Spring Break 2021

It's that time of year when I'm taking a little seasonal break from the Karika Nova blog. Last year's pause was a little sooner in March owing to the school closures and what an unusual year it's been since! Perhaps symbolically in this years spring break photo I captured one of the unique exotic Parakeets now native to Manchester sitting in my favourite cherry blossom tree.
I will be continuing work on exciting new releases and projects for launch later in the year. In the meantime catch me on Instagram + twitter for updates. Wishing you all a lovely Easter. Keep well xxx

SPRING BREAK  | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: one of the manchester parakeets i photographed sitting in my favourite cherry tree in our local park

#cherryblossom #sakura #spring #easter #happyeaster #springbreak #parakeet #cherrytree #manchester #manchesterparakeets

Amelia

Here comes the sun (a little later on the blog than planned due to a busy few weeks with seasonal deadlines after the schools reopen - so 2021!), hot off the press for SS21 is the new collection Amelia created in collaboration with Cinnamon Aitch. With a late afternoon, relaxing natural theme and touches of glamour in the sparkling hand finishing gems Amelia has a light modern colour palette of dappled sun warmth and cool shades contrasted with rich prints and natural textures. The ditsy floral patterns are created with elements from the beautiful Cinnamon Aitch pattern papers. 

Amelia picks up on a familiar illustration style from the best selling men's collection Cobalt and like Cobalt it embraces our love of the great outdoors and also those lovely times together at home. The new designs feature icons of parasols, birthday balloons, glamping, rainbows, birthday cake and picnics. Each card is packed with a coordinating envelope. Amelia is now available in the shops and direct from Cinnamon Aitch. 

As seen in Greetings Today Magazine, Gift Focus Magazine (Jan/Feb), Progressive Greetings Magazine (Jan)

AMELIA | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of the amelia SS21 cards I designed for cinnamon aitch, available now direct from cinnamon aitch. 

whilst the shops are closed I have spotted the amelia available online from these lovely independents:
Paper Turtle
Elba Gallery
Two Ducks
More Pretty Things
The Wonky Tree

#amelia #cinnamonaitch #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #newlaunches #greetings #stationeryshop #ss21 #greetingcards #design #illustration #paperlove #contemporarydesign #pattern #sendacarddeliverasmile #sendacard #shopindependent

Tiger Lily Mother's Day SS21

I'm loving that March has brought the brighter weather with it today. We now have the great news that shops will be reopening soon though unfortunately not in time for Mother's Day (14th of March) or Easter. I'm very lucky my local independent shops are offering collection or delivery which I will be making the most of, it's so important we support where we can. 

Following on from the Tiger Lily Valentine's I have a little look here at the new designs for SS21 Mother's Day collection. Tiger Lily designed for Portfolio Cards, features a rich, vibrant colour palette with accents of neon and flourishes of gold foil on environmentally friendly board. The beautiful illustrations embrace a flamboyant, elegant, painterly approach and are inspired by the natural world with wild, exotic flora and fauna. Each design is printed in the UK and is packed with a kraft or white envelope. 

TIGER LILY MOTHER'S DAY SS21 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the tiger lily collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from portfolio cards.

If you're short on time I have spotted that these lovelies are available to buy online at Cards Galore. 

#tigerlily #mothersday #mum #motheringsunday #mother #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard

Spring Fair SS21

As lockdown three continues through February I tuned in last week for this year's virtual Spring Fair SS21. It was lovely to see some familar faces from the industry and some roads back to a new normal beginning to appear. The show mirrored many of the thoughts from Top Drawer with an extra focus on the international mood. The informative Global Consumer Behaviour talk with Simon Moriarty from Mintel discussed in detail where we are in our thinking on the trend drivers like green + health issues, experiences, digital life & collective empowerment. 

I hugely enjoyed the Colour, Material and Finish Forecast: Spring Summer 2022 with Samantha Donnachie from Colour Hive. A large number relatable concepts of Collectivism, Craving Nature, Meaningful Luxury, Green Recovery and Socially Good were highlighted. I especially loved the Sunlit Nature, Neutral Glow & New Shoots Green themes which reminded me of our new card range Amelia - more news coming soon on the Cinnamon Aitch collection.

Similar to Top Drawer, had things gone to plan we would have seen the new range Florentine for Portfolio Cards launching at the show. I'm very much looking forward to sharing this new collection with you soon.

SPRING FAIR SS21 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: image i took of the halls from last years show, trend drivers from colour hive - the full report is available from their website, mood boards and colour swatch snippets from the colour hive talk, samantha donnachie the creative director from colour hive, part of the amazing colour trend wheel for 2022, a snippet from the custodian trend.

#springfair #springfairss21 #colourhive #mintel #trends #ss21 

Top Drawer SS21

During what seems like an endless January there was a lovely space created last week for a virtual show by all the great people at Top Drawer. I was lucky enough to attend a good portion of the talks from my desk. Though covid times of course appeared in many conversations there were lots of take aways of positivity and things to look forward to in the coming year. 

In Bryony Sheridan's (Liberty) talk with Fiona McCarthy (Vogue Living) we looked at how we are exploring new ways of expressing ourselves. Things that can inspire and spruce up our homes have been big on the agenda. Original art is happily very popular at the moment with artists such as Poppy Ellis and Chiara Pinaro being in high demand. Gifting is also of key interest, "Christmas has shown that we didn't shy away from sending presents despite the sombre mood". Ideas repeated across the talks move on from trend focussed thoughts to movements such as: sustainability, consistency, slow design, wabi sabi, timelessness, integrity and a circular economy. 

I especially enjoyed the Design in Packaging piece with Vincent Villiager & GFSmith. Lots of great tips with using dye proof paper, sustainable boards like Extract and the new GFSmith website for small business. I appreciated Vincent's thoughts on how the development stage is an important part of the creative process - "there is a tremendous amount of craftmanship between a great idea and the end product". Coming from a family of artists and craftpersons I relate to this, it's something I look to when working on collections such as the new range Amelia with Cinnamon Aitch. In the collaboration a great deal of thought goes into the print processes, colours, hand finishing elements, board weight and such. Had all gone to plan Amelia would have launched at Top Drawer, though we didn't get to see it on the walls I'm looking forward to sharing this lovely project with you all in the coming weeks. Watch this space!

VIRTUAL TOP DRAWER SS21 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

Clockwise from the top left: a pic of my desk mid talks, top drawer on demand - the new way to view all the newness, a first pic of new range amelia created for cinnamon aitch - more on that soon, retail fest talk titles, the lovely gfsmith, some of the people behind all the great content including those mentioned earlier and giles kine of country life - mike fisher studio indigo - nichola keenan and nichola lindsell of boxx creative - trend expert louise healy adonis sharon crowson - design archives, top drawer on demand, slide from the talk on packaging design.

#topdrawer #topdrawerlondon #ss21 #liberty #vogueliving #vincentvilliager #gfsmith #cinnamonaitch #poppyellis #chiarapinaro #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #amelia

Tiger Lily Valentine's SS21

Hello 2021. Well I'm back on the blog with some new designs for this season from the SS21 additions to the Tiger Lily collection designed for Portfolio Cards. It's not the spring we planned for and we've learnt from the earlier lockdowns that it's important we support our shops at this time but also that the written word, inside a thoughtful greeting card can make the all difference to ensure our friends, family and loved ones have that connection in these difficult times. Plans and diaries are having to change but I'm hoping that we can still look forward to spring flowers and sharing a little love.

TIGER LILY VALENTINE'S SS21 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

 above: a selection of designs from the tiger lily collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from portfolio cards. Tiger Lily features a rich, vibrant colour palette with accents of neon and flourishes of gold foil on environmentally friendly board. The lovely illustrations inspired by the natural world portray beautiful, festive flora and fauna. The design style embraces a flamboyant, elegant and painterly approach. Each design is printed in the UK and is packed with a kraft or white envelopes. 

 #tigerlily #valentines #valentinesday #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard

Winter Break

December is here and it's time for me to take a little seasonal break from the Karika Nova blog. I'll be working on some fab new projects and will be back in January with news of upcoming releases in the new year - including an exciting brand new collection Amelia. I'll also be checking in online at the virtual 2021 shows and will be sharing the latest news and trends. Until then you can find me on instagram and twitter over the holidays. Wishing you all a lovely cosy Christmas x

WINTER BREAK | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: how gorgeous are these dried flowers i picked up this weekend from object style! available to order direct from the shop.

 #winter #winterbreak #merrychristmas #christmas2020