The Weekend Press

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We pledged for The Weekend Press's Oakland Illustration Project on Kickstarter and received this awesome kit! A pocket notebook, letterpress coasters, one postcard, and 10 original prints! We are extra excited and a wee bit sentimental over this project because these prints were created with our very own Original Heidelberg Press that we sold to them when we closed up shop in SF. Not only that, but one of our lovely designers Anna Hurley moved on to collaborate with them! We are incredibly supportive of this project not only because of our connection, but because it's a community project that uses a traditional form of craftsmanship, letterpress- our one true love. Learn more about the project here! Here are a few of the prints we received. Styled and shot below by The Weekend Press.

San Francisco Center for the Book Re-Opening!

We're big fans of the San Francisco Center for the Book so we were excited to hear that they recently moved into a new and bigger space. This Friday, April 26th, from 6 - 9pm they will be celebrating in their new home on 375 Rhode Island Street. Head to their blog to see the great list of events they have planned for the evening which include printing and binding demos. The event is free and open to the public, just be sure to RSVP here . You can also view the event on Facebook.

The talented folks over at creativebug put together a great short video showcasing the new space. Be sure to check it out here.

Congrats on your new home SFCB!

Photos by creativebug

Real San Francisco Engagement

We've been dying to share photos from this sweet engagement for what seems like, forever! Remember this Sweet Paper Proposal on the blog last year? Well the photos are finally out and they're exactly what we imagined. Cameron and his lovely fiance were definitely a match made in - Muni? Check out the entire gallery over at Style Me Pretty with tell-all photos by Chris and Adrienne Scott.

Congratulations to the happy couple!

Photos by Chris and Adrienne Scott

Featured: Wedding Row California

This week Wedding Row California wrote a wonderful post about letterpress printing at Hello!Lucky. With specific details about the creative process and gorgeous photography by Josh Gruetzmacher. We feel touched when people show such interest in the age-old printmaking method of letterpress, especially when they spend a whole afternoon learning the ins-and-outs.

Printmaker James is a fabulous tour guide, and showed Abigail (the author) and Josh the steps of creating a New York City Skyline letterpress wedding invitation from beginning to end.

To read the entire feature and to view more amazing photos, click here!

Hello!Lucky Open Studio

We're just loving these photos by Rikki Ward Photography taken of our open studio event on SFMade Day! She captured the day perfectly - from the letterpress printing tutorials to our furry little visitors. If you missed out on the fun, on May 12th we opened our doors on a sunny Saturday to all of our San Francisco friends and offered first hand printing techniques, discounts on our cards and gifts, and even invited super stylish Leslie Yang - owner and designer of Feistyelle - to come and sell her killer accessories. We had such a good time that we are already planning the next event!

The original Vandercook press.

Handmade accessories by Feistyelle.

The spread!

We're thankful for such an amazing turnout.

Here's James giving a lesson about letterpress printing.

Even our curious customers got a chance to crank the press and make their own birthday card!

Leslie Yang looking fabulous.

Our favorite customer! Sending a big thanks to everyone who came and supported us. If you missed out last time don't be sad - we're planning on opening our studio for days like this more often, so stay tuned for details!

Photos by Rikki Ward Photography

The Best of NSS, Part 3

There was so much good work at NSS this year that it was hard to keep it to just two posts. So here is my third and final post, but really I could have done about three more! Rose from The Great Lakes Goods always has a strong showing and this year was no exception (above and below).

Newcomer Pei Designs featured some super cute illustrations - all letterpressed (above and below)!

Our buddy Susy (from Susy Jack) really knocked it out of the park this year with her awesome recipes boxes, paperweights and calendars (above and below).

Do you recognize the feather illustration?

The always amazing Rifle Paper debuted these ridiculously adorable cocktail coasters:

Fawnsberg is run by two sisters, and features sweet illustrations on their cards and rubber stamps (above and below).

Finally, Atlanta-based Alee and Press really nailed it with their ombre style:

Whew! It was a great show and I loved checking out all the beautiful new work. Let us know in the comments if you discovered anyone new and amazing at the show this year!

The Best of NSS, Part 2

Hey peeps! It's time for more goodies from this years National Stationery Show (click here to see Part 1). First up is the amazing work from 1 Canoe 2 (above and below): 3 talented girls who draw, design and letterpress print in a barn in Missouri. Living the dream.

Making their NSS debut this year was Los Angeles based The Social Type (below). I love how the same sentiment can be interpreted in many different ways!

Another favorite of mine was Banquet Atelier & Workshop, based in Vancouver. Our mutual love of neon was obvious:

How incredible is their guest sign (below)? I'm loving their prints also.

My favorite birthday card of the show came from Anemone Letterpress (below). So clever!

Stay tuned for part 3!

Letterpress Road Trip

Pack up the presses and hit the road! That is exactly what Kyle Durrie of Moveable Type did back in 2010 when she felt torn between her two passions - road trips and printmaking. She wasn't about to choose one or the other, so Kyle transformed a 1982 Chevy Step Van into her personal print shop. She set off onto a country-wide journey introducing moveable type to cities east and west, and it's making a big impression on all the communities she visits. When she visited The Curiosity Shoppe San Francisco last July we were amazed at the turnout, especially for such a small space!

The Moveable Type truck updates their tour dates daily, so be sure to find out if it's coming to a town near you. You can go home with hand-cranked posters, cards, and learn a little more about the print process. Visit the website here!

SFCB Earth Day Extravaganza

The San Francisco Center for the Book is hosting an awesome Earth Day Extravaganza in celebration of this year's Earth Day! On Saturday April 21st you can try your own hand at printmaking, bookbinding, and lots of other fun activities. The best part is that it's totally FREE! Bring your friends, families and kids and be a part of something great.

The SFCB is located at 300 De Haro Street Suite 334, San Francisco, CA, 94103 (The entrance is on the 16th Street side of the building, under the red awning in the bright blue building).

On Press: Dinosaurs--Polymer Plates

This is the first in a series of videos on the production of our "Dinosaurs" birthday card designed by Julia Rothman. Here Max demonstrates the polymer plate making process.

To create the plates, we first start with a film that has a clear image area and an opaque non-image area. We place this film on top of the polymer plate that has a layer of photo sensitive emulsion and expose it to UV light. The light that shines through the clear image area of the film hardens the light sensitive emulsion. Then we scrub the unexposed soft emulsion away, leaving a raised relief plate. After rinsing the plate and putting it on a heating tray to dry, we expose the plate to light again for added strength. Lastly, we apply an adhesive backing to attach the polymer plate to a boxcar base.

Stay tuned next week for the next step in creating this letterpress Dinosaur greeting card.

On Press: Tie the Knot

This week On Press are samples of the Julia Rothman wedding design for Hello!Lucky: Tie the Knot. James is printing the beautiful three-color invitations. Watch him preparing the guides on his press to ensure consistent registration, cleaning between each color run, and applying ink to the rollers for distribution.

On Press: Cross Stitch

This week on press is the new Susy Jack* design for Hello!Lucky: Cross Stitch. Here is a video of Hello!Lucky's printer, James, positioning the polymer plate, setting up the press, and printing samples of the new design.

This design will be available on the site soon!

On Press: Best Mate!

This week for on press we made a video giving you a behind-the-scenes look at our Heidelberg windmills in operation. Our talented printer, Max, is printing the platonic love greeting: "Best Mate." It was designed by Esther Aarts for Hello!Lucky.

On Press: In the Jungle

So much time and care goes into every letterpress job at Hello!Lucky and we want to share what goes on behind the scenes.  This is the first in an ongoing series of posts detailing the unique process that combines paper and ink to create a handcrafted keepsake sure to make... an impression (oh yes we said it!).  This wild three-color invitation was taken on as job printing for one of our clients.

Registration is the alignment of different inks when printing and the crop marks on each edge act as guides for keeping those colors in the right place.

A stack of sheets on the feed table

A polymer plate is freshly inked and ready to add the third color, black.

"In the Jungle" was printed by James, and this week he is sporting his forest green teamster apron. Sharp!

Happy Holidays from all of us!

You may think that because we're a stationery company that we never face any uncertainty when choosing our own holiday cards. It actually takes lots of consideration to be sure we send the perfect card to our friends and colleagues. But we must admit, it was a seamless decision when we chose the design for our own holiday cards this year. Inspired by Susy Jack's Amazing New Year card, we transformed the digital version into a four color two-sided letterpress stunner.

For our special friends, we slipped in a package of digital/letterpress hybrid gift tags! They're suitable for any occasion, but think they'd be fabulous wrapped up with a festive bow or around a bottle of spirits or wine.

Happy Holidays from all of us at Hello!Lucky! We are so thankful for all of your support and friendship, and are looking forward to a bright and bustling 2012!

Letterpress Printing Classes at SFCB

Have an interest in learning about letterpress? Know someone who does? Well now's the time to get printing! The San Francisco Center for the Book just released their Spring 2012 Workshops & Events Catalog and it's full of opportunities for beginners and professionals. It could be a tremendous holiday gift for a loved one, or a New Year's resolution project for yourself! Classes range from $40 - $600 and from 3 hours to 5 days! What a great way to learn something new. And if you like to plan ahead, our very own printer James Tucker will be teaching the Advanced Letterpress Production Printing: Core Curriculum class on April 14 and 15. Sign up today!

Sweet Paper Proposal

This might just be the sweetest proposal we've ever been a part of! Months ago we were approached by a strapping fellow in the early stages of proposing to his beautiful girlfriend. He explained how the lucky bride-to-be has always been a fan of Hello!Lucky, and that he wanted to go above and beyond by incorporating letterpress into a handmade book with which he would use to pop the ultimate question.

In just a few words, the future groom had us melting. His short and sweet story finishes with a hidden box and a sparkly ring.

And of course, this book has the happiest of endings...she said YES! We were immensely delighted to help our friend take the leap, and think it all turned out magically. Congratulations you two!

Studio Snapshot: New Valentine's Day Cards!

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!

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!

...introducing Elliot!

There's a new babe in town! Elliot is the newest baby to join the growing H!L family and we are thrilled! Almost as adorable as Elliot's button nose is his letterpress printed birth announcement designed by our very own Anna Hurley. How cute are the worms and mushrooms?!

Welcome Elliot and congratulations Kelly & Erich!