In preparation for New Year’s Eve, we browsed through our Pinterest collection in search of the perfect party outfit. We may not all be attending a dazzling soiree, but we’ll definitely be rocking our silver and gold sequins. You can find these glittering gowns and party accessories here along with our other favorites!
Happy New Year to all! See you in 2012!
Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 45th 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): Linda, Michael and Heather! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Happy New Year card!
Design: Warm Things
Artist: Eunice Moyle
Inspiration: We were skating on thin ice fishing for ideas, scraping by on a slippery slope, but after we thought of warm things it was all downhill from there.
Who to send it to: Someone who’s a little wild and wooly, seasonably squirrelly or just a real deer.
Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: The words “sock it to me” repeated in a dense pattern with a myriad of mismatched socks.
Favorite detail: Don’t we all want a squirrel patch scarf?
Why letterpress? The ice-be-gone scraper is a lovely and homely little reality check— another crisp detail made possible through letterpress.
Don’t forget to post your comment and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!
What can we say? Michele Papineau has done it again. For her holiday cards this year, Michele hand wrote the lyrics to “I’ll be home for Christmas” and we letterpress printed them in festive red ink. We just received a hand addressed card with a little note inside. It’s so wonderful to be friends with such a talented artist! Thanks Michele!
There are endless destinations that make great wedding venues in the bay area, and we never tire of browsing the beautiful scenery and indulging in the rustic charm each place has to offer. But this venue’s classic architecture and sophisticated style has us feeling city-stricken and in love. Carolyn and Ben wed at the historic Julia Morgan Ballroom in downtown San Francisco amongst dear friends and family. The event, which takes classic beauty and tradition to a new level, turned out exquisitely.
The couple chose to use our San Francisco Skyline invitation and day-of materials in a crisp black/white to capture the simple yet striking characteristics of their decor.
The floral arrangements by Chestnut and Vine graced each table with fresh scents and bright whites.
Congratulations Carolyn and Ben!
Check out the entire gallery on Style Me Pretty here!
All photography by Meg Perotti
We were recently going through our archives and came across our DIY guide to crepe paper flower aisle markers from Eunice & Daniel’s wedding. Crepe paper flowers have so many fabulous uses, that we thought you might like for us to re-post our instructions and templates here. As always, the quality of the project is only as good as the materials you use – we recommend German crepe paper, and our favorite source is Castle in the Air!
The Grain of Crepe Paper
The grain of crepe paper runs along the short side (following the creases). Generally, cut your petals so that they run with the grain of the paper so that they hold their form and can be stretched properly. That being said, sometimes you want a floppier response (for example, with some types of fringe for flower centers).
The grain direction is indicated on each template with arrows.
Making the Petals
Note: Crepe paper flowers are very forgiving. Petal and leaf shapes do not need to be exact – the templates are a guide, but for the sake of speed you might consider cutting freehand, using the templates as a general guide to size and shape. Additionally, size the templates up or down, depending on the size of the flower you would like to create.
Paste the template onto a bit of card (cereal boxes or heavy weight card stock work well) and cut it out.
Never cut a single leaf or petal. Cut a few at a time. Cut a strip across the grain about 1/2″ wider than the depth of the pattern you are using. Unfold the strip of crepe paper and, starting with the two ends together, refold three times for single crepe (you’ll end up with eight thicknesses) or twice for duplex (4 thicknesses). Pin the template (with grain indication aligned to the grain of the paper) onto your paper and cut it out, cutting through all layers of the paper with sharp scissors.
Shaping the Petals
Fluting the Edges
If you stretch the edge of the crepe paper, you will get a ruffled effect. Hold the edge of the petal between the thumbs and forefingers (your fingers will be close together, as you will be stretching several times along the edge of the petal) of both hands. Stretch the paper widthwise along the edge of the petal. Repeat as necessary.
Cupping to Shape Petals
Hold either side of a petal with your thumbs and forefingers. Gradually stretch the entire width of the petal with both hands, using the thumbs to push into and cup the petal and the forefingers to stretch the paper away from the thumbs. This will give the petal a more dimensional shape – as you would see on a real rose petal. Experiment with cupping at the top, base or half way down.
Curling
You can curl the crepe paper with the edge of a pair of scissors (as if you were curling ribbon) – drag the blade of the scissors along the grain to accomplish this.
Making Flower Centers
There are several techniques for making flower centers, depending on the look you are trying to achieve.
All flowers start with a ball center for something for the petals to attach to. Start with a small ball of scrap paper (size depends on the size of the flower you are making, but in general about the size of a spitball on up) and a square of crepe paper (around 1 1/2″ or so – somewhat bigger for a larger flower). Apply a generous amount of white glue to one side (the wrong side, if there is one) of the crepe paper square). Bend the end of a piece of florist’s wire, cut to your desired length.to form a small loop. Place the ball of paper at the end of the wire. Center the crepe paper square on the top of the ball, glue side down. Pull all four sides down to meet at the base of the ball and twist the paper around the wire stem.Cut a short (approx. 2″) length of your 1/2″ green strips (see Wrapping the Wire Stems) . Apply a bit of glue to the wrong side at one end. Attach to the base of the ball you have created at the end of your wire at wrap around the twisted base, straight around to begin with and then continuing down the wire at a slight diagonal. Continue past the base of the flower center for about 3/4″. Cut the strip and apply glue to the inside of the end and attach securely to the florist’s wire.
From here you can expand on the center by wrapping a strip of fringed paper or a calyx shape around the center (in the same way you attached the green strip) or adding sheath shapes cut from templates. To add sheath shapes, simply apply a bit of glue at the bottom of each sheath, and attach around the base of the center ball.
Fringing
For a fringed center (as for a Poppy) cut the crepe paper into a strip across the grain at the required width. Stretch the strip fully for a fine fringe and less so for a coarse one. Fold the strip in half and cut with the grain, making the cuts as close together and as deep as necessary but always leaving 1/2″ or more at the opposite end uncut.
Putting it all together
To make a flower, first construct a flower center.
Pick a style of petal and attach your first petal by applying glue to the inside bottom edge and pressing it into place along the base of your flower center (the level at which you place the petal will determine how much of the center is showing. Attach the next petal so that it slightly overlaps the first. Continue this way until you are happy with the look of your flower.
With a little glue and a 1/2″ strip of green crepe paper, wrap the base of the flower to cover any raw edges (see Wrapping the Wire Stems for technique).
Add some sheath shapes (optional) for a realistic base for your flower.
Wrapping the Wire Stems
Additionally, have on hand 1/2″ strips of green crepe paper cut across the grain. They should be strips long enough to wrap the length of your stems.
Stems are wrapped with these strips. Start the wrapping by putting a bit of glue over the flower base. Wrap the end of a strip around it 2 or 3 times very tightly. Then, with the long end of the strip in one hand and the wire in the other (held just above the winding strip), twirl the stem wire around and around while stretching the strip, guiding it diagonally and downward. When the end of the wire is reached, put a bit of glue on the end and continue to twist tightly. Cut off the end and affix with glue.
Note: In lieu of green crepe paper strips, you can also use green floral tape.
You’ll need:
Crepe paper in various colors (for the flowers) that work with your palette and some crepe paper in green or floral tape for covering stems. Quantities depend on how many you are making, but one packet goes quite a long way. Duplex is my favorite (it is thicker and often two toned) for most flowers, but standard crepe paper works as well for a more delicate, unstructured flower. Mixing the two adds a nice depth.
How to:
Using the templates, make a large quantity of flowers (this is a great project to do with friends). You will need 10-15 flowers per marker, three large and a variety of medium and small sizes. We mixed and matched centers and petal styles as well as scaling the templates up and down to get a mix of flower sizes.
Start with three larger flowers. Twist the stems together, then fold the stems out to the left and right and twist to create two “arms” that will later be joined in a loop that will give structure to your arrangement. Angle the flowers to create a nice central focal point. Add more large and small flowers to your arrangement, twisting their stems around the two arms. Use small flowers to fill in any gaps. When you are happy with your arrangement, make a loop with the arms, twist the ends together, and flatten so that they are hidden behind the flowers. Don’t worry about how the back looks – no one will see it.
Cut an 18″ piece of ribbon and trim ends at a diagonal or in a dragon tongue shape to prevent fraying. Fold the ribbon in half to form an inverted “V” shape. Position the ribbon behind your crepe paper flowers and pierce a small finishing nail through the wires of the flowers and then through ribbon. Nail into the end of a bench (be sure to get your vendor’s permission in advance).
If attaching to the back of a chair, we’ve a length of 2″ ribbon through the wires at the back of your flowers and then through the railing on the back of the chair; tie off using a square knot.
Hello all you lucky folks out there! This is the 44th 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): Mirabelle, Jo and Agata! We’ll contact you next week to arrange sending your Cozy Gifts card!
Now for this week’s timely card:
Design: Happy New Year
Artist: Esther Aarts
Inspiration: It was about time for Esther Aarts to do something really Cuckoo!
Who to send it to: A fine fräulein with time on her side or a handsome herr with just a minute to spare.
Ideas we scrapped in favor of this one: Perhaps it’s a sign of the times, but the grandfather clock design felt little old and tired.
Favorite detail: How fun to ring in the new year swinging on a pendulum!
Why letterpress? Like other handiwork from German engineers, our Heidelberg presses run like clockwork for years and years!
Don’t forget to post your comment and tune in next week, same time, different stationery, to see if you’ve won!
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!
When Edyta recommended Sarah at Modern Kids Photography for holiday family photos, we knew she’d be amazing (Edyta’s behind all of Hello!Lucky’s editorial product photos). The clincher? Sarah’s a former nanny with a natural warmth and openness. She miraculously put Sabrina’s twin toddlers at ease the moment she set foot in the door!
We shot in and around Sabrina’s house and neighborhood…
In the back yard…
At home…
And walking around the neighborhood…with their colorful walls and doors, the neighborhood provided a surprising variety of backdrops.
Tips for a successful photo shoot:
- Schedule it for when the kids will be well-fed and well-rested.
- Shoot at home, around the neighborhood, or at a familiar park.
- Pick comfortable clothes and pay attention to color palette. Outfits don’t need to match but it helps to pick colors and patterns in the same family (we chose a variety of stripes in preppy colors and earth tones).
- If you’re using your photos in holiday photo cards or photo birth announcements, have a few card designs in mind and keep their color palette and photo orientation (portrait vs. landscape).
Sabrina used her photos in the accordion-style Four Seasons New Year’s Card by Susy Jack* – check out the results here!
You still have a few more days to order holiday cards! We’re offering 15% off all New Year’s cards so you can send loved ones a year of cheer. Order by December 26th to receive by January 4th. Use the code HELLO2012 before December 31st! Start your shopping here!
Christmas came early to the San Francisco office! A large package arrived at our studio the other day, and who could it be from? None other than our friends Iain and Hamad over in London! We were squealing like kids when we found bunches of simple brown wrapped presents, each attached with a handwritten song lyric.
Hmm, what could it be?
Scarves for all!
Thanks Iain and Hamad! Warm winter greetings to you!
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