Lucky Friday # 60, Dad, You Rock!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 60th 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): Ann, Kate Purdy and Kayla King! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Love You Bunches card.

Design: Dad, You Rock Artist: Esther Aarts Inspiration: Many of our dear dads have gone on a tunes binge in recent years, and are surprising us with their alternately hip or horrible tastes. Who to send it to: Fathers who've got the Funk, and DJ dads who dig it. Favorite detail: We like how Esther spans the generations, and includes the old-style analog audiophile and the MP3 file technophile digital dads. Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: The Hippie version, with an 8-track and cassette saying to an LP "Dad, You're Groovy." Why letterpress? Letterpress is classic. It transcends genres and generations.

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

A Most Curious Wedding Fair

Saturdays at the historic York Hall in London's East End may usually be associated with boxing matches and Turkish baths but last weekend it was the venue for the first Most Curious Wedding Fair in London. Rather than the 3-day events this was just a single afternoon but after the doors opened the hall very swiftly filled-up.

It was lovely to see so many small independent traders there nearly all with something unique and charming on display all with a distinctly vintage theme. For our own booth we created a fold-out screen in calico and then hand-drew picture frames onto them and mounted the invitations onto acetate sheets which we attached using upholstery tacks secured by a small cork at the back. Larger suites of invitations we just laid-out on the table in the front for the guests to handle to feel the quality of the cardstock.

Among the many stands that took our eye were this fantastic paper artist called Suzi McLaughlin who creates the most exquisite works from folded paper and laser-cutting. We just adored the simplicity of the bouquet made from printed paper.

For an equally beautiful keep-sake Suzi also makes 3d books where the pages are folded over and have a cloud of butterflies (or anything else you may want) flocking out of them. Or this beautifully simple open book with a simple corsage. Just stunning!

Entertainment was provided on the stage throughout the afternoon with ballerina models giving a fashion show of vintage dresses, music from The Old Time String Band and from a couple of very saucy burlesque dancers! It was good to be at a show where there was most certainly something for grooms!

There were a couple of bakers and caterers that caught our eye. Christina at Feast Food certainly did both with her wonderful dress, fantastic display of delicious-looking goodies and the lovely old kitchen dresser . They cater any event and can provide the crockery and service to if needs be!

Pom Poms of a different sort from BeauButtons who create these fantastic bouquets from vintage buttons and notions; a truly inspired way to put Granny's old button box to good use and to serve as a lasting memento to all those much-loved dresses and coats.

A couple of wonderful characters couldn't fail but to catch our eye! For those of you wanting a totally unique service provided at your wedding, look no further than Reginald Spleen and his travelling snuff bar. Like a living cameo from a 19th Century state fair Mr. Spleen brings a wide selection of this delicacy from tobacco-free lemon snuff to deep, rich 'knock your socks off' Cafe Noir...the taste of which stays with the taker for several hours...trust me!

Lastly we couldn't help but mention Pearls and Swine and its particularly colourful designer Bink. From all the wonderful fascinators and headpieces on her stall she chose this spectacular fruity model - and we are all very glad she did as it kept a smile on our faces all afternoon!

Congratulations to Gemma and Becky from Most Curious for putting-on such a pleasurable and successful event - here's to the next one!

Photography Credit: Alex Dimopoulos of My Love Story

Real Wedding: Katie & Justin

Think pink! We were thrilled to be part of Katie & Justin's wedding, featured today on Green Wedding Shoes. We had so much fun designing this custom suite, which included a few of our current obsessions - neon and edging. We worked with the couple's navy and fuchsia palate to create a modern yet elegant design (calligraphy by Michele Papineau).

The couple selected the Majestic Halls, located in the heart of downtown Los Angeles. Built in 1921 as the former Los Angeles Bank of America, the building retains many of its original historic and ornate details. Katie and Justin fell in love with these architectural elements that made the space feel unique to downtown Los Angeles.

Aren't the flowers stunning? Katie and Justin wanted a pink ombre effect and The Little Branch executed their vision perfectly. Each table had various distressed bronze buckets filled with fuchsia, pink or blush flowers. The bride’s bouquet was comprised of a variety of deep pink flowers, including roses, and tied with a navy ribbon.

Katie's dress was Halston Heritage, her shoes were RED Valentino and her stole was vintage, purchased from a local flea market. Justin's suit was from Hugo Boss.

The ring pillow was made by Katie's mom using our how to guide! We love the addition of the pom pom border.

In addition to the invitation suite, we also created matching day of materials: menus, place cards, table numbers and programs.

Congratulations Katie and Justin! To see more of this gorgeous wedding, please click here.

All photos by Erin Hearts Court. Wedding coordination by Kristeen LeBrot.

Bridal Accessories by Twigs & Honey

We're absolutely drooling over these bridal accessories by Twigs & Honey. We spotted their collection over on the lovely blog Honey Kennedy, and since then have been adoring everything they showcase. Their use of vintage laces and delicate silks provide the perfect mix of classic and feminine. Plus, their new 2012 collection includes beaded and rhinestone crowns, seriously stunning!

You can view all Twigs and Honey products here, enjoy!

Lucky Friday # 55, Three Ring Circus Thank You Card

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 55th 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): Natosha, Tasha and Lydia! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Love Birds card.

Design: Three Ring Circus Artist: Eunice Moyle Inspiration: Ah, the James family circus, of course, and the great Jude the Destroyer. Who to send it to: The one who threw the greatest party (or show) on earth, Misters K. and H (whose production was second to none), or of course, Henry the Horse! Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: The burlesque version was a little too, er, specific for a thank you card, and we reckoned we'd tuck away the rodeo version for nigh on another year. Favorite detail: Love the translucent sheen on the bear's balloons. Why letterpress? Like letterpress, an elephant, strongman and bear all make a bold impression.

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

Real Wedding: Kathryn And Joe

This wedding has been on our minds and in our hearts for months now, so we're thrilled to finally bring you the details of the event! Kathryn and Joe's glamorous San Francisco wedding has to be one of the most classic weddings we've seen yet. (Check it out on Martha Stewart Weddings!) Set in the heart of the city at the art deco designed venue Bimbo's 365 Club, this wedding was definitely not short on style. Kathryn is the founder and creative director of Dream a Little Dream Events, so without question, her wedding would be a show stopper. We love the classy details she and Joe chose - from all white flowers to fur shawls donned by her and the bridal party. And check out that sparkling backdrop for the ceremony!

Eunice worked her magic on the wedding stationery, which included the invitation suite, table numbers, programs, menus, matchbook favors - the list goes on!  Kathryn and Joe had always enjoyed live music at Bimbo's so a New Year's Eve blowout was a no-brainer for them and creating a design to flatter such a classic San Francisco landmark was a dream come true for us.  The art deco themed invitation suite took cues from vintage concert posters and album covers with a clean black, white and silver color palette.  We called on a neighbor silk screen shop to help out with the impressive tri-fold invitation and the ever-amazing Michele Papineau added the final flourish with calligraphy addresses.

Since Kathryn and Joe are avid music lovers, it was only fitting to create table signs with names of their favorite albums.  This was no ordinary wedding of course, so we created unique artwork for every album.. that's forty-one tables!  The couple had such fun coming up with names that they ended up keeping the cards and framing them as artwork in their home!

One photo doesn't do it justice so below are a few of our working files.  Eunice really knocked it out of the park with this one, now we all want copies!

In keeping with the music theme, the escort cards were custom designed to resemble concert tickets with each guests name printed along with their table assignment and corresponding illustrations.

A classic takeaway from a music venue, each guest left with custom matchboxes as favors.

Congratulations Kathryn and Joe and cheers to a new year and a new life together! View more photos here.

Wedding photography by Kate Harrison Photography

Esther Aarts Postcard Sets

We're getting a good giggle out of Esther Aarts's new limited edition postcard set. The "High 5" set comes with five printed cards on recycled Officio paper and would make for an adorable framed print or gift. Shipping is available to the US so pick up your set here!

Lucky Friday # 52, Esther Aarts, Just Married

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 52nd 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): Naomi A, Laura H and Matthew Duerksen! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Nuts for You card.

Design: Just Married Artist: Esther Aarts Inspiration: A euro-retro-boho moment of brilliance! Who to send it to: Any adorable young couple, of course... Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Esther thought the Hummer didn't quite fit. Favorite detail: We love how they're both steering! Why letterpress? Only the best for the newlyweds!

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

Lucky Friday # 51, Nuts for You Valentine's Card

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 51st 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): Katie, Samantha and Christina! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Spring Chicken card.

Design: Nuts for You Artist: Eunice Moyle Inspiration: We all get a little nutty when it comes to Valentine design! Who to send it to: Someone you makes you feel a little squirrely, or someone who's cute and fuzzy and knows that squirrels just want to have fun. Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: The chipmunk version's cheeks were a little unflattering, the mouse version was a little mousy, the vole was too vole-uptuous and the mole was, well, you know. Favorite detail: Love the handmade heart turtleneck. Why letterpress? How else could that sweater look so neatly pressed?

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

Gaga for Gingham

In celebration of Rustic Farm week, we're channeling all the details that make us love country weddings. One of the most recognizable patterns has to be gingham, and we're going gaga for it! At the first glance of these gingham patterned plates we envisioned a large picnic style table setting with lots of fresh fruits and garden flowers. Paired with simple white linens or vintage lace, these dishes would be downright adorable.

Jcrew knows how to pull off patterns the right way. Matching your fiance might seem cheesy at first, but these gingham patterned getups could definitely dazzle in a photo save the date.

We absolutely need these gingham cupcake liners!

Can't you see this gingham washi tape as the ultimate decor accessory? There are endless ways to spruce up a simple setup by adding a little patterned tape. We can't get enough of it!

Rustic Farm Week: Real Weddings Roundup

It's Rustic Farm week at Hello!Lucky! We're dedicating this week's blog posts to all things country chic. There are some unbeatable farm destinations in California, but brides from across the country (and overseas!) contributed to our roundup. Today we're piecing together a collection of the most heartwarming farm weddings from our Real Weddings archives. We love it when couples match their wedding invitations with their venue and decor, and as you can see below, these weddings are all about country comfort.

 Kathleen and Seth's Barndiva wedding in Healdsburg, CA charmed us with their youthful band and warm red accents.

Erin and Nick also customized our Heartland invitation to match their summer wedding in Sonoma. We love how they hand made their place cards with tags, ribbon, and hung them on chicken wire. Doesn't get more farm friendly than that!

Our hearts flutter every time we see photos of Lisa and Rory's classic English wedding. Their table signs were an homage to local pub signs with silly plays on words like "The Stumbled Inn" and "The Drunken Duck."

The organic and picturesque landscape of Sonoma Valley always makes for a charming event. Lily and Andrew wed underneath the most enormous oak tree, which provided just enough shade from the hot summer sun. Guests took their seats atop hay bails - what a cute way to incorporate farm decor!

Their farm animal table numbers and bright floral arrangements reflect the summer wedding perfectly.

It's always impressive when couples come up with unique place card holders. Heather and Tom knocked our socks off with these apple place cards. When we found out Heather's childhood home had it's own apple orchard, we knew it would be an adorable wedding! Equipped with a farm house, pond and lush east coast greenery, they really could do no wrong.

And last but not least, this custom designed wedding invitation suite for Erin and Jeremy tops the cake. The couple wed in Calistoga in 2010 and took country wedding style to the max. Our favorite part is the Kansas City barbeque feast invitation hosted by the groom's parents. Sounds like a hootin' good time!

Click on each photo to see the full post!

The Lab Event - A Success!

We had a blast at The Lab Event last weekend and wanted to share a few pics of the jaw dropping vignettes that filled the barrel room at Cline Cellars.   Guests were able to stroll through these themed areas gathering ideas, inspiration and even some sweet treats like monogrammed cookies and (I-can't-believe-these-are-vegan) cupcakes!

One of our vignettes had a "Toasted Marshmallow" theme with warm brown tones, gold accents and plenty of rustic wood and twig textures.  The menus had a burlap-inspired pattern framing text and a floral sprig and was letterpressed on a recycled cotton card stock.  We're so happy with the way everything turned out, we plan to offer the entire suite on our website soon.  Stay tuned!

How cool is that chandelier?  Its made from branches, Christmas lights and a few Ikea light fixtures... someone please DIY and let us know how it turns out!

Jen Musty from Batter Bakery blew us away with all her delectable desserts like Meyer Lemon shortbread cookies and Key Lime tarts.

The lovely ladies from The Collection Event Studio, styled a fantastic booth full of vintage flair and wedding inspiration galore!

The best part of the project was meeting so many amazing and talented vendors that we can't wait to work with again!

New Wedding Designs Available Now!

Extra! Extra!  New wedding invitations hot off the press!  Whether your tastes gravitate towards romantic florals or preppy patterns, there's truly something for everyone in our new wedding suites.  A bunch of designs are still in the works (one just might be video game inspired!), but here's a sneak peak at a few inspiring invitations and sweet save the dates available online now!  Enjoy!

Midsummer Invitation and Save the Date

Fig Invitation and Save the Date

In the bag!

We are loving these oh-so-chic messenger bags from Ulster Weavers that we found whilst looking for tea-towels for the London office. Having images of London, New York and Paris, they coordinate rather well with our own invitations and we can think of no better way of keeping all ones' wedding paraphernalia together than in one of these beauties! Of course, for all those readers in a non-wedding frame of mind, they are equally good for popping to the supermarket whilst retaining ones' street cred! We are also rather taken by some of their aprons in wonderful retro designs; perfect for releasing your inner Doris Day for a spot of afternoon cake baking!

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!**

Custom Holiday Card Bonanza!

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...

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

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...

Love these winter animals by Karin Soderquist...

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

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

EIEIO...

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

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!)

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!

Lucky Friday #36, Flying Bouquet

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 36th 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):

Rachel M, Brittany Burton and Ruth!

We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Skull & Crossbones card!

Now for this week’s celebratory selection:

Design: Flying Bouquet Artist: Eunice Moyle Inspiration: Somehow we felt that congratulations were in order today! Who to send it to: A person who is crossing the threshold and taking the plunge! Favorite detail: We love how the simple tied string mirrors the style of the lettering. Why letterpress: Letterpress can speak volumes with a single printed word.

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

Circus Fever

It's no secret that we love everything circus. We find timeless inspiration from the peppy colorways and the wild patterns, especially when we find one of a kind vintage circus themed items, like this fabric (above via Cherry Tomato).

The images inside Circus Alphabet from Whitman Tell-A-Tale-Books are packed with hilarious illustrations of the circus days of the 1950s. We can only imagine the excitement of such a fantastic event!

And we can't forget precious Jude's first birthday party invitations and circus party decor!

It doesn't end there! We have our beloved Circus Photo Birth Announcement!

Lions and tigers and bears, oh my! So many wonderful ideas!

Letterpress love: Menus for Chez Panisse

Ahh, the world of letterpress shines again. Menus for Chez Panisse is a visual record of forty years of food, love, and appreciation for fine printing. In this unbelievable collection of letterpress menus printed by Patricia Curtan, you will find images of hand carved linoleum block illustrations and lead type text describing the mouthwatering ingredients from the early days of Chez Panisse. In the early 1970s when Alice Waters first opened the iconic Berkeley restaurant, Patricia printed the menus. by hand. for years. and we are gushing.

It's almost painful to imagine how many restaurants treat menus these days, when Alice Waters presented her guests with hand printed art at their dinner plate. It just goes to show how a nice quality menu really enhances the dining experience!

Be sure to purchase your own copy of Menus for Chez Panisse here or here.

Photos from Mint

Lucky Friday #29! Esther Aarts is our Cup of Tea!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the twenty-ninth 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):

Emily Masters, Whitney and Ayana!

We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Good Show card.

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Cup of Tea Artist: Esther Aarts Inspiration: Two cups Cubism and a dash of Deco, steeped deeply in Esther's brew of brilliance. Who to send it to: A friend with whom you'd love to share a cup, a potter you wish to invite to sup, an herbalist on your list, or a tea lover you hope will be THE lover. Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: "You're the cream in my coffee, the spice in my cider, the lime in my lager, the malt in my milk, the rocks in my scotch, the twist in my tonic, the juniper in my gin..." we couldn't figure out how to end it (let alone, draw it!?) Favorite detail: We're tickled pink by how many hearts she has hidden. Why Letterpress? Such fine stationery suits Esther's style to a tea.

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