2009 Reveal: Comic-Con Exclusives
Shock Trooper and Shadow Trooper
Star Wars
Special Edition
Lieutenant Uhura™
STAR TREK™
Special Event Edition
Ornament Spotlight: Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Santa Sleigh and Reindeer
They might look good enough to eat, but this little set of gingerbread characters is purely decorative. Keepsake artist Edythe Kegrize cooked up a charming miniature rendition of Santa and his reindeer as a special treat for Keepsake lovers everywhere. Add one every month this year when you visit your favorite Hallmark Gold Crown store from July through October.
Cheerful Elf
Club Exclusive
Get Santa in his sleigh and the first set of reindeer, Dasher and Dancer, beginning at Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Premiere in July. In August, Prancer and Vixen join the fun, and in September you’ll find Comet and Cupid. Buy the final set of reindeer, Donner and Blitzen, at Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Debut in October. Keepsake Ornament Club members will have the exclusive opportunity to add the Cheerful Elf at Ornament Debut in October. Each miniature ornament is $8.50 and measures about 2 inches tall.
“When I was asked to create this special program for collectors this year, I tried to think of a unique way to depict Santa and his reindeer,” Edythe says. “I found myself transported back to my mom’s kitchen and the smell of Christmas cookies baking. One of my fondest Christmas memories is baking cookies with my mom; my job was to decorate them. So I fashioned each character to look like a gingerbread cookie and added ‘icing’ embellishments. For Club members, I took special care with the Cheerful Elf design. Look closely, and you’ll see he might be contemplating a nibble out of that Christmas tree.”
You’ll find lots of ways to fit the Santa Sleigh and Reindeer set into your holiday decor. They’re perfect for a treat-themed tree or kitchen tree, or for perching in garland or on a wreath. They all can be hooked together and displayed on their own as well.
Dasher and Dancer
Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Continuity Program
Prancer and Vixen
Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Continuity Program
Comet and Cupid
Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Continuity Program
Donner and Blitzen
Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Continuity Program
Santa’s Sleigh
Santa’s Sleigh Collection
Continuity Program
“Santa Sleigh and Reindeer.” For Keeps 08 April 2009: 1.
The Experiment
There were no lab coats or protective eye-wear, and no test tubes or Bunsen burners in the Keepsake studio’s experiment. “The sole purpose of the project was to give participants an opportunity for creative expression outside of our day-to-day work,” says artist Kris Gaughran, who helped plan the experiment. “Each person was set loose on a fun adventure of personal expression.”
“Bucky”
The project began with a blank ornament-headed figure named “Bucky,’ a concept by artist Tom Best. Tom’s drawings were then given to production designer Orville Wilson, who created the 3D model of the character. Bucky was then cast, recast and finally molded in white resin to produce 38 figures- -which were given to anyone who wanted to participate in the experiment.
Everyone had free reign to create whatever they wanted. They could use all of Bucky’s parts or leave some out. They could carve it, dissect it, cover it in felt or fabric or just give it a surface pattern with paint. The possibilities were limitless.
The results were nothing short of amazing. Tammy Haddix turned her Bucky into a lifelike gnome carrying a jar filled with fireflies that really light up. Tom Best created what he calls a “Primitive Collector” the shrunken heads it carries are also ornaments. And somehow, Don Palmiter looked at Bucky and saw Elvis -complete with big hair, a jumpsuit and rhinestone glasses.
Gnome by Tammy Haddix
“Primitive Collector” by Tom Best
Elvis by Don Palmiter
“We were inspired by each other, Don says. “A project like this rejuvenates your creativity. We were totally unrestricted by the constraints we have when working on specific ornaments for the line, such as price restraints or mold requirements. It provided a way to break away from our regular schedule and express ourselves in new ways. It also helped us see each other’s talents in a new way.”
“Although none of the results are currently planned as Keepsake Ornaments,” Kris says “they may inspire products in the future.”
More pictures of the final results are available on KOCMembers.com (see below). The figures also will be on display at the Hallmark Visitors Center in August during the KOC Event.
“The Experiment.” For Keeps 08 April 2009: 5.
The Experiment
Keepsake artists turn collectible toys into works of art
What if…
… you were given free reign to create something unusual.
… you were able to broaden awareness of a growing form of collectible art.
… you were given the chance to step out of your comfort zone.
“I wanted to give a ‘what if’ project to the Keepsakes Sculpting Studio. What was crated was “Bucky Boy,” the ornament-headed figure. (Thank you Tom Best and the team!). Tom’s drawings were given to Orville Wilson who created the 3D model of our character. Bucky was then cast, recast and finally molded in white resin to produce 38 complete sets of white body blanks. These blanks could be carved and dissected, covered in felt or fabric, or just given a surface pattern with paint. The possibilities were limitless for each Keepsake Artist to let loose on a fun adventure of personal express.” — Kris Gaughran
KOCMembers.com, April, 2009.
2009 Reveal: Keepsake Ornament Club Event
The 2009 KOC Event
August 7-8, 2009
You are invited to join us for the 2009 Keepsake Ornament Club Event in Kansas City.
This members-only event will be a weekend filled with memories as friends, both new and old, join together to celebrate collecting. Club members will be immersed in Keepsake Ornaments with lots of opportunities to meet Keepsake artists, attend artist seminars, purchase event exclusive product, and join in fun and games with all the Keepsakes flair you know and love. Join us in Kansas City, Missouri, home of Hallmark, for this one-of-a-kind collector’s event. Our event is a true Crown Center destination allowing you to experience the home of Hallmark Cards, Inc. and the beauty of Crown Center.
Event Web site
KOCevents.com is the official Web site for the 2009 event.
This Web site will provide you with an overview of the event, event fees, exclusive product and much more. Best of all, you’ll use this site to register for the event and even purchase product in advance. Check the site often for updates and news.
How to register
This is a KOC members-only event. Your KOC member number will be required when you register. Go to KOCevents.com and click on the Registration tab for a complete list of what you will need to register.
- Registration for the event and the local club dinner is LIMITED and will begin at noon on April 1, 2009.
- All registrations will be taken at KOCevents.com.
- If you do not have a computer, you may still register by accessing the Internet at a friend’s home or at a public library with Internet access.
Friday & Saturday Event Activities ($50.00 per member)
Includes admission to activities from noon-5:00 p.m. Friday and 8:00 a.m.-5:00 p.m. Saturday, plus a gift tote containing a commemorative Keepsake Ornament and other surprises. Does NOT include Friday Local Club Dinner.
Friday Local Club Dinner ($45.00 per member)
Local club members only.
Includes a traditional holiday meal served at 6:30 p.m (doors open at 6:00 p.m.), a commemorative Keepsake Ornament and other surprises.
Please note: The Local Club Dinner will be held at the Crown Center Exhibit Hall adjacent to the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Crown Center. Members staying at the Westin Hotel may use the covered walkway connecting to the Hyatt or you may park at the Hyatt for a fee.
Hotel information and reservations
- The Westin Crown Center, Kansas City
1 E. Pershing Road
Kansas City, MO 64108
800-937-8461
- Hyatt Regency Crown Center
2345 McGee Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
800-233-1234
A limited number of rooms are still available in our block at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center. You must mention Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club to receive the special rate of $118 per night.
Event activities
Go to KOCevents.com for a full overview of all the fun and excitement planned for the event. Here are just a few of the things you can expect:
- Keepsake Studio artist signings
- Keepsake product shop with event-exclusive products
- Seminars by Keepsake Studio artists
- Ornament Bingo and other games
- Secondary market dealer room
- Decorating photo contest
- Sneak Peek
- Prize giveaways
- Live auction
Event-exclusive products
Here’s your chance to get Keepsake Ornaments designed specifically for our 2009 event repaints and all-new designs featuring old friends and new ones. Products made for this event will not be sold afterward, so don’t miss your chance to complete your collections. Get a look at our event-exclusive products online at KOCevents.com and click on the Product Shop tab.
New for 2009 – purchase your exclusive ornaments and other products in advance! Just follow the simple instructions when you register online and have everything waiting for you to pick up when you arrive at the event. If you prefer to purchase your product on-site, the Product Shop will be open Friday and Saturday for your convenience.
Memories for the Making.” For Keeps 08 January 2009: 2-3.
2005 Reveal: The Holiday V.I.P. Gift
Participating Hallmark retailers are giving a gift to a few close friends during their Holiday Open House. If you are one of them, keep an eye on your mailbox for an invitation to this year’s Holiday Open House VIP event. Bring this invitation to your Hallmark Gold Crown Store to receive a goodie-bag filled to the top with holiday surprises.
The Holiday V.I.P. Gift
Holiday Open House & V.I.P. Event
November 12-13, 2005
Santa’s Magic Sack
Exclusive 2005 VIP Gift Keepsake Ornament
Our Gift to You:
The Holiday V.I.P. Gift
Includes:
- Reusable fabric bag
- Snowflake Mug
- Santa’s Magic Sack – Exclusive 2005 VIP Gift Keepsake Ornament
It’s our gift to you with any $25.00 purchase (valued at $50.00 USA).
Limit one free Holiday V.I.P. Gift per customer. While supplies last. Offer valid with a minimum $25.00 purchase at store noted. Designs may vary. Quantities limited.
Valid: 11/12/05 – 11/13/05 (local Invite only)
Holiday VIP Gift – A promotional offer directed at the store’s best customers.
2004 Reveal: V.I.P. Holiday Traditions Gift Bag
Participating Hallmark retailers will once again kick off their annual Holiday Open House with their traditional V.I.P. event. It’s their way of thanking their best customers, for letting them be part of this holiday season and other special occasions in their life.
Holiday Traditions Gift Bag
Holiday Open House & V.I.P. Event
November 5, 2004
Jolly Old Kris Jingle
Exclusive VIP Gift
Our Gift to You
The Holiday Traditions Gift Bag
Includes:
- Jolly Old Kris Jingle Keepsake Ornament,
- Joys of Friendship book,
- Memorable Moments album, and more.
Yours free with any $25.00 purchase (a $50.00 value).
*Designs may vary. Quantities limited.
Valid: 11/5/04 (local Invite only)
Holiday VIP Gift – A promotional offer directed at the store’s best customers.
Announcement: Keepsake Artist Bob Siedler’s Retirement
Bob Siedler, most widely known for his Snoopy and Winnie the Pooh Keepsake Ornaments has retired from the Studio effective this month. Bob had 23 years of service to Hallmark and will be missed by all of us here in Keepsakes. We wish Bob all the best in his retirement.
Please read below for personal remarks from Bob.
Bob Seidler
Bob Siedler
Hallmark Artist
Since leaving Hallmark I wanted to thank you all. Through 20 years of conventions, Expo’s, and in-store signings. I probably met you and want to let you know you were a big influence on me. To meet the people I was actually “working for” gave meaning to what I did. You were GREAT and again Thank You Very Much!
Bob Siedler
Hallmark Artist
“Keepsake Studio Artist Retires.” Collectively Speaking January 2003: 2
Anonymous. “Just want to say Thanks.” Yulelog, February 12, 2003. http://www.yulelog.com/forums/
Ornament Spotlight: Look for the Wonder
Side by Side, Member and Artist Create “Look for the Wonder”
“I feel like Willy Wonka in the chocolate factory,” Club member Joanne Pawelek said as she took in the hustle and bustle of the Keepsake Ornament building.
It was mid-May of 1992, nearly a year since she’d won the Club convention costume contest, and she was still excited. As her prize, she was flown back to Kansas City, where Hallmark artist Donna Lee was transforming her fondest holiday memories into a Keepsake Ornament.
“I was really excited from the beginning when I heard that Donna would design my ornament. I really love her angels,” said Joanne, who is from the Canadian province of Alberta.
Out of their collaboration came “Look for the Wonder,” which depicts the memories Joanne shared over the two days she spent with the artist and the Keepsake Ornament staff.
Joanne told the artist how her family’s holiday celebrations were influenced by Ukrainian traditions passed down by her grandmother, who grew up in that region of the former Soviet Union. “Donna’s eyes lit up when I started telling her about the Ukrainian Christmas Eve dinner,” Joanne Said.
Once the artist got to know the Charter member, their work on the ornament began in earnest. As Joanne accounted her family’s Christmas observances, Lee took notes. To make the ornament as personal as possible, Lee asked Joanne about her favorite colors and other details.
After meeting with Joanne in the late morning, the artist quickly sketched out how she visualized the ornament. “You did that already?” Joanne exclaimed as Lee slid the drawing into her hands just after lunch. In a matter of hours, the members’ stories had taken shape as an ornament.
Many of the key elements from the stories–the first star in the night sky, Advent calendar, table and candle–were there. “She took bits and pieces of what I love about Christmas and made a collage,” Joanne commented, clearly amazed that Lee pulled it all together into one design and did it so quickly.
Joanne, one of about 825 Canadian Club members, has been collecting since she purchased her first ornament, the 1977 “Jack-in-the-Box,” which inspired her costume. Her other interests include traveling. She works for a provincial government agency that deals with substance abuse.
Before returning home, Joanne had one parting thought. “If I had one wish, it’s that every collector could experience the last two days I’ve spent here,” she said. Indeed, the grand prize winners from both of the 1993 convention costume contests will follow in her footsteps.
Look for the Wonder
In the Ukraine, a family places a lighted candle in the window to welcome strangers to their Christmas Eve meal, explains Joanne Pawelek. “The youngest child watches for the first star of the evening, a sign that the meal can began,” she says. These customs served as part of the inspiration for “Look for the Wonder.” Pawelek recalled her family using an Advent wreath to mark the 24 days before Christmas Eve. That memory led Donna Lee to include the angel and Advent calendar in the design. Joanne said many Ukrainian traditions were passed down by her grandmother, who lived in the Ukraine as a child.
1988 Reveal: Keepsake Ornament Collection Puzzle
Keepsake Ornament Collection Puzzle
Puzzle Plus series.
New Puzzle Features Keepsake Ornaments
What has five hundred movable parts and is covered with your favorite Keepsake Ornaments?
No…it’s not your Christmas tree. It’s the new “Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Collection” jigsaw puzzle for 1988!
The puzzle features nineteen different Keepsake Ornaments that span the years from 1975 through 1987. They were chosen by the designer of the puzzle, Kim Warner.
“I wanted the group of ornaments to look like a personal collection that someone started in childhood,” she says.
“The photograph has a soft antique glow,” Warner continues. “I imagined that the ornaments were stored at Grandma’s house. She has just opened the chest and is starting to unpack the ornaments because it’s time to trim the family tree.”
Warner, who is a photo designer in Hallmark’s Season. Design Studio, says she arranged the ornaments to showcase their character and detail. “I created a setting that would complement the designs and reflect how much these ornaments are truly cherished by collectors.
“The wooden chest is an antique,” she explains. “It dates back to 1803 and is part of the Jerry Smith Collection of antiques and collectibles.”
Warner adds that she grouped the ornaments close together to heighten the complexity of the photograph. “A puzzle needs to be both challenging to assemble and beautiful when it’s complete,” she says. “The intricacy of Keepsake Ornaments makes them ideal for a puzzle.”
When you open the puzzle box, you’ll discover that there’s a surprise in-side. The puzzle is part of the Hallmark Puzzle Plus series and comes with a brass snowflake Trimmer ornament. It’s a gift from Hallmark and a real “plus” for you.
“New Puzzle Features Keepsake Ornaments.” COLLECTOR’S COURIER Volume 2, Number Two: 4.
500 interlocking pieces.
18″ w. x 23.5″ h.
$8.95 USA
1988 Sneak Peek: Little Angel Makes Big Series Debut
Little “Buttercup” will fly into your home and heart this Christmas. Designed by Hallmark stylist Mary Hamilton, this angel is the first ornament in the new “Mary’s Angels” Collectible Series.
Collectors will recognize Hamilton’s design because her artwork goes back to the beginnings of the Keepsake line. A 1974 glass ball named “Charmers” was the first Keepsake Ornament to feature her appealing characters.
In the following years, Hamilton angels, children, and animals appeared on several different ball ornaments, including commemoratives, and on acrylic designs such as the 1977 “Drummer Boy! “Buttercup” is the very first three-dimensional Hamilton design in the Keepsake collection.
It’s no surprise that Hamilton’s designs are favorites with collectors. Her artwork has appeared on hundreds of Hallmark products such as cards, plaques, books and calendars. The Hallmark Nativity Collection of porcelain figurines and Christmas series of limited edition pewter plates also feature her designs.
Hamilton joined the Hallmark creative staff in 1955 after attending the Kansas City Art Institute. People who know her say her characters reflect her own gentle smile and friendly blue eyes.
The artist says she started drawing children and scenery when she was a child. “I loved to create whimsical fantasy worlds with my pencils and brushes,” she explains.
All of the angel ornaments in the new series begin with Hamilton’s original paintings.
These paintings are then transformed into three-dimensional figures by a Hallmark sculptor. Robert Chad was given the challenge to sculpt “Buttercup.” In addition to being the first ornament in the “Mary’s Angels” series, “Buttercup” is the first ornament Chad sculpted for the Keepsake line.
“I wanted to recreate the gentle quality of Mary’s drawings,” he says. “I knew the angel had to portray the soft, flowing look of her artwork.”
Buttercup
Mary’s Angels
1st in the series.
Every detail of the ornament contributes to this effect. “The way the angel’s dress drapes over the cloud gives the design a peaceful, gentle appearance,” Chad explains. “The pastel colors and pearly wings reflect the soft mood of the ornament.”
When collectors examine this first edition closely, they’ll find Hamilton’s signature “Mary” and a series symbol on the bottom of the frosted acrylic cloud.
“Little Angel Makes Big Series Debut.” Collector’s COURIER Volume 1, Number Three: 7.