Wednesday, January 28, 2009

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

January's theme for the Artist Trading Card (ATC) trade at Hallmark was "kitchen." It was pretty difficult to focus because there are SO MANY things found in a kitchen!

Here are a few cards:



You can see more at my ATC blog.

Monday, January 26, 2009

Ladies and gentlemen... cre•a•tiv•i•ty and Hallmark's very own... JOSH D.!!

Not long ago, the Kansas City Area Development Council (KCADC) called Hallmark and asked if we had any employees who moved to KC when they graduated from college... Well, yes, we certainly do! They asked if we could put them in touch with someone who would be good in a video (a.k.a. a good speaker, friendly, charming, and of course, good looking...)

The video that KCADC was creating would be used to speak to candidates outside of the area (state... region...) about moving to KC. Naturally, Josh D., cre•a•tiv•i•ty blogger and Graphic Designer here at Hallmark was our #1 choice!

Josh moved to KC from Mohnton, PA straight out of the Communication Design program at Kutztown University. Check out what he had to say about living in KC by clicking

>> here <<
.

Thanks Josh, for agreeing to do this project, and for doing a bang up job! You definitely spoke to the questions on the minds of skeptics -- OH, and mentioned Hallmark, too. Well done, my friend. Well done! :o)

Friday, January 16, 2009

Hallmark + Extreme Makeover Home Edition

On a recent episode of ABC's Extreme Makeover Home Edition, Hallmark played a part in helping the children of a school connect with their music teacher while she was away during the rebuilding of her family's home.

Hallmark Gold Crown donated hundreds of recordable cards with music to the students in Mrs. Devries' music class. Each student recorded a message to their teacher, who has a rare heart condition, wishing she and her family well and telling them to come back home soon.

Check out the video of the kids recording their messages here.

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

A5 // Design Awards Gala and Exhibition

With over 500 members in the Kansas City Metro, AIGA Kansas City will be hosting their annual Design Awards Gala and Exhibition on Saturday January 24th. A5 will celebrate the best KC designers, firms, students, and teachers of 2008. This event is designed to appeal to all 5 senses, the 5 senses we use every day: sight, smell, sound, touch, and taste.

This year, the innumerable entries were judged by some tough critics, including Stanley Hainsworth (former Creative Director for Lego, Nike, and Starbucks, and Founder of Tether, Inc. in Seattle, WA), Pum Lefebure (Co-founder and Design Director at Design Army in Washington D.C., and Alan Leusink (of Duffy & Partners in Minneapolis, MN).

The cool, refreshing cocktail. The savory, delectable hors d’oeuvre. The sweetness of the well-deserved victory. It’s time to taste it all — at this year's A5 Gala and Exhibition. Come join us!

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

grocery store downtown

Cosentino's Market Downtown opened at 10 E. 13th St. today. I've been waiting SO long for this store to open! It's only two blocks away from my apartment and will make grocery shopping so convenient! Downtown dwellers desperately needed a grocery store to serve loft dwellers like myself and the tens of thousands of office workers always in need of another place to eat lunch, or someplace to pick up a few things after work.

I went last night and it's beautiful and real urban! It's much larger than the Brookside Cosentino's. The new store has an 83-foot salad bar, a fresh sushi bar and a gourmet cheese island.

The store will be open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week. There is a three-hour parking validation upon checkout.







Monday, January 5, 2009

Artisan Chocolates

Christopher Elbow

1819 McGee Street
Kansas City, MO 64108
ph. 816-842-1300
fax 816-842-1301

Tues - Sat 10a.m. - 6p.m.

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I saw that Erin posted about Christopher Elbow in the past, but I wanted to document my experience! This weekend I discovered the most delicious (and beautiful) chocolates in Kansas City! No Lie!

Christopher Elbow has a GORGEOUS minimalistic chocolate boutique in downtown Kansas City, I was introduced to his delicious treats by a good friend of mine. I wanted to just look at the chocolates up close because they looked amazing online. I ended up buying a box of 9 and picked the flavors I wanted. So worth it!


My camera broke :C so I had to take a photo using my iSight, this pictures does not do the chocolates justice (they were like little jewels) ! The flavors I got were (from left to right) - Lavender Caramel, Dark Milk, Vanilla Bean, Banana Curry (MY FAVE!), Caramel With Fluer de Sel (Sea Salt), Passion Fruit, Spiced Apple, Fresh Lime, Jamaican Rum

Wow! I need to go back. He also sells Hot Chocolate, which I'm hoping to try soon. I found out after doing some online research on him that he has been featured on Oprah, Food & Wine, Fine Cooking, InStyle, the Food Network, and a few other!

If you click on the 'Christopher Elbow' Label below you can read Erin's great post about him as well!