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June Keepsake Wallpaper

Create the purr-fect amount of mischief with this month’s free desktop or mobile device wallpapers featuring playful kittens, from the Mischievous Kittens series by Nina Aubé, discovering inviting temptations.

Mischievous Kittens
series

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June 1st, 2018|0 Comments

Artist Sketchbook: Joanne Eschrich

I wanted to share some sketches and thoughts on many favorite things!

Cross of the Sea

For my cross I created the original using real sea shells. Some of the shells are from my hometown beach…Horseback Beach in Westport, Mass. I love how this turned out!

Angel of Courage

Creating Susan G. Komen Angel of Courage has a special place in my heart for my sister Laurie. I always think of her when working on this one.

I am very inspired by statues and images that provoke my imagination. This is a ’storyboard’ I put together to ’sell’ my idea.

Winter Angel

Two of my favorite photos hanging in my office : )

Joanne with Dave and Don Hall Jr.

Joanne with daughters, Jamie and Anna

May 18th, 2018|0 Comments

Artist Journal: Jake Angell

Friday, May 11, 2018

Thought I would share a bit of my history here at Hallmark. I have been at Hallmark since 2000, my first 3 years were as a contract worker just filling in where I could. I then became a full-time employee in 2003 working in our Gift Wrap and Party areas designing party plates, cups, tabletops, etc. for licensing characters.

My first work in 3D or sculpture was working on a Hallmark Property called Asteroid Andy, created by the wonderfully talented Hallmark artist Peter Martin–I sculpted the characters and props for a video game CD that was part of a Birthday card. This was my first time being able to show people at Hallmark I had a passion for creating 3D/sculptures. It was my start to getting into the Keepsake department, but it would not happen for a few years after this. (more…)

May 11th, 2018|0 Comments

2018 Reveal: When Calls the Heart

Hope Valley Church
When Calls the Heart

A When Calls the Heart ornament not pictured in the 2018 Dream Book has been revealed.

May 9th, 2018|0 Comments

2018 Reveal: Musical Toy Soldier

The popular unofficial Musical Toy Soldier series will be returning for a fifth year as Hallmark’s thank-you gift for purchasing Keepsake Ornaments at both Ornament Premiere and Ornament Debut!*

Clashing-Cymbals
5th in the unofficial Musical Toy Soldier series.

Wearing his best dress uniform, this marching toy soldier percussionist confidently carries his cymbals, which feature a glittery snowflake design.

*NOTE: When you purchase a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament during Ornament Premiere weekend, July 14 – 22, 2018, you will get a coupon for a free Clashing Cymbals ornament for redemption with purchase of another Keepsake Ornament beginning Ornament Debut Weekend, October 6-14, 2018, while supplies last.

May 9th, 2018|0 Comments

Two shopping trips equal one free ornament

The popular unofficial Musical Toy Soldier series will be returning for a fifth year as Hallmark’s thank-you gift for purchasing Keepsake Ornaments at both Ornament Premiere and Ornament Debut!*

Wearing his best dress uniform, this marching toy soldier percussionist confidently carries his cymbals, which feature a glittery snowflake design.

The popular unofficial Musical Toy Soldier series will be returning for a fourth year as Hallmark’s thank-you gift for purchasing Keepsake Ornaments at both Ornament Premiere and Ornament Debut!

When you purchase a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament during Ornament Premiere weekend, July 15 – 16, 2017, you will get a coupon for a free Soulful Saxophone ornament for redemption with purchase of another Keepsake Ornament beginning Ornament Debut Weekend, October 7-8, 2017, while supplies last.

*NOTE: When you purchase a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament during Ornament Premiere weekend, July 14 – 22, 2018, you will get a coupon for a free Clashing Cymbals ornament for redemption with purchase of another Keepsake Ornament beginning Ornament Debut Weekend, October 6-14, 2018, while supplies last.

May 9th, 2018|0 Comments

Q&A: Nello Williams

Keepsake Artist Nello Williams was asked a few questions about his creative process and about some of his ornaments coming out later this year. Here’s what he had to say!

How would you define your style?

Nello: I think I would have to call my style retro. I think it shows in both Syrupy Snow Cone Surprise and the Jolly Old St. Nicolas ornaments. A term that’s been coined that describes what influences my designs is “retrofuturism.” It describes designs that are from our past that were the vision of what those folks thought the future would look like, putting things like fins on cars because it made them look more rocket‐like. The way art deco was used in the movie “Metropolis” to represent the future is another example.

Tell us a little more about sculpting something on the computer. How does that work versus sculpting in wax or clay? What is good about the computer sculpting that you can’t do with traditional sculpting?

Nello: One of the nicest things about sculpting traditionally with wax is that it’s intuitive. If something looks too large, you take some wax off. If something looks too small, you put more wax on. The real secret is in having a good eye and knowing when to do one instead of the other. This is true of any sort of art, whether it’s sculpture, drawing, or painting, traditional or digital. However, I coined a phrase when I first started to sculpt on the computer. And, it is: “The computer makes hard things easy and easy things hard.” You have to figure out which of the tools will do what you want, under which menu it is, what the settings need to be, and sometimes, if what you want to do requires two or maybe ten steps, and in which order. Fortunately, technology has come a long way since I first started sculpting digitally. And I’ve gotten better, too. It still requires a certain amount of linear thinking that isn’t for everyone. In fact, I was explaining what I did to make something on the computer to some of the other sculptors in the studio when one said, “That just makes my head hurt.” I actually don’t think there is much you can sculpt on a computer that you can’t sculpt traditionally, with time. Heck, look what can be done in marble. What it does though is let me be more precise with certain things, quicker. The things that a computer does really well are the mechanical or architectural designs. Parts of Nellco ornaments are very suited for designing on the computer. Things like rockets, robots, and ray guns (my favorite things, just to let you know) work pretty well, too. Things that need good symmetry are more easily created on the computer. Where you need multiples of the same element in a design, it’s handy to copy and paste. We are really doing many of the things on the computer that we used to do in the wood shop, such as table or chair legs, which we would make on a lathe. Even with all that help, it still takes that artist eye and judgment to know if you need to make something a little bigger or a little smaller.

What made you want to add a snow cone machine to your line of “Nellco” brand products?

Syrupy Snow Cone Surprise

Nello: Many Keepsake fans will remember Chris Webb who worked in Keepsakes several years ago. He owned a number of actual, full sized carnival food machines including a popcorn machine, shaved ice machine, softserve ice‐cream maker, cotton candy maker, you name it. And, he used to bring one or two of them into work for various parties. So thanks to Chris, we’ll always have a soft spot (mostly in our middles) for those types of food machines here in Keepsakes. Once I had done the popcorn machine, I realized that some snow cone machines are similar in form. I wondered also if we couldn’t use the same type of mechanism inside. While I was able to come up with a design that was very much “Nellco” and similar to the popcorn machine, Jean Newton (our engineer) and I ended up having to come up with some other way of doing the “falling snow” effect. Another reason that made me want to do a snow cone machine is that a close friend owns a shaved ice stand that he runs every summer. I’ve given him all of my other Nellco ornaments in the past. And I think it’ll be fun to give him an ornament that he can put up in the window of his stand.

Tell us a little more about your love for guitars and music. How does that play in to your ornament designs?

Little Strummer

Nello: At a certain point in my youth I decided that I wanted to be a rock star. In a Jr. High music class they gave us some ukulele lessons. Somewhere in my young mind I thought that having an electric ukulele would be a cool gimmick that would get me a recording contract and then fame and fortune. I’ve always been a big DIY‐er, (something I got from my dad) so I decided to build myself an electric ukulele. I used parts from a cheap ukulele, electronics from a broken electric guitar, a 2 x 6, and some metallic purple spray paint from the auto parts store. It was pretty darned cool. For an amplifier, I took the head off of the arm of an old record player and soldered a plug onto the wires. Alas, having an electric ukulele didn’t lead to fortune and all, but I did get inspired enough to take a guitar class in high school. Some friends and I started a band and had a lot of fun. I still mess around with building and modifying instruments. That DIY streak and creativity are what eventually led me to Hallmark and Keepsakes. My love of making music hadn’t gone away when I got here, so when an opportunity came up to propose some music for an ornament, I jumped on it. That was Ken Crow’s Jazzy Jalopy. I’ve since done the music for a number of other ornaments, along with the song played at the Keepsake Ornaments 25th Anniversary celebration, “A Collection of Memories.” I always jump at the chance to do musical instrument ornaments. I don’t get the chance to do the music in them much anymore, but, that’s okay. Another Hallmarker, Tracy Icenogle, does most of the music for the ornaments and is fantastic at it. Also, I still get to work on a new genre of music at home. I call it “Jangle Metal.” It’s a cross between the melodic jangle of the sixties British Invasion and metal. I just know this will get me the record contract that the electric ukulele didn’t.

Tell us how your concept for Jolly Old St. Nicholas evolved during the process and what influenced the evolution.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

Nello: We started with a couple of concepts. One was a sort of spinner, where Santa would be suspended in a frame and would be able to turn or spin, and the other with Santa in a chimney. We ultimately settled on the Santa in the chimney. We were each told to design our ornaments according to the style that we’re most noted for. My style is rather retro. So I looked at some of the fireplaces in the art deco style (one of my favorite styles), but decided that something in that style might not be as easily recognized as a fireplace. So, I looked at how things looked in homes from the forties. While not as distinctive a style as art deco, they had a warmth that we wanted—that nostalgic feel that you see in a movie like “A Christmas Story.” For Santa, I looked at books of old advertising clip art from those periods. That gives him a more distinctly retro feel. I do love to sculpt Santa, and I think I’m going to look for more opportunities in the future to use this particular style.

May 7th, 2018|0 Comments

2018 Dream Book Reveal: Keepsake Ornament Sneak Peek

Hallmark has put together a presentation for local retailers to use in conjunction with their May Dream Book Reveal event. In addition to showing the four new series making their debut in 2018 along with sneak peeks of two 2019 second in series ornaments, the presentation also previews a new lighthouse design and four continuing series pieces.

Download PDF of the 2018 Keepsake Ornament Sneak Peek