Here's a little sneak peek of some new letterpress Valentine's Day cards on the press as we speak! This is just one of many new card designs making their big debut soon, so stay tuned!
Featuring Debbie Powell and Giveaway!
Today we’re excited to feature the lovely and talented Debbie Powell! Based in London, New York, and Southbourne, Debbie is an illustrator and hand letterer who loves working with all sorts of art mediums. From water colors to linoleum printing, pencil and pen to printmaking, her brilliance shines in all forms. We love an artist who experiments with new things and especially love that in her spare time Debbie makes jewelry with the family collective Rah and Rah and her own handmade pots! What more could she conquer!?
What inspired your design for the holiday collection?
Long walks, hot cocoa on chilly evenings, Christmas parties, snowflake patterns, cinnamon sticks and paper chains!
What are you currently working on?
I have a few projects on the go at the moment—illustrations for a 2013 diary, patterns for textiles, and a regular spot in the travel pages of the British newspaper The Independent which keeps me busy.
What influences your style the most?
For a long time I have been very much inspired by the Wabi Sabi approach to art and crafts. This is the idea that nothing is perfect, and beauty is found in imperfection rather than flawless perfection.
What's your favorite holiday tradition?
My family lives right by the sea so every year on Christmas day we all bundle up and take a long walk along the beach for some after dinner fresh sea air!
Best holiday memory?
When I was ten years old my folks sent me to New York for Christmas to stay with my aunt for three weeks. We had the most amazing time: I got taken to Radio City, Rockefeller Center ice rink; I saw Santa at Macy's; New York at Christmas feels really magical!
To enter to win 2 boxes of limited edition Paper Chains letterpress cards, head over to Debbie’s blog today where she will be hosting the giveaway! Best of luck!
(boxed sets include 6 cards and envelopes)
**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**
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!**
Featuring Karin Soderquist and Giveaway!
Happy weekend everyone! Today we're featuring the talented artist Karin Söderquist! Karin is an illustrator and recent grad currently living and working in London! Her latest interest is working with colored paper collage. We can't get enough of her friendly animal characters and must admit, we share a true love for "bubblegum colours, snowy mountain tops and endless summer days." Another jolly holiday card genius! Check out her shop here!
What inspired your design for the holiday collection?
Making holiday cards in the middle of summer felt bizarre, but I listened to a lot of holiday music to get me in the mood (A Christmas Gift for You, Phil Spector's Christmas album was a favourite). I wanted to create something that felt like Christmas did when you where a kid. Full of expectations and fun. I want people to look at the cards and be reminded of all the good things about Christmas, having some time off to spend with the people you care about.
What are you currently working on?
I've just started working on a piece for an exhibition. The theme for the show is to create something that fits into a matchbox, so it's going to be tiny!
What influences your style the most?
My style has developed over many years, and it is still developing. Right now I work a lot with paper cut collages. I started doing that because sometimes I felt very constrained when I was drawing and I was looking for a way of working that I would feel more comfortable with. Subject wise I'm inspired by a bit of everything, music, movies, art etc. The process of creating is inspiring in itself; it's like the more you make the more you want to make. Creativity breeds creativity!
What's your favorite holiday tradition?
I live in London and the rest of my family lives in Sweden. Since moving here I don't get to see them enough so my favourite tradition is going home to Sweden and spending some time with them, eating and drinking too much.
Best holiday memory?
In Sweden Christmas is celebrated on the 24th of December. When I was a kid my family lived in the countryside and on the morning of the 23rd, after we had breakfast, we'd put on warm clothes and go out into the snowy forest and cut our own Christmas tree. The 23rd of December also happens to be my birthday!
To enter to win a $100 gift certificate to Hello!Lucky (which you could use to order Karin’s holiday cards!) head over to Karin’s blog today where she’ll be hosting a giveaway! Good Luck!
**A winner has been chosen! Thanks for participating!**
Featuring Jacqui Lee and H!L Giveaway!
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.
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:
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!
James Tucker in Uppercase Magazine!
The fall UPPERCASE magazine is out and features our very own letterpress printer, James Tucker! The issue is all about sharp objects like hooks, knives, and other cutting tools. Check out the "Labor Intensive" section to see James's gorgeous wood-cut print! Congrats James!
Featuring Morris & Essex and Hello!Lucky Giveaway!
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.
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!
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.
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!**
Featured Designer and Jolby Giveaway!
In celebration of the new website and the beginning of the holiday season, we will be featuring the amazing designers that collaborated with us on our new 2011 custom holiday collection! Each artist or group truly inspired us with their festive illustrations, and after months of collaborating behind the scenes, we're ready to shine a little light on our dear designer friends. We've gathered some Q&A about the creative minds behind our spectacular collection, and the first to the spotlight? Jolby!
Jolby began in 2005 when design duo Colby Nichols and Josh Kenyon joined forces in Portland, Oregon. Their jolly illustrations and super colorful combinations create the perfect mix for holiday merriment. We're more than excited to feature their cards this season, and hope you all find as much fun in their designs as we do!
Q: What inspired your design for the holiday collection?
A: For us the holidays have always been about celebrating with family and coming together to recharge. We wanted both cards to reflect that and to make whoever was receiving it smile. As far as style goes, we are both heavily inspired by mid-century children's book illustrators and especially their holiday pieces. Hopefully a little bit of that comes through on these cards!
What are you currently working on?
Each year we try to take some time to work on a solo art show for a gallery, and we're up to our ears in one right now. The new collection of work is called "Shapes & Smiles" and it explores everything in our lives that makes us happy. It's really refreshing to take a break from our client work to produce art and explore new mediums.
What influences your style the most?
So many things: Our favorite artists, the amazing creative community that surrounds us in Portland, nature, our family and music. We are always trying to push one another to try something new and to take something further. What's your favorite holiday tradition?
Colby: When I was a kid, my dad used to make these homemade cinnamon rolls and they are amazing. I always look forward to those. Josh: For me it's Thanksgiving dinner. It was my mom's favorite holiday, and it just rubbed off on me. I love gathering with my family around the table to talk, eat and be with each other. Nothing is better. Best holiday memory?
Colby: Finding a Mega Man NES cartridge in my stocking one year. It blew my mind! I played it all day. Josh: When I got "Denver the Last Dinosaur" pajamas and a fake guitar as presents.
To enter to win a $100 gift certificate of customizable Jolby designs from the holiday collection, head over to their blog here!
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!
Happy Halloween!
Needless to say, Halloween is a just a big excuse to get our crafting on and we love to pull out all the stops! This year, Jude was a strong man (inspired by his penchant for bashing things and lifting heavy objects despite repeated warnings that if one, say, drops a large rock on one's foot, it's gonna hurt!)
His costume was based on our fab Going Strong card...
The costume consisted of drawing Sailor Jerry style tattoos with Sharpies on a pink leotard, leggings (made by tracing half a pair of store-bought leggings, cutting out four pieces and stitching them together - way easier than you would think!), a pair of Tom's and a barbell made with two styrofoam balls, a dowel, and papîer maché...the toughest part was drawing a moustache on a two year old! I also slicked his hair down with egg whites for that 19th century gentleman look...
Have a fabulous Halloween!
More Designs are Coming Soon!
Hooray! The new website is live and we've gotten some amazing feedback so far! Although the site is shiny and new, there are still a few kinks we have to sort out. It's taken a lot of work and many hands to make the website what it is now, but we assure you, there is more to come!
Many of our designs are still being configured - mainly the Skyline series that we all love so much.
If you've fallen in love with a design that you don't currently see on our site, don't fret! You can give us a call or email info@hellolucky.com and we will be happy to help you order your cards. We appreciate your patience!
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!
Triumphantly Announcing Our New Website!
Drumroll, please...We are thrilled to announce the launch of our brand-spankin'-new website! We've been laboring over this baby for months and months and are sooo excited that it's finally (finally!) here!
The new site includes a fab new collection of custom holiday photo cards: This year we got together 16 of our favorite illustrators/designers—the likes of Susy*Jack, Hammerpress, Tom Frost (featured above), Lab Partners and more—and collaborated on a whole collection of fun and unique holiday cards. We can't wait for you to see them!
Additionally, the new site features beautiful photography by Edyta Szyszlo...we had so much fun styling these shots!
We also have a gorgeous new wedding invitation collection with Anne Smith (another illustrator we've admired/been deeply envious of for years and years)...
And we're thrilled to introduce our brand-new customization tool, which is going to make it a breeze to customize cards. It's super cool, if we do say so ourselves, and allows you to change colors, choose fonts and drop in photos on the fly. It makes ordering fun and easy and gives you a lot of control over the final result.
You can also send your order straight to print (that's how much control you have over design, people!) to cut down on the turnaround time. Normally, it can take 1-2 business days (or weeks, for those of you prone to dilly-dallying!) to approve a manually-created proof, so this is an exciting new feature. Of course, you still can have our designers put their finishing touches on your design or incorporate any special requests, but how awesome is that??
That being said, please bear with us as we get settled into our new digs (there are bound to be a few hiccups along the way!). Some products may be temporarily unavailable online while we get our shop in order, but we promise they'll be back soon! If you have any questions or need help with a product that is currently not available on our site, don't hesitate to drop us a line or give us a ring! We'd love to hear from you! US: info@hellolucky.com or 415.355.0008 UK: ukinfo@hellolucky.com or 020 7378 9740
Our New Website is Coming!
The big BIG news is out! We have been hard at work for months preparing for our new-and-improved website and blog. Unfortunately, we had to put our current site on hold in order to get all of the bits and pieces sorted out, but be assured, it will be grand! There are so many exciting new designs, customization tools, and even a few giveaways for the upcoming holiday season. Stay tuned because our new site is going live on Friday, October 28th and we can't wait for you to see!
We are still available to answer any questions during this time, so feel free to call us at 415-355-0008 or email info@hellolucky.com.
See you soon!
Real Wedding: Devorah and Carlo
It's hard to imagine a more beautiful couple getting married in a more beautiful place. Devorah and Carlo conquered both coasts of the country before wedding at the Trentadue Winery in Sonoma County. Catherine Hall captured every delicate detail of their big day among the beautiful California backdrop. With a warm summer night and a lively band, the event was sure to be magical! We also loved reading the story about how each side of the family contributed an heirloom or tradition, and how simple and comfortable the proposal was.
We had the pleasure of printing the couples wedding invitations and table stationery, and adore their warm and rustic decor. Congratulations Devorah and Carlo!
All photos by Catherine Hall Photography
Tech Toys and Wedding Accessories
(USB wedding ring via Mashable Tech)
When we stumbled upon these geek-tastic wedding accessories, our inner nerd fluttered with excitement. It's always fun to test out a new toy or gadget, and there's no better way to satisfy those computer cravings on the big day than with the most tech-savvy wedding trinkets around!
(Cufflinks by Ravi Ratan via Mashable Tech)
(Outlet rings via Scrambled Eggs Blog)
Lucky Friday # 35, Skull & Crossbones
Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 35th 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):
Amanda, Paige L., and Cody!
We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Trick or Treat card!
Now for this week’s spooky selection:
Design: Skull & Crossbones Artist: Eunice Moyle Inspiration: We were playing Ouija one night and the spirit told us that oui and ja both mean "yes." Creeeeepy. Who to send it to: A Jolly Roger, a femme fatale, or a slightly sinister sister. Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: "We put the 'gal' in gallows humor." Actually, we're still working on that one. Favorite detail: We like how the different sized eyes make all the difference in the skulls' spookiness. Why letterpress? Because the spirit spelled it out for us. Oui. Ja. Yes. L-E-T-T-E-R-P-R-E-S-S. I swear, I wasn't pushing.
Don’t forget to post your comment and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!
Mark your calendars!
We're thrilled to be a part of the upcoming Lab Event taking place January 14th, 2012 at the Cline Cellars in Sonoma, and after Monday night's inspiring kickoff party at The Collection ES our heads are bursting with fab ideas for the event. Stay tuned here for more information or you can visit their soon-to-be-released blog. Tickets will go fast so be sure to book in advance! Looking forward to seeing you all there!
(above: The Collection ES, below: Cline Cellars in spring)
Tickets available here!