Ditsy Bloom Christmas

Samples arrived and I couldn't wait to share these lovelies, the new Ditsy Bloom Christmas greetings collection created for The Great British Card Company. 

Following on from the everyday bold brights and touches of luxury in the gold foiling of Ditsy Bloom is a fantastic new range of festive captions & relations. It features a classic Christmas colour palette of evergreens, frosty blues and warm reds. The new range similar to the everyday has an illustration style that picks up on traditional ditsy fabrics with their fine details and contrasts this with florid bold text & icons. The collection enjoys our favourite festive trimmings with snowy Christmas foliage and winter berry patterns. The new Christmas designs include icons of snow covered post boxes, gin cocktails, beautifully wrapped presents and delightful ditsy baubles. Each card is packed with a red envelope. Festive Ditsy Bloom cards are now available in the shops and for trade orders from The Great British Card Company. 

DITSY BLOOM CHRISTMAS | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the ditsy bloom christmas collection I drew up for the great british card company collections, available to stock direct from the great british card company. #ditsybloom #ditsy #christmas #greetings #thegreatbritishcardcompany #gbcc #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post #cardmitment

Jim's Spectacular Christmas

Along with the Jolly Christmas Postman this festive season we have also been enjoying reading Jim's Spectacular Christmas by Dame Emma Thompson and illustrator of Gruffalo fame Axel Scheffler. A present to us last year, the book tells the story of how the very first Christmas card came to be through the eyes of Jim who is the real-life much loved dog of Sir Henry Cole, the creator of the original Christmas card. It's a treasure of a story to have for the V&A museum where they both lived and wonderful to see the tale brought to life in these pages. 

With the snowy Lapland trees, Jolly Christmas Postman letters and Jim's story of the first Christmas card I'll be well stocked with festive inspiration for next years collections! 🎄✉️🎅

JIM'S SPECTACULAR CHRISTMAS | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: some pics i took of our edition, jim's spectacular christmas, i love axel's drawing of the first christmas card trimmed with holly- it's instantly recognisable and how cute is jim! for more info visit the v&a blog here

#jimsspectacularchristmas #christmas #v&a #cardmitment #justacard #sendacarddeliverasmile

Lapland

Well it was a very different kind of Festive Friday for us this year hence there will be a brief interlude during this years Christmas letters sending owing to us being away on a once in a lifetime trip to Lapland 😬😁 I'm not sure how many snowy trees I photographed for Christmas projects but we can safely say it was a lot! 😂😂  Husky dogs, reindeer, elves, ski doos, igloos, toboggans, Christmas trees and best of all Santa! We're super grateful for an amazing few days in wonderful Lapland.

LAPLAND | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from top left: a view of the moon over Saariselka, snow laden branches, the huskies!, mr j tobogganning, inside the igloo with tables made of ice, our reindeer sleigh ride, snowy walk to breakfast, a rare selfie between all the snowy tree photos! 😂

#lapland #saariselka #snow #christmas #santa #emilyhauck

Florentine Christmas 2023

Lot's of extra postings this week as the 1st of December arrives and this Friday is Festive Friday! A day for all us greeting card fans to send our Christmas post to create a fantastic first wave of beautiful cards arriving in early December and getting us all in the mood for sending Christmas cards. 

Following on from last years gorgeous Christmas tree design this year I'm sending two gems from the latest additions to the Florentine collection, the Christmas fair and the our favourite festive feline. These two merry little cards will soon begin their journey around the world spreading some Festive cheer!

Florentine features a rich, jewel like colour palette with detailed debossed artwork and golden foil. The beautiful illustrations are inspired by traditional Italian papers, specialist letter press art prints and ornate wallpapers. The design style embraces a lux, fine detailed and illustrative approach. Each design is printed in the UK with plastic free foil on environmentally friendly board and is supplied with a kraft or white envelope. Released 2023 and now available in the shops this Christmas season.

Dates for your calendar for UK post, Royal Mail’s advertised last posting dates are 18th of December with second class stamps, and 20th of December for first class ✉️🎄😊

FLORENTINE CHRISTMAS 2023 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the florentine collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from portfolio cards along with the tiger lily greetings. #florentine #christmas #greetings #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post #cardmitment #festivefriday

The Jolly Christmas Postman

I'm loving seeing all the Christmas trees going up this week. It's also the week of Festive Friday, the date when those working in greetings send their Christmas letters. So on this theme I thought I'd share an extra post of what we've been reading here at the moment - the Jolly Christmas Postman.

Janet and Allan Ahlberg have put so much work into the illustrations, it's easy to see how it took five years to create. Not only do you get a book but in the envelopes you receive a magazine, a Christmas card, a puzzle, a board game and the best piece of paper art I've seen - a concertina of images which allows you to look through the letterbox and spy the Jolly Postman with all his friends!

It's one of my favourite books, it expresses so well the joy of sending and receiving festive letters at Christmas time.

THE JOLLY CHRISTMAS POSTMAN | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: some pics i took of our well loved copy of the jolly christmas postman by janet and allan ahlberg. i absolutely love the last image of him having finished his post round and relaxing by the fire at home with his treasured post displayed on the mantelpiece.

#christmas #thejollychristmaspostman #christmaspost #favouritebooks #cardmitment

Festive French Florentine 2023

Joyeux Noel!🎄😊 New for Christmas 2023, bespoke beautiful festive Florentine collection created in a collaboration with Portfolio Cards for Kiub, France. 

Florentine features a rich colour palette with detailed debossed artwork and golden foil. The beautiful illustrations are inspired by traditional Italian papers, specialist letter press art prints and ornate wallpapers. The design style embraces a lux, fine detailed and illustrative approach. Each design is printed in the UK with plastic free foil on environmentally friendly board and is supplied with a red envelope. The new festive designs are now available in boutiques across France this Christmas.

FLORENTINE KIUB CHRISTMAS 2023 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the florentine collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from kiub in france. #florentine #christmas #kiub #kiubeditions #greetings #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post

Funfetti

New this year is the Funfetti greetings collection created for The Great British Card Company.  It was a joy to spot these on the recent Cardmitment campaign broadcast on BBC Breakfast from The Great British Card Company HQ! Fab to see the enjoyment of sending cards being celebrated 😊 💌

With it's fresh brights and touches of luxury in the silver confetti foiling Funfetti is a fantastic range of older juvenile birthday age cards. Featuring a party colour palette of fun pinks, lemon yellow, strong blues and hot reds Funfetti brightens up the day. The illustration style contrasts bold patterns with painterly textures picking up on the style of traditional paper party decorations. The collection enjoys our favourite celebrations with cheerful balloons, paper streamers, presents, florals and of course party confetti. Each card is packed with a white paper envelope. Funfetti cards are available in the shops and for trade orders from The Great British Card Company.

FUNFETTI | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the funfetti collection I drew up for the great british card company collections, available to stock direct from the great british card company. #funfetti #confetti #birthday #greetings #thegreatbritishcardcompany #gbcc #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #cardmitment #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post

Florentine Kiub

I loved hearing from friends who have found these beauties on their travels round France over the summer. I have excitingly just finished the new additions to this collection and am very much looking forward to seeing them in 2024.

Fresh for 2023, bespoke beautiful Florentine Everyday collection created in a collaboration with Portfolio Cards for Kiub. Based on the UK Florentine range the cards feature a rich colour palette with detailed debossed artwork and golden foil. The beautiful illustrations are inspired by traditional Italian papers, specialist letter press art prints and ornate wallpapers. The design style embraces a lux, fine detailed and illustrative approach. Each design is printed in the UK with plastic free foil on environmentally friendly board and is supplied with a pearlescent envelope. The 40+ new designs are now available in shops across France following a launch in Spring 2023.

FLORENTINE KIUB | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the florentine collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from kiub in france. #florentine #birthdays #kiub #kiubeditions #greetings #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post

Cobalt Calypso

Earlier this year the best sellers from the super stylish men's collection Cobalt I created for Cinnamon Aitch arrived across the pond in the USA in a new collaboration with Calypso. I'm excited to receive the samples and loving the fabulous sentiments included inside - conquer the day!

With its signature modern colour palette of hyperreal blues and aged natural textures, Cobalt's original style picks up on traditional paper collage that I love and contrasts this with contemporary geo shapes and a zingy hot foil. The designs from the established collection feature icons of wild swimming, mountain bikes, hammocks, surfing, boats and a classic cinema. The range embraces our love of the great outdoors and also those lovely times together at home. Each card is packed with a kraft envelope. The new designs are now available to order from Calypso. 

Artist's Interview from May 2023 with Calypso is available here.

COBALT CALYPSO | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of best selling cards from the cobalt men's range I designed for cinnamon aitch, available now direct from calypso in the USA. #cobalt #calypso #cinnamonaitch #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #cinnamonaitch #cobalt23 #greetings #greetingscards

Tiger Lily Birthdays

Hello, happy November! I'm taking an opportunity this week to share the popular birthday additions to the Tiger Lily collection. Released last summer I joyfully receive regular messages about how lovely these designs are. My personal fave is the fintastic dolphin, they are such cheerful swimmers and I enjoyed seeing them briefly on the latest Attenborough series Oceans episode on Sunday. When I was a teenager my artist Mum encouraged me to paint my bedroom walls with dolphins just like this one, I was quickly then recruited by friends who wanted one on their wall too!

The fabulously eye catching greetings range created in a collaboration with Portfolio Cards brings brand new everyday birthday illustrations. 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 envelope.

TIGER LILY BIRTHDAYS | 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, available to buy in your local independent shop and whsmiths #tigerlily #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #greetings #greetingcards #birthdays #dolphin

Cobalt 2023

Lots of newness coming to the Karika Nova Journal this autumn. Here are some of the twenty two additions to the best selling super stylish men's collection Cobalt I created for Cinnamon Aitch. With its signature modern colour palette of hyperreal blues and aged natural textures, Cobalt's original style picks up on traditional paper collage that I love and contrasts this with contemporary geo shapes and a brand new zingy red foil. 

The designs follow on from the S/S22 release and feature icons of telescopes, steam trains, rock climbing, birthday candles and a disco ball. The range embraces our love of the great outdoors and also those lovely times together at home. Each card is packed with a unique bespoke concrete patterned envelope. The new designs launched at Progressive Greetings Live, June 2023 and are available in the shops and direct from Cinnamon Aitch.

above: a selection of new cards (including my favourite rock climbing) from the cobalt men's range I designed for cinnamon aitch, available now direct from cinnamon aitch. #cobalt #cinnamonaitch #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #cinnamonaitch #a/w23 #cobalt23 #greetings #greetingscards

Yayoi Kusama: You, Me and the Balloons

Hello, now it's September I'm at the desk working on the latest collections for 2024. Here's a little look back to my Summer when Yayoi Kusama exhibited at the new Factory International building in Manchester as a part of the biennial festival. I'm a big fan (as seen on the Karika journal!) and was hugely excited to see this new installation You, Me and the Balloons. 

It was everything you'd expect from Kusama - fun forms, bright colours, huge scale and that big dose of humour we enjoy. Her real talent is involving you in the art whether that is wandering through the giant inflatables, the cloud cushions where you could relax and take in the space or my favourite the infinity rooms where mirrors extend and reflect you & your view infinitely. Kusama really does make it feel like it is just you, her and the balloons.

YAYOI KUSAMA: YOU, ME AND THE BALLOONS | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

clockwise from the top left: mini portrait of me in the infinity room 'dots obsession', giant pink inflatables named 'a bouquet of love i saw in the universe', the cloud pillows, second part of the 'dots obsession' infinity room, overall view, 'the hope of the polka dots buried in the infinity will eternally cover the universe' piece.

#kusama #yayoikusama #factoryinternational #manchesterbiennial #mif #factoryintl #2023 #mif2023

MMU Degree Shows Part Two

Part two of the MMU degree shows this week on the print journal. There were too many favourites to squeeze on one post so here's a further look. Loving the inspiring use of colour here constrasting those bright pink, stronger purples with both lime and sun yellow tones. Lots of textile stand outs though I most enjoyed seeing paper presented not only as the background layer but part of the art and in 3D.

MMU DEGREE SHOWS PART TWO | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: grosvenor east building - perfect spot for the architecture shows, natalie abbot's adaptable living winning the textiles in practice mcdc pop up award, retro pencil piece by joe gallagher, lily frances beards textile work replicates digital glitches in woven pieces, my favourite from the show is ellie kilshaws 3d paper interpretation of our fave art shop fred aldous, shristi bordoloi's lasting impression (textiles ma)- reminded me of my own familys textile heritage, a further image of natalie abbots wonderful waffle like work.

#mcrdegreeshow23 #degree shows #manchester #manchesterart #2023 #mmu #artschool 

MMU Degree Shows 2023

It's the week of the summer solstice so as is traditional in greetings it's all constrastingly wintery Christmas scenes in the studio. In between drawing snowmen and santa sleighs I popped out to see the Manchester Metropolitan University & Manchester School of Art degree shows. It's been a while since my last visit so I was keen to see the latest exhibition. I've dropped some fave pieces from Fine Art & Art History, Textiles in Practice, Illustation with Animation on the board below. Great to see themes of sustainable work practice and environment being explored. Lovely strong colours too from bold pinks, lime greens to grounding rust hues. Too many to share here so I may follow up next week with a part two.

MMU DEGREE SHOWS 2023 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from top right: loved isobel riley's portrait of a student's 2020 called timeout from the gaff - fine art and art history @izzyrileyart, tor-bjorn norrgards eco minded screenprint, excellent colour from @saffronrose_print on textiles in practice, illustration from sophie loren moran's magazine smooch @sophielorenmoran, loom work textiles in practice @msoa_tip, more inspired illustration from sophie loren moran illustration with animation work, fab 2d/3d play in nicola bolton visual perception product design & craft ma @nicolabolton_artanddesign

#mcrdegreeshow23 #degree shows #manchester #manchesterart #2023 #mmu #artschool 

Progressive Greetings Live 2023

It was a fantastic day at Progressive Greetings Live 2023 on Wednesday. Lovely to catch up with everyone since Spring Fair & last year's show. I came away with a tonne of gorgeous new paper & envelope samples! Hugely exciting to see the popular new Cobalt designs hot off the press shining with the fab new red foiling - so busy I had to wait my turn to take some snaps of them up on the Cinnamon Aitch walls! I'm eagerly awaiting samples so I can share photos soon along with the new releases to the Calypso collections. New Christmas additions to the Florentine range with Portfolio launched, the foil details look beautiful and I'll be here with an upcoming post on those in the coming weeks.

PROGRESSIVE GREETINGS LOVE 2023 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: vespa design from the new cobalt 2023 collection, me with the new cobalt designs (after queueing up  😂),  a small selection of my envelope & paper samples from the show - am paper obsessed! a snap of the cobalt collection on the cinnamon aitch stand, florentine everyday up on the walls at portfolio cards, the new cassette tape design from cobalt 2023, snap of the pglive hall at the business design centre islington.  

 #pglive #2023 #progressivegreetingslive #pglivelondon #cinnamonaitch #cobalt #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauck #florentine #portfoliocards

Calypso Artist Interview

Ooh exciting news, I am this month's featured artist for Calypso cards! 

The Cobalt greetings range designed for Cinnamon Aitch is now available from the fabulous Calypso collections in the USA. With more new Cobalt designs being added this month to the Calypso range I have been asked to contribute to their wonderful artist interviews. It was lovely to talk about the inspiration behind some of the designs and have some space to reflect on & share my artist beginnings. 

For the article in full visit Calypso Cards Featured Artist Emily Hauck

Soon I'll be sharing the latest Calypso Cobalt designs plus brand new Cobalt 2023 for the UK launching at PG Live next week.  

CALYPSO ARTIST INTERVIEW | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of images from the artist interview including the cobalt wild swimming card which has been selected for calypso's latest catalogue cover. to view the full collection of artist interviews visit calypso's blog.

#calypso #calypsocards #2023collections #cobalt #cinnamonaitch #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #artistinterview #featuredartist

Spring Florentine 2023

With Easter nearly here I'm sharing some images of the 2023 the new additions to the beautiful Spring Florentine collection created in a collaboration with Portfolio Cards. 

Florentine features a rich colour palette with detailed debossed artwork and golden foil. The beautiful illustrations are inspired by traditional Italian papers, specialist letter press art prints and ornate wallpapers. The design style embraces a lux, fine detailed and illustrative approach. Each design is printed in the UK with plastic free foil on environmentally friendly board and is supplied with a kraft or white envelope. Released autumn 2022 and available in the shops this Spring season. ​​​​

SPRING FLORENTINE 2023 |  EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

 above: a selection of designs from the florentine collection I designed for portfolio cards, available to stock direct from portfolio cards along with the tiger lily greetings. #florentine #spring #greetings #portfoliocards #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post #easter #fathersday

Spring Fair 2023

Hello February! I started this month in style with a visit to Spring Fair at the NEC. I had a fab day catching up with everyone and talking all things creative. Following on from last year's show there's lots of exciting new projects to look forward to in the coming year.

A busy event as ever, it was fab to see the latest additions to the Everyday & Spring Florentine collection's plus the new Tiger Lily designs for Portfolio Cards up on the walls. Hot off the press was the latest set of samples of the new Cobalt with Cinnamon Aitch for the US from Calypso which are looking top notch. Fantastic to see the brand new Christmas edition of Ditsy Bloom for The Great British Card Company. I'm looking forward to sharing all of these fab new designs with you this season!

SPRING FAIR 2023 | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: the gorgeous new florentine everyday greetings cards designed for portfolio cards, a snap of the product showcase area, loved this clever showcased product and packaging from gingko - there are lamps inside those! the fantastic cobalt collection designed for cinnamon aitch on their first stand at the nec for 16 years! i love these notebooks from raspberry blossom - the detail in the planners is fab, the ditsy bloom looking lovely on the great british card company stand 

#emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #springfair #springfair2023 #portfoliocards #calypsocards #cinnamonaitch #greatbritishcards #raspberryblossom #gingko #february

Ditsy Bloom

Looking ahead for the Spring & Summer is the Ditsy Bloom greetings collection I drew up for the The Great British Card Company collections. With it's bold brights and touches of luxury in the gold foiling Ditsy Bloom is a fantastic range of everyday birthday captions & relations. 

Featuring a fresh colour palette of fun pinks, china blues and hot corals Ditsy Bloom brightens up the shelves. The illustration style picks up on traditional ditsy fabrics with their fine details and contrasts this with florid bold text & icons. The collection enjoys our favourite celebrations with cheerful party decorations, garden florals or a moment with a lovely cuppa. Each card is packed with a craft paper envelope. Ditsy Bloom cards launched at PG Live 22 and are available in the shops & garden centres. Trade orders can be made direct from The Great British Card Company.

DITSY BLOOM | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of designs from the ditsy bloom collection I drew up for the great british card company collections, available to stock direct from the great british card company.  #ditsybloom #ditsy #birthday #greetings #thegreatbritishcardcompany #gbcc #emilyhauck #emilyhauckcreative #emilyhauckcards #sendacarddeliverasmile #justacard #post 

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!! A little hello from me in 2023 as I return to the studio. 

Before the holidays I came across some lovely old illustrations from a vintage pack of children's memory cards. It's interesting how many of the icons were still up to date as recently as 2022.

I love the stamped addressed letter card artwork complete with scribbles and a postmark. This is something that will change in 2023 with the latest barcoded stamps which are causing some controversy, Note: The old style stamps need to be used by January 31st. It's a small thing but by digitising stamps do we lose something of the uncomplicated charm of letter writing we love? Those manila envelopes are still going strong though! 

I'm interested to see how the coins will change with the King's image. Here's hoping ink fountain pens and butterfly cupcakes make a return.

HAPPY NEW YEAR | EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a collection of vintage flashcards featuring cupcakes, rainbow, car, key, the queen, a stamp addressed letter, coins, teacups, a horse, london red bus & a pot of ink. 

#2023 #letters #stamps #letterwriting #sendacard #king #artwork