Heya guys :>

I am currently in the process of figuring out the pricing for my plush/art doll work.

There a several factors I will need to take in mind; cost of materials and (wo)man hours involved being the main two.

I’m so pleased with the response I have gotten from the work I have submitted so far, but it’s only the tip of the iceberg, and there’s so much more that I want you to see.

So, if you are thinking about commissioning me to make a custom plush for you, here are some things you should know:

I am planning to start taking commissions in late May – June this year

I have a couple more pattern variations to showcase; these will show different lower body variations, as well as head decorations.

For the moment, I will only be making female characters with the proportions of my female buck: Pear-shaped. I have plans in the future to come up with a male buck, and even feral bucks as well, but for the moment, I want to get the most that I can out of this one. As you may well know, Pattern design is a lengthy, brain taxing (but fun and rewarding) process, so I’d like to get as much out of this current pattern that I can before I go starting a new one.

I’ll figure out more concrete prices sometime this month, but I don’t intend on selling any of the custom figures for less than £80bps for the Plantigrade and £90bps for Digitigrade.

I hope this helps, and thank you again for all of the support and interest

Best wishes

Lou

I move in to my new home this Sunday :)

And I feel like I can be anything that I want to be.

My relationship with my family shall improve greatly, as well as my relationship with my boyfriends family.

And I'll make more of an effort to maintain regular contact with my friends and family, as well as good acquaintances.

I'm quite excited, and even though there are loads of new challenges coming my way, and life won't be as easy as it has been before, it'll be worth it. I can handle it.

I can do it.

Hey

I guess I'm really only writing this for myself. The futures looking bright, but also frightening too.

I don't think I'll ever stop feeling controlled and imprisoned by the people I love, be they family or friend.

I should be happy and excited about moving into a house with my long distance boyfriend of 5 years. We've had hard times and happy times.

But I'm not

There's loads I could put here about why, but I hate writting, and I hate talking about it, because I'm a bad talker, and everyone always seems to know how to manipulate me and convince me that I'm to blame.

My Family say that I need to be more open and not bottle things up, to talk more often with them when I am upset. But when I try to tell them that something they did hurts my feelings and I need an apology, they accuse me of 'dragging up the past' and wont let me talk. Or they say that I've hurt them too so I need to just drop it.

What's going to hurt the most about this journal when I come back to read it will be the lack of responses. But I mustn't expect any responses, as I've only really written this for me, and only written it on here as no one I know irl is on this site.

I don't know what to say to comfort myself, but I know talking to my friends helped - the right ones anyway, not the ones who made into a competition of who's got the worst problems.

I need to take care of myself.

Yaaaaay!

The two bits of commission work I did for Dempsey Designs have finally been mass produced and are on sale online! :D

The Hamster is here!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00DI6UOPY

And the T-Rex is here

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002WKS6AC

I am so proud right now :)

Let me know if you buy one and try the pattern!

Lou xxx

Hello there,

To say that I've been innactive recently would be an understatement.

Ever since I joined FA in 2007, I have been the lurkiest of mother-effers, appart from the brief periods when I took commissions.

Despite my lack of updates though, I have still kept my 6 year vigil, of checking this site at least once a week (but usually a couple of times a day), and faving and commenting at random.

Hilariously, I'm a bit of an extrovert irl (although I do get tired when in groups of people for extended periods of time), but online I'm finding that I have gotten more and more introverted and speaking to people a lot less, in fear that I will offend or be offended. I also don't really use any chat programmes apart from the FB one and Googlechat.

I've taken small steps to open up by adding peeps on fb as friends and liking ther pages such as :userlilliosa: :usermalkyru: :userwoogle: :userkyoht: :usernovelteeth: to name but a few. But still, I'm watching, and I'm not uploading.

I'm very excited about my personal sewing project, I really want to share it online but am afraid of theft or ridicule. I am scared that if I sold one of my finished products someone could tear it apart and copy my sewing patterns, having them made enmasse so that I've done all that work for nothing.
I know that sounds crazy, but it wouldn't bother me so much if I didn't have such a hard time getting work. A lot of my problems come from my own insecuritie (I just wrote a massive Teel Deer about it, but decided to delete it as it was too self-pitying), but for the most part, it's because of a lack of CAD work in my portfolio. I should really work on that, but right now, I am so invested in this project.

I want you all to see it so badly,

What would be the best way to show you it?

Lou

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/5072412/ < here's the Journal

Also, you can help  Mermade get an industrial sewing machine by contributing to the campaign on Indiegogo here!

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/h.....made/x/4189875

I can vouch for the quality of Mermade's work, my favourite hat being the black and alpine green cat-eared hat I bought from them winter 2010, it's fitted without being tight, and the ears can folded when you want to be a 'stealth furry'

Also I can vouch for the Indiegogo website as well, I've used it before for Channel Awesome's campaign (Nostalgia Critic)

http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/c.....more/x/4189875

and had no problems

I've always been pleasantly indifferent to Fur affinity's events, so it's a surprise to me (especially considering that due to experiences with a pet rabbit, I'm not very fond of them) that I'm actually getting interested in Bunnies!

Here's a delightful documentary I just watched on the BBC Iplayer website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episod.....und_Episode_1/

It's great if you're a Badger or Vole enthusiast too.

I know this sounds really dumb, but I honestly had no idea baby Bunnies could be so adorable!

Let me know if you see it xxxx

..What sort of thing would you commission me to do?

Also, would you be open to buying some of my own designs? if so, what?

Heya!

This is a call out to all my previous customers, if you have a Facebook account, could you like my page, and post any photos you may have of plushes you have bought from me please?

https://www.facebook.com/loucathwilworks

Alternately, I'm on Twitter too!

https://twitter.com/Loucathwil

I'd really appreciate it

thanks

Lou

Heya guys!

Glad you like my Commission work I did with Dempsey Designs

I'm working on designing my own range of plushies at the moment to sell on etsy, using the patterns I designed for my Navi plushes - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6314427/

as well as the Asian Dragon I made for  reddd - http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4478737/

Find me on Weasyl here https://www.weasyl.com/profile/loucathwil as Loucathwil

I'm considering making more plushies using my Male and Female 'Navi' patterns

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6314427/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6319540/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/4003855/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6301633/
https://www.furaffinity.net/view/4003944/

only they wouldn't be navis, they'd be regular people of mythological humanoids etc. what do you think?

I can barely see what anyone's journal says these days! Argh! I’m having to copy and paste peoples journals into a word document (as ell as my own, but I don’t mind) in order to read them! Does anyone know how I can fix this?
Anyway, I digress
Despite doubting myself, I did manage to go jogging Monday Night! :woot: and, having bought myself the appropriate running outfit Tuesday, went running yesterday morning too!
I now have a cold, but believe that is totally unrelated.
I spent the last two days reorganizing and tidying my sewing room (much to the relief of my patient parents!).
I’ve found things I bought on a whim years ago, thinking I would use them in projects, yet still I haven’t.
There are so many personal projects I haven’t even begun, as I’ve been focusing purely on work that has a guaranteed income.
In fact for the last couple of years I have been pondering making comic using plush figures! I have some copper for armature, and was thinking of making the figures articulated like my navi figures
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6314427/
I still need come up with some characters and a plot first, but I’d still like to do it some day.
In the meantime, I still have a bit more of my sewing room to tidy
Anyway, hope you’re well, and having a great Valentine’s day!
All the best
Lou

Hey there Folks!

Hope 2013 is treating you well, it certainly is me!

Since my last journal where I was still recovering from Uni, after several months of looking for jobs I managed to get two dream jobs in one hit! In November my good friend From Uni introduced me to a company called Dempsey Designs and I've been doing commissioned work to design and make some soft toys to be added to a line called Mini Craft Kits

http://www.dempseydesigns.com/Minicraft.htm

I've done two so far, and will be going to Craft Hobby and Stitch fare at the NEC (near Birmingham) next Monday to meet the lady I've been working for.
http://www.chsi.co.uk/
Sorry I can’t show you the actual plushies I’ve been working on, but will as soon as I get the all clear from my Client ;). This work has taught me a lot on making effective patterns quickly via photoshop, and working to a deadline, hopefully I shall be able to speed up the process further in the future!
Thanks to one of my Lecturers I also succeeded in getting a Christmas temp job in a Comic book store! Not only did I make a living, but it also realised I enjoy working in a team, and built my confidence in my own abilities.
I and my Boyfriend have been looking since Easter last year for a home together, but with no luck; houses are pricey around London. So I am still yoyo-ing between London and Norwich, but at least Coventry is out of the equation now. It’s hard though since the only people I know in Norwich are my immediate family, and the majority of my friends are based in the south of England.
A big (sincere) thank you to the Job centre for setting me up with the Shaw-trust,
http://www.shaw-trust.org.uk/
who instead of just trying to push me into any job, have been actively guiding and encouraging me in my ambition to be self-employed. They have provided me with a mentor, and I have been researching and reading up on how best to set up my business online (I have a whole bibliography I could post here, but I’ve already spent enough time on this Journal for today).
I have settled for the name Loucathwil - for those of you that know me for my plush work, know that I enjoy making the OCs of others, but I would also like to start selling my own designs but am struggling with how to brand and market myself. It’s been 6 years now and don’t even have a logo or theme. And I have barely touched the loucathwil facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Louc.....04334046265642
These three artists are what I aspire to be like with my work. I love how they have created their theme and brand identity. I wish I could do that, but I’m too afraid of making mistakes.
http://missmonster.myshopify.com/
http://remjie.com/
http://www.nonesuchgarden.com
As well as this venture, I have a burning desire to create a comic of sorts. Occasionally I sketch autobiographical situations and post them on my tumblr
http://lateral-thinker.tumblr.com/ - one such example http://lateral-thinker.tumblr.com/i.....ge/24360157049 - not great but it’s a start.
Tumblr is an uphill struggle for me however, as I spend more time on there ‘liking’ and following the posts of others, than I do working on my own. I also constantly have to fight the urge to repost doodles of Hawkeye contorting himself!
I am tired of Lurking. Even playing video games feels too passive for me these days, and I must keep my hands and brain busy.
So I have taken up some great new hobbies:
Listening to audio books is something I’ve wanted to do for a while, and it helps me maintain focus whilst doing commission work! So far I've listened to Moab is my Washpot by Stephen Fry, Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall by Spike Milligan and two discs of Fear and Loathing in las Vegas By Hunter S Thompson. I am at the moment listening to Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, and enjoying every moment of this dizzy and paradoxical ordeal!
Also I’m getting to grips with knitting, and one day when I have time I shall tray out some of the recipes from this baking book I got from work
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Zombie-Ate-...../dp/1908862068
Also, I want to have a better regularity in the way I work out (which works out at roughly once a month at the moment), and am looking into running, have bought a bookazine titled ‘running for beginners’. I was supposed to start this hobby today, but instead decided to write some carefully written emails, and this journal.
Perhaps one day I shall stop researching everything before I do it and just go ahead and do it!
All the best you guys, and thank you for the support

Lou xxxx
p.s. I’m so glad I saved this in a word doc, it took me about 6 hours to write up

At the moment, I'm over-coming my anxieties about my work; by setting myself small goals to achieve. Today's small goal is to scan in some work; just a bit, it doesn't matter if I don't finish it all today.

I'm trying to fight the very real fear of failure that I have; I think I'm starting to understand where it comes from now. Usually my way of preventing failure has been to avoid participating in (what I perceived to be) a challenge in the first place. Hence why you'll very rarely (if at all) see me enter a contest, or even collect coupons for a freebie; my fear of being too slow (which has been fed by the problems I've had with my dyspraxia growing up) or too late has worked its way into all aspects of my life, most troubling of so is my work life and career prospects.

I know I've tried and failed before to overcome my emotional hurdles; feeling like I'm back at scare one. But I know - slowly but indeed surely - that I am making progress.

Hope you are all well

Lou xxx

Just found out about this fabbo site from  Dracotic

http://www.plug.dj/dragon-lounge/

A nice place to listen to and share music

sharing is caring folks ;)

I'm Loucathwil on there btw

I want to be

Sorry for my huge absence; I have been lurking about for the last couple of years whilst studying at University, as I wanted to concentrate fully on my studies.

I am pleased to report that I passed my Degree in Product Design with a 2:1 :) and I will be donning my mortarboard and graduation gown in mid November

Having finished my studies in early June, I succumbed to post Uni depression and thanks to the love and support of my wonderful network of Friends, family, kind people online and my wonderful partner and his family, I am finally getting better.

The summer has been spent job hunting for retail work, as my confidence in my abilities is low, and I have not revamped my portfolio so I can look for industry work.
But I am getting better, and have - in the meantime - uploaded my 2011 portfolio I did for my coursework

you can see the plush part of it on my coroflot here http://www.coroflot.com/LouiseWillis - by the way, any advice or constructive critique you may have about the layout of my portfolio would be greatly appreciated, as I am very eager to improve on this design but am stuck on how to go about it

I still have more to say, but for the moment I shall leave the journal here :)

Have a lovely weekend

Lou xxx

They've been popping up a lot in passing conversation lately, and I do love sketching with Saguine pencils

Also, I think this is the best representation I have seen of them so far

http://streetanatomy.com/2012/07/28.....e-four-humors/

What're your thoughts?

Hey there guys!

A friend of mine at univeristy has to make as much profit in 3 days before she has to go pitch her idea in london for a new BBC show 'be your own boss'
All profiits made go to children in need charity!

http://www.boxtumes.com/

Lauren Fausts journal http://fyre-flye.deviantart.com/jou.....tary-304960264

Kickstarter link http://www.kickstarter.com/projects.....he-documentary

First a robotic dragon, and now this.

http://www.futureoftech.msnbc.msn.c.....-sounds-767433

well it's not exactly big dog, but it is....unique

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vhHo6CUq4-o?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I suggest watching from 2:10; that's when it starts to get really bizarre

thoughts?

Heya

Thanks to Sublimate and Reddd for replying to my last journal; I really appreciate the input; it's made me more sure of what I can do now :)

You've all probably already seen this, but I HAD to share it just incase you haven't

http://www.ubergizmo.com/2012/05/th.....breathes-fire/

Lou xxxx

Hey there,

I've never really asked you watchers this before as I've always been anxious of the answer.

I haven't sewn (well, not a plush anyway) in well over a year; I've been working on honing my PhotoShop skills and I'm really happy with my progress

Thanks to this tutorial, my colouring and shading has improved greatly

http://beta.furaffinity.net/view/6181066/

I probably will plush again someday soon, but for the moment I'll be looking for design and/or illustration work once I graduate and so am working on my 2d portfolio.

But yeah, I was wondering if I should have one 2d art account and one plush one?

hope you guys had a great easter

Lou

Yup!

http://formspring.com/Loucathwil

Because I think some of you guys could benefit from this

http://www.ted.com/talks/brene_brow....._to_shame.html

I embarrass myself on a daily basis, and I've come to this conclusion myself.

hope it helps :)

It's no big shock that I'm on tumblr

http://lateral-thinker.tumblr.com/

I've been on there for a while. But very much like I am here, I have been dormant.

Well, even MORE innactive on there.
The reason I'm reopening it? well, I'd like to start being more active online again, and not just by commenting on and faving other peoples stuff. Also, I'd like to try out a site where I'm less inclined to be distracted and want to look at other peoples stuff and not mine.

Also, I've been thinking about it for a while now, and I'd REALLY like to start uploading autobiographical comics/strips at least. I've done a few in the last couple of years, and it was something I always did as a child and fantasized about...so yeah...'calling'? follwing it, I think I am sort of.

Another idea I've also had is integrating my plushies into comic strips, using photography...but I'll speak more about that later...if you're interested

Also, I've been reading a book on procrastination, as I AM a procrastinator, to the point that it is debilitating sometimes. And I hate myself for it. Sometimes it's proactive, but normally it's inactive and impulsive procrastination, and it stops me getting stuff done or even started.

The book has been helpful, and I highly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0273767704/ref=pd_lpo_k2_dp_sr_1?pf_rd_p=103612307&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=027372326X&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=1S3QZTMK321AE2XRN8RZ

So, I guess what I'm saying is, if you use tumblr, come on over! use the 'ask me anything' button, I'll do what I can for the rest, but I'd appreciate any advice or encouragement you can afford.

anyway, finishing this journal now, to copy and paste it at my FA account too lol... oop! there we go!

Lou