Featuring: Darling Clementine & Giveaway!

Today we're featuring the lovely and charming duo behind Darling Clementine! Ingrid Reithaug and Tonje Holand are too cute for words, and have a mod style that we are crazy about. In addition to graphic design and illustration, these ladies make beautiful stationery. You can order their adorable and customizable digital holiday cards here, but as a special offer, the DC ladies are giving away 2 boxes of the limited edition letterpress cards! We want them all for ourselves, but know you will love them just as much! Darling Clementine has its own shop in Norway, but if you can’t get there you can purchase their illustrations, trays, cushions and other stationery products online here. Enjoy!

What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

The inspiration for Darling Clementine's cards for Hello!Lucky is a combination of objects that have a traditional Scandinavian Christmas feel and objects from our modern ways of celebrating the holiday. We wanted to express the expectations we have for the holiday by indicating present shopping, Christmas decorating and finding traditional objects from the loft.

What are you currently working on?

We are both on our maternity leaves at the moment, so currently we are both spending the days looking into the beautiful faces of our newborn babies; our proudest creations so far!

What influences you the most?

Our Scandinavian design heritage combined with our modern color palette.

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

We love taking part in a Christmas fair for designers that is hosted in Oslo every first weekend in December, having a chocolate gift box workshop with red wine and dark chocolate overload, as well as putting up favorite baubles in our windows!

Best holiday memory?

Christmas present shopping in London and the wonderful smell in childhood homes Christmas morning!

To enter to win 2 boxes of limited edition letterpress cards designed by Darling Clementine, comment below and tell us your best holiday memory! The winner will be selected Friday, November 11th at 12:00pm. Good luck!

**Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner of the Darling Clementine giveaway has been chosen. Stay tuned on our blog for more fabulous holiday giveaways to come!**

Featuring Debbie Powell and Giveaway!

Today we’re excited to feature the lovely and talented Debbie Powell! Based in London, New York, and Southbourne, Debbie is an illustrator and hand letterer who loves working with all sorts of art mediums. From water colors to linoleum printing, pencil and pen to printmaking, her brilliance shines in all forms.  We love an artist who experiments with new things and especially love that in her spare time Debbie makes jewelry with the family collective Rah and Rah and her own handmade pots! What more could she conquer!?

What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

Long walks, hot cocoa on chilly evenings, Christmas parties, snowflake patterns, cinnamon sticks and paper chains!

What are you currently working on?

I have a few projects on the go at the moment—illustrations for a 2013 diary, patterns for textiles, and a regular spot in the travel pages of the British newspaper The Independent which keeps me busy.

What influences your style the most?

For a long time I have been very much inspired by the Wabi Sabi approach to art and crafts. This is the idea that nothing is perfect, and beauty is found in imperfection rather than flawless perfection.

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

My family lives right by the sea so every year on Christmas day we all bundle up and take a long walk along the beach for some after dinner fresh sea air!

Best holiday memory?

When I was ten years old my folks sent me to New York for Christmas to stay with my aunt for three weeks. We had the most amazing time: I got taken to Radio City, Rockefeller Center ice rink; I saw Santa at Macy's; New York at Christmas feels really magical!

To enter to win 2 boxes of limited edition Paper Chains letterpress cards, head over to Debbie’s blog today where she will be hosting the giveaway! Best of luck!

(boxed sets include 6 cards and envelopes)

**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**

Featuring Esther Aarts and Giveaway!

Today we're featuring our friend Esther Aarts! Esther lives in Nijmegen, Netherlands, and runs an illustration and design studio called Esta. We love the playful stories her designs tell and her use of bold color combinations. In addition to illustration and hand lettering, Esther also enjoys experimenting with "small press" projects, like making mimeograph and Gocco prints. We've had the pleasure of working with Esther over the years and always admire the designs she dreams up. Her retro cards are sure to make your friends and family smile this season!

What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

Dutch graphic design from the 50s and 60s mixed with contemporary illustration styles and my tendency to stick eyes on non-living things.

What are you currently working on?

Some cool client work, and I'm working on a new set of prints containing 4 dueling characters. They're a bit different than my usual prints, and I'll be working with overprints a lot (when two colours printed on top of each other create a new third colour), which makes the project a bit unpredictable in an exciting way.

What influences your style the most?

I'm a total sucker for traditional print with a limited amount of colours. Hello!Lucky is a great fit for me with the letterpress! Even when doing work for offset or web, that old school aesthetic influences me on a subconscious level. There's also a lot of seriously good work from other designers to look at—which has a continually butt-kicking effect!

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

We've got our typical Dutch variation on Santa Claus, called Sinterklaas. He celebrates his birthday on December 5 by giving lots of presents and candy (typically marzipan, chocolate and gingerbread-like mini cookies). Tradition is giving and receiving the first letter of your name as a chunky chocolate letter. If your Sinterklaas is very generous, you get your entire first name in Chocolate Letters!

Best holiday memory?

New years eves, playing records with friends and selecting all sorts of silly tunes and generally having a good time!

To enter to win an assortment of 20 letterpress cards by Esther Aarts (assorted occasions) head over to Esther’s blog today where she’s hosting a giveaway! Gooood luck!

**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**

Featuring Karin Soderquist and Giveaway!

Happy weekend everyone! Today we're featuring the talented artist Karin Söderquist! Karin is an illustrator and recent grad currently living and working in London! Her latest interest is working with colored paper collage. We can't get enough of her friendly animal characters and must admit, we share a true love for "bubblegum colours, snowy mountain tops and endless summer days."  Another jolly holiday card genius! Check out her shop here!

What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

Making holiday cards in the middle of summer felt bizarre, but I listened to a lot of holiday music to get me in the mood (A Christmas Gift for You, Phil Spector's Christmas album was a favourite). I wanted to create something that felt like Christmas did when you where a kid. Full of expectations and fun. I want people to look at the cards and be reminded of all the good things about Christmas, having some time off to spend with the people you care about.

What are you currently working on?

I've just started working on a piece for an exhibition. The theme for the show is to create something that fits into a matchbox, so it's going to be tiny!

What influences your style the most?

My style has developed over many years, and it is still developing. Right now I work a lot with paper cut collages. I started doing that because sometimes I felt very constrained when I was drawing and I was looking for a way of working that I would feel more comfortable with. Subject wise I'm inspired by a bit of everything, music, movies, art etc. The process of creating is inspiring in itself; it's like the more you make the more you want to make. Creativity breeds creativity!

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

I live in London and the rest of my family lives in Sweden. Since moving here I don't get to see them enough so my favourite tradition is going home to Sweden and spending some time with them, eating and drinking too much.

Best holiday memory?

In Sweden Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December. When I was a kid my family lived in the countryside and on the morning of the 23rd, after we had breakfast, we'd put on warm clothes and go out into the snowy forest and cut our own Christmas tree. The 23rd of December also happens to be my birthday!

To enter to win a $100 gift certificate to Hello!Lucky (which you could use to order Karin’s holiday cards!) head over to Karin’s blog today where she’ll be hosting a giveaway! Good Luck!

**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**

Featuring Jacqui Lee and H!L Giveaway!

Today we're checking in with our featured designer Jacqui Lee! Jacqui is an illustrator currently enjoying life in Vancouver, BC. Much of her work is inspired by decades past, and she hopes to take some of that retro charm and add it to her own creative endeavors. We love her hand drawn text and illustrative qualities in each of her holiday cards. It must be fun to live inside her head when she's coming up with such hilarious designs like Fa la la and Animal Sweaters. Who doesn't love a band of musical woodland creatures? So glad Jacqui is a part of our collection!

What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

To be honest, there wasn't any specific thing that inspired me. It was more of a group of things. What I can definitely say is the enthusiasm shown by the Hello!Lucky team when we were first going through ideas was a huge inspiration. It was a great starting point that propelled me through the whole process. Oh, and I may have listened to some holiday tunes on repeat.

What are you currently working on?

Something really exciting that I can't talk about (yet).

What influences your style the most?

This is a tough question! I feel like I'm always being influenced by the new and different things coming out of the creative community. If I wanted to try and pin a specific influence down, I would have to say mid-century illustration, especially children's books. During my time in art school I was definitely influenced by all of the amazing work surrounding me, but I think I've always been drawn to the whimsical and charming work done by illustrators like Art Seiden, Cliff Roberts, and Charley Harper. Visually devouring all of this work has probably made a mark on my own to some degree.

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Baking cookies! I must have my gingerbread men.

Best holiday memory?

My childhood home had a very large hill in the backyard where we would have all-day-long toboggan parties with friends and family. We would hurtle ourselves down that hill all day long until it was dark out. Then we'd retreat inside to eat cookies, drink hot chocolate and warm up by the fireplace.

To enter to win a $100 gift certificate to Hello!Lucky (which you could use to order Jacqui Lee’s holiday cards!) head over to her blog today where she’ll be hosting a giveaway! Best of luck!

**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**

James Tucker in Uppercase Magazine!

The fall UPPERCASE magazine is out and features our very own letterpress printer, James Tucker! The issue is all about sharp objects like hooks, knives, and other cutting tools. Check out the "Labor Intensive" section to see James's gorgeous wood-cut print! Congrats James!

Featuring Morris & Essex and Hello!Lucky Giveaway!

Today’s feature is about Morris & Essex! Morris & Essex products are all designed and printed by the mastermind Eliza Jane Curtis in her farmhouse studio in the small historic district of Limington, Maine. Her work is a combination of letterpress, linoleum cut block-printing and silkscreen, using both traditional screen printing techniques and a Gocco machine. It's obvious Eliza takes extra special care when creating her gorgeous cards and patterned prints, because they are impeccably made! We love that her production process includes carving with her bare hands and that she takes advantage of all the wonderful possibilities of printmaking. For more fabulous designs, check out her Etsy site here!

Q: What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

A: Each of the cards has a different look, and my inspiration was pretty diverse for each of them. I was thinking of beautiful Nordic fair-isle knitting patterns while drawing the "Stars" card. "Folk Tales" is definitely inspired by traditional folk arts too. I happened to be staying in Barcelona while working on some of the other designs, so I think some of that city's gorgeous tile patterns and busy colors found their way into the designs.

What are you currently working on?

I'm sketching up some cute Valentine designs, and I've been working on lots of patterns. I'm silk screening some really bright, fun patterns on canvas for sewing into tote bags and zipper pouches. I'm hoping to have those up in my Etsy shop in time for Christmas.

What influences your style the most?

History. I have a big collection of old cards and magazines, craft books and junk from the past hundred years; a lot of them I got from my grandmother. That's one of my favorite places to look for inspiration. And of course I'm also inspired by nature; I live in the country, and I spend lots of time taking pictures of flowers, leaves, seeds and stalks and vines and weeds, and those forms always find their way into my work.

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Christmas at my parents' farmhouse in Maine; my cousin Lisa's buttery, fresh homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast; a day spent cooking and lounging around with family and smells of food and pine needles filling the house; a sumptuous feast in the middle of the afternoon (especially my mother's cranberry-orange relish and my father's homemade fruit pies!) and then after dinner, a long afternoon walk in the snowy fields to work off a little of the food, with all the dogs running alongside and tumbling in the snow.

Best holiday memory?

Northern lights in the sky on Christmas night.

To enter to win a $100 gift certificate to Hello!Lucky (which you could use to order Morris & Essex holiday cards!) head over to Eliza’s blog today where she’ll be hosting the giveaway! Good luck!

**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**

Shannon May Giveaway!

Today we’re featuring the lovely designs of Shannon May! Although Shannon spent her childhood on the coast of southern Connecticut, we're excited to have her as a neighbor illustrator living in Berkeley. Her designs are inspired by science and geometry, and still maintain a whimsical quality that we just adore. Not only is she a killer card designer, she spends her free time making fabulous jewelry (lintu) and fine art (themooncraft), all available on Etsy. We can't wait to see more of Shannon's work in the future!

Q: What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

A: I've always been interested in math and science, finding beauty in the simplicity of equations and diagrams. But, being more of a visual art person than a physicist, I try to use that same imagery to describe other things, like the holidays!

What are you currently working on?

Illustrating a cookbook for an amazing publishing company here in San Francisco, but it's still under wraps... Shhhh.

What influences your style the most?

Math and outer space!

What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Finding the pickle ornament! My mom would hide it in the tree and all the kids would scramble to find it. The one to find it first got a gift, and I was very, very good at finding it.

Best holiday memory?

Hearing hooves on the roof.

To enter to win a $100 gift certificate for Hello!Lucky (which you could use toward any of Shannon May's lovely designs!), comment on this post telling us your favorite part about the holidays! The winner will be selected at 12:00pm Friday, November 4th and we will email you with the exciting news!

**Thanks to everyone for participating! The winner of the Shannon May giveaway has been chosen. Stay tuned on our blog for more fabulous holiday giveaways to come!**

Featured Designer and Jolby Giveaway!

In celebration of the new website and the beginning of the holiday season, we will be featuring the amazing designers that collaborated with us on our new 2011 custom holiday collection! Each artist or group truly inspired us with their festive illustrations, and after months of collaborating behind the scenes, we're ready to shine a little light on our dear designer friends. We've gathered some Q&A about the creative minds behind our spectacular collection, and the first to the spotlight? Jolby!

Jolby began in 2005 when design duo Colby Nichols and Josh Kenyon joined forces in Portland, Oregon. Their jolly illustrations and super colorful combinations create the perfect mix for holiday merriment. We're more than excited to feature their cards this season, and hope you all find as much fun in their designs as we do!

Q: What inspired your design for the holiday collection?

A: For us the holidays have always been about celebrating with family and coming together to recharge. We wanted both cards to reflect that and to make whoever was receiving it smile. As far as style goes, we are both heavily inspired by mid-century children's book illustrators and especially their holiday pieces. Hopefully a little bit of that comes through on these cards!

What are you currently working on?

Each year we try to take some time to work on a solo art show for a gallery, and we're up to our ears in one right now. The new collection of work is called "Shapes & Smiles" and it explores everything in our lives that makes us happy. It's really refreshing to take a break from our client work to produce art and explore new mediums.

What influences your style the most?

So many things: Our favorite artists, the amazing creative community that surrounds us in Portland, nature, our family and music. We are always trying to push one another to try something new and to take something further. What's your favorite holiday tradition?

Colby: When I was a kid, my dad used to make these homemade cinnamon rolls and they are amazing. I always look forward to those. Josh: For me it's Thanksgiving dinner. It was my mom's favorite holiday, and it just rubbed off on me. I love gathering with my family around the table to talk, eat and be with each other. Nothing is better. Best holiday memory?

Colby: Finding a Mega Man NES cartridge in my stocking one year. It blew my mind! I played it all day. Josh: When I got "Denver the Last Dinosaur" pajamas and a fake guitar as presents.

To enter to win a $100 gift certificate of customizable Jolby designs from the holiday collection, head over to their blog here!

Triumphantly Announcing Our New Website!

Drumroll, please...We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-spankin'-new website!  We've been laboring over this baby for months and months and are sooo excited that it's finally (finally!) here!

The new site includes a fab new collection of custom holiday photo cards: This year we got together 16 of our favorite illustrators/designers—the likes of Susy*Jack, Hammerpress, Tom Frost (featured above), Lab Partners and more—and collaborated on a whole collection of fun and unique holiday cards.  We can't wait for you to see them!

Additionally, the new site features beautiful photography by Edyta Szyszlo...we had so much fun styling these shots!

We also have a gorgeous new wedding invitation collection with Anne Smith (another illustrator we've admired/been deeply envious of for years and years)...

And we're thrilled to introduce our brand-new customization tool, which is going to make it a breeze to customize cards.  It's super cool, if we do say so ourselves, and allows you to change colors, choose fonts and drop in photos on the fly. It makes ordering fun and easy and gives you a lot of control over the final result.

You can also send your order straight to print (that's how much control you have over design, people!) to cut down on the turnaround time.  Normally, it can take 1-2 business days (or weeks, for those of you prone to dilly-dallying!) to approve a manually-created proof, so this is an exciting new feature.  Of course, you still can have our designers put their finishing touches on your design or incorporate any special requests, but how awesome is that??

That being said, please bear with us as we get settled into our new digs (there are bound to be a few hiccups along the way!). Some products may be temporarily unavailable online while we get our shop in order, but we promise they'll be back soon!  If you have any questions or need help with a product that is currently not available on our site, don't hesitate to drop us a line or give us a ring! We'd love to hear from you! US: info@hellolucky.com or 415.355.0008  UK: ukinfo@hellolucky.com or 020 7378 9740

Featured: Brides.com

We're delighted to start off this week with a spotlight on table stationery! Recently Hello!Lucky was featured on Brides.com in their Ultimate Guide to Table Stationery, and we're super impressed with their collection! They also share some useful information about etiquette and placement options, and some great alternatives for table numbers! Check it out here!

If you're hosting a fall dinner party, don't forget to include personalized seating cards! Adding stationery to your table setting makes the gathering extra special. We're certain these Autumn Leaves and Tuscany cards will wow your guests and bring an extra hint of fall to your table.

Featured: No Cal Brides!

If you haven't had a chance to pick up Northern California's Brides fall/winter 2011 magazine, now would be a good time! This issue's Style Review features four favorite design movements and the noteworthy pieces that make them stand out.

One of the segments highlights the romantic and intricate characteristics of Art Nouveau, which fits quite perfectly with our Nouveau Peonies wedding invitation.

We love working with our local Northern California brides! You can pick up a copy online here!

Featured: Visit Hawaii on Hapa Hale!

Ahh, to be soaking in the sweet Hawaiian sun! We wouldn't mind sipping mai tai's, or tasting crunchy macadamia nuts, surfing in warm water or hiking ancient volcanoes. But, that giant blue ocean has come between us, and we must find other ways to treasure all the glory that Hawaii has to offer. One of those ways is to visit our Visit Hawaii invitation suite. Recently Hapa|Hele, a blog devoted to island life, featured our tropical invitation, and left us dreaming about all things aloha.

Things we love about Hapa|Hele? Island hopping. From these Na Pali coast prints (above) to the Big Island's magical getaways, we're gushing with island envy!

UK Shout Outs!

For all of our overseas readers, we have some delightful news! Our very own UK General Manager Iain Bartlett has been busy in the magazine world! He was recently quoted in Your London Wedding giving some helpful advice should rain fall on your wedding day. He's always had great ideas for quick fixes! And when you live in an area where the weather does not always cooperate, you must be ready for a plan B!

Iain also wrote a wonderful and creative spread for Cosmopolitan Bride about how to add a crafty detail to any invitation set. We love the idea of including a handmade touch to your invitations, even if it's simply a ribbon or button!

If you're in the UK don't forget to pick up your own copies! Cheers Iain!

Big Day's big feature in The Knot!

Hello!Lucky's Big Day invitation was recently featured in The Knot and we couldn't be more proud!

The classic black, white, red and gold color scheme pairs perfectly with the old world grandeur of San Francisco's City Hall, the setting of Courtney and Ethan's fabulously chic wedding.

Things we adore: crimson peep toe pumps with sleek black dresses, tiny red velvet cupcakes, bouquets of hot pink and orange blooms, the Golden Gate bridge icon on our San Francisco Skyline Menu and Place Cards... and did we mention red velvet cupcakes?

All photos by Michelle Walker Photography

Studio Snapshot: Special Delivery!

Extra! Extra! Yesterday we received a special delivery with the soon-to-be-released September 2011 issue of Brides Magazine! We always love to browse Brides' perfectly groomed pages for inspiration and fresh ideas. The September issue is packed full of glamorous wedding gowns, delicious cakes, and smart tips to make your big day a cinch! They also included an article titled "The Ultimate Guide to Table Stationery," and we were thrilled to have a few of our designs featured.

Our Whimsy menu, Big Day place cards, and Evelyn table number shined among other amazing pieces by super-talented designers.

We always encourage creativity when preparing for a table display, and we've seen a number of beautiful arrangements in the past. Whether you choose tented place cards, personalized menus, or framed table numbers - there is always room to spruce up the presentation. Simply placing a card in a pool of jellybeans creates a playful and colorful display, like these bright pink and orange custom cards below!

The September 2011 issue will be on newsstands soon and we just know you'll love it as much as we do!

Real Wedding: Jacob and Kristen

Talk about a good ol' time! This Indiana barn wedding featured on Style Me Pretty sums up all there is about summer goodness. From yard games to lemonade, suspenders to leather boots, the rustic and fashionable details have us gushing with joy. And it's no lie that we've seen a fair share of barn venues, but never something this pristine.

It's always fun to see images of our paper products used in weddings, but it's rare that we see our Big Day inspired paddle fans in action! These lovely ladies sure know the right way to stay cool on a hot day!

All photos by Austin Warnock Photography

Our London Hero

We've got to give a big "hip hip hooray!" to our UK General Manager Iain! He went above and beyond to hand deliver a day-of wedding piece to the bride & groom, one day before the wedding - now that's customer service! Forever and Ever Events gave a super sweet shout out to Iain - the US team couldn't be more proud!

Way to go Iain!

Real Wedding: Ingrid and Howard

The setting of a wedding can really enhance the mood of a celebration, especially when it takes place somewhere as breathtaking as the San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito! Ingrid and Howard's summery and stylish wedding just screams happiness - how could anyone feel otherwise when you're hanging out in a field of lavender and loveliness?!

The couple chose our Woodland Damask letterpress invitation - doesn't it fit nicely with the bridal party?

Love the collection of vintage stamps and the stunning calligraphy by Michele Papineau.

Check out more photos of Ingrid and Howard's wedding (along with an adorable video!) at Style Me Pretty!

All photos by Jose Villa

The Collection E.S. gals visit Hello!Lucky!

The girls at the Collection Event Studio recently visited our SoMa studio and shared a behind the scenes glimpse into the bustling world of Hello!Lucky! We love to browse their blog for creative inspiration, and are always amazed by their stunning collection of wedding and event resources. They snapped such lovely photos of our office, here are some of our favorites:

Meet our ravishing sales team! This handsome lad and three lovely ladies are the best when it comes to planning your special day!

And how adorable are their business cards?

(Pictured: Stewey, Lia, Kristine, and Lillian)

Above: John prepares specialty ink colors as James works the Vandercook press.

Anna B., along with the help of Lillian, are carefully assembling envelope liners.

Part of the design team (missing Anna H. and Shauna!) making all the perfect adjustments on every stationery order!

You can read the original post here. Thanks again for stopping by ladies!

All photos by Kate Webber Photography