Valentines Day

Check out our new Valentines Day collection in the shop! We are strong believers in the art of hand-written notes, and Valentines Day is the perfect opportunity! So don't forget to tell those special people in your life how much they mean to you this Valentines Day! We are offering 20% off our entire love & friendship collection until Monday the 20th with code SWEETNOTHINGS. We will also be doing a Valentines Day DIY next week so you can make your own! Check back with the blog soon! Which card below is your favorite?

Family Photo Shoot with Leah McCormick

Just before Imogen was born, we were lucky enough to squeeze in a family photo shoot with the AMAZING Leah McCormick...

We just got the photos back this week, and I couldn't resist sharing them - Leah did such a fabulous job capturing our family (and all accompanying silliness)...

The shoot was so relaxed and fun that even my husband Daniel, who is usually a bit grumbly about being made to participate in such shenanigans, had a great time - and was super pleased with the results...

Love her sense of composition and the way she captures light and color!

You would never guess that I was  incredibly exhausted and quite whale-ish at the time!

Leah does beautiful wedding photography as well - check out her work at www.byleah.com!

Local Love: Photobooth SF

 Photobooth SF is a Tintype Polaroid-style studio located on Valencia Street here in San Francisco, offering beautiful vintage-looking photography. It's obvious we're big fans of anything vintage, so we fell in love with the idea immediately. It's nice to see something new and different pop up on the photography scene!

Aren't these moody photobooth images of our staff fabulous? They were taken by Photobooth SF at the Contemporary Jewish Museum last month for the Rit Lab event. For the event we brought stacks of letterpress prints and accessories to make one-of-a-kind photo frames and these images were the perfect addition.

You can book your sessions with Photobooth SF here or pop in their studio located in San Francisco's Mission district.

Photobooth SF 1193 Valencia Street @ 23rd. San Francisco, CA 94110 Open: Wed- Th 1-8, Fri – Sun 1-9 www.photoboothsf.com

Modern Kids Photography and Baby William

We're all still giddy about the birth of Sabrina's third baby, William. She had favorite photographer Sarah Wert of Modern Kids Photography capture the exciting first moments as a family of five and they turned out just beautifully. James and Alex waited so patiently for the arrival of their baby brother, so this photo of them is just perfect. We love how Sabrina decorated the nursery with colorful wall decals from Gosh and Golly, too.

Sabrina was sure to spend some quality time with the twins before the baby was born. Reading some of their favorite books is a great way to relax together, and offered some photo-worthy moments for Sarah. They also got a little playful by blowing up balloons for the big arrival.

William is too precious! We can definitely see the resemblance to his brothers.

We are so happy for Sabrina and her family. Thanks to Modern Kids for the beautiful photographs!

Joseph Scheer photography

There's something eerily beautiful about these rare moths photographed by Joseph Scheer. We can't help but feel mesmerized by the bold patterns, textures, and striking color palettes. Each creature has their own unique markings, some even look like they were painted with watercolors. With so much natural beauty created in this universe, we're feeling super inspired!

You can view more of this amazing work by Joseph Scheer over at Ruby Beets!

Say Cheese! The Best of Photobooths

(via Ruffled)

Photobooths are so popular right now, and with good reason - who doesn't love hamming it up for the camera with costumes, props and a bunch of very close friends?  They're especially great at weddings to capture your guests at their finest.  Our favorites make creative use of festive props, brilliant backdrops and a whole lot of sassy attitude.

The gorgeous paper decorations in these Smilebooth photos make us absolutely swoon!

Fabulous props are definite must-haves (we all love a good wooden mustache) and the sillier the better as with this great snap from Studiobooth.

This snazzy photobooth set up found on Oh Happy Day, is a Francophile's dream come true.  Je t'aime!

And last but not least, H!L gets into the action at the TILT wedding fair in September.  Leslie and Lia took a little break to jump into the Magnolia Photo Booth and test drive some natty costumes.  To the Batmobile ladies!

The Collection E.S. gals visit Hello!Lucky!

The girls at the Collection Event Studio recently visited our SoMa studio and shared a behind the scenes glimpse into the bustling world of Hello!Lucky! We love to browse their blog for creative inspiration, and are always amazed by their stunning collection of wedding and event resources. They snapped such lovely photos of our office, here are some of our favorites:

Meet our ravishing sales team! This handsome lad and three lovely ladies are the best when it comes to planning your special day!

And how adorable are their business cards?

(Pictured: Stewey, Lia, Kristine, and Lillian)

Above: John prepares specialty ink colors as James works the Vandercook press.

Anna B., along with the help of Lillian, are carefully assembling envelope liners.

Part of the design team (missing Anna H. and Shauna!) making all the perfect adjustments on every stationery order!

You can read the original post here. Thanks again for stopping by ladies!

All photos by Kate Webber Photography

Real Wedding: Erin and Mark

We've sent plenty of wedding stationery out into the world, but its such a treat when the photos come back to us and we get to see how it all comes together on the big day!  We just got a surprise delivery of these gorgeous snaps of Erin and Mark's wedding from Michelle Warren Photography for which we designed the initial invitations.

Love the sweet and unique details!

Erin and Mark set up a photo booth with glam velvet curtains and used our chalk word bubbles as props!

The couple's original wedding invitation was from our Naturalist suite.  The bird icon was carried over into their wedding program where they used torn fabric to bind the pages together.  The epitome of causal simplicity!

All photos by Michelle Warren Photography

Real Wedding: Katie and Ashley

Check out these beautiful wedding photos posted on Two Bright Lights! Katie and Ashley's May wedding took place at the Maple Grove Inn in Knoxville, Tennessee - the deep greens and luscious flower bouquets are oozing romance.

Who doesn't love tiered cupcakes?!

Katie and Ashley customized our Big Day wedding invitation to create their own unique take on the design (see the original inspiration here!).

The couple turned the heart + initials icon found on the original Thank You Card into a light display inside their reception tent. They also used the invitation icon as the cover of their guest book - brilliant!

All photos by Dixie Pixel Photography

Fabulous Wedding Gift Guides

Feeling wedding gift blues? Want to give something other than kitchen platters or silverware? We feel your pain. Although wedding registry's are super helpful and a guaranteed success, there's something special about wrapping up the perfect gift for the happy couple. Refinery 29 recently came out with two brilliant gift guides that will have you feeling gift bliss. Here are a few of our favorite suggestions!

Custom Mugs by BROOKLYNrehab (above)

Custom return address stamp by Paperfinger (ideal for sending thank you cards!)

Ideal Bookshelf print by Jane Mount (for their new home together!)

Diana F+ Kirameki Lomography Camera (perfect to capture honeymoon highlights!)

More great gift ideas can be found here: The Ultimate Wedding Gift Guide and Best Host and Hostess Gift Guide

Thanks R29!

Styled!

We are ooing and ahhing over this eye-feast, a new mag—Styled— on A Subtle Reverie. Gorgeous! Here's a pinkie-taste of the deliciousness:

Find fab inspiration on all styles of entertaining, from Easter egg embellishment to lemonade stands. Decadent photography and Delectable DIYs. Love it! Again, the link.

Enjoy!

Photographer Susanna Corcoran

We are swooning over photographer Susanna Corcoran's gorgeous color studies...

Love how each applies the same color palette to different subjects...

...some are witty, like this contrast between young and old (love the Grande Odalisque-esque baby posture!)

You can see more of her fabulous work on her Flickr photostream...

For those Bay Area folks who are casting about for a photographer to do your holiday cards, she does portraits!

The ones above are of her hilarious twin girls! Enjoy!

Casey Yu photography

You might have noticed the adorable photos on our fabulous new custom holiday cards courtesy of Bay Area photographer Casey Yu.

Casey is offering mini and full sessions exclusively for our readers during the month of November! The first ten clients to book will receive a $50 print credit; the next ten clients will receive a $25 print credit, plus a coupon for 15% off custom holiday cards at hellolucky.com.

More details here (Bay Area residents only).

Cig Harvey

You're probably familiar with Cig Harvey's photography via her amazing work for Kate Spade - her work is sooo beautiful! She's up there with Tim Walker as one of our favorite photographers - love her surreal, ethereal and vibrant compositions.

These images are so inspiring for weddings: great ideas for palette, patterns, and general mood/style...

We recently spotted a great interview with her on  A Little Sussy. Very inspiring!

Check out her entire portfolio here.

Real Wedding: Julia and Mathew

We were thrilled to receive photos from friend and collaborator Julia's recent wedding, beautifully shot by Jennifer Causey.  Julia and Mathew were married at The Oaks on Long Island, a beautiful estate on the water.

The classic green and white color scheme was carried throughout. We love that Julia bucked tradition and had her bridesmaids select their own dresses in various shades of green.

The wedding was full of handcrafted details featuring Julia's illustrations, of course!

Julia herself looked radiantly happy in a dress from David's Bridal and a hairpiece from ban.do.

Congratulations to Julia and Mathew! It looked like an amazing evening.

Anna Kuperberg

How beautiful is the work of San Francisco photographer Anna Kuperberg? We've been huge fans of Anna's for awhile now and are consistently impressed with the quality of her work. Her ethereal portraits are simply stunning.

Anna also keeps a fantastic blog of her ongoing projects!

Catherine's Animals

Thanks to Decor8, we recently discovered photographer Catherine Ledner's gorgeous and funny collection of animal portraits. Ledner, a veteran photographer, creates striking images of animals in front of pretty patterned wall papers, often to hilarious effect. We've long been inspired by animals in our greeting card designs, so we feel a kinship with Catherine's whimsical take on these fine, furry and feathered friends!

See the entire collection, conveniently organized in alpha order by animal, here (note - they are even more gorgeous in person!), or order a book of her collected animal prints here.

Dreamy Magical Surrealism + Tim Walker

We spotted Tim Walker's Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me? spread in British Vogue a while ago and ran across him again on Decor8. We have long loved anything to do with Alice in Wonderland-style dreamy magical surrealism and are in awe of the beautiful dream-like quality of Tim Walker's photographs. So inspiring!

Love the almost chalky quality of the light and color...

Excerpts from the Soldier, Soldier, Won't You Marry Me? spread in British Vogue

Always fans of a little wink and a nod, we love the wit and quirky humor...

An exhibit of his work is on at Design Museum in London, until September 28th. His book, Tim Walker Pictures, and various other bits and bobs are available through the Design Museum Shop...