Hello!Lucky
Letterpress greeting cards, thank you notes, DIY projects, free printables and craft inspiration.
Is your dog really a dapper gent just waiting to express himself? Then this hilarious dog toy may be just the thing to let him show his true nature! If you don't have a canine friend to mock, perhaps try our human version - fun for kids and adults alike! Made by Because We Can for Eunice and Daniel's wedding, these mustaches are perfect for the dapper gent in all of us.
We all know how great (and affordable!) J. Crew wedding dresses are, but have you see their jewelry lately? Its really lovely - perfect for a spring wedding, whether you are the bride or just a glamorous guest! Some of our favorites include the Crystal Lattice necklace (above) and the Crystal Bib necklace (below).
View the entire collection here.
We're always on the lookout for fabulous details that might be used to add little touches of flair to wedding or party design.
We came across The Gilded Bee via the lovely Head vs. Heart. This adorable little shop has a selection of bits'n'bobs that would be a perfect addition to favors, cake décor, or...we're sure there are a multitude of uses to be had! Love this bit of ruffle...
Handy little tags!
Butterflies in a myriad of colors...all available here!
We are smitten with the adorable needlepoint pieces from Miniature Rhino - would they make the cutest wedding gift!?
The heart sampler (above) would be perfect with our Big Day wedding suite!
Visit the Miniature Rhino etsy shop here.
At this point, you probably think that we have a serious Ban.do obsession. And you'd be right. But how can we not post about their new Black Label designs!?! They are beyond gorgeous....sigh...
See the entire collection here.
Scottish designer Donna Wilson is one of our new faves. We are endlessly inspired and amused by her fabulous homewares, quirky dolls, and handpainted ceramic dogs!
As avid knitters, we love her wonderful knitted creatures - this here is Rosie who, apparently, likes ladybirds and rainbow beetles, dislikes being on her own.
The guy on the right (above) is Harry Hairy Head. He likes Roller Discos and Cherry Cola. Hilarious!
We are seriously coveting this knitted pouf too!
Some of her housewares...we want them all! Check out her blog , Leaves and Twigs for more!
More details from Eunice and Daniel's wedding! Eunice embellished her Steve Madden flats with vintage shoe clips found at the Alameda flea market, one of our favorite sources for vintage ephemera in the bay area. She also purchased woodland animal brooches from Poodle Breath for her bridesmaids.
We've gotten a number of inquiries about the playing cards from Eunice and Daniel's wedding. Designed by Eunice, they were given out as favors for wedding guests. There are a handful left and we've put them up for sale on our website. Perfect for a rousing match of Go Fish! Available here.
When planning her look for the wedding, Eunice knew there was only one place to go for her hair accessories - good friend and hair accessory maven, Jennifer Behr. Jennifer created a custom headpiece (available here!) after a consultation at her fabulous Brooklyn studio...
Initial thoughts included a dash of hand-dyed fuchsia feathers and something rather dramatic...
An early assembly of feathers and crystals that would later get pared down into the final look...
Jennifer, working her magic!
The result was a delicate crystal tiara handwrapped in 1920's vintage metallic ribbons. A spray of elegant ostrich feathers and floating crystals finish this breathtaking headpiece.
Jennifer also created beautiful little hand-dyed feather poufs to match each bridesmaids' dress for a final perfect detail...
Working with Jennifer was a breeze - her work, as always, was pitch-perfect for the occasion and coordinated perfectly with the dress.
Bottom photos by Gia Canali and Sara Remington.
We always have an eye out for fabulous accoutrements and these boutonnieres from Peppermint Cloud definitely fit the bill!
Love the shirting fabrics for a modern, graphic look!
So fresh...
This is great for an earthy, organic look...
She has some beautiful hair accessories as well...
We're delighted to bring you one of our latest obsessions--Factory 20, a mecca of vintage furniture and rustic wedding bric-a-brac. This is a perfect place to get inspiration and potentially splurge for some personalized vintage flair to your special day.
For country chic weddings, we can only imagine what crafty minds could do with this vintage dairy farm metal basket.
Vintage gas station numbers! Can we say Totally Adorable Idea for Table Numbers?
And how cute would this be for a bar or welcome table at a big-top inspired wedding?
A lot of the pieces quite spendy and one-of-a-kind, so if budget allows, think about how to re-use in your home after the event.
View all the inspiring finds here.
Our friends over at Style Me Pretty are celebrating our 2010 new designs by giving readers a chance to win a set of 100 digitally printed invitations and reply cards! To enter, just head over to their blog and leave a comment telling them which one of our designs--either letterpress or digital--is your favorite. A winner will be chosen this Friday, January 29. Good luck, and we can't wait to read your responses, too!
We're mega swooning over Babette's brand new bridesmaid adornments. We think they'd make the perfect accompaniment to a simple and chic bridesmaid dress--just the right amount of punch and sass.
Patent leather flower bracelets are simple and totally adorable!
Beads and patent leather, glass and silver: Babette showcases some of the best designs in chic minimalism.
We're just loving these gorgeous ethereal handmade hair clips and headbands by YuzuRose by June Wee.
Such pretty fabrics and color palettes - perfect wedding inspiration!
Check out her work here.
The Alameda flea market this past weekend did not disappoint - one of our favorite finds was this table full of beautiful prize ribbons and goodies.
We fell in love with the palette - how pretty would this be for a wedding, and aren't those bon bon bags perfect inspiration for pretty favors?
Our Woodland Cheer thank you card was featured in the "How to Spend it" section of this weekend's Financial Times, along with excerpts from an interview with the Moyle sisters! Writer Mark O'Flaherty did a great job with the piece. Thanks, Mark!
One of our favorite quotes he picked:
"When something heartfelt has to be conveyed, an e-mail can't compete. The stationery of the future will be unique and handcrafted. If it feels mass-produced, why bother?"
Here's the full interview:
MO: Could you tell me how you both first became interested and involved in letterpress?
HL: Eunice studied printmaking in collage and heard about a letterpress class held at San Francisco Center for the Book from a friend. She took a class there and became obsessed. Her first project was James Bond-themed invitations inspired by the original Casino Royale movie poster for a party Sabrina was hosting -- thus Sabrina got hooked as well. Eunice got her first hand-cranked Vandercook printing press on eBay and installed it in her garage. After printing thousands of cards and developing a mild case of tennis elbow, we upgraded to a more automated Heidelberg Windmill printing press, from circa 1950.
MO: How would you describe your particular style?
HL: Happy vintage graphic bohemian. We draw from eclectic sources, from Victorian to 1960s advertising design, so our style is hard to pinpoint. The unifying characteristic is a sense of whimsy and making sure the artist's/designer's hand felt in the design details and customisation.
MO: What have your inspirations been?
HL: Tim Walker, Paul Rand, Jamie Oliver's food packaging by Pearl Fisher, The Raleigh Hotel, Rob Ryan, Mucha, Hatch Show Print, Charlie Harper, Kay Nielsen, Andy Warhol, Orla Kiely, Andrew and Martin Provensen -- to name just a few.
MO: What’s the scale of the operation and how many pieces are you producing per year?
HL: We're a mid-sized boutique - about 15 staff and 4 printing presses. We produce about 2,000 letterpress cards per day, ranging from greetings cards to custom designed wedding invitation suites, each of which may consist of multiple customised enclosures. So, probably about 80,000 - 100,000 pieces a year.
MO: Do you think there is one particular piece of work you’ve produced that sums up your style, or that you think has been particularly successful?
HL: The save the date poster that Eunice created for her own wedding - it's a bit over-the-top and combines whimsy with graphic elements and hand lettering and illustration. Other than that, the L'Oiseau wedding invitation suite is representative of our style - graphic and chic but a light-hearted.
MO: Why is letterpress which is inherently ‘vintage’, so modern again?
HL: People are feeling very nostaligic for the written word and old-fashioned correspondence. Call it mass-media burnout, Facebook phobia, or what not. There is something tactile, pleasing and personal about receiving a hand-written note written on a beautiful piece of stationery. Letterpress plays perfectly to these visceral desires because it is printed on a soft, cottony paper and printing is literally pressed into the page.
MO: Impossible I know, but from the book Handmade Hellos, could you identify 2-3 people working in letterpress mentioned in the book that you think are working in a particularly modern way, and why?
HL: Absolutely. Egg Press: they are using graphic, Mid-Century modern-inspired designs (think Marimekko or Orla Kiely) and combining that to perfection with letterpress and a witty sensibilty. Pancake & Franks: their designs are uber modern, conceptual, and minimal - all the white space sets off the letterpress printing to a T.
MO: Have we lost the art of letter writing, or will it come back? I’d love to know how you feel about the whole emotion of receiving personal handwritten mail...
HL: The art of letter writing is not lost by any means -- it's just becoming much less frequent. Letter writing will always persist among a certain set and for certain special circumstances (I mean, e-mail love letters? How unromantic!). We love the immediacy of e-mail for normal communication. But when there is something heartfelt to be conveyed -- a word of sympathy, a wedding invitation, a love note -- there is just no way that e-mail, no matter how many bells and whistles are attached, will ever compete with the human hand. Because letter writing is being reserved only for special occasions and people, the stationery of the future will be increasingly unique and hand-crafted. That's where letterpress again comes in, as opposed to the traditional cheap-and-cheerful greeting card. If it feels mass-produced, why bother? You might as well a send an e-mail. (And it doesn't hurt to take a few calligraphy lessons, too!)
The flea is back on, according to the official website! Hurray!!
We're seriously tempted to brave the Bay Bridge closure and hoof it out there for fear that this may be the last. Tip for what it's worth: last time the bridge was closed, we found that the San Mateo bridge got us there quickly in the morning. Returning, the Richmond bridge was a nightmare so we doubled back and took the San Mateo bridge back to the city -- much better! Hope to see you there!
10/31/09 - IMPORTANT UPDATE: THE FLEA IS BACK ON!! (though how to get there quickly with the Bay Bridge still closed is a conundrum...)
We just learned via Paris Boutique Hotel that the Alameda Flea Market, which was to have happened as usual this Sunday, is canceled indefinitely due to some legal dispute among the organizers!
We were already fretting about how we were going to get there given today's indefinite Bay Bridge closure (due to a collapsed crossbeam - lord help us!), and now we're just, well...excuse us while we dab our eyes and honk our noses on one of the many precious vintage hankies we've purchased from the Flea over the years!
We'll keep fingers and toes crossed that this is not a permanent state of affairs, and that the Flea will rise again! In the meantime, spread the word to anyone you know who was planning to go...
Photo via Paris Boutique Hotel
We are super excited to announce the launch of our new custom holiday cards! They've been a long time coming, but we finally did it! Yea!
Thanks to digital print technology, we've been able to design fun, colorful photo cards that look and feel about as great as our letterpress cards! All the designs are printed on nice-n-thick 100% recycled paper (we don't even offer a non-recycled option, no sir!).
For all you newlyweds, they can double as wedding announcements (or be adapted to photo save the dates)!
Our classic letterpress holiday card designs are also available in custom versions -- either digitally or letterpress printed. Woo hoo! (Note - as of this writing, letterpress prices aren't up on the site yet, but check back in a couple of days!).
Special offer for our blog readers -- enter the promo code HLBLOG10OFF to get 10% off your order! Expires 10/31/09.
We here at Hello!Lucky are hopeless addicts of fabulous vintage finds (our studio is a mad collection of bits and bobs picked up at the flea) and so we were delighted to come across Tombées du Camion (translated, it means, appropriately and hilariously, Things Fallen Off the Truck) on the Constant Gatherer...
This fabulous little shop is located in Paris (17 rue Joseph de Maistre, should one be so lucky as to be traipsing about Paris!)...
The shop is a collection of vintage bits and bobs, and many items are to be had in large quantities (fantastic for party favors, crafty endeavors etc.)
An online shop is supposedly forthcoming but in the interim, if something particularly strikes your fancy, such as these hilarious smiley guys, you can order via email.
Love these little soldier boxes!
Surely something fabulous can be done with these wooden whistles...
Trust the French to make tuna a fabulous and wonderful thing...
If Paris is not on your agenda anytime soon, here are a few of our favorite places to find cool trinkets:
Of course, the Alameda Flea (obsessed with it!)
Tail of the Yak in Berkeley
Etsy, of course, including Buttermilk Sky and SnapCrafty
At Hello!Lucky we specialize in Letterpress greeting cards, as well offer DIY step by steps & free printables. Led by sisters Eunice and Sabrina Moyle, our small team of expert designers and artisan letterpress printers specialize in creating neon & foil, holiday cards, birthday cards, & thank you cards, that are full of creativity and whimsy. We've been featured in Martha Stewart Weddings, Design Sponge, Style Me Pretty, Real Simple, and many other leading publications. Please feel feel to contact us via chat, phone or e-mail - we'd be happy to assist you!
Hello!Lucky | P.O. Box 17605, San Francisco, California