Lucky Friday # 24 Octo Sailor Birthday Card

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-fourth edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress 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):

Whitney, Emily and Zoë!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Dinosaurs card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Octo Sailors

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration: A bit of Busby Berkeley birthday stylishly swirly and smiley sailor shenanigans.

Who to send it to: A beloved Octogenarian or perhaps a favored seafarer with a taste for tako.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: “Here’s lookin’ at you, Squid” with a giant squid’s giant fish-eye was too creepy.

Favorite detail: The overall effect of the pinwheel pattern of poly-podes is pretty octo-riffic.

Why letterpress: Octopi (or octopodes, if you prefer), like pressmen, can do a lot with a little squirt of ink.

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

Visit to Kansas City!

Letterpress lovers take note! Recently, one of our intrepid employees took a trip to Hammerpress in Kansas City, Missouri and came back with some great photos of their lovely studio!

Check out their very organized shelves of metal and wood type, as well as the impeccably well kept presses.

In their impressive brick and mortar storefront, they sell greeting cards, posters and lots of one-of-a-kind goods.

A closeup view of their beautiful wooden wall and display.

Thank you to Brady, Matt, Eric and Jenn for the tour around the studio!

You can purchase their awesome posters here.

Real Wedding: Kim and Chris

Seattle-ites Kim and Chris sure do know how to throw a party! The couple recently wed at a stunning private home in Palm Springs, complete with fabulous pool and beautiful landscaped grounds.

Each guest was welcomed with a grapefruit vodka cooler in a Cat Studio "Palm Springs" glass, which were later used (washed, of course!) as the couple's favors. Such a cute idea!

Kim and Chris chose our Mi Amor Save the Date - the bright colors are perfect for this summer event!

There were so many fun details - we especially love these sparkly initials used on the bride and grooms chairs.

All the flowers were purchased from Trader Joe's and arranged by Kim's aunt. She also made Kim's headpiece - what a talented lady to have in the family!

Kim and Chris cut their Bristol Farms cake with a saber that belonged to Chris' grandfather. All of his kids and grandkids have used it at their weddings. The cake topper was the one Kim's grandparents used on their cake sixty years ago!

Kim's gorgeous retro dress is from Oscar De La Renta, and Chris' suit is from Kenneth Cole.

How fabulous! Congrats you guys!

All photos by Erika Kyte.

Lucky Friday #21: Esther Aarts Good Luck Card!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-first edition of our Lucky Friday Giveaway! Each Friday we feature one of our letterpress 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):

Stephanie, Monique and Amy Marie Wingate!

We’ll contact you early next week to arrange sending your Rock On! card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Good Luck

Artist: Esther Aarts

Inspiration: Hello!Lucky knows a thing or two about the subject at hand.

Who to send it to: A fella hoping luck will be a lady, a woman in want of a wishbone, a chap you wish to charm and cheer on.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Two chickens pulling on the ends of a wishbone, reading “Good Cluck.”

Favorite detail: Love the Raggedy Ann face on the first place ribbon.

Why letterpress? Sometimes you really should press your luck.

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

Orla Kiely Kitchenware

Have we mentioned how much we love Orla Kiely?  We discovered these delectable earthenware jars in the kitchen section. Sadly, these only ship in the UK, but all the luckier for our British staff and clients. Perhaps we might come to some arrangement with our UK connections?

But there are charming offerings for everyone.

Just a little taste. Visit orlakiely.com for more.

Craft night clothing swap!

Eunice and I began hosting a weekly craft night back over a year ago when we were making crafts for her wedding (and, subsequently, researching our book, Handmade Weddings).  From the beginning, it turned out to be a great excuse to drink, eat, and shamelessly girl-talk (oh, and sometimes to craft!).

This week was especially thrilling - our first-ever clothing swap!  While in New York for NSS, I picked up a copy of The Happiness Project at Anthropologie (why were we shopping at an NYC Anthro when there's one just steps from our San Francisco studio, you might ask? The allure is just that inexplicably powerful.) on our way to ABC Kitchen. In the book, Gretchen Rubin describes the exhilaration of purging her closet (among other great tips!).

Confession: I am a vintage clothes hoarder. Half a decade of monthly trips to the Alameda Flea Market have led to packed closet full of vintage frocks from polyester to plaid and everything in between. Each one has such personality, but guess what? I haven't worn most of them in years!

The craft night girls came over at 7:30 and within minutes you could no longer see the living room floor. The stack of pizzas we had ordered sat unopened. People barely even stopped for a sip of wine.

Dara ended up being the biggest winner - her retro style and curvaceous figure are perfect for the vintage look.

Love this quilted Chanel-esque number!

Divine frock for summer parties!

At the end of the night, everyone had a few (or a few dozen!) new looks to try. It didn't cost a dime, and the best part is that if we tire of one of our "new" pieces, we can swap them again later!

Handmade, repurposed fabric toy mats/sacks

A good friend of Hello!Lucky makes these fun and functional convertible play mats/toy tacks.

Here's a visual step by step:

Brilliant! With all the little boys around H!L these days, we've got our eye on these!

Such cool and colorful vintage fabrics! Check out more of their work on Etsy at repurposedplayground.

Custom Wedding Signs by Chocolate Butterbean

We absolutely love these hand-painted signs by Chocolate Butterbean! A perfect addition to your wedding!

This horseshoe sign would be an absolute smash with our Elegant Equestrian design!

Or a sweet wedding gift...

Studio Snapshot: Paris je t'aime!

Its no secret how much we love the Alameda Flea Market, but when we saw the photos of Les Puces from Lia's recent trip to Paris - we were très jaloux indeed! An endless maze of vintage clothes, books, housewares and enough retro packaging and ephemera to make your head spin!

There were even a few pieces that looked like they could have held court at Versailles. Move over Marie Antoinette, we may need to borrow your fainting couch.  Swoon!

General Knot & Company on Snippet and Ink

You may have noticed we're a tad partial to ties. Spotted these splendid knots on Snippet and Ink, from General Knot. Love everything about this business.

They use vintage fabric finds to make very limited editions of these handsome, handmade-in-the-USA ties.

Totally dig the tags, too! They look letterpressed...

We want at least one or two for all the men in our lives, to help us cope with our sudden fit of tie envy.

Love!

Bowties and Neckties

All of a sudden, we're starting to see super fashionable bowties and neckties and, honestly, its about time! Why should girls have all the fun?! There are some great offerings out there from General Knot & Co (above) and Forage (below).

Loving these simple graphic ties from J. A. Christensen:

This Pierrepont Hicks bowtie is reversible!

Kate Spade wedding!

Kate Spade just launched their first ever wedding line - let the swooning begin! Her line includes retro fabulous dresses for the bride, cute frocks for bridesmaids, and some pretty adorable numbers for the honeymoon! The shoes and accessories aren't too shabby either!

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:

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!

Studio Snapshot: The Collection + A Roadtrip

We're thrilled to be teaming up with The Collection Event Studio a gorgeous design studio, retail shop and meeting space in downtown Sonoma.  Always up for a mini road trip, we jumped into the car, iced coffee in-hand and took off for wine country!

The girls at The Collection have curated a wonderful assortment of products and vendors and showcase them so beautifully in their space.  Its like a one-stop shop for planning the most perfect rustic chic wedding!

We couldn't leave Sonoma without a quick peek into the Church Mouse Thrift Shop where we gazed with envy upon shelf after shelf of vintage china and stemware.  Lillian found a perfect silver cocktail shaker!

How great is the pattern on these cups and saucers?  Inspiration is everywhere!

Sweet vintage button designs!

Swooning over these particularly gorgeous edible sugar buttons from andiespecialtysweets.

They come in chocolate for those who like a little kick, and a little more of a rustic feel.

They make us recall of one our sweetest custom save the date designs— a  darling variation on Big Day!  Drop us a line if you're interested in this design for your wedding:

Lucky Friday Week #3!

Now onto the third 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):

Melissa, Anneleen and Amorette!

Heather will contact you shortly to arrange sending your Stinky Skunk Card!

This week’s feature:

Design: Support

Artist: Julia Rothman

Inspiration: We don’t mean to leave you hanging, but we’ll tell you when you’re older.

Send it to: A female confidant, a bosom friend, or a gentleman that you wish to befuddle udderly.

Our Favorite Detail: We like that we can’t quite tell if the lingerie style depicted is staying abreast of the trends, or if it’s a little behind the times.

Ideas we scrapped for this one:  We were a little “strapped” for ideas for a men’s version of the card.

Why Letterpress? Gives you the street cred to make designer in-jokes about Pantone and PMS, type-drawers and point size. (Whuh?!)

Don't forget to post your comment and check next Friday to see if you’ve won!

Trunk Show with Duchess + Elizabeth Dye!

We are thrilled to announce that we are hosting a trunk show with Duchess Custom Clothier (sartorial splendor!) and Elizabeth Dye (dreamy dresses!)  Please join us!

Elizabeth will be showing her full 2011 collection as well as some unique pieces, and Duchess will be showcasing gorgeous custom suits. Both are based in Portland so be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to meet them in SF!

Hello!Lucky will be previewing new wedding stationery designs and offering free wedding invitation samples.

For more information or to book an appointment, please e-mail info@hellolucky.com

La Moustache Party de Mr. Hugo

We were very pleased to be invited the La Moustache Party de Mr. Hugo (who you may remember from his recent appearance as a French clown)...

His mom, Vanessa, is hilarious and quite the style maven, and she did not disappoint with the many cute and funny details!

Like these snappy little moustache cupcake toppers (the cupcakes were DELICIOUS - from That Takes the Cake)

and these hard candy lollipops...

She had all kinds of simple, yet ingenious, touches - Washi tape bands add cute graphic flair to  plain glass bottles...

Love these little paper cups!

Of course, one must have a selection of moustaches on a stick!  These fab paper 'staches available here and the wooden 'staches here...

...and we loved the hilarious bunting made from photos of famous mustaschioed gentlemen - ah, Tom Selleck...

And the random celebratory moustache imagery that popped up in unexpected places...love those Y-fronts!

Ah, how we love a well-designed par-tay!  Bonne anniversaire, Mr. Hugo!

Nice Drawers!

Found this gorgeous handmade chest of apothecary drawers on Etsy at a little shop called redroosterbab. Imagine the crafting potential! And the potential to indulge our weakness for hoarding crafting materials.

What a nice piece for a rustic wedding, to hold secret guest favors, or escort cards.  Maybe a stretch, maybe not?

They can be custom ordered in all sorts of beautiful colors, too.

As kids, our best friend's enigmatic father kept an old library card catalog full of manner of mysterious goodies. Nostalgia!

Personalized Handkerchiefs

We stumbled across these sweet personalized handkerchiefs from Heather Strickland - she recommends giving them as bridesmaids gifts, but we like the idea of writing a sweet note to your groom that gets delivered on your wedding day. So romantic!