Thinking Of You Week

It's Thinking Of You Week, a special time in the world of greetings, where from 24th to the 30th September a flurry of cards are sent to create a wave of happiness around the world.

Sending cards generates positive feelings and wellbeing. Science has shown that receiving a handwritten card is far more personal, creates a lovely warm positive boost and makes people feel far more special than receiving texts, emails or social media messages. Greeting Card Association

We had such a lovely response to the cards we made last year that we've carried on the tradition by creating new original card artworks with our little miss G. We both had a great time making these lovelies to share with our friends and family.

THINKING OF YOU WEEK  - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: some photos of our card making day with the help of rico-designs paper poetry motif paper pad 90s.

#ThinkingOfYouWeek #SendaCardDeliveraSmile #paperlove #GCAUK @GCAUK @gca_uk

Clay Studio

A little creative inspo today with some pics from my visit to Clay Studio for a ceramic workshop. I've long been a pottery fan and have wanted to make some of my own for a little while. It can be good to challenge those creative brain cells with a new skill (I so loved the ikebana classes). I thought I'd try this workshop to make a butter dish with an idea to help reduce household waste, part of a long term no plastic plan to use more sustainable pieces. I'm also embracing the slow living aspect, though this proved tricky on the day with the children doing an all nighter and a magpie stuck in the chimney...

I loved working with the clay though I definitely need more practice! I popped down recently to the studio, such a lovely place, to pick up my new celadon coloured butter dish. I look forward to booking again.

CLAY STUDIO - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: photos from my day in clay studio, bottom right is a pic of the final fired butterdish in the lovely colour of celadon.

#creativeplay #ceramic #slowliving #creativeday #claystudio 

Visit the clay studio website for the latest courses.

First Day at School

I'm a little last minute with this one as it's been such a busy summer. It's back to school season and it's my eldest's first day at school next week. In the midst of ironing labels onto new uniforms I've been shopping for a 'first day of school card'. These cards can be tricky to find (especially when shopping late on in the season!) as they are often considered to be low priority by publishers. I do feel that it's important when possible to mark those rites of passage (loving Grayson Perry's new show on just this). So here are my top picks including the one I've bought.

FIRST DAY AT SCHOOL - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from the top left: first day of school shakies card by james ellis, go get em' tiger card from oliver bonas, first day at school card by emilie rose, first day at school boy card by paper salad, first day at school card by mollymae, first day at high school card by norma&dorothy, tree and birds first day at school card from karenza paperie (think this maybe vintage cinnamon aitch), brendan badger good luck card by zellie, first day at school personalised by norma&dorothy, hello lucky great things in your future card from ohh deer, best of luck from stop the clock.

#firstdayatschool #backtoschool #goodluck #autumn18 #paperlove #graysonperry #ritesofpassage 

Chrome

In a switch from crystal, it's all things metallic this week with the arrival of new samples. Following on from the contemporary men's collection Cobalt I designed for Cinnamon Aitch, we have the stylish new Father's Day range Chrome. Named after the fab silver hot foiling, Chrome features a winning formula of natural textures, contemporary colour, heavy weight textured board and a bespoke concrete patterned envelope. New illustrations inspired by those happy memories of spending time with Dad feature a campervan, sunday morning coffee, favourite vinyl and trophies. I've enjoyed working on this project and am looking forward to seeing these fresh designs in the shops this coming spring.

CHROME - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of cards from the chrome father's range I designed for cinnamon aitch, available now direct from cinnamon aitch. 

#paperlove #chrome #cinnamonaitch #contemporarydesign #concrete #texture #geometric #foil #modern #fathersday #independentshops #exciting #independentretailer #metallic #pattern #spring19

Swarovski Crystal World

With the exciting release of the new bejewelled collection Luminaire last week it seems like a good time to talk crystals. Over the summer I was lucky enough to visit the fantastic Swarovski KristallWelten in Wattens near Innsbruck in Austria. Having worked with crystals on cards for many years and being a devoted Swarovski shopper I was very keen to visit. I have to say it did not disappoint. It is everything you would expect from Swarovski - a magical place, completely absorbing and how I imagine walking around wonka's chocolate factory might be.

With the world's largest cut crystal, works of major artists like Dali and Warhol, a giant crystal dome (my personal fave - the acoustics were other worldly), crystalline forests, a giant emerging from the hillside, there's a whole lot to see and experience. Of course, at the end of it all the most amazing gift shop ha! Lovely to spot some super cards from Five Dollar Shake in there. Some fantastic inspiration and am very much looking forward to going back sometime to see the latest works.

SWAROVSKI CRYSTAL WORLD - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above clockwise from top left: lee bul's amazing light sculpture room - a personal favourite (bul recently exhibited at the hayward), mr j and miss g wandering the exhibition, me in the fantastic crystal dome, mr j with an amazing crystalline tree designed by tord boontje 'winter wonderland' (his work for lagom can be seen here), a snap of arik levy's bejewelled installation, five dollar shake's some girls sparkle card, one of a few fashion inspired installations, close up of tord boontje's crystal tree, love this installation by arik levy, another view of lee bul's chamber.

#kristallwelten #swarovski #leebul #tordboontje #ariklevy #fivedollarshake #lagom #crystals

Luminaire

Yay samples are here, hot off the press this week is Luminaire, a delightful everyday greetings collection I created for Katie Phythian Design. The range has a lovely fresh colour palette with painterly washes on a textured board. The classic illustrations inspired by Katie's travels in France feature bouquets, bistros, patisserie and sparkling champagne. The design style picks up on the traditional card making techniques of scrapbooking and paper cutting that I love. Each design is hand finished in Katie's Cheshire based studio with beautiful iridescent crystals and packed with a pearlescent envelope. It's been a lovely project to work on with Katie - lots of fun, cake and cups of tea! I'm very much looking forward to seeing it in the shops.

LUMINAIRE - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: a selection of cards from the luminaire everyday range I designed for katie phythian design, available now for trade direct from katie phythian design. 

#paperlove #luminaire #katiephythiandesign #katiephythian #contemporarydesign #painterly #newlaunches #iridescent #crystals #fresh #independentshops #exciting #independentretailer 

Alpine Adventures

Well I'm back in the studio this week after a lovely summer break exploring the Tyrol. Lots of news coming shortly on some fabulous new design. Exciting times!

ALPINE ADVENTURES - EMILY HAUCK KARIKA NOVA

above: little mr j taking in the amazing view in ellmau, tyrol, austria. 

 #backinthestudio #alpineview