Don't Forget Mom!

Mother's Day is May 12th this year and this is just a friendly reminder to remember Mom!  To help you with your gift giving ideas this year we're offering 20% off all personal stationery on our site. What better way to show Mom your appreciation than gifting her with some sweet personalized stationery?

Be sure to check out our letterpress Mother's day cards and pick out the perfect one for your Mom. And while you're there you may as well pick one up for Dad too - Father's day will be here before you know it!

Enter code DearMom at checkout for 20% off your order of personal stationery or greeting cards. Expires May 10th. Order early so it arrives in time!

 

Real Wedding: Lauren & Derek

This wedding had it all. Beautiful woods and a beach side ceremony. We love the couples casual approach to their wedding day. Derek and Lauren wanted a simple but beautiful wedding and these photos are proof they achieved just that!

You can't go wrong with this stunning view.

The couple chose our Seagulls Wedding Invitation which matched their Oregon beach setting perfectly.

Lauren and Derek also win best wedding song choices ever in our book. The couple's processional song was “Thank You” by Led Zeppelin and their recessional song was “Sunshine of my Life” by Stevie Wonder.

Congratulations Lauren & Derek!

More photos can be viewed over at Ruffled.

Wedding Location: Oceanside, OR / Wedding Photographer: K Miller Photographs / Ceremony Venue: Oceanside Beach State Park / Reception Venue: Oceanside Community Club / Wedding Flowers: Bride and friends / Wedding Dress: ShopBop / Wedding Caterer: Bread and Ocean / Dessert: Couple’s friends / Officiant: Helen Hill / Wedding Invitations: Hello!Lucky

New! Skyline Invitation Suites

We're so excited to announce that we have added more designs to our ever popular skyline wedding invitation series. We get so many requests for cities so deciding which ones to design next was easy! We took a look at our list and picked the top six most requested skylines. With a couple general skylines thrown into the mix we're hoping we please brides in cities all over the world with this release!

Here are the six new cities we're welcoming to our skyline family this week: Portland, Austin, New Orleans, Edinburgh, Wine Country, and Mountain Skyline. Be sure to click through and view the entire suites for these new wedding designs as we spent a lot of time picking the perfect icons for all the corresponding pieces!

And don't forget about the cities we already have in this series which include San Francisco, New York, Boston, London, Seattle, and Desert Skylines. All our skyline wedding invitation suites are available in both letterpress and flat printing. And like all of the designs on our site these skylines can be personalized to match your wedding colors. So be sure to play around in our custom tool online and pick the perfect palette.

And don't forget we also have some skyline letterpress greeting cards available for those of you who want to show your city pride but aren't getting married. We're busy printing more cities but right now you can find letterpress notecards featuring San Francisco, New York and London skylines.

Looking for a city we don't have yet? Tell us in the comments which ones we should design next!

 

Jude's Picks: Favorite Apps

Last week I shared some of Jude's favorite books and movies and this week I thought it would be fun to share some of the apps he's been enjoying. Crazy that a toddler would have favorite apps, I know! But it's a brave new world! I appreciate these apps for their educational qualities, he's pretty eager to learn when he has that ipad in his hands.

The peeps at Toca Boca make some of our favorite apps, but Toca Doctor is probably the top choice these days (bug squishing! Burping! Farting! and all kinds of other hilarity). This app actually helped me convince Jude that brushing his teeth is cool and fun and not simply a horrific exercise in torture - I stand behind anything that can help me explain oral hygiene to a toddler!

Not that Jude would ever get the iPad right before bed (hello, cracked out temper tantrum), but this Nighty Night is darling (and in several different languages - it's always tricky to find great apps in French, so this is a big plus in my book). You turn out the light and say good night to each animal on the farm and watch them settle down for the night - the illustrations are adorable and it's full of amusing details.

Another beautifully designed app with great illustrations, Tam & Tao in Numberland is a very popular choice with Mr. Jude. Full of fun puzzles, coloring and counting games, and cool, dimensional animations.

As always let me know if you have any fun app suggestions for kids! I love hearing about new ones.

 

Planning the perfect baby shower

There’s a lot of speculation around what the Duchess of Cambridge will plan for her pregnancy, birth and beyond. When it came to planning my own baby shower for my daughter Sienna last year, I decided to splash out and get cake and cookie expert Peggy Porschen to create some cookies and a cake in my chosen theme, which was owls. The results were adorable as you can see from these snapshots. I furthered the colour theme with pink balloons and was lucky to receive the cutest gifts including three Jellycat soft toy owls!

If you’re looking for ideas for your baby shower, take a look at what Hello!Lucky have on offer: super cute printable invitations and free (yes free) DIY template and instructions for creating your own pom-poms made out of cupcake liners! Your house or venue is sure to look cute with these hanging up for any type of celebration.

 Coming back to Kate and an imaginary baby shower for her, if I was sister Pippa, I would have a tea party in the garden at Kensington palace, I’d fill it with pretty vintage tea sets from Idyllic Days and funky flowers by Wild at Heart. Catherine’s friends would eat strawberries and cream flavoured mini red velvet cupcakes from The Hummingbird bakery and walk away with goodie bags filled with personalized cookies from Biscuiteers and smellies from the Cowshed.

Also, once the baby arrives be sure to check out Hello!Lucky’s birth announcements, they’re so sweet. Scott’s giraffe design was from their main collection and Sienna’s owl was a special custom design that Eunice Moyle was kind enough to create for us.

Happy birth and celebrations to you all!

 Vanessa Mason x

 

New Letterpress Card Designs & A Giveaway!

We are so very excited to launch our new greeting card line and have loved sharing glimpses of what it looks like with you here on the blog, on Facebook and instagram. Well today one lucky commenter will receive one of our brand new cards, long before it's available in stores or anywhere else!

To enter to win just leave a comment and tell us who you would send this 'Thanks A Ton' card to. We'll pick a winner today and announce it here!

Update! We were so thrilled with the awesome response from you all that we picked 5 winners! Congratulations to Tasha, Tammy, Rebecca, Natasha, & Mary! You'll be receiving emails from us shortly so be on the look out! 

A Most Curious Wedding Fair

UK friends! Our London team will once again be exhibiting at one of the most fun and unique wedding fairs across the pond. A Most Curious Wedding Fair will be taking place in just a couple of weeks. This really is a fabulous event packed with inspiring and creative vendors. Iain and Hamad love it when our fans and friends stop by the Hello!Lucky booth to say hello, so be sure to do so if you attend the fair!

Event details:
19 -21 April 2013
The Truman Brewery 
91 Brick Lane, London. E1 6QL 

April is National Card & Letter Writing Month!

We’ll take any reason to celebrate writing letters and sending cards the old fashioned way. So when we found out April was National Card & Letter Writing month we thought we should spread the word and celebrate all month long. We’ll be giving away a card every day this month, either here on our blog, or over at our Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, or Google+ pages. Be sure to follow us in all of those places so you can enter to win. And feel free to enter as many times as you like!

Here’s to good old fashioned letter writing and keeping the USPS in business with lots of letters to deliver! Spread the word and write your loved ones and friends lots of letters this month.

And don’t forget to check out our wide range of all occasion letterpress cards on our website here.

Jude's Picks: Reads, Tunes & Films

As a parent to a very active three year old I am always on the look out for great reads, apps, and music that will keep him entertained. I also love sharing what Jude is currently getting excited about. So here's the most recent installment of Jude's Picks...

Creature by Andrew Zuckerman is a great alphabet book filled with gorgeous rich photos. Jude is currently totally nuts for animals and this book from Chronicle is one of his latest faves.

One of my favorite books when I was a kid, Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever (Le Grand Livre des Mots is the French/English edition which you can get here ) is filled with all kinds of fantastic vocabulary words accompanied by Richard Scarry's classic animal characters. Be warned it includes a few questionable choices - I wonder, does the little pig really, really, dream of growing up to be a butcher?

Dancing around the kitchen with Dad is still a favorite activity - this month's top pick is anything by the Talking Heads.

French Songs for Children is a long standing favorite (when he was a baby, this album would instantly calm him even in the midst of a screaming fit, and thus has been a permanent fixture in the car for the last three years). Remarkably tolerable - Lucienne Vernay was a French singer in the 40's and 50's and the vintage quality remains charming even after having listened to it about 15 million times!

Rio is Jude's latest film of choice - it's actually not too bad (though, given my druthers, I'm definitely more of a Nemo, Cinderella, Robin Hood, Dumbo kind of gal - all recently tired of, alas) - Jamie Foxx and Will.i.am play a couple of amusing hip-hop-y birds and it is pretty hilarious when you realize your toddler is shaking his booty and singing "I like to party, I like to samba!" while you change his diaper!

Jude is also a huge fan of nature documentaries (again, nuts for animals - trucks, firemen? eh, whatevs, but a good wildebeest stampede really rocks his socks!) the BBC's Africa with David Attenborough has just recently dethroned the reigning champion, Planet Earth.

I'm always on the lookout for recommendations so please share what your kids are loving in the comments!

Eunice's Sketchbook

One of the most fun things we do around the studio is brain storm ideas for new cards. We usually have a meeting, throw out all of our silly ideas, and then whittle the list down to something manageable since Eunice usually ends up designing the bulk of our greeting cards. One of the most lively conversations we tend to have is when we come up with card ideas that center around anthropomorphic food. The idea for a 'Wokin' Birthday' card came from a dinner Eunice and Sabrina had at a Chinese restaurant.

As you can see Eunice is still in the midst of sketching but we had to share these shots of her sketch book from this morning. She said it's not easy conveying veggies and pieces of tofu dancing so she tries to imagine Wil.i.am as a piece of tofu. These veggies definitely look like they are getting down so her method seems to be working. We can't wait to see the final design for this hysterical birthday card and will be sure to show you as soon as it's on press.

In the mean time have a Wokin' Thursday!

Shop Feature: Postmark

We are so thrilled to pick up our store features again. This time we're kicking off with a great shop we love in the UK called Postmark. Postmark has two shops, one of which is located in Balham, just a little south of our offices in London Bridge. When Postmark in Balham opened their doors they added greatly to to the the area's increasing reputation for being a shopping destination for those seeking out a more individual retail experience. We chatted a bit with the owners to give you a little more insight into this great independent boutique.

We are a small family run company based in South London. Run by a team of passionate card lovers with over 25 years experience, we pride ourselves on our hand picked selection of cards. We mainly deal with small independent publishers with over 95% of them based, designing and producing in the UK.

Our Balham store first opened it's door in 2004 and soon became a neighbourhood favourite. We won the title of 'Best Independent Card Retailer - London' in 2008 and the buzz and excitement this created was the catalyst for us opening our East Dulwich store in December 2008. In 2009 we then became the first company to retain and win this award twice. This award is the industry 'Oscars' and rewards and recognises excellence in the greeting card industry.

We pride ourselves on customer service and are always looking for new and exciting ways to stand out from the rest. In both our stores, you can use the first of it's kind, in house postal service. Each store has an in store postal service, enabling customers to send their cards and parcels to anywhere in the world without even leaving the shops. Just pop in, pick a card, write it and we will do the rest! We have been finalists in 2007,2010 and 2011 for 'Best Retail Initiative' for our fresh and intuitive retail ideas. From our 'Golden ticket' campaign to our most recent 'Beat the postal price increase' campaign starting in November 2012.

While Hello!Lucky is one of our favourites we also stock cards from Caroline Gardner, Urban Graphic, Simon Drew, Noi Publishing, Almanac Gallery, Rachel Ellen, Pigment Productions, The Art File, ArtPress, Stop The Clock to name just a few as well as numerous small up and coming publishers who we feel could be the next big thing!

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Thanks for taking the time to chat with us Postmark and thanks for being such a supporter of our cards over the years. You can shop Postmark's great inventory of cards online or visit one of their two locations if you are in the UK.

Inspired By: Coral & Tusk

We first discovered the embroidered work of Coral & Tusk at a local wedding fair where a vendor had a beautifully stitched table runner on display. We loved the detailed feathers and immediately sought out more of their work online.

Founded in 2007 by Stephanie Housley together with her husband Chris Lacinak, Coral & Tusk creates work inspired by their travels all over the globe. Their love of animals, adventure, and the natural world are reflected in every piece they create. We're especially fond of their stitched animals who always seem to be celebrating.

A RISD-trained textile designer, Stephanie creates all of her scenes and irreverent characters as original pencil drawings before she redraws them stitch by stitch using special computer software. Finished by hand in Coral and Tusk's Brooklyn loft, every machine-embroidered pillow, doll, napkin and artwork retains the story-telling spirit and hand-drawn allure of the original illustration. A mix of smart design, magic and mischief is at the heart of every Coral & Tusk embroidery.

View & shop Coral & Tusk here.

See if they are in a store near you here.

Follow along with their latest here.

Real Wedding: Britt and Blake

This real wedding featured on Style Me Pretty shows a classic side of San Francisco that we simply adore. Dream a Little Dream Events' Britt McNany and her beau Blake met in San Francisco and wed in San Francisco. Their theme was timeless, with dramatic details and bold colors. Plus, both the ceremony and reception took place in iconic buildings that were the perfect destination for their big day. We recreated a custom design to suit her romantic soiree along with some equally gorgeous day-of products.

Tables were each named by the various neighborhoods in our city, to guide guests to their seats. We love how the gorgeous deep red bouquets by Nancy Liu Chin match the cards.

A ceremony in St. Ignatius Church was the only place for these two. It's sweeping archways and rich architecture set the tone for the night ahead.

This room is completely breathtaking. The entire Asian Art Museum is filled with historic and contemporary beauty, but to host a reception here is a true dream.

Custom printed place cards were set to match the table decor, with individual meal choices, too.

Congratulations Britt and Blake! We wish you a lifetime of happiness and a wonderful 2013!

Photos by Andrew Weeks Photography

 

Tomfoolery Photo Booth Fun!

We wanted to say congrats to our friend and amazing product photographer Edyta Szyszlo who just launched Tomfoolery SF with her partner Jared this week.

We've had the chance to experience their ultra stylish open-air photo booth several times already and we're big fans of the fun backdrops and clever props.

Check out their playful website and be sure to book them for any social events you have big or small!
Congrats Edyta & Jared and best of luck with your exciting new venture!

Third Birthday Party -- Rainbows & Unicorns!

Jude, James, Alex and a whole band of kids just celebrated their big birthday number 3 and the theme for this years party was rainbows and a unicorn. The Unicorn was the only member in the group who was turning one. Beatrice had a special unicorn outfit just for the party. It wasn't easy to top last years amazing neon bash but Eunice, Sabrina, and their friends outdid themselves and managed to make this years celebration even more memorable than the last one.

Eunice designed the rainbow themed invitations complete with custom rainbow liners. Each kid was assigned a color of the rainbow and as you can see from this photo the parents matched!

This years party was held at Urban Recess in San Francisco on a Saturday evening. Urban Recess proved to be the perfect space since there are already so many built in activities for kids including train sets - which Jude loved-- slides, a climbing wall, and even a giant swing.

As a surprise the parents brought in a musical act this year and the kids loved dancing and singing along to the band Your Song My Song. Jaime Lee Currier and Eric Hart sing classic kids' songs, Beatles, originals, family favorites and lots of sing-a-longs.

The preparation for this years party of course involved lots of crafting. Together the parents made sweet little party hats (inspired by hats made by Jihan of Geronimo), a giant number 3 covered in rainbow streamers, t-shirts with the number three on them for the birthday kids, colorful cupcake liners and rainbow toppers, rainbow balloons from Sparky's, and of course a giant number 1 so Beatrice wasn't left out.

Happy Birthday to Jude, James, Alex, Ella, Raphael, Hugo, Lillian, & Beatrice! We can't wait to see what your 4th birthday party looks like!

All photos (excluding the giant number 3) taken by Sandra of Happy Morning. 

Real Wedding: Anne and Chris

A late summer wedding in Montauk, NY is just about as close to bliss as one can get. The warm days, cooler nights, salty air and bright colors make up a pretty perfect setting, and the real wedding of Anne and Chris shows us just how perfect it really was. The wedding, featured on Cappy Hotchkiss Photography, is dubbed "J.Crew I do" because the party is head-to-toe in the popular brand. It fits just right for these nautical nuptials, so we give props to the young couple for their killer style.

Have you ever seen a better looking bridal party? White weddings are classic but those colorful shoes definitely make a statement. Anne and Chris chose our Big Day wedding invitation customized with a heart and their initials at the top. Our favorite part has to be the dress suggestion at the bottom: Dress Sharp.

Each table included some handmade details, along with bright and beautiful bouquets by Flowers by Beth.

Our Big Day menus and table signs complimented the decor nicely.

Sparklers are always a nice touch when bidding adieu to the newlyweds. Congratulations to Anne and Chris! For more photos, visit Cappy Hotchkiss Photography.

Easter Card Giveaway!

Easter is just a couple of weeks away so today we're giving one lucky commenter these three Easter cards. Leave a comment  on this post by 4pm PST (7pm EST) today. We'll pick one winner this afternoon and send out the cards tout suite so you get them in time for Easter.

Hop to it little bunnies!

*Update! You all are the funniest bunch of bunnies ever! Thanks for playing and for brightening our day with your witty comments. The winner today is Tammy! But be on the lookout for more giveaways here soon! And happy weekend everyone!