A Letterpress Christmas 2014 : Hello! Lucky

I’m kicking of this year’s A Letterpress Christmas features with one of my perennial favorites, Hello! Lucky, whose wonderful holiday card designs feature everything from ugly sweaters (who doesn’t get a kick out of those?) to festive frogs to beautiful, hand lettered sentiments.

Here’s a peek at the collection, and be sure to check out all of the holiday card designs over at Hello! Lucky!

Illustrated and Hand Lettered Holiday Cards | Hello! Lucky

images from Hello! Lucky

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags | Paper Crave

These gift tags are so easy to make, and the white-on-white color scheme goes with pretty much any style of gift wrap, too!

I used a variety of stencils from My Favorite Things to create embossed, patterned backgrounds for the tags and heat embossed them with pearl white embossing powder for a look that’s understated and modern, with a subtle shimmer that really makes the patterns pop.

The gift tags that I used are some of my new k.becca designs, but you can use any white gift tag to create a similar look if you don’t have a digital die cutting machine.

My Favorite Things Stencils

Here’s what you’ll need:

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tag Instructions

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags, Step 1

Step 1 : Tape a piece of scrap paper to a smooth surface with low tack tape (I used washi tape). Then, tape your stencil over top of the scrap paper, also with low tack tape. Make sure that you only tape the top of the stencil to your surface so you can easily flip the stencil up and remove the tag when you’re finished stamping. You’ll also be able to easily place another tag under the stencil afterward (sort of like a screenprinting setup).

Smoosh the Versamark inkpad over the surface of the gift tag and cover the portion of the stencil that is on top of the tag with ink.

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags, Step 2

Step 2 : Pour the embossing powder over the tag, using a coffee filter (or a piece of scrap paper) to catch the extra powder. Pour the extra powder into the coffee filter, tap off any remaining powder granules from the tag, and funnel the powder back into its container.

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags, Step 3

Step 3 : Use a heat gun or heat tool to melt the embossing powder. It’s a good idea to use craft tweezers to hold the tag while you’re heating the powder so you won’t risk burning your fingers. Trust me, I learned the hard way.

Wait until the embossing powder is completely cool, and add the baker’s twine so you can tie your tags to gifts, homemade gift packages, and all sorts of holiday-type gift stuff!

DIY Stenciled & Embossed Holiday Gift Tags | Paper Crave

photos by Kristen Magee

Cobalt Blue Letterpress from Karolin Schnoor

Perpetual Birthday Calendar | Karolin Schnoor

My eyes lit up the moment I saw these beautiful, new letterpress goodies from Karolin Schnoor. The colors in this collection are absolutely gorgeous (the cobalt blue is so wonderful!), and I’m loving the sweet hand lettering that can be found on the new thank you, birthday, and baby cards, not to mention the totally craveable perpetual birthday calendar (psst … great gift idea alert!).

Check out all of Karolin’s new paper goodies right here.

Perpetual Letterpress Birthday Calendar | Karolin Schnoor

Cobalt Blue & Teal Hand Lettered Letterpress Birthday Cards | Karolin Schnoor

Letterpress Baby & Congrats Cards | Karolin Schnoor

Cobalt Blue & Teal Letterpress Thank You Cards | Karolin Schnoor

images from Karolin Schnoor

Quick Picks : 11.6.14

Mythical Creatures Poster (detail) | 55 Hi's (Scotty Reifsnyder illustrations)

Mythical Creatures Poster (detail) by 55 Hi’s + Scotty Reifsnyder (illustration)

This Week’s Picks

♥ Check out the Paper Chase Press X Hopewell Workshop postcard notepad, which features painterly designs inspired by quilt-makers’ unique, geometric patterns and fabric swatches.

♥ I’m all about Kitten City, and I’m really digging these smile-making letterpress greeting cards from Hello! Lucky and Urban Dictionary.

Giant paper alphabet blocks = really fun decorating possibilities for all sorts of party-type occasions.

♥ Beautiful, rose gold and wood invitations for the The Knot by A Fine Press. – via

image from 55 Hi’s

Holiday Card Picks : Pei Design

I always look foward to seeing what’s new at Pei Design, and I am totally craving their new holiday card and postcard designs, which are a fantastic mix of modern color, pattern, and design, with a healthy dose of cute thrown in for good measure.

Check out some of my favorites from the collection below, and be sure to head over to the Pei Design shop to see all of the awesome, new holiday designs!

Modern Holiday Cards & Postcards by Pei Design

images from Pei Design