Halloween Costume Sneak Peek!

Halloween is just over the horizon, so it's time, once again, for another possibly overly ambitious halloween costume!  This year's costume is inspired by the boys' various sea creature obsessions - Jude happens to be a big fan of turtles at the moment, and this concept was inspired by a turtle embroidery kit that our mom did back in the 70's.

The idea is to have the shell be made from a piece of patchwork which will then be stuffed with batting for a cool soft sculpture look - I have a feeling Jude's really going to enjoy throwing himself around once he realizes being ensconced in this costume will make him semi-impervious to doing himself bodily harm. The overall costume will have a front and back shell attached to each other with wide bands of fabric and elastic, paired with a green long sleeved tee and leggings. Some cute rosy cheeks, a red sassy bandana, and voilà! Turtle-y goodness!

Of course, Sabrina's twins James and Alex must have coordinating costumes! James loves starfish and suction cups right now, so our plan is to make him a plush starfish costume with suction cups glued all over the front like starfish feet. Possibly a bit of a patchwork look on the back to match Jude's 70's vibe. Still have to sort out the logistics of the neckline - fingers crossed!

Alex is going to be a jelly fish - essentially an organza or other sheer fabric fashioned into a bubble skirt with some tulle for structure, worn decorated with shimmery paillettes and ribbon tentacles. It will be blue so we don't compromise his masculinity TOO much!  Love the idea of a little starfish perched on his head as an homage to James.

We're thinking that the dads will be dressed as fisherman, complete with pipes, yellow hats, and stripey shirts. Sabrina and I are tbd - possibly mermaids (really just an excuse to own a pair of metallic American Apparel leggings) although we are toying with turning Sabrina, who is very pregnant at the moment, into a pufferfish, her belly being perfectly proportioned!

Stay tuned, the crafting begins in full force this week! We'll be sure to post photos of the finished costumes here!

P's and Q's: Perfecting Your Guest List

The next installment of our P's and Q's wedding etiquette series is perfecting your guest list. As one of the first priorities when planning your wedding, the guest list (and keeping track of RSVPs!) is one category that requires meticulous attention. Yes you may have an enormous extended family and want everyone to be included somehow, but there are ways to minimize the crowd and still enjoy everyone's company. Here are a few helpful pointers:

1. Counting out kids

It's completely acceptable to request that parents make other arrangements for kids at your wedding. Most parents would probably appreciate the night out, too. We asked our expert Design Consultant Lia for some tips:

What are some good ways to say "No kids allowed" without offending guests?

The details card is the perfect place to include a polite explanation for excluding children, such as "Your presence at our wedding is very important to us, however we are not able to accommodate children at the ceremony or reception." 

If the wedding happens to be at a venue that serves alcohol (such as a winery) something like "due to the nature of our venue..." can be as easy explanation.

Addressing the invitation envelopes to the adult guests only is another subtle way to pass the message.  "Mr. and Mrs. Hemmingway" is more specific than "The Hemmingways" or "The Hemmingway Family." 

If budget allows, having childcare available in a separate location is a nice courtesy to extend to guests who may have a hard time traveling without the whole family.  As with any delicate situation, picking up the telephone for a personal conversation is a respectful way to curtail any potential issues before they arise.

2. A and B guest lists

When coming up with A and B guest lists, be sure to keep a few things in mind:

• Send A-list invitations a few weeks early and with an earlier RSVP date to allow sufficient time for the B-listers to get their travel plans in line.
• Stay on top of your list. The day you get a regret, send out your next invitation.
• It's best to send any invitations at least four weeks before the wedding date. Send invitations outside of your hometown or state first, and save local invites for last.

Is it OK to invite guests to only the reception?

As more couples have private ceremonies these days, it's totally acceptable to invite guests to the reception only and they'll likely be all the more excited to celebrate with you at the fantastic party!  Invitations should clearly state "the pleasure of your company is requested at the wedding reception" and guests invited to the ceremony should receive a separate ceremony card as well. 

For more helpful advice on perfecting your guest list, head over to our handy Wedding Advice page!

Edyta's Blowout Birthday Bash

Last week we helped celebrate the 30th birthday of our favorite photographer Edyta Szyszlo! When she came to us months ago with the idea for her party invitations, she had us at "Physical." The wording, all created by the birthday girl herself, was a mashup of lyrics throughout three awesome decades. Her duplex paper fluorescent white and fuchsia letterpress printed beauties were also edged in a tie-dye style and hand painted with bold strips of colorful acrylic. They sure set the tone for a good time ahead.

The party took place at Workshop in San Francisco. Workshop is an amazing studio space dedicated to DIY projects for the public, and they offer classes from printmaking to canning. Check out their class schedule here.

This may be hard to believe, but Edyta handmade all her crepe paper decorations and party hats. How did she have the time? Nobody knows, but this girl can do it all.

The cake pop display was two-tiered and matched her decor. Scrumptious and stylish!

As the night went on, hungry guests got to snack on popcorn in cute personal sized grab-bags.

And it wouldn't be Edyta's party without the amazing new Tomfoolery Photobooth. This bold and colorful backdrop and open-air photobooth made for hilarious mementos from the night.

Where did she get those awesome photobooth props you ask? Hello!Lucky of course! And we've reduced the price so now you can get them for a steal. The Word Bubbles (set of 2) are $25 and Mustaches (set of 4) are only $35!

Happy happy birthday Edyta! Thanks again for hosting such a fabulous party. Can't wait to see what you come up with next! Xo, the H!L team.

Hello!Lucky loves Italy

We received a super sweet email from Italian couple Lorenzo and Camilla asking if they could come visit the Hello!Lucky studio and learn a bit about letterpress printing. Little did we know they were huge fans of ours and both graphic designers. They came to the US and San Francisco for their honeymoon and they couldn't have been more gracious. We had a blast showing them around our space, and James provided an informative explanation of letterpress printing which they said is hard to come by in Italy. Thanks Camilla and Lorenzo for coming to see us! And congratulations on your new marriage!

And the Last Lucky Friday Winner Is... Oh my!

With such an outpouring of Lucky Friday Love, we couldn't choose just one winner! Instead we chose ONE LUCKY WINNER to receive the ten thank you cards— *PLUS* we're going to give away one card to FIVE OTHER LUCKY WINNERS!  Yay! We couldn't help ourselves. It's Friday!

So, without further ado (or adieu) here are the FIVE LUCKY WINNERS: Erica, Emily C, Tasha, Alisia and Richelle! We'll contact you each to receive a surprise thank you design.

And... drumroll please... the Luckiest Lucky Friday winner of TEN THANK YOU CARDS IS:

 MARY!

We'll contact all the winners early next week.

Thank you all so much for the Hello!Lucky love.

Stay in touch!

XOXO

Free Printable Halloween Party Invite + Giveaway!

Are you getting in the Halloween spirit yet? We definitely are and can't wait to break out our costumes and candy. This year we wanted to give our readers an extra spooky treat with this free printable Halloween party invitation. Even if you're not the costume king or queen, throwing a party for Hallow's Eve is a great way to get geared up for the holidays. Print this template at home on card stock paper and address it to your party people. Guests will be too scared to say no.

We're also giving our fans the chance to win a set of 3 eerie Halloween greeting cards! Simply comment below telling us what you want to be for Halloween and we'll pick two random winners. We're still deciding on our Halloween costumes this year so we look forward to reading your ideas! Be sure to enter your comment before noon of next Thursday, October 4th and we'll announce the winners on Friday! Good Luck!

Le Papier Studio

Coming up with a unique gift can be a difficult task, especially if you're on a budget. Almost anything customizable these days can cost up to an arm and a leg, but these new silhouette prints by Le Papier Studio are one-of-a-kind and they are affordable. This floral wreath silhouette print is the perfect gift for newlyweds and can be customized in just about every way possible. Vana Chupp, owner and designer of Le Papier, has mastered the art of the silhouette, and it's clear because all of her products are fabulous. We asked Vana a few questions about her work:

1. What inspired you to start Le Papier Studio?

The inspiration behind Le Papier Studio was my first born son, Nikolas. I started documenting his milestones by cleverly capturing his personality, emotion, playfulness and essence. I began using silhouettes to tell my own life story. Now that my second born, John is added to the equation, it's a love story that continues to blossom with both of them as my muses.

2. What's been the most rewarding part of running your business? 

Creating what I love, seeing it come to fruition and adorned by many.

3. Advice for anyone who is thinking of starting their own creative business?

Two words, "start now!". Often people will ponder and wait for the 'perfect' moment to start their creative business, wasting invaluable time.

4. What inspires you most? 

My friends, my family, my boys, are the reason I do what I do.

We're loving this family dates print and how each event can be customized by color. This is such a fun way to display all the important dates in your life, or a great gift for new parents. It's not just the prints that we love, Le Papier has endless goodies from personalized tote bags to dinner plates.

Know a pet lover? One of these personalized pet silhouette plates would certainly make it's home on a mantle or in a frame. Fido will be feeling proud with his own homage.

Vana has customized just about everything, even monogram napkin rings. You can take your tabletop from plain to preppy with the bold color choices, too. What will she come up with next?!

Be sure to check out the entire collection by Le Papier Studio here, and pick up a copy of the new! Pretty Paper Parties book, published by Chronicle Books!

Real Wedding: Haley and James

This real wedding was introduced to us by our wholesale manager, Heather. She shared these images of her friends Haley and James' California wedding and we were immediately overcome with giddy wedding bliss. From all the perfect DIY details to the pure beauty of the bride and groom, this wedding is simply magical.

We must start off with the colorful photography by multi-talented Kate Miss. Her blog is a great source of inspiration so we were excited to hear she was the photographer at this wedding. Next, how about these amazing life sized tissue flowers? It sets the perfect backdrop for an already beautiful venue (Northstar in Tahoe, CA). Full instructions can be found over at Design Sponge.

One of our favorite details has to be the yarn wrapped vases that the bride and her bridesmaids made from our Handmade Weddings book. Since Haley and James' wedding day was all about color, they fit in nicely amongst the rest of the display.

Isn't this a good looking group of women? All the bridesmaids dresses are vintage. Love how the colors of the dresses coordinate with the decor!

The brides beautiful dress was custom made by San Francisco based designer Kajan Padraig. We love the delicate lace sleeves!

This is what weddings are all about. Having fun with your loved ones.

Thanks to Heather for sharing these photos and thanks to the bride and groom for representing our yarn wrapped vases! We truly love to see our projects come to life. For more photos, head over to Kate Miss' blog For Me, For You.

Photography by Kate Miss

Lucky Friday Finale!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the Grand Finale for our Lucky Friday Giveaway!  Each Friday we've featured one of our letterpress greeting cards. This week, to celebrate, we're going to choose ONE SUPER-DUPER SPECIAL WINNER to receive a selection of ten beautiful thank you cards as our way of saying thanks for all your lovely comments over the years! Post a comment by 12 p.m. PST the following Thursday, and we’ll announce our extra lucky winner on the following Friday!

The winners from last week are (drum roll, please): Zoe, Brianna and Shay B! We’ll contact you soon to arrange sending your TYPE(FACE) SORRY card.

Design: We couldn't decide on just one—with so many dear and delicious designs to choose from— so we settled on a tall, short stack of thank-yous. Artist: From the Moyle with the Mostest, to Rockin' Rothman, our selection will be a short list of the finest designs. Inspiration:  We've been so inspired by all our gracious, gorgeous, globe-trotting, card-craving clientele— we wish we could thank you all! Who to send them to: If it's ten friends you want to high-five, or one friend who deserves ten times the love, you can savor choosing the lucky one or two or three or... Favorite detail: We could get lost in all the sweet details; it's nice knowing there's a thank you for everybody. Why letterpress? Our love of letterpress is what started the whole shebang, and for that we give thanks!

Don't forget to post your comment, and tune in next week to see our last, luckiest winner!

DIY Halloween Sidewalk Skulls

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

It's that time again! The holidays are right around the corner and that means we're gearing up for a season of DIY decor. Halloween is the one holiday in which you can get away with practically anything. And although we love faux spider webs and painted pumpkins, we're more attracted to unique, original designs. Our DIY Sidewalk Skulls are a great way to add spook to your home without too much black and orange. Where's the wow factor? It's a glow in the dark graveyard so each piece glows in the gloomy night of Hallow's Eve.

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

Materials: White poster board or card stock, Scissors or craft knife, pencil, glow in the dark acrylic paint (available at craft stores), paintbrush, skewer sticks, masking tape

How To:

1. Print this skull template on your home printer. Cut out with scissors and a craft knife (for the eyes and nose) and trace onto your poster board or card stock. *Tip: for extra strength or to keep your skulls from warping over time, glue two pieces of card stock together before tracing and cutting.

2. Cut out the skull from the poster board or card stock using scissors and a craft knife.

3. Apply three generous layers of glow in the dark paint.

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

4. After the paint is dry, place the skewer stick on the back (pointed side down) and secure with a piece of masking tape.

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

*Tip: We recommend keeping the skulls under a lamp or bright light before displaying for best results. If rain is in the forecast, remove the skulls from the yard to preserve the strength of the paper.

Place skulls along your sidewalk or pathway to light the way for trick-or-treaters! We added bats and bones to the mix, but you can make anything from witch hats to pumpkin heads!

DIY Sidewalk Skulls by Hello!Lucky

Happy Halloween!

For more crafty DIY ideas, visit our website today!

Painted Matters: Artistic Wedding Cakes

Never thought you'd have a sweet tooth for art, would you? Modern pastry chefs are breaking ground with painterly wedding cakes. We can't think of a better way to express yourself on your big day than with a work of art on your dessert table. It's amazing what food coloring can accomplish these days, and with stunners like this rosy wonder (shown above, by Amelie's House), it's clear these chefs can do anything.

This dramatic ombre style by Charm City Cakes (found via Design Sponge) tops the charts. Duff and Co. certainly know how to have fun with their tasty treats, but this four-tiered beauty is - in all seriousness - beautiful.

It's true we may favorite the soft florals and vintage style, but this graphic silhouette cake by My Sweet and Saucy would be perfect for a bold and whimsical wedding.

Of course the team at Martha Stewart Weddings has a spot on our list, impressing us again with this french silk ribbon cake. It is retro and modern, with a subtle ikat texture, and would dazzle the dessert table at any occasion. All of these cakes are found in our Wedding Cake board on Pinterest. Check it out here for more cake love!

Parisian Wedding: Virginie and Antoine

There is a good reason why the word ‘Chic’ cannot be adequately translated into English; we simply just don’t do it as well as the French! Virgine and Antoine both live in London and wanted to take some of the elements of their life here to their May wedding in Paris, mainly in the form of a black London taxi!  We just love the way the photographer has managed to capture the mix of the formal and informal in these stunning photos of the happy couple who seem to have the whole city to themselves!

The reception was a little out of the city at the Manoir de Gressy where the more rural setting provided a beautiful contrast to the city and where Virginie chose an elegant restricted palette of cool greys and silver with just white flowers and green foliage in simple domed bunches. For their stationery they chose to have a customized version of our London Skyline, which we adapted to have the Paris skyline alongside.

We produced the table signs showing either London Tube stations or Paris Metro stops and Virginie also designed a wonderful 32 page booklet herself with graphic images of the two different cultures - The Gherkin vs. Tour Eiffel, Pimms vs. Ricard, Macaron vs. Cupcake etc.!

A customized photo booth with the somewhat Banksy-esque gun-toting Queen along with a host of props allowed the guests to create some memorable photographs of the big day.

Nous remercions Virginie et Antoine d'avoir partage ses photo avec nous. Nous tenons a leur souhaiter beaucoupde bohneur pour leur futur.

Good Company Grand Opening

Last month we celebrated the grand opening of Good Company, a brand new wedding studio we're thrilled to be a part of. Our co-partners in the studio include photographer Lisa Lefkowitz, the dynamic wedding planners at Downey Street Events, florist Sharla Flock Designs, and hair/makeup artist Meaganne McCandess. Meg Messina photographed the opening and did a great job at capturing the space and the crowd that night!

For the opening event, Eunice created these modern window garlands out of cut paper and sewed them together on her sewing machine. We love the way the light hit each shade of peach/pink.

We have a small retail space within the studio, so if you're on Sacramento street pop in and say hello.

It's clear Sharla Flock is an insanely talented because her floral arrangements blew us away.

Guests went home with perfectly wrapped cupcakes by Kara's Cupcakes. The wrapping coordinated quite nicely with the window display, don't you think?

Hello!Lucky staff enjoying the evening and some champagne.

Lisa Lefkowitz and a friend.

The crowd!

Thanks to everyone who attended the event. We're truly thrilled to be part of such an inspirational group of women. Stay tuned for more Good Company news!

Good Company is located on 3366 Sacramento street in San Francisco. 

Employee Spotlight: Jonathan

Next under the heat of the Hello!Lucky Employee Spotlight is Jonathan. Jonathan is our handy pressroom assistant, which requires that he wear multiple hats. Among all his lovable characteristics, our favorites might be his enthusiasm for printmaking and willingness to help others (especially in the trade department!). His musical talents are as impressive as his homebrewing, which we openly welcome during H!L staff meetings. We asked Jon a few questions about himself...

My role at Hello!Lucky is...

urgent care.

I can't get through the day without....

gnartapes, homebrew podcasts, and a big cup of coffee, black as midnight on a moonless night....with lots of cream.

My ideal weekend activities include....

shredding the freedom.

My favorite pressroom activity is....

yeah, printing.

Secret insider info you might not know about Hello!Lucky.....

Crocs are the new Chuck Taylors.

Lucky Friday # 82 TYPE(FACE) SORRY!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 82nd 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 winners from last week are (drum roll, please): Randi Jensen, K Shaw and JoEllen! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Hang in There card.

Design: TYPE(FACE) SORRY! Artist: Eunice Moyle Inspiration: We gave the project some face time, and when we typed the word "Sorry" we knew we had just the type of card we needed. Who to send it to: The type of person you need to face up to— or the type you would rather just send a cute little letter... and not face right away. Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one:  For the Christian congrats card, we couldn't decide on a good baptismal font. Favorite detail: Love the subtlety of the sad face. The Mona Lisa of frownies. Why letterpress? How could we honestly make typographic jokes without such graphic use of type?

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

Wedding Inspiration Pin Boards

Wedding season may be coming to an end soon, but we know how important it is to plan ahead. Seasonal trends will come and go but once you've chosen your wedding invitations it's easy to create a complete look. We're still busy pinning inspiration around some of our most popular wedding invitation designs. Our Pinterest Wedding Inspiration Boards are a great way to develop a look without aimlessly scrolling through image after image. Whether you're having a bright modern wedding or a rustic, natural wedding, our inspiration boards have lots to offer. Above is a mini collage of our favorite images from our Big Day Inspiration Board. This wedding invitation speaks loudly to our fans, and with the whimsical wording and bold typeface it's a shoe-in for a splashy event.

Photo credits clockwise from top left: Drink Straws / Favor Bags / Wedding Shoes / Big Day Wedding Invitation + Save the Date / Heart Programs

Our Lavender Harvest wedding invitation has all the sweet and delicate details that make a rustic wedding look elegant. Designed by Shelley Laband, its colorful illustrations make coordinating wedding details a cinch. Check out the Lavender Harvest Inspiration Board for more matching decor ideas and lovely photos.

Photo credits clockwise from top left: Lavender Harvest wedding suite / Lavender Boutonniers / Wedding Photo / Lavender Cake / Lavender Lemonade 

Pin It To Win It!

Are you as obsessed with Pinterest as we are? We're guessing a lot of you may answer yes to that question. So we thought it would be fun to start doing some giveaways through our favorite social bookmarking site. Help us spread the word about our new DIY Printables and one of you will win a set of 20 letterpress printables of your choosing. Bonus points if you tell us what you would use the printables for -- a dinner party, bridal shower, kids birthday party? The options are limitless with these letterpressed beauties.

Here's how it works. Pin one of the photos from this blog post or one of the designs from the printable collection on our site here. Then comment on this post with a url to your pin. We'll choose one winner who will win the product they pinned (if you pin a photo from this post you can tell is which design you'd like us to send you). It's as simple as that! Sound like fun? Let's try it! We'll announce our winner at noon PST this Friday, September 14th.

Thanks to everyone who participated! A winner has been chosen. Stay tuned for more fantastic giveaways!

Photos by the talented Edyta Szyszlo

Giveaway limited to letterpress printable invitations only.

Photography by Rikki Ward

You may remember Rikki Ward from her lovely photographs of our SF Made studio event in May. We were so impressed with her work we couldn't wait to share more. She has a knack for capturing the spirit of a couple on their wedding day, and is a true delight to work with. As a neighbor in San Francisco, she has the luxury of getting to travel to beautiful places and spaces for work. Her images covers all bases, from rustic outdoor events to traditional and modern weddings. We grabbed a few of our favorite shots, just to give you a peek at her incredible talent. Be sure to visit her  brand new website for more!

Thanks again Rikki for the fun photos of our SF Made event! Can't wait to see what you create next!

Crafts, Cocktails, and Cake Toppers!

Remember our creativebug Video Shoot? Well after the release of our first two tutorial videos we've felt an enormous out pour of love from our fans and fans of creativebug. That's why we're thrilled to announce the Crafts, Cocktails, and Caketoppers event with creativebug at Chronicle Books! Sabrina and Eunice will be there giving hands on instructions for how to make your own cake topper, perfect for any event. The workshop (Thursday September 27th from 6-8) is totally free but space is limited so click the image above or RSVP here! Bring your friends or family members for a night full of fun with local craft connoisseurs. We'll see you there!

Indoor Tents for Kids

As parents and adults, we encourage creativity and imagination for kids. One of the most treasured activities we remember growing up is building forts. Nothing brought more joy than gathering blankets, pillows, towels, cushions, and any item that could turn the bedroom into a private fortress, much to our parents chagrin. The mess was a handful, but the end product always made great memories. Now our favorite childhood pastime has turned into a sophisticated and trendy home accessory. These talented bloggers and parents have shared images of their own indoor tents and they're pitching a frenzy among crafty moms around the web. The tent above takes teepee to a whole new level. Found via Black Eiffel from Frank Features, those stars are a fun addition to any kids room.

This A-frame tent made by Rubyellen of My Cakies is a simple DIY and can easily be broken down and stored. With elastic bands sewn to the corners and washable fabrics, this tent makes parent playtime a cinch and kids playtime a dream come true.

Tifanie of Noddyboom used thrift store found sweaters and textiles for her whimsical teepee style tent.

This photo of Eva'a red striped tent (found via Spearmint Baby via Happiness is Eva) takes the cake. The structured foundation, the bold stripes, the velcro fasteners, it's all tent perfection. You can get your own tent over at An Angel at my Table.