2020 Reveal: Musical Toy Soldier
The popular unofficial Musical Toy Soldier series will be returning for a seventh year as Hallmark’s thank-you gift for purchasing Keepsake Ornaments at both Ornament Premiere and Ornament Debut!*
Festive French Horn
Musical Toy Soldier
7th in the unofficial series.
Wearing his best dress uniform, this marching toy soldier horn player confidently carries his brass instrument, which feature a glittery snowflake design in its bell.
*NOTE: When you purchase a Hallmark Keepsake Ornament during Ornament Premiere (July 11-19, 2020) you will receive a coupon in the mail for a FREE Festive French Horn ornament (Reg. $9.99) when you purchase a Keepsake Ornament during Ornament Debut (October 3-11, 2020), while supplies last.
For Keeps: Volume 19, Issue 2 Summer 2020
Get the inside scoop on the KOC Ornament Premiere exclusives. Learn about the Frosty Friends series. And see what goes into the creation of the yearly catalog.
- Exclusively for you at Ornament Premiere
- Sweet Santa By Terri Steiger
- Christmas Window #18 By Nina Aubé
- Tom and his frosty friends
- Behind the scenes of the Dream Book
- Keepsake convention exclusives
- Save the date
For Keeps – The Official Newsletter of the Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Club.
Keepsake Convention Exclusives
When it comes to creating convention exclusives, the Keepsake artists always put the fans first.
For this year’s convention-exclusive ornaments, the Keepsake Studio took different approaches to their pieces.
For Harry Potter fans, Keepsake Artist Kristina Gaughran went with an unexpected, yet popular, choice. “[Professor Boggart Snape] has gotten a lot of love from the cosplay community, so to give fans an ornament this unique is exciting.” says Kris.
For the National Barbie Doll Convention, Keepsake Artist Debra Nielsen was guided by the convention itself. “The theme for 2020 is ‘Paradise Found’,” Debra says. “I am given some top-secret artwork relative to the theme and need to create a new shoe design based on it. In this case, the Barbie with the ocean waves hair artwork was provided and I added the hibiscus floral pattern to complement it.”
Those are just some small insights into the process of creating convention exclusives. Get a close look at our convention offerings below.
Shoe-sational!
Barbie™ Ornament
Special Edition
Tribble
STAR TREK TOS: The Trouble with Tribbles
Imperial Probe Droid™
Star Wars™: The Empire Strikes Back™
Ahsoka Tano™
Star Wars™: The Clone Wars™
Professor Boggart Snape™
Harry Potter™
“Keepsake Convention Exclusives.” For Keeps 18 Summer 2020: 8
Tom and His Frosty Friends
Frosty Friends
41st in the series.
As the Keepsake artist with the second-longest run on the Frosty Friends series, Tom Best sat down to answer some questions about the long-running adventures of Frosty and his North Pole pals.
“Tom and His Frosty Friends.” For Keeps 18 Summer 2020: 4-5
Ornament Spotlight: Ornament Premiere Member Exclusives
Exclusively for you at Ornament Premiere
Get the inside scoop on these KOC exclusives that are heading to the event in July.
Sweet Santa
Member Exclusive
For fans who enjoy the stories told through companion pieces, Sweet Santa is a subtle nod to this year’s Artist Signing Event ornament.
Sweet Santa
Member Exclusive
“I think that he makes a good companion piece because the studio piece is a gingerbread themed carousel,” says Keepsake Artist Terri Steiger.
The piece most closely ties to the signing event ornament by Santa’s cookie of choice–the gingerbread man.
“All the animals on the carousel look like gingerbread cookies, and while my Santa is not exactly a cookie, he does have decorations that feature details that nod to a gingerbread cookie.”
A
Christmas Window 2020
18th in the series.
Member Exclusive
For this year’s addition to the series, Keepsake Artist Nina Aubé went back to where the series started.
“Usually we do storefronts, like a bookstore or a toy store, but the very first ornament in the series was a room scene, and I decided to go back to that and change it up a little bit,” says Nina.
Christmas Window 2020
18th in the series.
Member Exclusive
A fun fact for fans of the series: the little girl looking for Santa on this year’s ornament has a special connection to Nina.
“It’s my niece Jessica, and the stuffed animal on the ornament is her Piggy that she’s had since she was a baby. And Piggy goes everywhere with her.”
With callbacks to the series beginnings and personal touches added to the design, this year’s Christmas Window is a whimsical reminder of the magic the season has for the young and young at heart.
“Exclusively for you at Ornament Premiere.” For Keeps 19 Summer 2020: 2-3
2020 Virtual Artist Signing Event (UPDATE)
Gingerbread Carousel
Collaboration Piece
Due to Edythe and Robert’s retirement this month, they will not be attending the virtual artist signing event later this summer. Additionally, they will not be signing the exclusive artist signing event ornament.
Announcement: Keepsake Artists Edythe Kegrize and Robert Chad Retirement
Here is the latest Club communication that was received today.
Dear Local Club Presidents,
Beloved Hallmark Keepsake Ornament Artists Edythe Kegrize and Robert Chad have announced that they will be retiring from Hallmark Cards after 40+ years of experience. The Hallmark Keepsake ornament team will continue to deliver the very best craftsmanship and detail-oriented ornaments, as both Edythe and Robert always embodied. We wish Edythe and Robert the best in their next chapter!
While the model line is still being finalized for 2021, we do not have any plans to discontinue the series created by Edythe & Robert due to the retirement.
- Edythe: 12 Days of Christmas, Brilliant Butterflies & Beauty of Birds
- Robert: Mary’s Angels
Please read below for personal remarks from Edythe and Robert.
Edythe Kegrize
Edythe Kegrize
Hallmark Master Designer
What a sincere pleasure and honor it has been to have worked nearly 41 years for a company whose whole reason for being is to foster, support and celebrate relationships. My Hallmark career began in Greetings where, as an illustrator for 25 years, I honed my decorative skills and discovered my passion for dimensional paper folds and 3-dimensional art of all kinds. All of my early experiences at Hallmark fortunately led me to Keepsakes, where I could fully explore my creative possibilities. I feel so fortunate to have joined such a wonderful team of incredibly talented artists, engineers and editors. Our Keepsake family is truly special, and I am proud that our work shows the commitment and passion we all have for what we do. The icing on the cake has been the opportunity to meet and chat with so many of our wonderful collectors who share our love of ornaments. Each Artist signing, with shared stories and heartfelt words of appreciation, fuels our creative spirit and determination to create our very best. Leaving this Keepsake team will be bittersweet but, as I decorate my tree each year, I will think about all the wonderfully talented people I have had the privilege to work with and especially all of the collectors I’ve had the pleasure to meet and chat with over the years. Hallmark and Keepsakes will always be in my heart as a very special part of my life and career, even as I move on to explore new and exciting artistic directions in my next chapter.
With sincere gratitude,
Edythe Kegrize
Hallmark Master Designer
Robert Chad
Robert Chad
Hallmark Artist
I started my Hallmark adventure as a freelancer in Little Gallery back in the 80s. Lucky enough to be hired into Trim-A-Home, which subsequently became Keepsake Ornaments, my journey continued and my very first collectible ornament was a Mary’s Angel. That has been a legacy I’m very proud to have created with my dear departed friend Mary Hamilton.
Over subsequent years I became acquainted with you, the wonderful people of the Collectors Club, who have amazed and honored me with your remembrances. The truly humbling thing, though, is a seemingly unending generosity you all possess: giving back so much to your communities. It’s one of the things that makes me thankful to know I’ve touched your lives even a little with the work I’ve done. That kindness, and your love of my work over the past 40-odd years, is what drove me to do better.
With some melancholy, but with much gratitude, I start the next part of my journey. I’ll miss my fellow artists and the special people who gather at conventions and signing events, and I wish each of you good health, much happiness and many more years of collecting.
Robert Chad
Hallmark Artist
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to 1-800-HALLMARK.
Sincerely,
The Keepsake Village
2020 Reveal: Holiday Barbie™ Dolls
Here are pictures of the 2020 Holiday Barbie™ Dolls that inspired this year’s Holiday Barbie™ Ornaments.
Barbie shines in an elegant all gold gown with a solid bodice and a snowflake print skirt. Her long, blonde hair is styled in waves with a center part, and golden chandelier earrings complete the look.
2020 Holiday Barbie™ Dolls
2020 Video: Artist Insights (Ho-Ho-Hole in One)
Keepsake Artist Rodney Gentry talks about his personal connection to this the golf ornament he created.
This festive, year-dated golf bag Christmas tree ornament features golf clubs with reindeer, snowman and Santa Claus covers. See you on the links!
2020 Video: Small Wonders, Big Surprises
Add a little extra merry to any space this year with Keepsake Miniature Ornaments. These tiny little masterpieces help make your celebrations feel even bigger.
