monster in the shop, by all means, adopt it stat!

Anyway! I wanted to take a minute to answer a few questions from the Ask Me post (which I am still taking questions on if you want to add some to the mix)!

Kristin L asked: How did you learn to sew and did the design just come to you or was it incredibly hard at first?

Well, that depends - I learned to hand sew and quilt when I was very young, probably like 8 years old. The first time I ever sewed on a machine was the very first time I ever made a Mon-stor. I borrowed Denise's (my future mother-in-law) machine and she helped me figure out how to make them a reality. And, believe it or not, I still use the very first ever pattern I drafted, both for the big Mon-stors and the small, although the first small Mon-stors were only 14" tall and now they are 18", not counting their feet. That's the only alteration I have ever made to the Mon-stors patterns! :) So I guess you could say it just came to me, and worked out exceedingly well. I did learn tricks to make Mon-stors more durable and cuter over the years, but the very first Mon-stors I ever made are still used every day in my house by my son!

Recent photo of one of the very primitive Mon-stors. Hehe...

The only part that I would consider incredibly hard about learning to sew was threading the machine and loading a bobbin. Denise must have had to show me how to load the bobbin and thread the machine twenty times before I finally figured it out on my own! Ha!

BriarDancer asked: How much money do you make, and where are you making it? What are you favorite marketing tactics? Do you have a business plan, or are you just winging it?
*Note, I already discussed with BriarDancer that I won't be disclosing financial information. That's too personal and won't be shared here, but I will answer the second part of the question. 


My favorite marketing tactic? Talking. I'm a very talkative person, very enthusiastic, and very passionate. And the way I see it is if you aren't talking about your brand, if you aren't excited by it, why should other people be? I genuinely love Lu & Ed. I love every moment I spend working on it, I squeal and jump around every time a monster is adopted, I have to show anyone who will look fan photos when they pop up in my e-mail inbox. I am excited by this wonderful, monstrous little endeavor every single day! ♥ So I talk about it. I talk about it on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, G+, forums, craft shows - I share my wonderful little monsters with anyone who has an interest in them and hope that the excitement is contagious!

I don't have a business plan and I have no idea where Lu & Ed will go or what it will grow into - but I am excited to find out! Lu & Ed is a labor of love for me. I don't make monsters for money, I make them because I love to do so. I love every step of the process. If people fall in love with a monster and adopt him, then that makes my day! But I don't make monsters with the intent to make money. I make them with the intent to do something fun and magical and colorful and exciting and different, and I hope that people will love them as much as I do and that they will bring smiles and happiness to monster lovers everywhere! ♥

And that is all I have time for this evening! I have to get pans washed so I can start some dinner, than Trace and I are going to tackle some more packing this evening. Happy Tuesday! ♥