Wee Birdy = Queen of Craft!

Thanks to Wee Birdy, one of our favorite bloggers, who's been guest blogging over at Oola Moola, for sharing her amazing feat of crafting 35 cards in 1 day (and for only £20)!! Several of them were from our book, Handmade Hellos!

Check out the hilarious in-process shots of her Owl-y Friend card by Petra Boase...

...and the amazing results!!

Ms. Birdy also made the Paper Portrait card by La Familia Green.

Check it out! We love it, including the tiny nostrils!!

Birdy, you are a crafting queen! Welcome to the fold, grasshopper!

See more of Wee Birdy's feats of crafting endeavor here and here.

Mutant Octopi, Puppies, Giraffes!!

We had a great time today hosting a gaggle of hilarious second graders for a valentine making bonanza.  Here we are at the beginning of the session - all seems calm, but it soon descended into crafting chaos!

We worked on the Fuzzy Octopus card from our book, Handmade Hellos.  Above, some very serious crafting commences...

The kids were really creative - here is an octopus that ended up with 22 eyes at the final count...

We loved how creative the kids got!  Here a little girl who decided to go with a fantastic giraffe of her own creation.

A hysterical puppy...

Hilarious mutant octopus...

Aaron does a little printing demonstration for a rapt audience. Thanks to the kids and teachers of Leonard Flynn Elementary School for a great time! Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Card Making Party

Last week we hosted a Valentine's card making  party at Chronicle Books' shop on Union Street in San Francisco, featuring a valentine's version of the Owl-y Friend card by Petra Boase, from our book Handmade Hellos.

We had a great turnout - so much fun!

By the end of the night, we had a crazy number of variations on the owl, and lots of happy crafters!

The owls (and some non-owls) were as varied as their makers...

We dubbed this one the "red hot" owl - love the color combo!

And what about these "disco wings"!?

Glitter was one of the more popular supplies...a comedian once called glitter the STD of crafting, and our party proved that out...my the end, it had spread everywhere! Hilarious!

Some crafters were inspired by the Wood You Be Mine? project from the book, by Two Trick Pony, and made their own vignettes (this one uses some cute cardinal wrapping paper from Snow & Graham).

Or how about this hilarious birthday card? The little alien is made from a patterned paper by EIEIO.

Owl with wings and eyes akimbo... Thanks to everyone who attended, and a special shout-out to Christina Loff for organizing. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Our New (Extra Fancy!) Website is Here!

We're so excited our new website is finally here - check it out!

You can now order wedding invitations and save-the-dates easily online!

Check out our new proof preview feature when you shop for wedding invitations or save-the-dates (additional products will have this soon) - you can play around with type, color, & formatting - our favorite feature is the ability to drag the text boxes around so you can change your text placement on the fly!

Browse our inspiration boards created by Kathryn from Snippet & Ink...

Learn all about the letterpress process...

Meet our awesome staff...

Shop for cute personalized stationery!

and greeting cards...

as well as fabulous gifts, including our new book, Handmade Hellos!

We are so thrilled with the way it turned out!  That being said, it's brand-spanking new, so there are a couple bugs here and there which we are fixing as fast as we can.  If you come across something that isn't working properly or have any feedback, we'd love to hear from you - please email us here!  Note to folks on Internet Explorer 6 - it's time to upgrade! Sadly, our site is now too schmancy for the abilities of IE6 - but you can download IE7 here...

Happy browsing!

The Handmade Hellos Crafting Party!

The crafting party last night was a smash hit!

All of our demo stations were full of ambitious crafters–Hello!Lucky's snowy variation on Petra Boase’s Owl-y Friend yielded many colorful results! You can download the template here to try it out for yourself!

Our Handmade Hellos contributors demonstrated various craft projects. François Vigneault instructed guests on how to make postcards composed of found maps, a fun and easy project for anyone with a crafty eye.

Sarah Adler's magical banner project used dainty little boxes to enclose a quirky greeting one letter at a time!

Stacy and Nicole (above) from Pancake & Franks had a station devoted to their accordion card, which uses durable board ends to make up a booklet.

Jody Warshaw, Christina Loff, Kate Woodrow from Chronicle Books showing off their projects!

Happy crafters!

Jeffrey McGrew from Because We Can fashioned his card into part of his ensemble!

Nancy Deane from Chronicle Books shows off her owl.

Sarah Adler watches as one of her students displays her very own magical banner.

The Hello!Lucky staff were, of course, busy at work! Pictured above, Max Koch and Shauna Leytus were the studio bartenders while, below, James Tucker and Alex Ewers greeted incoming crafters!

Aaron Cohick, our lead pressman, was kind enough to demonstrate the ins-and-outs of our vintage Heidelberg presses throughout the evening.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Gettin' ready for the crafting party!

We're getting ready for tonight's crafting party! The studio's abuzz with decorating and preparations!

Anna made these adorable buttons for H!L staff.

Alex hanging decorations in our front window...

And Anna hanging signs on our card display...

We're going to be making great holiday-inspired craft projects tonight, courtesy of Handmade Hellos contributors. Here's Sarah Adler's set-up (she owns Hearts & Anchors) - so cute!

Crafter extraordinaire François Vigneault getting his project ready...

Hello!Lucky is doing a snowy variation on Petra Boase's Owly Friend from the book (download the template here!).

More decor from around the studio!

The party starts tonight at 6 p.m. Come one, come all!

Hello!Lucky Studio 977 Howard Street (between 5th and 6th) San Francisco Closest BART: Powell Street Closest Parking: 5th & Mission garage - just 1.5 blocks away! There is also street parking on Howard and across the street from the studio.

SF Chronicle article & book launch party!

Thanks to Anh-Minh Le (who also writes a fabulous blog!) for her article about us in today's San Francisco Chronicle!

The piece compares and contrasts our aesthetics, as reflected in the style of our homes.

Eunice's dog Simon also makes an appearance - his, ahem, windy antics are the inspiration behind our I Stink (I'm Sorry!) skunk card.

For those of you in the Bay Area, come check out our book launch party Thursday, December 11 from 6 - 8 p.m at our studio at 977 Howard Street (between 5th and 6th). There'll be crafting galore with Handmade Hellos contributors Hearts & Anchors, Pancake & Franks, Pie Bird Press, Francois Vigneault!

Check Out Our Bust!

Ahem, our feature in Bust Magazine that is!  A couple of projects from our new book, Handmade Hellos, are showcased in this month's issue!  Very exciting!

The cards are based on projects by contributors Sarah Neuburger of the Small Object and the always sassy MikWright.  Learn how to make hilarious mini-family portraits (complete with stylie hair) through the age-old practice of thumbprint art! And that circa-1965 shot of Aunt Cheryl in a plaid pantsuit that's been crying out for an audience?  A perfect candidate for a cheeky holiday greeting - just add scissors and glue!

Happy crafting!

Kate Sutton

Speaking of fabulous illustrations, we just have to take a moment to opine about the brilliantly talented Kate Sutton. She just posted these new cuckoo clocks on her blog - how hilarious are they?! Love the squirrels especially.

Here are some hilarious soft items she sewed - the pirate peas and carrots are our favorites! Avast, pea hearties! ha ha

Kate has not one but two projects in our new book, Handmade Hellos, including this charming pop-up birdie card...

The beaks pop open - a chirpy way to say hello!

Kate also illustrated these fantastic letterpress valentine's day cards for us; check out all her cards for Hello!Lucky here. We'd seen Kate's work around - like this poster for the Renegade Craft Fair - and fell in love with her quirky style!

We also love this  custom illustration she did for a baby girl named Grace. What a sweet idea! Check out Kate's work and blog here.

Handmade Hellos is here!

It's official! Our new book Handmade Hellos: Fresh Greeting Card Projects from First-Rate Crafters, published by Chronicle Books, is now available at a store near you (including Barnes & Noble, Fred Flare, and of course here on our website)! There are way too many great projects in the book to showcase them all (click here for more info and a full list of contributors), so here's just a taste!

Simple, elegant Big Number Birthday Card by our talented friends at Binth.

Fabulous Owly Friend collage card by the lovely and talented UK-based Petra Boase.

New Baby Nest fabric collage card by London-based Abigail Brown.

Brilliantly simple and stylish origami self-mailing note by Norway's Darling Clementine - you'll be using this folding technique for years to come, trust us!

Pop-up "Ahoy there!" pirate ship card by one of our favorite illustrators, Kate Sutton.

Road trip post card set by the brilliantly creative Francois Vigneault!

Genius silk-screen on balsa wood valentine by Two Trick Pony (can also be adapted to a save the date card or even a dinner party invite "Wood you come to dinner?" ha ha).

Witty horoscope card by the talented crew at Egg Press.

Hilarious thumbprint Humpty Dumpty card from The Small Object (there is a broken Humpty inside, making this the perfect sympathy or apologies card) - check out the upcoming issue of Bust magazine for a wonderful family portrait variation on this for the holidays, which must be seen to be appreciated! (Also included in the issue is a variation on the fantastic MikWright contribution to the book!)

Adorable Library Book birth announcement by Paper + Cup.

Ridiculous and hilarious Fuzzy Octopus by the fabulous Daniel James which we had fun making with both kids and adults at last spring's Maker Faire.

And of course there are a few projects in the book by us, too, including this snazzy Blue Ribbon Card...

The adorable how-to illustrations were created by Sarah LaBieniec, half of dynamic design duo Lab Partners. So quick, get your copies - stocking stuffers for all!!

Abigail Brown

We are huge fans of Abigail Brown, one of the artists who contributed to our upcoming book from Chronicle Books, Handmade Hellos (in bookstores in September!) and were so excited to hear that she has launched a blog so we can keep up to date on her latest delightful creations.

Her quirky birds are so charming and full of amusing character...love the color palette - it reminds us of an especially delicious cupcake!

Wall art that would be so fanastic in a nursery...the little fox with the one crazy eye is hilarious!

Matchbox Tweeters! Each Tweeter tucked into in his own little vintage match box, decorated with bits of fabric and stitching...

The gentleman pictured above is so very appropriately named Bostwick P. Federhut. Seriously, the tiny turquoise hat and upturned snout is just too much! You can shop for more darling critters and more at her etsy shop...

Handmade Hellos Meet 'n' Greet Giveaway

We're thrilled to be participating in the National Stationery Show again this coming week, May 18 - 21. At the show, we'll be sponsoring a fabulous promotion of our new book Handmade Hellos, along with Chronicle Books and several of the lovely contributors, including Binth, Cielo Blu, Egg Press, Pancake & Franks, Paper + Cup, Pie Bird Press, Two Trick Pony, and You Send Me - click here for a full list.

The Meet 'n' Greet Giveaway gives retailers the opportunity to win over $1000 in cards and two copies of the book! Real all about it right here. Hope to see you there!