Who is Hopey?
That's me! 😊 My real name is Dana. How did I go from Dana to Hopey? That's a long story... 😆
But more about me:
I've always loved expressing my creativity. For example, I enjoy making up stories (see the sticker descriptions or the story of Toads🐢✨).
My greatest passion, however, is painting! :>
Why "Hopey Dopey Shop"?
Quite simply: "Hopey Dopey" is an extension of my nickname "Hopey." It just sounds round and cheerful—exactly what I wanted. Originally, it was only meant to be a placeholder for the shop until I found a permanent name. I brainstormed a lot, and ideas like "Sticker Art Shop" went through my head. But nothing felt quite right. Finally, I realized: "Hopey Dopey" is actually already the perfect name for my shop. So, it stayed that way. c:
The designs
The designs are a blend of fantasy and real-life experiences! Most of the motifs are inspired by personal experiences.
The dragonfly Lyra, for example, reminds me of a visit to the zoo, where I saw a pond with beautiful, luminous dragonflies. Or the cactus design Los Wobbles, which evokes a tropical greenhouse full of impressive cacti. 🌵✨
And many more ideas are waiting to be brought to life!
The shop logo
Fittingly for me - and for the name "Hopey Dopey Shop" - the choice of logo was also quite spontaneous.
It shows a drawing of one of my stuffed animals with a sock on its head. Why a sock? Well, quite simply: because he likes wearing them! 😁
The cuddly toy is none other than my faithful companion Krötos - a turtle with lots of charm.
Like the shop name, the logo was originally just meant to be a placeholder. But the more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of making Krötos the face of my shop. So everything stayed exactly as it was! :]
The path to your own shop
I've always loved stickers!
As a child, I covered everything with stickers: bags, notebooks, furniture - nothing was safe.
A pivotal moment was about three years ago when I was talking to my best friend about our dreams. Self-employment had long been one of them, and so we wanted to start the online shop "Soul-Buddies". Since stickers are my passion, I took on that part.
But over time we realized that our visions differed, and decided that each of us should run our own shop. That's how the Hopey Dopey Shop came about, while she now runs the Soul Buddies Shop.
Drawing was a challenge for me at first, but I practiced a lot and improved. Even though the first drafts weren't great, they show the beginning of this journey. 🥰
The story of Krötos
Krötos is a perfectly ordinary tortoise. Well...at first glance, anyway...He's a proud 350 years old and can fly! But only when it rains. That's quite handy, because it means he can deliver packages! And he's really fast: on average, it only takes him about three to eighteen months. 🐢✨🚀
His greatest dream is to find the legendary Honey Toad. Nobody knows exactly who or what the Honey Toad is, but Toad swears that it exists.
He also dreams of buying a small longboard to cruise around on – just like turtles do. We're keeping our fingers crossed for him! 😊