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Live Chat Recap: Tom Best

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Tom Best
Senior Keepsake Artist

On Wednesday, July 13, Hallmark Artist, Tom Best chatted with collectors via Facebook. Here is a synopsis of that chat that highlights most of the questions and responses. Please note the chat is not in chronological order and has been grouped by subject and edited for brevity.

Frosty Friends

Tom: To me it’s always a boy and his dog kind of story. What could he do for fun and entertainment on a frozen tundra!

Tom: Being clever is tough and I aspire to that with each ornament I do.

Tom: The 2014 reindeer and snowball launcher.

Tom: The totem pole on this year’s Frosty Friend ornament.

Tom: Indeed it is from the 2009 series piece. Because both characters were on snow skis, we thought this would make a great miniature ornament as they were posed just perfectly.

Frosty Friends
37th in the series.

Tom: We try to make sure that we have a range of function in our Keepsakes line. Stay tuned for more Frosty Friends with magic!

Tom: I’m pleased to announce there will be more Frosty Friends magic cord pieces to come!

Tom: The Frosty Cowboy was fun to do! It was such a departure from the usual. It was hard making Frosty’s head into a Cowboy hat.

Tom: Sadly, no, but they were fun while they lasted!

Tom: This is a great idea! We’ll have to take it back to the team.

Tom: The magic cord Frosty pieces are currently bringing Frosty to life. However, working with Ken would be so much fun!

Tom: Yes, I did! Since I am “the Frosty guy” I had input and had to approve all designs and make sure Frosty was true to character.

Tom: That’s a great idea but Frosty is underage!

Kristin Syverson Kakuschke: How about a root beer stein?

Faye Babcock: He must have found the fountain of youth.

Johnny Van Osch: I’m thinking well Frosty is 37 years old as of today.

Tom: By god your right Johnny, he is 37 …Frosty and I are going out for a beer!

Guitars

Up on the Housetop

Tom: Absolutely! I first come up with the idea by sketching around. Then, I create the piece digitally.

Tom: This year’s guitar is inspired by a National guitar. The guitar from 2014 was inspired by a Gretsch.

Tom: As far as brands, I have to make sure all my guitar designs stay generic for fear of being sued for copyright infringement by some real guitar company.

Tom: No,  I’m afraid I only got the art gene, the world is a better place with me not playing any music.

Tom: I am a music lover! I’m inspired by my brothers. They’re both musicians.

Tom: Creative yes, though she is going to be a writer!

Tom: Great to hear, good for your son and grandson. Nello Williams my work-neighbor builds guitars and is quite a musician himself. Make sure you have them meet him as well. I run all my guitar ornaments through Nello to make sure they are factually correct. He is my quality control for guitars ! He rocks!

Tom: We have done a Toy Story themed ukulele with Woody on it but we will take the idea back to the team and see if we can do another one. I’d love to do a bass guitar….maybe soon!

Other Work

Tom: When you look at beer steins, most of them have a European peasantry theme. The worker “elves” are similar to the farmers and peasants that you see on original beer stein designs from Europe.

Tom: Yes, I do! We used to have 3 dogs but sadly, we’re down to two. Last year’s beer stein had a deer on the handle. That deer was inspired by my dog Jake. Jake, my chocolate lab, sat for me so I could sketch him as a deer.

Tom: I don’t collect steins myself, but my father had some growing up. He was stationed in Germany after the war and we had a few steins at home that always intrigued me. My favorite beers seem to be of the German style.

Tom: I come up with the concept. I do the first drawings and then work with my partners to finish out the final product.

Marc Mirabal: So you concept the Once Upon a Christmas series but do not contribute to the sculpting.

Tom: More or less, I do the upfront concept work and sketches on that series. Though on the Snug Fit for Santa, the 3rd in series piece, I built the standing mirror in a 3D program. We out put a prototype and Julie L. Forsyth took it from there, sculpting the Santa and reindeer scene in bas relief on the back.

Beer Stein

Tom: Most of my fishing inspiration comes from Lake Erie. I grew up right by the lake and fished often as a part of my childhood.

Career

Tom: I came right from art school to Hallmark. I began working in the greeting card department for 20 years. I was lucky enough to join Keepsakes in 2003 and have been here ever since!

Tom: The first illustration I did for Hallmark was a sympathy card for loss of daughter. It weighed heavy on me. I realized the sobering gravity of that card sending situation.

Tom: I had been in Hallmark’s greeting card department for 20 years. The idea of doing 3D product was attractive and so I applied for the job!

Tom: I used to paint all the time but don’t paint much anymore. I sure wish I did it more often. This is a tough question but I still love to draw.

Tom: Rodney is my brother! Robert Chad is a hoot. My work neighbor, Nello. But everybody is a dear friend!

Other

Tom: I’ve been to that museum and that sure is a good one! I don’t have a specific spot that I go to get inspired.

Tom: My inspirations come from my everyday life. They come from things I see, junk mail, on television, driving down the street, current events. I love history, so anything old! Nostalgic and pop culture!

Tom: That’s a tough question, just like asking what is my favorite color! Every year I have a favorite piece. Best Bucks (2008), an old slot machine from a casino and Santa’s Jukebox (2007), a tabletop jukebox Just like the kind you’d find in the booth in an old diner. I also enjoy the beer steins and guitars always and in 2014, I love the fishing ornament.

Tom: If cost were no option, I’d add more detail and more function!

Tom: I work with artist as a team effort. Everybody brings what they’re best at to the table.

Tom: Sure do! Thank goodness no block lasts for more than 24 hours. A looming deadline helps me power through!

July 13th, 2016|Comments Off on Live Chat Recap: Tom Best
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2016 Holiday VIP Event Gift Kit

Participating Hallmark retailers will once again kick off their Holiday season by inviting their best customers (and their friends) to an exclusive holiday event. If you are one of your local Gold Crown® store’s very best customers, keep an eye on your mailbox this fall for an invitation to this years Holiday VIP event.

Frosty Fun for You

This year’s VIP gift is a festive zip travel bag with some festive favorites and a few new things including:

  • Mistletoe-scened Crafters & Co. bar of soap holiday guest towel
  • realistic, flameless wax candle
  • a pair of Toe-of-a-Kind holiday socks
  • Frosty Fun For You (VIP1601), a set of two miniature Keepsake Ornaments

Holiday Open House (& VIP Event),
November 11-17, 2016

* Gift with purchase of $50.00 or more (valued at more than $65.00).

Additionally, individuals spending $100.00 or more will also receive a glass tray with brushed metal handles.

  • Glass Tray with Brushed Metal Handles
    (regularly $29.95 USA)

Individuals spending $150.00 or more will also receive a set of 2-star tealight holders.

  • Star Tealight Holders
    (regularly $29.95 USA)
July 13th, 2016|0 Comments
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Reveal: 2016 Stanley Cup® Champions Pittsburgh Penguins®

The Pittsburgh Penguins™ capped off a memorable season with a 3-1 Game 6 victory over the San Jose Sharks clinching the fourth title in franchise history. Show your support for the Penguins® with this 2016 limited edition Keepsake Ornament designed to commemorate their 2016 Stanley Cup championship win.

PREORDER NOW
Available at participating Hallmark Gold Crown Stores and on Hallmark.com

NOTE: A second oval design is available in select Pennsylvania Hallmark Gold Crown stores.

2016 Stanley Cup® Champions
Pittsburgh Penguins®
Special Edition

June 29th, 2016|0 Comments
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Live Chat Recap: Tracy Larsen

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Tracy Larsen
Hallmark Artist

On Monday, June 27, Hallmark Artist, Tracy Larsen chatted with collectors via Facebook. Here is a synopsis of that chat that highlights most of the questions and responses. Please note the chat is not in chronological order and has been grouped by subject and edited for brevity.

Holiday Lighthouse

Tracy: The lighthouse is based on a lighthouse found in Connecticut. It’s a beautiful, stone lighthouse similar to a school. One of my first lighthouses I ever saw in person was in Connecticut and got me hooked on lighthouses ever sense.

Tracy: I personally love this series and want it to go on for many years to come! I have plenty of lighthouse ideas for the future.

Tracy: Actually I have drawn up some Canadian inspired ornaments for the Holiday Lighthouse series. That is certainly on my radar. The Canadian lighthouses that I have been inspired by are striking red and white colors.

Tracy: Good eye! It’s not an exact replica but it is definitely inspired by the beautiful lighthouses in that area.

Holiday Light House
5th in the series.

Other Work

Tea Time!
1st in a five-part series.

Tracy: During a vacation to Memphis, I visited an art museum that had a stunning teapot collection and was inspired. After my vacation, I drew up a few different tea sets as ideas for a new series. Hallmark also has a neat collection of teapots at our headquarters. Also my son, who is getting married in a few weeks used to sing “I’m a little teapot” when he was a child, probably around 4 or 5.

Tracy: I have drawings for all 5 years but don’t know if those will be the final designs selected yet. As far as the length, definitely only 5. Doesn’t mean there couldn’t be future companion pieces.

Tracy: The elf is actually the worker elf who wraps presents as his job, so he has his scissors and tape in hand.

Tracy: Hopefully I can slip in a little female elf to help out with the decorating.

Tracy: With the cars, a lot of the time they’re inspired by the music that I want to put into the ornament. I like the hair blowing back in the ornament from this year. If you like a little edge on Santa just wait until you see Santa in his car next year!

Tracy: That is the only one with my child’s voice in it! This ornament is one of my favorites. It’s my daughter, Sophie’s voice. She’s 16 now. In the ornament she was reading one of her actual letters to Santa. On the ornament, that’s her riding the rocking horse.

Career

Tracy: I’ve never been able to choose my favorite ornament because some of them are important to me for different reasons.

Tracy: My favorite is the Holiday Lighthouse series. It’s nice to see how I can get the polar bear and Santa to interact. As a sneak peek, the polar bear gets revenge from what happened to him a few years ago.

Tracy: I really enjoy working on licensed characters. I’ve done Peanuts, Tom and Jerry, and Disney. When I worked on greeting cards, I used to draw Looney Tunes and Garfield. My daughters love Star Wars, Batman, and Avengers.

Tracy: I got to meet Charles Schultz. I’m taking a trip to Santa Rosa to work with other folks who are carrying on the Peanuts work. I’ve been drawing Peanuts characters since I was 4 or 5 years old. Those were some of the first characters I remember drawing.

Tracy: There’s one I did in the past, a club exclusive, Santa. It was in a Faberge sleigh that I was able to add jewels, crystals, and a fur blanket on it. This piece fulfilled some of it for me.

Other

Tracy: Yeah, I pretty much work on ornaments or ornament related product all year. I’ve worked on other product, like the Peanuts Continuity band that played music, with our Hallmark Gift team.

Tracy: Ideally I like staying on an ornament until it’s finished. I’m not much of a multi-tasker!

Tracy: Generally I start with a drawing to get a feel for the ornament. Then, I work on the computer to sculpt it in a 3D program. I will then paint it on a different program to apply the colors just the way I want it. But, it always starts with a good idea transferred into a drawing.

Tracy: It depends on the complexity of the ornament. I can do a Snoopy miniature sized ornament sculpt in about 3 days. However, on average we get a couple weeks go sculpt our ornaments. Because I work on the computer, I can go right to adding color to it after my sculpting is complete. The design process is a difficult thing to gauge. It’s taken a life time of experience that you draw from, for me 56 years!

Tracy: The 2017 ornaments are still being created. We’re just now beginning to concept ideas for 2018.

Tracy: No, my house is a Midwest Split-level, nothing quite exotic. When my wife and I were first married, there was a home in Salem, Utah. It was so cool, just like a Victorian house.

Tracy: I have a tree that my wife decorates with only my ornaments. We have another tree that’s decorated with my favorite ornaments from other Keepsake artists. We also have a little display with all of my Peanuts ornaments.

Tracy: A couple of them certainly have talent but not something that they’re pursuing. All 5 of my children are very good musicians.

June 27th, 2016|Comments Off on Live Chat Recap: Tracy Larsen
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Fan Convention-Exclusives for Members Only

Three convention-exclusive Keepsake Ornaments (Batman™ in Battle, U.S.S. Enterprise™, and Beginnings: Boba Fett™) will be available for KOC members to purchase after the conventions have ended. Purchase one of each ornament on July 25 or on October 10.

There’s a limited supply of 250 each, so don’t miss out!

Visit Hallmark.com/KeepsakeOrnamentClub on the dates above to see the ornaments and order yours!

Batman™ in Battle
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
This Keepsake Ornament depicts the Caped
Crusader’s armored uniform.

U.S.S. Enterprise™
STAR TREK™ “Pilot Version”
50th Anniversary Edition
repaint of 2016
Keepsake Ornament
Featuring dialogue and music directly from the original “Star Trek” TV series,
this Keepsake Ornament depicts the iconic starship as originally built and painted for special-effects filming.

 

Beginnings: Boba Fett™

Star Wars™
Special Edition
Set of 2 ornaments
Based on original concept art by designer Ralph McQuarrie, this ornament provides a rare glimpse
into the white-armored origins of the galaxy’s most infamous bounty hunter.

June 25th, 2016|0 Comments
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Featured Series – Snowball and Tuxedo

This month’s featured series, Snowball and Tuxedo celebrates its 16th year in 2016.

Joanne Eschrich’s inspiration for the Snowball and Tuxedo series came from growing up on a farm and always being around animals. Critters are what she grew up drawing, and this series takes her back to those roots.

That’s a Wrap
16th in the Snowball and Tuxedo series

Additional Resources:

June 20th, 2016|0 Comments
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Idaho In-Store Artist Signing Location Change

UPDATE

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the location for the Snow Buddies of Boise In-Store Artist Signing event has been moved to Kurt’s Pharmacy in Twin Falls, ID.

  • DATE: July 30
    Kurt’s Pharmacy
    Lynwood Shopping Center
    1203 Filer Ave. E
    Twin Falls, ID 83301-4118
    (208) 734-8177
    Artist: Kris Gaughran
    Hosted by: Snow Buddies of Boise

While the signing event on Saturday is moving, the Friday night dinner will still be in Boise.

May 15th, 2016|0 Comments
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2016 Reveal: Hallmark Crown Collection Jewelry (UPDATED)

By popular demand, two of the Hallmark jewelry collection pieces released last year will be returning along with a newly reimagined piece.

Cherish the memories with these tiny treasures inspired by classic Keepsake Ornaments. They are little works of art, created by real people with real stories to tell.

Celebrate your story and the joys of the season with the Crown Collection only from Hallmark. Available beginning Ornament Debut Weekend, October 1-2, 2016.

Snowflake Gold-Silver
Pendant Necklace

Christmas Cardinal
Pendant Necklace

Snowflake Bangle
Bracelet

In addition to the two Hallmark Crown Collection pieces that will be reissued this year, and the one reimagined piece, Hallmark will be releasing three new Keepsake Ornament inspired jewelry designs.

Silver Bell
Pendant Necklace

Silver Angel
Pendant Necklace

Gold Star
Pendant Necklace

UPDATE (09.07.16) – Added Silver Bell Pendant Necklace, Silver Angel Pendant Necklace, and Gold Star Pendant Necklace.

Hallmark Crown Collection – An on-trend, quality jewelry line designed exclusively for Hallmark Gold Crown stores, includes designs inspired by art found in the Hallmark archives.

May 12th, 2016|0 Comments
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Local Clubs Receive Second Mailing for 2016

The third of four mailing that the national Keepsake Ornament Club will be sending to Local Clubs this year is currently being delivered to Club Sponsors/Club Contacts.

The shipment contains:

  • The May 2016 issue of Collectively Speaking – The local club newsletter for the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club.
  • Dream Book Party Keepsake Ornament Sneak Peek presentation. Revealed in this Sneak Peek is some very exciting product news, including a preview of some 2017 2nd in series ornaments, some of your other favorite series and an early look at some of the 2017 Keepsake Ornament Club exclusives!
  • In addition to the Sneak Peek, there is a surprise—two free Keepsake Ornaments and two ‘2015 KOC Event’ Mint Tins for your club to use as raffle prizes, register-to-win prizes or however your club chooses.

NOTE: We have reports of clubs receiving: “Woody and Bullseye” from 2002; “Albert Pujols” and “Journey of the Kings” from 2005; “Mickey as Bob Cratchit” from 2009; “All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth”, “A Cheery Masterpiece”, “Cast Away!”, “Lando Calrissian”, “Plane Crazy”, “Season of Beauty” and “Snow One Like Tinkerbell” from 2010; “Mystery Frosty” from 2011; “Jingle Bells” from 2012 and Father Christmas’ Reindeer from 2013. What ornaments did your Club receive? Please let us know in the comments section below.

May 4th, 2016|0 Comments
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Inside Split-Level Dream Home

Relive the high-life with this mid-1950s to mid-1970s split-level architectural icon. The exterior is composed of wood and brick punctuated by large picture windows. That said, it is the interior that hearkens back to another era.

Split-Level Dream Home
(exterior)
33rd in the Nostalgic Houses and Shops series

Split-Level Dream Home
(interior)
33rd in the Nostalgic Houses and Shops series

The floor plan features a two-story high section, with vaulted ceilings and large picture windows, joined to a single-story section located a half-story in between, creating three distinct interior areas. A bedroom is tucked away on the quiet upper level, the central level makes room for a spacious living room while the lower level (partly below grade) provides room for storage and parking.

All three rooms contain minimal decorative elements for a modern feel. The bedroom features a Meredew double bed with 2 night cabinets, matching atomic lamps and a daffodil yellow Chenille bedspread. The living-room highlights geometric wallpaper, an asymmetrical Adrian Pearsall Platform sofa, and a teak wood lamp. An undecorated Christmas tree awaits the homeowners personal touch. Can you imagine Anita’s Nifty Fifties Keepsake Ornaments and Bubble Lights on the tree? How about Robert Chad’s Retro Reindeer?

April 29th, 2016|0 Comments
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