Local Clubs Receive Third Mailing for 2015
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 August 2015 issue of Collectively Speaking – The local club newsletter for the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club.
- Keepsake Ornament Club – 2015 Artist Interviews – A DVD with exclusive interviews from three of the Keepsake Studio Artists including: Kris Gaughran talking about her beloved Fairies; Joanne Eschrich speaking about the celebration of Snowball and Tuxedo’s 15th Anniversary and then sharing the inspiration behind Timeless Angel, one of her premium pieces; and Terri Steiger sharing some tips and tricks about her passion for different materials.
Fairy Messengers
Kristina Gaughran
Snowball and Tuxedo / Timeless Angel
Joanne Eschrich
Premium and Mixed Material Ornaments
Terri Steiger
Artist Interview, Rodney Gentry – Monopoly: 80th Anniversary
Keepsake Ornament Artist Rodney Gentry talks a bit about the creation of an ornament celebrating a very special anniversary…
2015 Local Club Dinner and Gift
As the attendees entered the Crown Center Exhibit Hall on Friday night, each was given a special edition, repainted version of the 18th in the A Pony for Christmas series.
Shortly after everyone had settled in, dinner was served. The menu featured a dinner salad with ranch or Italian dressing, barbecued chicken, barbecued beef brisket, Au-gratin potatoes, steamed baby carrots and green beans and cheese cake with a chocolate and raspberry coulis.
During the dinner Hallmark projected photographs of the Tacky Tourist costume contest participants.
As people finished their meal, Don Hall Jr. welcomed everyone to the event and made a few remarks. The evening concluded with the announcing of the winners of the Tacky Tourist costume contest and the awarding of the table centerpieces to the individual at each table that had a pre determined mark under their seat.
*NOTE: This ornament was issued in limited-quantities and only available as a dinner gift at the 2015 Keepsake Ornament club event.
DESTINATION KEEPSAKES Sneak Peek Seminar
2015 Destination Keepsakes Sneak Peek seminar was hosted by Theresa Murphy (Retail Associate Merchandise Manager) and Kurt Gaulke (Product Development Manager).
DESTINATION… The Beach
Features a melting snowman (wearing sunglasses, a visor, and three sea shell buttons on his chest) holding a tropical drink. He is laying back on a light blue Adirondack styled lounge chair under a palm tree. Press the button to hear music from “Kokomo” performed by the Beach Boys.
By Nina Aubé.
Miniature version of 2015 “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” ornament. By Sharon Visker.
NOTE: Miniature line will be sized down and expanded in 2016.
DESTINATION… Halloween
Features a sweet little child done in Mary’s Angel styling wearing a black cat onesie costume holding a light purple square trick-or-treat bag while sitting on a squaty jack-o-lantern. Designed by Mary Hamilton. Sculpted by Robert Chad.
NOTE: This is one of the last ornaments Mary worked on prior to retiring.
Female companion to the 2014 Sweet Skull. Features a skull with a black braid across her head and big gold hoop earrings. A red rose is tucked into her left part line and an orange butterfly rests on her right part line. She has flowers around her eyes and a toothy grin with one red tooth. By Sharon Visker.
Complement to the Beauty of Birds series. Features a stylized owl with an orange-red chest and eyes, a black head with a purple crest and glitter accents and black and purple wings and tail. All trimmed with thin gold lines. A gold crescent moon dangle hangs from underneath the owl. Designed by Edythe Kegrize. Sculpted by Jim Kemme.
DESTINATION… Happiest Place on Earth
Based on “The Art of Skiing” animated short. Features a snow covered hill with a house on top. Pull the string to hear yodeling and see Goofy practice skiing (on the top of the hill going down the cliff). After a brief ascent, he skis down making a flip along the way. And see Donald and Mickey and Minnie sledding down the icy hill. By Ken Crow.
Features Beauty and the Beast standing in front of a stained glass window surrounded by gray block. Press the button to hear music from “Beauty and the Beast.” performed by Angela Lansbury. By Katrina Bricker.
Features Lumiere, wearing a top hat and holding a cane, in a dancing pose.
DESTINATION… Christmas
Features a simple light blue bird house decorated with white snowflakes surface detail atop a white base.
By Edythe Kegrize.
Features a gray RV with an inflatable snowman on top of it. Two thick bold curving red stripes and multiple angled large green bells silhouettes are painted on it’s side panels. Strings of white lights cover the vehicle. Press the button to hear a version of “Deck the Halls” and see a synchronized light show. By Matt Johnson.
DESTINATION… North Pole
Features a chubby faced penguin wearing a green scarf with a red jet pack with silver accents strapped to his back. Yellow and red flames are depicted coming out of it’s boosters. On ornament: “North Pole or Bust.” Press the button to hear music from “Fly” performed by Sugar Ray. By Jake Angell.
Features Santa in a gingerbread sleigh with white icing on peppermint candy cane runners. By Tammy Haddix.
Designed as a companion to the 2016 Santa’s Sweet Ride (sleigh) ornament (sold separately). Features a reindeer with a Swiss Roll body, a purple Zebra stripped gum saddle, green ears, peppermint candy cane horns, candy legs and gumdrop feet. By Tammy Haddix. Available beginning Ornament Debut.
Swing in the Holidays
The World of Frosty Friends
Features Frosty and his penguin pal on the playground. Depicts Penguin wearing a green scarf sitting on a peppermint swing that is attached to a white block pillar. Frosty is standing behind him. Push the button to hear a version of “Let it Snow” and see a synchronized light show as Frosty pushes his penguin pal on the swing. By Tracy Larsen and Tom Best.
Frosty Friends Gifts
Stocking Holder – Features Frosty sledding down a hill.
Snow Globe – Shaped like a large ice block with Frosty and his polar bear pal sitting on top (echos the first in series piece).
Perpetual Calendar – Features Frosty, his polar bear friend and ice block numbers.
Treat Container – Features an Igloo with Frosty and his polar bear friend sitting on top.
Ear Muffs – Features Frosty’s Head on each muff.
DESTINATION… Outer Space
Connect to a Magic Cord or AC plug-in (both included) to hear “Star Wars Theme Song” or “Imperial March” and see a red or blue synchronized spinning light show. Remote control activated. By Orville Wilson.
Press the button to hear memorial moments from this classic film including: …”These aren’t the droids you’re looking for…” and “Stop that ship. Blast them. By Orville Wilson.
NOTE: 2017 will be the 40th anniversary of Star Wars.
Complements the STAR TREK™ LEGENDS series.
By Anita Marra Rogers.
NOTE: 2016 will be the 50th anniversary of Star Trek.
DESTINATION… Hollywood
Attaches to a light string for optional lighting effect. Look in magnified peek hole (on back) to see interior (stacks of wands). By Orville Wilson.
Meet the Flintstones
The Flintstones
Features Fred Flintstone sledding down the back of a purple Brontosaurus. Press the button to hear music from “The Flintstones Theme Song."
Press the button to hear music from “You're the one that I want” performed by Olivia Newton John.
DESTINATION... Blue Skies
Features a hot air balloon (crafted from a gold glass bulb) trimmed with gold laser cut metal accents, red rhinestones and red flags with an artist crafted Santa Claus in a gold gondola with a red swag. By Edythe Kegrize.
2015 KOC Event Register-to-Win Door Prizes (UPDATED)
During the 2015 KOC event this weekend, Hallmark gave away 33 event exclusive repaints (11 each of 3 designs)*, 11 “North Pole Countdown Tabletop” pieces, 4 signed Home for Wren ornaments, a “Sci-Fi Masters” piece (e.g. 2012 Star Wars Celebration: Obi-Wan Kenobi and Panda Baba, Jumbo Darth Vader itty bittys plush, 2011 Comic-Con: IG-88 and Dengar, 2012 Comic-Con: 4-LOM and Zuckuss, 2010 Comic-Con: 75 Years of DC Comics, 2013 Comic-Con: Star Trek™ U.S.S. Kelvin™, 2012 Comic-Con Cylon Centurion Battelstar Galactica™, 2010 Comic-Con: K-3PO and R-3PO) and two autographed Sports Fans! pieces e.g. Reggie Jackson, Franco Harris, Claude Giroux, four time a day for both days of the event. Winners were posted at: 9:00am, 10:00am, 1:00pm & 2:00pm.
The three repainted designs include: “Holly”, 28th in the “Mary’s Angels” series; “Puppy Love”, 25th in the series and “Can’t Wait to Skate”, 1st in the Mary Hamilton’s Bears series.
Artist Interview, Don Palmiter – Kiddie Cars
Don Palmiter is crazy about cars. He designs and sculpts the small scale replicas of classic pedal cars for Hallmark’s Kiddie Car Classics line.
Featured Artist: Debra Murray


Title:
Hallmark Senior Artist
Started at Hallmark:
August 13, 1997
Started at Keepsakes:
August 13, 1997
Hometown:
Clinton, Iowa
Go behind the scenes with Debra Nielsen and learn where she got her inspiration for this years retro apron ornament as well as her latest Barbie™ and Madame Alexander ornaments.
Sculpting horses can be tricky, but this labor of love has become a life-long passion for Deb. Her authentically inspired designs take a sharp eye for detail that comes from growing up around horses—and around the growing collection of models on her desk!
Deb always loved art…and her beautiful show horses. These were, after all, the inspiration and models for her first drawings and paintings. When it came time for college, she went to beauty school rather than an arts program. Deb knew she didn’t want to teach, but she didn’t know there were other options with an art degree! Ironically, Deb now uses her cosmetology experience to fashion the hair and makeup on Madame Alexander® ornaments.
In addition to her other talents, Deb used to sew wedding gowns, and she is able to use that fashion experience in the fabric attachments she creates for our ornaments. Deb loves the details of her job, from dreaming up new ornament concepts to the intricate sculpting detail involved in bringing her sculpts to life.
And more than a Keepsakes Artist, Deb is the proud mother of Mallory who “expresses her art through words,” has successfully achieved her Masters in Communication and is now a proud wife and mom herself.
In Deb’s spare time, she enjoys painting, interior design and exploring the great outdoors and spending time with her new her husband—fellow Hallmarker Steve Goslin.
Shoe-Sational! (2015)
When Hallmark and Mattel reunited recently, Debra Nielsen was a natural choice to create the new Barbie™ shoe ornaments. Not only did she love playing with Barbie as a child, she had also been working on the Barbie line for more than 20 years. As a technical artist for Keepsake Ornaments, Debra became known as an expert at painting Barbie—especially her finely detailed eyes. “They’re very small and they have between 6 and 10 eyelashes. Each one has a lot of detail.”
She then began sculpting the ornaments herself and has become a regular at the annual Barbie® Convention (this year it’s July 29 – August 1 in Washington, D.C.). This year for the convention, Debra and the team will be bringing a limited-edition repaint of the 2009 Shoe-Sational Barbie™ shoe ornament that will coordinate with the Event theme, “A Star Is Barbie™.” Attendees will also get a sneak preview of the 2016 Barbie™ shoe!
Debra’s appreciation for Barbie has grown even stronger in recent years. “She has branched out. She has career aspirations. She’s not just floating through life looking for the right Ken. She has political interests, green interests. Barbie can do anything.”
Wendy Wishes You a Merry Christmas (2015)
Debra is also quite fond of another iconic doll: Madame Alexander, which has been around since 1923. Debra’s first Madame Alexander ornament was Yuletide Shopper in 2011. Since then she has created the series each year plus three KOC exclusive Madame Alexander WIZARD OF OZ™ ornaments. Deb creates the ornaments and also helps select the dolls that are chosen to become ornaments.
Her time working on Barbie and her background made her a natural fit to add Madame Alexander to her portfolio. She credits her background in cosmetology for giving her a solid foundation for these projects—Debra was a hairstylist and makeup artist before joining Hallmark as a freelance artist in 1987.
“It’s very similar: painting on the makeup, styling the hair,” Debra says. “That’s where my interests lie. Cosmetology has morphed into my career here, as I’ve worked on quite a few very feminine ornaments.”
Mother and Daughter Memories (2015)
Debra and her daughter, Mallory, baked together a lot when Mallory was little. Their quality time in the kitchen inspired this mother-daughter apron. The inspiration for the design style and color palette came from classic blown-glass ornaments in retro colors, like hot pink and turquoise.
“This was a really fun ornament, but also a challenging one because it was made out of fabric,” Debra says. She also notes that Mallory’s generation seems to wear cute retro aprons like this much more than Debra’s generation.
Now that Mallory has moved back to Kansas City from St. Joseph, MO., she sees her even more—which means even more time to start new holiday traditions. Mallory’s 4-year-old son Henry also loves to bake and cook. “So that tradition continues,” Debra said. “All the messiness and the fun just keep on going.”
Artist Interview, Jake Angell – Baby’s Year
Keepsake Ornament artist Jake Angell talks about Baby’s Year in this short video. Will one of these be on your tree this year?
2016 Barbie Ornaments Sneak Peek
In conjunction with the National Barbie® Doll Collectors Convention (NBDCC), Hallmark once again provided an advance screening of the Barbie Keepsake Ornaments and Itty Bittys that will be released later this year and a Sneak Peek of next years line. Amongst the 2016 ornaments and Itty Bittys that were reveled were:
Fashion Barbie™ Collectors Set
itty bittys
Celebrating BARBIE® through the years. Features: Swim Barbie (1959 “debut” BARBIE® Doll), Spotlight Barbie (1960-1964 Solo in the Spotlight BARBIE® Doll), Evening Barbie (1960-1963 Enchanted Evening BARBIE® Doll) and Shopper Barbie (1959-1964 Suburban Shopper BARBIE® Doll).
Hallmark Gold Crown Exclusive
Available beginning August 2016
Destination Keepsakes (KOC event) Registration (UPDATED)

Can you believe it? The Keepsake Ornament Club convention is only approximately 3 short weeks away and it will be here before you know it.
Registration for the convention has been extended until the end of the month (midnight July 31), as such if you want to attend the event and haven’t yet registered, you still have a little under two weeks to complete your registration.
Please note: There are still openings for the Friday night local club dinner. If you want to attend you can use digitalDREAMERS (located in the Online Clubs section) as your qualifying local club. If you already registered for the event but didn’t sign up for the dinner, you can do so by either calling 1-800-HALLMARK and asking for Martha Lawrence of emailing info@kocevents.com.
On a final note: If you need any help registering please feel free to contact me. I can be reached at (505) 750-7342.
I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the convention.



























