Handmade for Japan

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Some great crafts-folk have curated a beautiful auction as a benefit for Japan. Their project was featured on the New York Times Blog today. The auction starts March 24th, so have a look if you get a chance.  Here's a sampling of some of the exquisite objects in the auction:

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From top left to bottom, artists shown are Kristin Kieffer, Naomi Dalglish, Jun Kaneko, Justin Rothshank and Shoko Teruyama.

They have had such a huge outpouring of people wishing to contribute work, that they are unfortunately unable to take any more submissions.

But check out their Facebook page and show your support. Thanks!

Midsummer Night's Dreamy

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Love these bone china tea lights/votive holders by Karin Erikkson.  Would be so dreamy for an evening's reception at a rustic chic wedding.

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And we thought these vellum cut paper votives would be beautiful for an asian-themed wedding reception. Gives us DIY ideas, wethinks.

Jude's Big Top Birthday: Birthday Cake Banner!

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A slightly tardy post on how make the little flags that topped Mr. Jude's Big Top Birthday Cake (thank you for your patience, dear readers, things have been a little busy here at H!L HQ!)   We thought these little banners were the perfect topper for a circusy cake!  That perfect stripey candle and equally genius napkins found at Shop Sweet Lulu...

Download the tutorial here (with printable flags!)

Lucky Friday Week #4!

Now onto the fourth 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):

Ana P, Amy Wingate and Words and Eggs!

Heather will contact you shortly to arrange sending your Support card.

Onto this week's offering:

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Design: Lionheart

Artist: Eunice Moyle

Inspiration:  We didn’t have to scratch too hard to find a wealth of one-lioners about big cats.

Who to send it to: Your pride and joy. Your favorite Leo. Your mane man.

Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  The lion’s share of ideas were good, but this one gave us a hearty laugh.

Our favorite detail: ROWR can be such an elegant understatement.

Why Letterpress? The crush of letterpress preserves the beauty of all the details and fine lions.

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

A Soolip Wedding + free tickets giveaway!

We are thrilled to be participating in A Soolip Wedding, a fabulous bridal event Sunday, March 20th at the Bently Reserve!  Soolip has been putting on gorgeous wedding events in Southern California for years (take a peek at the photos below from their recent LA soiree) and we're so excited they're making the move up to our neck of the woods.

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The day promises to be a fun one filled with cake and champagne tastings, fashion shows, a raffle and tons of luxury vendors ready to chat about all aspects of that big day.  And here's the best part - we're giving away tickets to 2 lucky readers!  Just leave a comment telling us why you want to attend and winners will be selected by Monday, March 14th.  Additional tickets can be purchased by visiting A Soolip Wedding - enter discount code FRIEND for $5 off tickets purchased prior to the event!

Teeny Hand-Blown Bottles

How gorgeous and adorable are these! Hand blown borosilicate glass bottles, made from the same sort of glass as Pyrex and your everyday run-of-the-mill scientific glassware. Amazing!

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We have a weakness for miniature things anyhow, so we really have a shine on these. Love green glass!

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Lordy! A wine bottle and a teeny Erlenmeyer flask!  The maker is a pro and has a degree in scientific glass blowing, but the work is surprisingly affordable. The etsy shop is called Kivaford. Imagine our surprise! Wouldn't these be fab as wedding favors, for wee bud vases?

Studio Snapshot: Moving Day!

We all love to know what goes on behind the scenes - a glimpse into the kitchen of that hot new restaurant or the chance to sit at the drawing board of our favorite fashion designer... we're giddy at the thought!  So in the spirit of sharing, we welcome you to our latest weekly feature - Studio Snapshot.  You might get a sneak peek at a snazzy new design we're dreaming up, hear about fun happenings around the studio, or meet some of the awesome people who make Hello!Lucky a super fun place to work!

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Our current project is a little office makeover and here Lillian organizes samples in preparation for their shift across the studio.  How gorgeous is that shelf with its lacy carved details?  It was custom made just for us by our lovely and talented friends at Because We Can!

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The result of all that hard work is a bright and airy space where customers can browse stationery, buy the latest greeting card or discuss custom wedding invitations with our helpful staff.  Pop in and say hello!

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We adore this charming turquoise settee for spontaneous client chats and our giant farmhouse table is just the place for full scale design brainstorming!

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Rows and rows of organized samples make it easy to spot favorite designs and gather inspiration!

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A letterpress dress?  Oh yes!  This festive number was handmade by one of our crafty employees with Cherry Blossom save the date and RSVP cards.  Could there be a new trend in paper bridesmaid dresses?

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A travel themed display showcases some adorable variations on our Destination Series created with local design duo Lab Partners.

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With so many vivid colors and sweet little details its hard to pick a favorite but we're always going to be partial to our home sweet home - good old San Francisco!

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We hope to see you soon!

New Garden of Love Stamps

We're excited about the new Garden of Love stamp design by José Ortega.  Love the whimsical illustrations! Coming out May 19th, it will be a beautiful embellishment for wedding invitations and wedding rsvp cards!

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Good for just about anything one might wish to mail, but we think it'd be extra wonderful for garden wedding invitations and floral wedding invitations.

Sweet vintage button designs!

Swooning over these particularly gorgeous edible sugar buttons from andiespecialtysweets.

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

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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:

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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:

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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!

Julia's Super Gorgeous Invitation!

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We are thrilled to welcome the very talented Julia Kostreva to our fab design team.  She designed this gorgeous invitation suite...

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Don't you just love the split fountain printing (that super cool blend from limey green to orange)...

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...and the hand drawn type?  We do!

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This was printed by the always fantastic Studio on Fire...

Trunk Show with Duchess + Elizabeth Dye!

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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

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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)...

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

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

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and these hard candy lollipops...

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

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Love these little paper cups!

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

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

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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!