2019 Sneak Peek: Dog Photo Holder
Yule Dog
Photo holder
Here it is! A sneak peek of the 2019 Yule Dog photo holder ornament featuring Siko, the winner of last year’s fan photo facepaper contest!
2019 Reveal: Super Bowl LIII Champions, New England Patriots
Super Bowl LIII Champions
New England Patriots
Special Edition
Congratulations to the New England Patriots for winning Super Bowl LIII.
Patriot nation has risen again! The New England Patriots are once again Super Bowl champions, and this commemorative Keepsake Ornament is the perfect way to display your Patriot pride and remember their historic sixth win and eleventh Super Bowl appearance. But don’t wait long – supplies are limited.
PREORDER NOW
Available at participating Hallmark Gold Crown Stores and on Hallmark.com
Save the Date: 2019 Keepsake Events (UPDATED)
Mark your calendars for the BIG Keepsake Ornament Events this year, only at Hallmark Gold Crown and hallmark.com!
Ornament Premiere
July 13-21, 2019
Ornament Debut
October 5-13, 2019
Open House / VIP
November 8-17, 2019
Gift of Memories
December 2-8, 2019
Featured Artist – Joanne Eschrich
Title:
Hallmark Master Designer
Started at Hallmark:
September 1981
Started at Keepsakes:
January 1996
Hometown:
Westport, Massachusetts
.
Like so many Keepsake Artists, Joanne has been perfecting her craft since childhood. Her eagerness to learn and grow has taken her all over the world, including a trip to Poland last year, to learn about glass-blowing techniques and work with old-world artisans. Joanne continues to find new ways to celebrate hallowed Christmas traditions, and delight her many fans.
People started collecting Joanne Eschrich’s work when she was in third grade. Of course, the collectors at that time were her classmates. Later, the requests kept coming—in high school fellow classmates asked her to illustrate their biology reports. That was Joanne’s moment of discovery. Unfortunately, it was because the biology teacher didn’t think Joanne should be sharing her talents when it came to homework assignments.
Joanne’s parents encouraged their children to be creative with their playtime. As a young artist being raised on a farm, Joanne had no shortage of animal friends to pose for her. She built dollhouses with her sisters and spaceships with her brothers.
When college came along, Joanne knew she was going to study art. Nothing else was as important. Despite her parents’ attempts to talk her out of her career choice, she persevered and got an interview with Hallmark in her senior year. A job offer soon followed.
Joanne had never even considered sculpting when she was asked to try doing a piece for the Hallmark Merry Miniatures line. She created a basset hound named Sebastian for that assignment and discovered that her sculpting abilities rivaled her illustration talent.
Joanne doesn’t have to look far for inspiration or support for her craft. Her daughters Jamie and Anna are thrilled with what she does, especially when she brings her work home and they get to give their opinions or model for her angels.
“On a few occasions they’ve brought my original sculptures along with the finished ornaments to ‘show and tell’ at their school,” says Joanne. “They also love seeing ‘Mom’ on the back of the ornament boxes at the store.”
Ornament Spotlight: O Tannenbaum
O Tannenbaum
Member Exclusive
With Anita Marra Rogers
When charged with coming up with the next great ornament idea for the Keepsake Ornament Club, Keepsake Artist Anita Rogers knew she wanted the ornament to reflect the work of many different artists in the studio. “We tried to come up with an ornament that would incorporate several well-loved series ornaments, plus a couple of others,” she said. “I think Tom Best came up with the original concept for the tree and we decided together what ornaments or characters would best fit the situation.”
“O Tannenbaum” ended up having seven different artists help shape it in some way—from the idea, all the way to the finished piece. “Nina Aubé sculpted the Mischievous Kitten peeking out of the tree and the angel tree-topper is one of Robert Chad’s Mary’s Angels,” said Anita. “The guitar is Nello Williams’s miniature guitar, the fire truck was an old Don Palmiter miniature from 1993, and I sculpted my Granddog, Oreo who represents the Puppy Love series. I finished by sculpting the tree and packages, and put it all together!”
Anita makes it sound simple, but every artist works differently, so “O Tannenbaum” had to be traditionally and digitally sculpted to help bring it all together. “Rodney Gentry helped scale down the angel and the guitar digitally from existing ornaments, and the fire truck was an actual mini ornament already,” said Anita. “Nina was the only artist other than myself who did an original sculpt for the piece. I basically put it almost all together and left a space for her to sculpt the kitten in.”
Anita also made sure to add little touches special to her that she knew KOC members would love. “I chose to put gold tinsel garland on the tree because my own tree every year gets gold tinsel garland, and it has for as long as I can remember,” she said.
It’s little touches like the tinsel that made Anita fall in love with the finished ornament, and she thinks KOC members will, too. “I think the collectors are going to love that so many artists and series are represented,” said Anita. “They might also love that it is such an iconic Christmas morning scene with cute interaction between the pup and kitty.”
So what’s Anita’s favorite element of the ornament? “That’s an easy one,” she said. “My Puppy Love, Oreo, of course!”
Local Club News: January 2019
Here is the latest Club communication that was received today.
Dear Local Club Presidents and Club Leaders!
Hello and Welcome to 2019! I hope you enjoyed the holiday season and are off to a great start for a Happy New Year. Thanks for signing up to receive the Local Club President Email update. I sincerely hope you find this email to be enjoyable and full of useful information to share with your Local Club members.
I am so excited about the 2019 Keepsake Ornament Club. You are an important part of our Keepsake family, and as a VIP, you deserve special rewards and privileges. Christmas magic lasts all year long when you’re in the Keepsake Ornament Club, with exclusive Keepsake gifts, special-value pricing and more exclusive rewards and benefits than ever – all year long!
Please encourage your Local Club Members to sign up for the Keepsake Ornament Club beginning 1/29.
Here are a few important updates we want you to know about:
Read the January 2019 Local Club News
2019 Sneak Peek: Dream Box
In preparation for the launch of the 2019 Keepsake Ornament Club (KOC) membership year and the opening of enrollment tomorrow, (January 29), Hallmark has posted additional pictures of the contents of this year’s Dream Box. Amongst the images shared are a couple of 2019 sneak peeks. Cuteness Beyond Measure, a measuring spoons snowman is featured on the cover of “FESTIVE Favorites, KEEPSAKE ORNAMENT CLUB COOKBOOK.” Recipes from Club Members, Keepsake Artists and Villagers and Prince of the Forest, 1st in the Noble Nutcrackers series is featured on the cover of “Christmas Everyday”, An 18-Month Calendar (July 2019 – December 2020).
Festive Favorites
Keepsake Ornament Club Cookbook
Cuteness Beyond Measure
Christmas Everyday
An 18-Month Calendar (July 2019 – December 2020)
Prince of the Forest
Noble Nutcrackers
1st in the series.
Reminder: 2019 KOC Membership Enrollment
Enrollment for the 2019 Keepsake Ornament Club (KOC) will open up tomorrow (January 29, 2019) at 9:00 a.m. CST.
Individuals can enroll online, in store, by mail or over the phone.
To enroll online:
Go to: KOCmembers.com
Click on: JOIN or RENEW NOW
NOTE: If you are renewing it will have you SIGN IN and then it will show you any past Memberships that you have and that are eligible for renewal in 2019.
Most individuals only have a single membership, but if you have had multiple memberships and/or membership numbers and have linked them to your Hallmark.com account. Your My Membership page will show you all your information.
2019 Calendar: PopMinded Fan Gatherings Appearances
PopMinded* by Hallmark will continue its participation in the nation’s largest pop culture fan gatherings. Here is a list of the events PopMinded by Hallmark will be in attendance this year.
Emerald City Comic Con: Seattle, WA
March 14-17, 2019
Planet Comicon Kansas City, MO
March 29-31, 2019
Star Wars Celebration: Chicago, IL
April 11-15, 2019
Comic-Con® International: San Diego, CA
July 18-21, 2019
Creation Entertainment’s Official Star Trek Convention: Las Vegas, NV
July 31-August 4, 2019
New York Comic Con™: New York, NY
October 3-6, 2019
*PopMinded, which debuted in 2016, is Hallmark’s way to celebrate fandom with gifts and collectibles created and curated with all fans in mind.
2019 Sneak Peek: A Creature was Stirring
A Creature Was Stirring
5th in a six-part series.
Here is a sneak peek of the fifth in the “A Creature Was Stirring” series by Tammy Haddix.