Things have been winding down for Hopeful Monsters, while everything else has been speeding up. Making travel arrangements, visiting family, trying to get everything done so I can have a little free time before I fly off on the next adventure.

As you probably have read by know, I'm moving to Turkey to teach English for about a year. If you want to keep track of what I'm up to or see some lovely photos you can check out the blog that Josh and I have made for this adventure:
Teachers of Fortune.

I'll still be in email contact so don't hesitate to send me a little note or comment on the blog!

Love,
Amelia

amelia.hopefulmonsters@gmail.com

Only 3 more days before the shop closes!!

The sale is still going on, but on June 2 I'll be removing all the items and the shop will officially go into hibernation.

I've just finished the intense CELTA course I was taking, and am now working to get all packed and moved out of my house...its been a busy busy month!

Looking for the PDX Etsy Sale coupons? Just below!

PDX Etsy Show!

June 9th at PSU Park Blocks

(between SW Jackson and Market, near the Farmer's Market)

8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

40+ local vendors from Etsy.com

All handmade and awesome.

And, I'm having a sale! Come see me at the show,
and you can get a super deal!

* You don't have to bring the coupons, but you can if you want.*

The tea party kits are here!! I am so thrilled with how they turned out, really sweet and lovely without compromising any of functionality required for a successful tea party.

And the include some of my favorite tea ever - I really couldn't be more pleased!

P.S. A sale on a lot of clothing is coming up - I'll be sending special coupons to the mailing list, so get on there! I send the fewest emails for a mailing list ever...this will be the first actually...

This is just a quick note to say that I'm working away as fast as I can to get out:

The amazing and very special tea party kits: these are lovely and will absolutely be available so so soon.

The red drape neck dresses: a similar cut to the tea dresses and the new jellyfish dresses, but with a yet-to-announced print - the scarlet color of these soy cotton dresses is amazing.

More totes of course - hand dyed with a variety of our favorite prints.

And some new hand printed (screen and block) buttons. I can't wait to get these little babies going!

Basically, I'm excited about everything I'm doing, but there is just never enough time to get it all done as quickly as I'd like. I really can't wait for these new projects to be done and up for all to see - they've been a long time in planning and making and I just can't contain my excitement about them!!

I do have a rather major announcement:

I am moving to Turkey in August.
This means that Hopeful Monsters will be going on reduced production during June, and will most likely be finishing up our goings-on by mid-July.
Don't worry though, I'll be back to printing and designing and making things as soon as I can, but it may be up to a year depending on my circumstances in Turkey.

You can add yourself to my mailing list and I'll update you when I return and Hopeful Monsters is back up and running. (And I won't sell or lose your email addresses.) Just email them to me at amelia.hopefulmonsters@gmail.com

P.S. I will be in email contact throughout most of my time in Turkey, you can contact me via the same email at any time if you have questions.
---Love Amelia

New dresses, hand dyed totes, and buttons are finally up in the shop!

And, I'm happy to announce my new venture, Craft Test.etsy.com, the home of all my crafty endeavors that don't fit in with Hopeful Monsters.

Fancy buttons, hand spun yarn, and handmade homegoods will be showing up for sale over the next few days. Take a look!

We had a short reprieve from the chilly spring rain and got some lovely, warm, and even sunny days all in a row. The pigs and I spent some time in the front yard eating grass and sleeping (them) and reading and having good beer (me). It was a very pleasant afternoon off work!

I've also been busy practicing spinning with my little drop spindle. I've made three mini skeins that are pretty neat, if I do say so myself.

I love the super textured overspins + underspun slubs, so its pretty fortuitous that my spinning ability allows me to make those!

The new dresses will hopefully be up for sale early next week, if we get enough sun to get some photos done outside.

Sneak Peek!

I've been hard at work, and these little babies are almost ready!

I spent this last weekend taking a little time away from making things to go stay with friends in Washington. They have new chicks with names like Skunkweed and Chainsaw.

I'll be getting back to work this week and hopefully finally getting the new clothes photographed and up in the shop.

I'm also looking for easy knitting patterns for bulky and super bulky yarn, so if anyone wants to pass something along it would be much appreciated!

Success! Two singles, one with swirling barberpoles of the rust and yellow and curly overspins, one with color blocks of white, rust, and yellow, and a third skein of super slubs plied with bright yellow thread and full of beehive coils.

And in other news, I quit my job! Hooray! I'm currently looking for something low stress around 30 hours a week. Suggestions are welcomed! (I'm in SW Portland OR.)

I'm back from my vacation now. Josh and I went to Sayulita, Nayarit, Mexico for just under a week. It was really lovely and ideal.
I'm working to get caught up now, printing and designing and sewing up orders in their traveling packages.

I'll be updating the Etsy shop with lots of great new things, lots of new tees too just as soon as I can wrangle in my photographer to help me.

In the mean time, check out Kraken. She made me this amazing shirt - Snail + Slug = Snug, the hybrid love mollusk! I adore it!

After a weekend of eventful printing, hoards of new shirts, wallets, and kids clothes will be ready to go just as soon as I can photograph them.

Out of stock items will return and some new things will finally make it online!

My most recent side project has been an attempt at making handspun yarn. It turned out really lovely until I had to put it in the dryer (its wet in Oregon you know, and things don't air dry very well.) Now its a little felted and looks like dreads. The color was so much nicer before too.

Well, now I know. Maybe I'll have to use a fan next time instead.

I've been working away with my new PMC3 hotpot kit. While my skills aren't quite what I wish they were, my enthusiasm almost makes up for it.

With a little more work the earrings have improved:

And just last night I finished a little Valentines Day gift:

I've also started knitting again, and have some soft and lovely cowls coming up soon. I'll post a photo or two once they're all ready to go.

Actually knitting again has brought to my attention all the amazing hand spun yarns on Etsy. As we speak (type/read) I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of "Theodore" by The Red Button Tree:

Here are some of my favorite yarns and the crafters that produced these fluffy beauties. All handspun, and many hand dyed as well!

Haptotrope's post-apocalyptic yarn Raspberries and Old Lace, made with tulle, wool, and lace:
Fey's Salmon Run with big spongy coils of bright blue!

In Hope's bright Pink Lemonade yarn with little sparkly sequins tucked in the twists: Third Floor Fiber's Worms in the Grass is one of my favorites- I'd love to knit it up and add a silk earthworm patch (like the one on the little hat I made a couple weeks ago)!
Felt Studio's Baboogie is not only hand spun and hand dyed - it also includes silk cocoons cut into little cups and spun right into the yarn:
I can't wait to finish the projects I've got waiting and get started on something new with some of these!

New silk pocket mirrors are now for sale in the Etsy shop! Two of the four designs are shown below, but all four are really lovely. The dupioni silk has a really textured sheen to it is much more brilliant in real life than in the photos.



This weekend I finally broke out my new PMC3 hotpot kit and tried it out. I made these earrings, which having not been sanded or polished much, aren't too bad for a first try at a new material. I was hoping they'd look bubblier, and less globby but all in all I'm satisfied that I didn't burn down the kitchen trying it. I can't wait to give it another shot now that I have a little better idea how things will turn out.

Among the new screens making their first, triumphant debuts is the earthworm. This earthworm is ridgy, squirmy, and full of love. The first earthworm ever is available on an awesome hat - stretchy knit with a stiff, little bill and a lovely earthworm front and center!
You can buy him from our Etsy shop.

More new lovelies coming right up!

p.s. there's a sale going on at the Etsy shop. Check it out!

I just got some photos of Handsome and Sasha wearing their little circus sideshow shirts!
Sasha has a silvery ballerina balancing on a pony, and Handsome has a muscleman with his barbell.

Thanks for sending these Ellen!

The first of the new silk and linen scarves is on Etsy.

I'm hoping to get the website updated in the next few days, and then you can see some of the new goodies there too (but new, different goodies - I don't want much overlap!)

Hello from the little work room!

Today is a big work day, I'm keeping very busy!

P.S. Kids' prototypes for sale on Etsy, here too!

I've been sick pretty much since my return to Portland, and have been less productive as a result. I'm happy to say that in the next few days the new scarves will debut, and work can begin on the next project - a whole shmorgasboard of new prints.
In the meantime, here are some photos to entertain us all.

My snowy home town:

Sozluk's curious little face:

Tweak's hungry grab-the-lettuce-and-run stance:

Tomorrow I'm flying back to Portland and regular management of the tiny empire will continue. I have a ton of ideas and exciting new creations stocked up in my head and in my notebooks that I can't wait to get started on!
In the mean time, here is a list of artists and specific goods that I think are super neat and have purchased/want to purchase/want everyone to oogle and purchase:
(in no specific order, all photos are from these fabulous artists and belong to them)

Kristen Ferrell's art work, specifically the cats and coffee image. I have these on a t-shirt, and they are adorable. In a grotesque bitey cat way.

Nicole George's Animal Friends Calender has many very cute animal drawings and a drawing of E.T. in a party hat.

Discomedusa Designs is one of my new favorite designers. She makes incredible industrial organic jewelry, including expanded earwear for the folks with big holes. The craftsmanship on these things is great, really solid and still remarkably light. Amazing work.

As-Is has a jumper available from Small Craft Advisory that I really really like. I saw it in real life at Crafty Wonderland, and it is great.

A few months ago I bought a Polarwares snow drop necklace and I wear it constantly. Its light, pretty, super high quality, and really fun to touch and play with during the day. You can buy her lovely porcelain goods from the Polarwares site or from her Etsy shop.

Small Stump makes a multitude of cute, stump like and woodland type goodies. You can buy their soft stumps from their home site, or their Etsy shop.

Danielle Maveal's jewelry has been showing up everywhere recently, as well it should, because it is lovely. I like plain silver, I like cute pictures, and I love her work. Its dainty and light, but also clever and eye catching.

I'm a sucker for slugs. Real ones, embroidered ones, stuffed ones, and printed ones. Aviary Press has included a slug in their Party Animals card series. A slug in a little party hat! Perfect!

There's dozens more artists and shops that I could list, but its getting to be that time of day where I should go venture out into the world. You too.