Have you all had a chance to flip through the holiday issue of Anthology Magazine? It’s filled with fabulous gift guides and festive features to get you in the mood for sleigh bells and snow! Eunice designed a retro chef’s kit as a gift for her sister Sabrina, and there’s a detailed tutorial about how you can make one yourself! Complete with guidelines for printmaking and sewing, your handmade gifts are sure to make a lasting impression.

Head over to Anthology to see the whole story!

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!

1. iPhone Case

The ultimate phone accessory! An iPhone case can say a lot about a person, and this one speaks adorable.

2. Penguin Books Travel Pouch

You can never have enough bags. Bags for groceries, bags for traveling, bags for anything! This bag is great for the book lover because of its classic Penguin book cover. It’s just one of many Penguin classic cover accessories, so check them out here!

3. Hello!Lucky Journal

We couldn’t help but sneak in a genius gift of our own! This year Hello!Lucky released three brand new two-sided journals, and the Love It or Hate It journal is perfect for readers. Jot down your thoughts on all those books you’ve finished, or make a list of books to read in 2012!

4. Cross Gold Rolled Ballpoint Pen

Ever find that one pen that you just can’t write without? Well we have. Cross pens are the finest of all pens. They have a super sleek shape, are available in all colors and varieties, and above all, they come with a lifetime warranty. So that one pen you just can’t write without is guaranteed to stick by your side, forever! It’s the perfect gift for the doodler, the writer, or the note taker. You can even get them engraved!

5. Book Hook

This sculptural side table piece takes the bookmark to a whole new level. It’s a stylish resting place for your novels. It’s a sophisticated page protector. It preserves the book boundary, and looks good while doing it. It’s amazing!

6. Wooden Book Pendant Necklace

Now your loved ones can keep their books even closer to their hearts. Handmade by an artist in the UK, these pendant necklaces (available in all colors!) are totally unique and make a lovely gift for the holidays.

7. Ideal Bookshelf Print

Jane Mount hit a home run with her Ideal Bookshelf project. She’s been illustrating peoples ideal bookshelves for years, and gathered prints for sale along the way. There are prints of cookbooks, baby books, travel books, and pretty much any books you like. If you want to give an extra thoughtful gift this year – order a custom ideal bookshelf painting here. He or she will love you!

8. Cork Planter Bookends

Talk about a tidy shelf! Not only are these bookends practical and attractive, they can be used for notes, to hold pens/utensils, and even be home to your mini plants! A multi-magical gift for any collection!

9. The Maltese Falcon

This classic detective novel will have readers channeling their inner Sam Spade in no time. We love this book because of it’s San Francisco backdrop, and are captivated by the thrill of the chase. It’s a great addition to any personal library!

10. Wooden Elk Bookmark

If you’re anything like us, your books are marked with old receipts, candy wrappers, or even the dreaded “dog ear.” Well, it’s time to be kind to our paper entertainment, and treat our pages with respect! This mini elk bookmark would be perfect for a stocking stuffer, or even slipped inside a new bestseller and wrapped up nicely with a bow.

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 40th 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 three winners from last week are (drum roll, please): Margaret, Scarlett and Linda! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Woodland Cheer card!

Now for this week’s wintry edition:

Design: Christmastime
Artist: Esther Aarts
Inspiration: Everything old, new, red, white, icy blue and beautiful about Christmas.
Who to send it to: Anyone— everyone on your list!
Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: The festivus version’s feats of strength were funny, but it was a little tricky to illustrate the airing of grievances.
Favorite detail: The sinuous snow covered branch on which the sparrows sit.
Why letterpress: The color on the little birds heads are pressed with 2 translucent inks, creating a 3rd color. Nifty, huh?

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

It’s that time again! Department store catalogs, commercials, fliers, and billboards are popping up all over, and Black Friday is just around the corner. We love the idea of one-stop-shopping, but are always prone to browsing local businesses and shops for unique gifts. That’s why we are proud supporters of Small Business Saturday. To celebrate its second anniversary, we encourage all of you to hit the town and support the businesses that make our communities shine!

Be sure to head over to Printeresting today where they feature a studio tour of Hello!Lucky! Our printer James showed the crew around and introduced them to the pressroom and shop. We love having visitors come to the studio so feel free to come say hello any time!

1. Kitchen Magic Twisty Whisk

Icy blue is a hot color for spring. We’ve seen it on clothing, in print, and in tons of displays. We were super excited to see Anthropologie came out with an uber cute (and trendy) kitchen whisk! Its twisted prongs and silicone grips make whisking a breeze. We’d love to see it peeking out of our stockings!

2. Slate Chalkboard Cheese Board

Chalkboards are taking over! We love the fact that this slate cheese board can be washed and reused for labeling cheeses, desserts, or any of your favorite hor d’oeuvres. The kitchen can’t do without it!

3. Cheese Markers

It’s hard to ignore these adorable cheese markers. Each one is backed with a glazed pattern that takes adorable one step farther. And the best part? The artist is a San Francisco neighbor! Fresh cheese is always stocked in our fridge and making appearances at Hello!Lucky gatherings, so we’ll definitely be wishing for a set of these this year.

4. KitchenAid Satin Copper Stand Mixer

Need we say more? Perhaps the KitchenAid stand mixer is the ultimate gift for anyone who uses a kitchen, but in satin copper? Yes please!

5. Bluebottle Coffee subscription here

Fortunately for us, a Bluebottle Coffee shop resides only one short block away from the Hello!Lucky SF office, and we can’t count how many New Orleans Style iced coffees were consumed by our staff this summer. A perfect gift to give any caffeine lover is a subscription to Bluebottle’s blends! There are various options at various prices, so sign up your friends/family now!

6. Pure & Good Hand Soap

Simply stated, it’s pure and good. Having pretty soap in the kitchen not only makes the space look cleaner (our secret trick!) but this product is totally reliable. Anthropologie strikes again with the icy blue accents, and why not protect the fragile hands of our loved ones and cooks? That’s why we’d love to find this bottle wrapped up under our tree!

7. Herbs de Provence in Pottery Crock

It’s a nice touch to have an organized (and attractive) collection of herbs and spices. Herbes de Provence (the French mix of choice), adds provincial flavor to any dish. We sprinkle this sophisticated blend of savory, fennel, basil, thyme and lavender on almost everything. To have our favorite herbs stored in a perfect little pot is just the right touch!

8. Pressed Glass Mixing Bowls

This set of three pressed glass mixing bowls would love a home in any kitchen. They’re durable, stackable, and downright adorable! Either in jadeite or milk white, you can’t do without ‘em.

9. Tartine Cookbook

His/her croissants or morning buns may not turn out as scrumptious as the real thing, or maybe they will, but it’s no shock that we all swear by this cookbook. Tartine, San Francisco’s treasured cafe and bakery, earned it’s constant line of hungry folks out the door. Yes, we are drooling while thinking about it! Better prepare your ovens, because baking just launched to another level!

10. Chez Panisse Cafe Cookbook

A few of us had the pleasure of meeting Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse, earlier this year. We were shaken with inspiration and delight as she greeted us with the warmth and kindness of a real friend. This cookbook not only reflects the qualities of the historically successful restaurant, but it brings the goodness home. Yes, we still may never get a reservation, but who said we can’t pretend the kitchen is the real place?!

Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 39th 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 three winners from last week are (drum roll, please):

Jessica, Liz and Ruth Whispell!

We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Good Luck card!

Now for this week’s edition:

Design: Woodland Cheer
Artist: Eunice Moyle
Inspiration: Furry and feathered friends found in folk art.
Who to send it to: Fine craft aficionados who squirreled away fun Etsy finds and generously sent them your way for the holiday.
Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: A bunch of naïve, outsider art renderings of folk instruments reading “Close enough for folk music!” Another with a just big acorn, reading “Wanna hear acorny joke?”
Favorite detail: We heart the squirrel love.
Why Letterpress? Dingbats/Typographic ornaments are sometimes called “printer’s flowers.” Wonder if there are any printer’s acorns?

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

It’s been a little over 2 weeks since we launched our brand new website and, as can be expected, there have been some hiccups along the way! We just wanted to thank everyone for your patience and let you know we’re working around the clock to fix issues as they come up. One of the biggest challenges has been getting our new customization tool to work seamlessly in all web browsers, especially Safari.

Here are some quick tips if you’re having trouble:

- Try opening the site in Firefox or Chrome
- Download the most recent version of Adobe Flash Player
- Clear your browser cache or browsing history (often under preferences) and refresh the page

Still having problems? We’d LOVE to hear from you and help you place your order via phone (888) 552-3724 (US) and 020 7378 9740 (UK) or e-mail info@hellolucky.com.

The more we know, the faster we can get things all fixed up. Please note that we are also still working on getting some of our products up on the site, so if you can’t find what you’re looking for, give us a shout!

Thanks in advance for your support and feedback!

Now you can browse through all of our 2011 Holiday designs in one place! Thanks to Edyta Szyszlo for her amazing photography!