Chicago, Crafty Bastards, and London, Oh My!

Now for a long overdue update from the Monsterworld! We've been traveling all over the place having a great time meeting new people. We road-tripped out to Chicago for our second Renegade Craft Fair Chicago. We had such a blast! Chicago is filled with tons of monster lovers and friendly faces. I also got to meet some fellow Plushteamers and to go to the Threadless meet-up with my good friends Alvaro and John from Fuzzy Ink. We had a great time hanging out with the Threadless crew and I finally got a tour of the new Threadless Headquarters.


Me in the new Threadless Headquarters (photo courtesy of Randy Aquilizan)

We love Chicago and can't wait for our next excuse to go back!

After Chicago came Crafty Bastards, in D.C., quite possibly one of our favorite shows of the year. Despite the construction around the venue and the slightly unexpected continuous rain, it was one of the best Crafty Bastards yet! The people of D.C. show us so much love and have such a great energy about art and creativity. The organizers of CB also work so hard and do an incredible job at it! Here is a video we made for the Craftiest Bastard of 2011 contest...



Next up and most exciting for us, was our very first trip overseas with the monster gang! Myself, the monsters, and the Fuzzy Ink duo packed up our bags and headed to London for the first EVER Renegade Craft Fair London. We love the Renegade shows more than anything so decided to follow them over the pond, because... why not? What an incredible adventure! The show was on the second floor of the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane in East London. It was so much fun meeting so many new vendors from all over Europe! I finally had the amazing honor of meeting fellow plush artist Ninon from Berlin, who's work I've coveted for quite some time. She's as lovely as can be and her work is even more beautiful in person! I also met Jess Quin from Bristol, whose work I also love. I also met the amazing man behind Mr. X Stitch, Jamie. We chatted a bit about art and craft in London and he gave me a few laughs. I had met his counterpart Bridget, a.k.a Beefranck last year in Chicago. And last but not least I met the incredible fellow Plush Teamer, Sian, of Siansburys. I've only ever known her online and in forums so it was so amazing to travel so far and to see someone I 'kind of' knew! Here we are...



After the show we had a few good days in London to be tourists and we had a blast running around on the Tube trying to see as much as possible!






Taking the monsters to London had to be one of the most stressful yet rewarding adventures we've had thus far and we're so happy and have had such an awesome opportunity! The monsters really are taking us all over the globe, those little jet-setters!

Now we're gearing up for some holiday adventures so stay-tuned for and update on all the chances to see the monsters live and in the fur before the holidays are over!