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.
Artist Journal: Ken Crow (2019 Sneak Peeks)
Wednesday, January 23, 2019
From the sketchbook of Keepsake Master Artist, Ken Crow.
The first sketch depicts a Christmas Toy Shop with animated magic–featuring lights, sound, and motion–bringing everything to life including toys, children and Toymaker Santa.
The second sketch sneak peeks this years Toymaker Santa. Ken said, “Thought it would be fun to add a cuckoo clock.” Wow, this will be the 20th in the Toymaker Santa series! Do you recognize the miniature cuckoo clock Santa is holding? It is the “Santa’s Tiny Timekeeper” miniature from 2016.
The third sketch shows renderings of the Christmas Carnival series. The 2nd in the series is a Toyland Carousel!
The last page shows different renderings of this years “Tick Tock Twirlers” along with a couple of past miniature ornaments including “Santa’s Tiny Timekeeper” from 2016 and “Christmas Carousel” from 2017–for size comparison.
2019 Dream Book “The Wonder of Your Story”
What an adventure this has been! We began working on this project in June of 2018, before we even had all of our 2019 ornaments finalized. The team was brought together to strategize and brainstorm about what we’d like to showcase with the 2019 lineup. It first begins with the marketing team within Keepsakes ideating around the essence of the book – what emotions do we want you, the reader, to experience as you’re going through the book. After we have a game plan in place, we work with the creative studios to come up with a concept for the book.
2019 Dream Book
“The Wonder of Your Story”
Our concept for the 2019 Dream Book is ‘the wonder of your story.’ You’ll see this theme throughout the book via editorial and photography. The photography team got together to create the look and feel of the book. You’ll see a lot of hand-made details, natural elements, and in the moment lifestyle photography. The idea was pitched to leadership and after it was approved, the teams got to work! We pulled over 100 samples to be photographed in life style photography and worked over a three month timeframe to photograph and layout the entire book. We worked hard on the two covers – this is what we stress over the most! We then laid in editorial and ornament details.
What was next? We proofed the book – 10 of us read every single detail checking it twice to ensure it’s accurate. The Dream Book is now off to the printer and will soon be arriving in your Dream Box and in stores in April. Guess how many people have worked on the Dream Book this year? 50! We’ve seen the book and it’s honestly one of our best yet! We cannot wait for you to experience it yourself with your loved ones, making your wish list, and beginning to dream about the memories you’ll be capturing in 2019.
Several 2019 Keepsake Ornaments are featured in the picture above. Including Summer Tanager, 15th in the Beauty of Birds series; Tammy’s Tree Farm, 1st in the series; Prince of the Forest, 1st in the Noble Nutcrackers series; Baby’s First Christmas; Beer Stein; Snow Buddies, 22nd in the series; and Winter Animals.
2019 Sneak Peek: Tick Tock Twirlers
Tick Tock Twirlers
Miniature
Here is a sneak peek of a 2019 miniature Keepsake Ornament by Ken Crow.
2019 Reveal: Patrick Mahomes II
Patrick Mahomes II
Kansas City Chiefs
Special Edition
Hallmark is releasing a limited-run Keepsake Ornament featuring Patrick Mahomes II, the talented Kansas City Chiefs player recently named the top NFL quarterback of 2018 by the Associated Press., but don’t wait long – supplies are limited.
PREORDER NOW
Available at participating Hallmark Gold Crown Stores