Latest News: Sneak Peeks

Title:
Hallmark Master Designer

Started at Hallmark:
October 1979

Started at Keepsakes:
October 2002

Hometown:
Pennsylvania

Hallmark Keepsake Artist Edythe Kegrize loves birds and has brought her passion to the Keepsake Ornament Beauty of Birds series since 2005.This year’s stand-out cardinal may be her most dramatic and elegant bird ornament yet.

Continue reading to learn more about Edythe and her ornaments.

Edythe Kegrize had an in-depth love of three-dimensional art ever since she was young. She remembers making all kinds of creations from scraps around the house, including a tiny paper television with pictures that rotated with the turn of a knob and a crèche fashioned out of laundry detergent and food coloring.

Edythe’s talents blossomed with the help of her loving family. Her grandmother saved tidbits of fabric, trims, and pretty papers. Her mother never hindered her daughter’s creativity despite the risks of having holes cut in tablecloths or glue on the rug. From her father, Edythe inherited attention to detail, patience and mechanical curiosity that make her Keepsake designs so intricate.

While in college, Edythe majored in illustration, but also was inspired by ceramics and weaving classes. At Hallmark, she would often devise unique folding cards that brought an extra dimension to her designs. Edythe featured needlework and collages in her greeting cards and crafted several original dolls to be photographed for select card collections.

With nearly 25 years of experience illustrating greeting cards, Edythe cultivated an appreciation for a wide range of decorative surface designs, from traditional folk art to classic, elegant scrollwork. This is perhaps most evident in the details of her Santa’s Around the World unofficial series.

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