She's Crafty! Lauren Espy

A couple of months ago, I saw a picture go by on my Facebook of an adorable little crochet chemistry set. I immediately stopped what I was doing and went hunting all over the web for more info about it and the person who created it. I just knew that anyone would you make a crochet chemistry set (A CROCHET CHEMISTRY SET!!) was someone I needed to know more about.

I'm so glad I did. As it turns out, the creator is Lauren Espy, and the chemistry set was just one of of her many wonderfully whimsical crochet creations! All which she sells through her Etsy store A Menagerie of Stitches. Understandably, every item in her shop sells out within hours, and she has to give her loyal followers a head start to get their orders in. (Hint: After taking a month off, her shop will reopen this afternoon.)

Lauren was kind enough to chat with me about her creative process and the inspiration for her crocheted cuties!

SRPS: First of all, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? What's your background? What inspires you?

LE: My name is Lauren Espy and I run A Menagerie of Stitches. I was born and raised in California but I now live in Elizabethtown, Pa with my husband Carl and our two pups, Thunder and Storm. In May of this year I decided to take my shop on full time and now spend my days crocheting cacti and other super cute things. I get inspired by cute kawaii characters and anything colorful. I'm most inspired all my maker friends who run shops too. It's so neat to see friends doing what they love and showing support to each other. It's a great community to be a part of and to be inspired by.

SRPS: When did you learn how to crochet? How long have you been creating amigurumi creatures?

LE: I taught myself how to crochet back in 2008 after I begged my grandma to buy me a book on amigurumi. She bought me two skeins of yarn and my first hook set, which I still have and use daily. Those first projects I made were not my best! I laugh when I see some of them at my grandparents house because its so funny to see how far I've come since then. It wasn't until a couple years later that I started drawing up my own critters and then writing up the patterns for them.

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She's Crafty - Wonder Woman edition

Representation matters. I know this isn't really a novel statement to followers of this blog, but it's still an important one to remind ourselves of from time to time. It's important to be able to see ourselves portrayed in a powerful and positive way in the media. And by the same token, it's important to be able to see ourselves as these powerful and positive people. Cosplay is so much more than just wearing a costume. The impact it has on our lives is significant even when we're not in costume. It changes us. We internalize some of that power.

Last week I had a conversation on Twitter with Amadi about how awesome this photo of Melissa Benoist as Supergirl doing awesome stuff with these adorable little Daisy Girl Scouts. It's clear that her role is already having a gathering a huge following, even before the show has even started. And it's no surprise why. Young girls are desperately in need of this kind of role model. The reaction seems so familiar. It's a lot like how girls my age would emulate Lynda Carter's Wonder Woman.

@S_R_P_S me too! I made myself a tiara & bracelets out of cereal box covered in aluminum foil that I kinda turned gold with watercolor.

— Amadi (@amaditalks) September 1, 2015

This got me thinking about how much I still love Wonder Woman. She's strong. She's smart. She's brave and kind and all the good things I aspire to be. For me she still holds a special place in my own personal story -- dressing up as her is empowering -- and I still buy Wonder Woman gadgets and decorations. I love my Wonder Woman pencil box! I really want this jacket, but the price is well outside my budget. I guess that means I'll have to make my own Wonder Woman inspired clothing and decorations. Fortunately, there's no shortage of inspiration out there, all designed by incredible clever and crafty folks.

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She's Crafty - Star Wars Edition

I understand the middle and eastern parts of the US are still looking more like Hoth than anyone would like. I've gathered some geeky Star Wars-themed crafts to help you keep warm.



I love geeky cross stitch! And this one is super awesome. Thanks to Meredith Cait at HardCoreStitchCorps you can make your very own Bless This House - Mos Isley Edition for your very own wretched hive lovely home.

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She's Crafty - Birds of a Feather Edition 2

It's starting to feel like autumn around here. And that means the winter birds are starting to return from their summer journey north. I don't think it's much of a surprise to folks who know me, but you dear reader may not have figured it out yet. I'm a bird nerd. So, obviously, that means I am more likely to collect links of cute or clever bird crafts than the average Jane. Here's the latest collection:



Hello my little chickadees! I love seeing (and hearing) my chickadee pals in my trees out back. They're out back singing right now as I type this. So super cute! Just like these super cute little hand-painted chickadee earrings from Kirstin Stride. In fact, her whole shop is filled with adorable earrings, brooches, cards and more. All hand-painted, and all lovely!

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She's Crafty - Back to School

It's Back to School time! And to celebrate, here's a collection of awesome crafty items with a school theme!

Back to School time means Autumn is nearly here! What a great way to celebrate both with a Lambswool Pencil Scarf! Actually Sara Carr's shop has lots of really lovely and fun scarves!



Feeling little bite-y about having to go back to school? Or, maybe awesome? Well, here's the perfect pencil case either way! This Shark Pencil Case is both bite-y and awesome! Heck, I'm not even taking classes this year, and I want one!

I found these adorable little Best Friends Charms in La Petite Artist's BlueBumbershoot shop. What a cute idea for a back-to-school themed bracelet or earrings!



What's more perfect than settling into a night of reading (for homework, of course!) with a super comfy blanket? Like this Composition Notebook Coverlet by Snuffykin. Super easy to make, and will certainly keep you inspired to jot down some notes, right?

And while you're snuggled up and reading, wouldn't you love to have a cup of tea this cute Notebook Paper Mug? In fact Sikiu Miller-Perez has a great collection of notebook paper themed ceramic items in her MangoTreeCeramics shop.



These Mathematics Earrings are perfect for anyone who loves math and language! That's two of the 'Three Rs' right there! Louise Annable's shop, Bookity, can be found on both sides of the Atlantic: Folksy and Etsy.

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She's crafty!

Last year, when Jill of DapperToad was planning for her summer knitting camp, she was a bit worried that the kids would give up on knitting the first time they got frustrated, and wanted to create a couple whimsical and inspirational pieces to keep them motivated. That's when she dreamed up Sir Reginald Wiggly:

The camp I work at promotes autodidact-ism by allowing the kids choose exactly what they want to do with their time. I keep thinking of kids coming in to learn how to knit, getting frustrated, and abandoning it mid-lesson. One way I've thought to preemptively combat this is to fill my studio with cute stuff that hopefully will spark some interest in knitting and crochet. Enter Sir Reginald Wiggly. He has recently been hired to be my spokesoctopuss. He's self-taught and loves to impress people with his multi-stranded technique and his tiny stitches.

I'm currently enamored with Jade Boylan's website, and find myself just hovering over the image links to see them in color. I couldn't decide which of her items I loved the best, and what to share here. Then I saw them. Bonnie and Sienna, the handmade dolls. They're both so cute in their different outfits. Here's Bonnie playing at being a pirate:

I was cruising around Tumblr and came across Pardalote's Jupiter embroidery. She created it using several images from the Hubble telescope.

I used this sequence of images from NASA as the basis for the work, but I reinterpreted the sequence a little so that I could do the squiggliness I wanted.

I wanted my stitching to demonstrate that the jovian bands are fluid, moving around the planet and swirling it up a storm at region boundaries.

I cannot get enough of this adorable Totoro pot made by h3lloxkimchi:

I love these little crochet hearts from ZoomyYummy. They're sweet and simple, and could be used as favors or Valentines or sachets.

DIY Batman tights? How cool is that? And just think of what else you can do with this technique!

For a fun party celebrating the attendees for the recent ALTSummit, the folks at CreativeBug designed this huge wall of string art:

Courtney wanted to make a BIG splash and design the main art feature in our assigned party room. She came up with a 20′x8′ free standing wall (WALL!) that spelled out the theme “Crush On You” in retro modern string art. The drawings and sketches she came up with did the final piece zero justice. This was a massive undertaking, and one we were very proud to share with everyone who attended.

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