I'm taking some time off from both my day job and Hopeful Monsters for the holidays. Both our home site and our Etsy shop will remain open, you can browse around and even make purchases during this time. All orders will ship out just as soon as I return on Jan. 4. (Assuming there are no more crazy snow explosions and I can actually get on a plane!)

During the break I will be brainstorming and designing up hoards of great new things that I've been mulling over the last few weeks. Such little wonders may incorporate some of the following elements:

mongoose
earthworm
silk
knitted felty things
patches
stretch linen
more ocean animals
some little animals in interesting and adorable outfits
cowls
space (like the solar system that is)
printed stationary products

There has also been some talk of collaboration between Hopeful Monsters and a lovely seamstress that I adore. Nothing concrete, but I'm pretty excited.

I hope everyone is having/has a nice holiday!

p.s. look at some of the recent additions to the Etsy shop:

The holiday shipping deadline has passed. You can still have things shipped out until the 21st, but I make no promises about the day they will arrive.

I will say I'm happy the crush of holiday shipping is over. (Those of you still waiting for your custom items, I haven't forgotten! I am watching the mail like a hawk for my wholesale order to arrive, they assured me it would be very very soon!)
I had a nice relaxing morning doing a small print run for the Lewis & Clark College debate team. Then I sewed some Christmas presents for my friends, and now I'm getting ready to drive up to a good friend's house in southern Washington for the night. Hopefully the rest of the weekend will be as relaxing. There will be copious amounts of snow up at her house, so hopefully the roads aren't too bad and we can play in the snow some.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend as well!

New things and limited edition print-no-more shirts, tanktops (a little out of season, sure, but they're the last of a dying breed these tanktops!), wallets, and brand new gingko scarves are showing up all day on the Etsy shop. Go look at them! Awesome!

Also, go google the yeti crab. You'll be amazed. (Or you should be!)

Hopefully the promised updates will happen tonight!
Things have been incredibly hectic, and I'm spending a ton of time tracking down wholesale orders and stressing out about the impending Christmas deadline and my day job.

On a more interesting note, go google the Yeti Crab. Its amazing. And probably will soon join the ranks of the Hopeful Monsters.

A small printing flurry today will be followed by wallets being restocked, some kid's prototypes and men's tees appearing in our Etsy shop throughout the week, and a batch of onesies debuting at Thinker Toys in Portland, OR. *Due to a complete lack of time (free or otherwise) these brand new items won't be making their debut for a few days. Sorry! But it'll be soon, I'm just as excited as you to get them out there.

Remember, this Sunday is the Handmade Bazaar!

Limited edition, made only for The Sampler brooches will be going out with the holiday Sampler. Gingko leaves, squids, and orchids all handprinted on double thick vegan felt. Pretty sweet...


Still shopping for the holidays? (Or haven't really started, like me?) Come to the Handmade Bazaar Sunday Dec. 10! I'll be there! If you mention having seen this blog, I'll knock $5 off any clothing purchase.

Not much for news, mostly just very busy! But do enjoy these informative photos.

All Hopeful Monsters orders are sent out inside neatly stitched (yep, I sew every one) map packets. Perfect for giving to someone else right away, or sending to yourself as a little present!

I've been working on some new scarf ideas, these are silk on one side and stretch linen on the other, hand sewn and printed. They are clearly very classy.

In this photo we can see me blissfully feeding the guinea pigs. Nevermind how tired and sort of suprised I look.

P.S. to those customers who may be allergic to guinea pigs or suspect they may be - these lovely little rodents never come into contact with your clothing, the print studio, or the shipping materials. This means you should not sneeze when you receive your order.

This past Sunday was the much anticipated Portland Etsy Art & Craft Show. It was "squishalicious" as promised, but went really well. I got a really great parking spot (worth mentioning because of all my stuff to unload and the rain), got to meet Craft Couer's boyfriend who was wearing the narwhal shirt (the very first men's one at that!) and standing around talking to people about my stuff, saw a fellow who proclaimed himself to be "my biggest fan" which was much appreciated, and got to meet many fellow Etsy-iers from Portland (and the surrounding areas). All in all a good show.

In addition to Sunday being fun and all. I got guinea pigs on Friday! They're really adorable, though I'm still working on being able to pick them up without scaring both of us to death.

They are two years old, both little ladies, and need names. Just last night I moved them into the new cage I built for them, which is probably 4 times as large as the one they came in when we adopted them. I think its somewhere between 7 and 10 square feet. You can just see the black and white one in the cardboard box house in the middle.

*If you're sad you missed us this weekend, or just can't get enough and need to see us again, come to the Handmade Bazaar Dec. 10 at the Wonder Ballroom here in Portland. If you're going to shop for the holidays, why not buy handmade?

Crafty Wonderland went pretty well, there were tons of wonderful things! Here is a photo of me in our booth. (The clothes rack is sort of off to the side.)
Also, it is very blurry. Though to my knowledge the camera wasn't actually being shaken.

I've also begun making some protype pillows. This one has a blue linen front and a textured gold back.

Don't forget! Next Sunday is the PDX Etsy Art & Craft Show!

Just a reminder that you can come see us tomorrow at Crafty Wonderland!

And again next Sunday at the PDX Etsy Art & Craft Show!

Ooohhh live in person!

The new website has been up for a few weeks now, so its about time to get this blog up and running as well.

I've been working away on lots of new ideas and variations on the old ideas, hopefully some awesome new stuff will make its debut at the craft shows this month. This month in Portland, Oregon Hopeful Monsters will be at two great shows, two weekends in a row! Come see me and fondle some of the super soft shirts and dresses live in person!

Crafty Wonderland
at the Doug Fir, Sunday Nov. 12
http://craftywonderland.com

PDXEtsy Art & Craft Show
at It's a Beautiful Pizza, Sunday Nov. 19
http://pdxetsy.com

Mmmm, new wallets!