Featuring Jacqui Lee and H!L Giveaway!

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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.

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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!**

Lucky Friday # 37, Esther Aarts Holiday Delivery

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 37th edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress greeting cards. We’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Harper, Sara P and Jessica!

We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Flying Bouquet card!

Now for this week’s snowy selection:

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Design: Holiday Delivery Artist: Esther Aarts Inspiration: Postmen on ice? How perfectly pre-post-erous! Who to send it to: Any cute critter needing a particularly special, speedy delivery this holiday. Favorite detail: Oh my, how Esther works wonders with her winding, sinuous, skate-drawn script! Why letterpress? For sending beautiful letters with such beautifully pressed letters, how could you have it any other way?

Don’t forget to post your comment and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!

Featuring Morris & Essex and Hello!Lucky Giveaway!

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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!**

Custom Holiday Card Bonanza!

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We are soooo excited about our new collection of custom holiday cards! It was such a pleasure getting to collaborate with artists that we've been coveting for years like Hammerpress...

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and Darling Clementine (how adorable are these?)...

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Jolby did a series of  cards that feature their signature quirky characters - the rabbit with a Santa hat on each ear is just too hilarious...

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Love these winter animals by Karin Soderquist...

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and how about these charming type-based designs by Office of Nature?

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We also worked with some of our fav old friends like Lab Partners...

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EIEIO...

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...and, of course, the always geniusy Esther Aarts...

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We're also super excited about our new accordion format! An excellent solution to either the problem of not being able to get everyone into one shot (this is our big problem - squirrelly toddlers don't make for a really great family portrait!  Plus there's always too much fun stuff to share!)

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SusyJack* did a couple of really gorgeous accordion cards, among others, for us this year...

Anyhoo, we were so thrilled to get to work with some of our illustration idols (this just the tip 'o' the iceberg, bye the bye!), we hope you enjoy them as much as we do!

Polkadot Photography

We're thrilled to share the gorgeous new website of our dear friend, Hayley Durack. Welcome to the world, Polkadot Photography! Hayley is a genius at capturing those natural, authentic moments that happen when you think no one is watching. We especially love these shots of a bride and groom before their big moment... each getting ready in their own way!

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Let's face it, we don't all feel like supermodels in front of the lens, but Hayley is a genius at making people feel comfortable and beautiful - exactly what you want on your wedding day. Her portfolio is also just popping with engagement and wedding photos as well as kids, families and our personal favorite, four-legged friends!

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Is September too early to start planning for holiday photo cards? We think not!

Happy Independence Day!

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YAY for the Fourth of July weekend! Our employees are getting ready to celebrate our country's independence, and we're showing our true colors! Lot's of reds, whites and blues popped up in shop today, and we just had to share!

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You can write down your Big Ideas for a patriotic theme party!

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Many Thanks to our H!L readers! Hope you have a terrific (and safe!) holiday weekend!

Our shop will be closed Monday, July 4th but back in action on the 5th. See you then!

Lucky Friday Week #8 (Easter Card Edition!)

Now onto the eighth edition of our weekly feature: Lucky Fridays! Each Friday we’ll feature one of our letterpress cards. Then we’ll choose THREE LUCKY WINNERS to get a free card.  Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce the winners on the following Friday!

The three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Wolfie, Irit and Katie!

Heather will contact you early next week to arrange sending your Ukulele Monkey card.

Onto our Easter greeting card edition:

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Design: Retro Easter

Artist: Sarah Labieneic

Inspiration: Swingin’ sixties wallpaper, Easter egg hunts at Grandma Bianca’s wood-paneled suburban bungalow, croquet on shag Astroturf, milk-glass plates of divinely deviled eggs, crepe paper, wicker baskets, and spring!

Who to send it to:  Any of your circle of Peeps— the hippest hippity-hops or the funkiest chickens you know.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  We put all our eggs in one basket and decided to go with this most egg-cellent idea.

Our favorite details: the eggshell texture of the card stock and the robin’s egg blue hue.

Why Letterpress? We can print the prettiest pastels in letterpress!

Don’t forget to add your comment and check back next week to see if you’ve won!

AE Planning + Design Holiday Greetings!

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We're a wee bit tardy on this (ha!) but check out this interactive map we designed for the ever marvelous Alison Events.

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They traveled something like 84 (!) days out of the year last year, orchestrating fab destination weddings the world over.   Each icon opens up stunning photos from each destination.  Check it out in action here!

All Tomorrow's Parties

Hello!Lucky wishes you a happy and prosperous 2011 and offers the following advice to help the wish come true:

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Surround yourself with friends.

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Dress appropriately to the occasion.

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Share a cup of kindness with elders.

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Share another cup of kindness with your peers.

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Have a BALL!

Photos via Photography News.

Mark Shaw Fashion Photography

For a Friday fix of vintage fashion, view this jaw dropping collection of photos; we found them here. Some may be familiar to all you fashionistas and photo aficionados, but we know they'll never get old. Here's a few to whet your appetite:

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Would love to have this for the holiday party, no?

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Or maybe this...

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And we would love to wear this any day.

Enjoy all your holiday get-togethers and festivities this weekend!

101 Woonideeën Blog Feature

Hello!Lucky was recently featured in a charming Dutch blog, 101 Woonideeën, about DIY and crafting.  Though we've employed some German speaking Hello-Luckiers, none of us that we know speak Dutch. But it's awfully fun to look at their offerings. Our favorite new word: "zelfmaak."  If it's a cognate we have a pretty good guess what it means.  Give it a gander! woonideeen1

They featured our holiday cards in their "Christmas Card Countdown," including our Winter Wonderland, Woodland Friends, Festive Deer and Bird and Delicious Christmas designs.

Also found this adorable Little Golden Books poster:

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Have fun browsing!

Danish Paper Stars!

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We are getting the urge to do some last minute holiday crafting after coming across these super cool Danish (or German or Moravian) paper stars!  There's a handy tutorial - love this wreath idea, and these would look so great nestled into a Christmas tree, or just hanging around, being festive!  And, they would be lovely as a wedding detail (since we have weddings on the brain over here) - perhaps as a cute place card holder? (Fingers tapping chin, contemplatively)...

from Jurianne Matter via Nabe Fabric