Crowns honoring Hallmark's 100th Birthday!

Remember Jeanee's post awhile back about the crowns that Hallmarkers could create to help celebrate Hallmark's Centennial? Well, one of the gals on my team here in Hallmark's Licensing Design Studio created a series of five Centennial Crowns to honor one of Hallmark's Licensing partners, Lucasfilm. She has been a fan of Star Wars since she was a child, so the project was also a personal one for her. Here are her crowns: Yoda, Darth Vader, Leia, Chewbacca, and a Star Wars tribute crown.



Each of the Star Wars crowns features a sound clip (or several!) from the character and/or music from Star Wars. You can read more about the crowns and the artist behind them on Star Wars.com.

How is a greeting card born?

In this edition of "Glimpses," learn how a card comes to be, from writing to design/illustration, to printing, to distribution. As you can imaging, it's pretty difficult to narrate the greeting card development process in just 2 minutes, but at least you get a quick overview and behind-the-scenes look at one of the things we do best.



For more videos and information on Hallmark product development and on our Centennial, visit Hallmark 100 Years.

What does a 100th Birthday Party look like?

Here's a sneak peek behind-the-scenes at today's 100th Birthday Party in the Crown Room (cafeteria) here at Hallmark's headquarters... Keep in mind that this was only one of three groups to attend the party today-so you're looking at only 1/3 of Hallmark's employees!

Hallmark employees go cheer with pom poms and clappers, whistle, and cheer as Don Hall, Sr., Don Hall, Jr., and Dave Hall walk onto the stage.
A rare live presentation/speech by Don Hall, Sr. He spoke about what it means to be 100 years old, gave thanks for all Hallmarkers present, and expressed gratitude for Hallmarkers who have gone before. He also teared up as he said that he is so thankful for Dave and Don and he appreciates them "more than they'll ever know."
The crowd listens intently as Don Hall, Sr. addresses the crowd.
A smiling and enthusiastic Don Hall, Jr. takes the stage.
A group of Hallmark employees presented a "Living History" of Hallmark through storytelling, acting, music, and even a little rap song. A narrator told the story of how Hallmark came to be, new products we've introduced, and how we've contributed to the Kansas City community and the world. Between narrations, an actor/actress presented a vignette to illustrate the narrator's story. As for the rap song, you just really had to be there...
Hallmark's 100th Birthday cake is pictured on the left -- it is 100 inches tall and is wrapped in the entire 100-year history of Hallmark. Don Sr., Don Jr., and Dave presented the cake to the roaring crowd, and then we each got to take a cupcake of our own when the celebration ended (see below).
Happy Birthday, Hallmark!

Happy Birthday, Hallmark!

Yesterday, January 10th, 2010, Hallmark turned 100! The coverage of our Centennial in the Kansas City Star yesterday was excellent. You can browse several articles online: one giving a brief timeline of Hallmark, one entitled On Hallmark's 100th, a fond look back, (a Q&A with Don Hall, Jr., our President and CEO), and one discussing "greeting card keepers" and why they keep the cards they receive.

My favorite part of the coverage in the Star was the online slideshow of historic Hallmark photographs. It is amazing to look back at our rich history and the some of the people who made our company great! Looks like Marcos enjoyed the slideshow too, as he just posted about it as I was writing this post (great minds think alike I guess, huh friend?!) :O)

I'll be recapping the week's events at within Hallmark here on cre•a•tiv•i•ty, and it sounds like Marcos will also be giving inside sneak peeks (along with several other Hallmarkers) on the Signatures blog. There will be lots of good reading this week, so stay tuned!

Hallmark is Turning 100!

That's right, Hallmark's official 100th birthday is Sunday, January 10th, 2010! Next week, Hallmarkers here at headquarters will begin a week of events to celebrate our Centennial. I'll be posting about these events as they happen, starting with Monday's giant birthday party in the Crown Room. This event will feature remarks from the Hall family, a "living history" presentation about our last 100 years from Hallmark employees, and the unveiling of Hallmark's allegedly "huge" birthday cake! I can't wait to see it and enjoy one of the Centennial cupcakes!

You can celebrate our Centennial with us by visiting our special Centennial website Hallmark: 100 Years. One of coolest parts of this website are videos called "Glimpses," which are guided, behind the scenes looks at Hallmark. Here's the first one!

Star Wars: In Concert Recap

My fiancé Eric is a true Star Wars super-fan... almost to the point that I am scared to go through his boxes when he moves in, fearing that in his belongings I might find an adult-sized Chewbacca costume or perhaps some hand-built models of the Millennium Falcon. I am a true lover of the symphony, the orchestra, and of movie soundtracks (my favorite XM station is the soundtrack station)... aren't we a match made in heaven!?

When I saw that Star Wars: In Concert was coming to The Sprint Center, it seemed the best of both worlds: Eric would love it because it was Star Wars (and he would tolerate the symphony part) and I would love the symphony (and would tolerate the Star Wars part). So, I got tickets -- Merry Christmas Eric! We went to the concert on Wednesday night at Sprint Center, and the unthinkable happened.....

We both LOVED it--and enjoyed every aspect of it (including the parts that I had guessed we would tolerate)! It was simply amazing. The live symphony and choir was fantastic and was so closely matched with the HD movie clips that we sometimes forgot there was a live symphony playing the music. The HD movie clips were set to not only live music, but intense laser light shows, smoke, and fire!

Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO in the original movie was the narrator of the Star Wars tale, and did an excellent job of taking the audience through the entire story from start to finish -- Honestly, it was the first time I had ever actually understood was what happening in the movies, which actually made me interested in watching all 6 movies...

All in all, it was a great experience for us both--and we even got to take pictures with all of the characters from the original movies.

For more on Star Wars: In Concert, check out this video--pretty cool!

Ripple Glass

Keeping with the theme of Jeanee's recent post on climate change, I'm excited to post about a new Kansas City company that is impacting local recycling efforts in a big way. Under what is being called "the nation’s first self-contained metropolitan recycling system," Ripple Glass, which launches starting on November 1st, will help shatter the reluctance of Kansas City residents to recycle glass containers.

The Kansas City metro area has a pretty solid curbside recycling program, but that program no longer includes the pick of glass bottles and jars (pickup of bottles and jars in ended in 2003 due to the hazards of sorting broken glass and the problems of separating broken glass from other recyclables). When curbside pickup of glass ended, there were very few locations to recycle glass, so accessibility became an issue, and participation in glass recycling dropped drastically -- KC residents currently recycle only 5% of their glass, compared to the US average of over 28% -- eeeek!

That's where Stacia Stelk, Mike Utz, John McDonald and Jeff Krum, who also work for Boulevard Brewery, came up with a plan. Mike and John actually came to Hallmark about a year ago to present the Ripple Glass idea to Hallmark's Eco Team, an internal interest group focused on Hallmark's green initiatives. I was fortunate to see them present at that time. Their plan was simple: KC metro residents would be able to recycle their household glass (bottles, jars, etc.) at multiple area locations, the glass would then be picked up by a local company, taken to two local companies (Owens Corning and CertainTeed Corp), and recycled into fiberglass insulation and other products. They had me at hello, so to speak.

It took a little time, but they've now got all the logistics figured out, financing (by several local businesses) secured, and are ready to launch! I'm very excited that Hallmark has agreed to participate in the Ripple Glass efforts by having a glass drop-off bin right outside out building!

Read the full Ripple Glass story here, and if you're a KC local, support this program! With over 60 glass drop-off locations, 95% of metro residents will have less than a 5-minute drive to a drop-off location -- you have not reason not to support Ripple Glass! Thanks to Stacia, Mike, John and Jeff for seeing an opportunity to making a difference -- and to taking it!

The Edge of Motherhood

Recently, Hallmark launched a line of greeting cards called The Edge of Motherhood. The line is designed to help moms connect with other moms to show them support, give them a good laugh, and let them know "hey, I've been there." The line is hilarious (and I'm not even a mom!) and has been getting great reviews, like this one from our new blog-friend Angela:

"These cards were so much fun! They have wonderful messages for moms and the children that they love. So many times we as moms need encouragement while we are doing the day to day task of raising our families. We need to hear that it’s okay that the laundry is piled up sometimes and that others know and care the hard work we are putting into the most important job in the world! These cards do just that: They are perfect for that mom that you talked to on the phone today that is feeling like a failure or just needs some encouragement. They will bring a smile to someones face who wasn’t expecting a card just because."

You can read Angela's full review and see which card she picked as her favorite by clicking here.

Here are a few that I have sent to my friends who are moms -- so much fun!

Inside: "Welcome to the 'do as I say and not as I did' years."
Inside: "Hope your birthday is free of bad-mommy moments."
Inside: "Also, I'm excited about your baby. But c'mon, those boobs! Dang, girl!" -- Note that this card's cover is editable, so you can put in the name of your friend and mom-to-be!

Ok, ok...

...so call me a sap, but I like a nice "feel good" movie once in awhile.


This Saturday, a new Hallmark Channel Original Movie makes its premiere. Check out the trailer for "Mrs. Washington goes to Smith" here. The cast looks strong, the storyline funny and inspirational, and with some popcorn and red wine (or whatever your weekend drink of choice), could make for a nice girl's night... I think I just might invite some gals over to tune in this weekend!

KC's Sprint Center Ranked Among the Top Venues in the World

Yup, you read that right -- The 2-year-old Sprint Center in downtown Kansas City was recently ranked No. 14 on the list of the world's top venues. It also ranked No. 5 in the U.S. venue rankings. Check out the full article here.

Take the Kids to KC

Last week, there was a great article on CNN.com about Kansas City being a perfect summer vacation destination for the whole family.

The article highlighted Hallmark's own Kaleidoscope, where kids can let their creativity shine through craft projects of all kinds, and the Hallmark Visitors Center, where you can learn the rich history of Hallmark and see how greeting cards are created.

Other highlights in the article include: Fritz's Railroad Restaurant, The College Basketball Experience, Science City, and Schlitterbahn Vacation Village.

You can read the full article here, or just come visit us in KC!

Oh, and because summer vacations always remind me of sending postcards back home to my friends, I found some cool vintage Kansas City postcards to share...Enjoy!











To browse more postcards, visit the Kansas City Public Library's Flickr Photostream.

New on "Hallmarkers Who Blog" List

We just added another fabulous person to the "Hallmarkers Who Blog" list: Ana R.! Below is part of her self-authored bio. I can picture Ana saying this out loud -- ah! Another woman who writes like she talks (that is a complement-we could be besties, girl). Keep rockin, Ana!

"Hello. My name is Ana Reinert and I am noticing that I kind of have enormous hair in this picture. Hindsight is always 20/20, isn’t it? Currently, I work as a graphic designer for a tiny little division of a great big greeting card company. Before moving to Kansas City, I lived and worked in Chicago, Albuquerque and Knoxville, TN. I never imagined I’d live in Kansas City but sometimes fate plays a hand in our lives and we just have to go with it. I am also a photographer, frequent doodler, knitter, blogger and a (crazy) cat lady. I obsessively collect office supplies, particularly pencils and pens but I can be swayed off the road by an art supply store as quickly as an Office Depot. Some things can’t be helped..."

Stop by and check out Sugaroni!

Say What You Need to Say-Video Link

We posted a few days ago about Hallmark's new ad campaign, The biggest little thing you can do. Here's the video link. Check it out and pass along to others!

An Interesting Debate

Watch this video from The Today Show, and let us know your take on Hallmark's Journeys card line, which provides cancer cards and other cards that address life's "difficult to discuss" situations.

More info on Journeys can be found on our website.

Peru. Vancouver. Riviera Nayrit. Vilnius, Lithuania..... Kansas City?

That's right! Kansas City was rated one of USA Today's Five Destinations to Watch in 2009. Here's what they had to say...

Never considered Kansas City as a vacation destination before? Over the past few years, the city has been working hard to make itself a destination worth the trip. And the effort is paying off big time during 2009...

Read the entire article by clicking >> here <<

Hallmark Asks...

What would you say to your Valentine?



To get your Valentine a recordable card with music, or another special gift, check out our Valentine's Day products here. Happy Valentine's Day, friends!!

New on "Hallmarkers Who Blog" List

It seems that every day I meet a new fab Hallmarker... Dave M. is one of those people.

I have been in the Licensing Design Studio since September, and am getting to know more about my talented, funny, sincere, and diverse team here, of which Dave is a big part of. A 2008 Reuben Award Winner, illustrator, and designer for Hallmark, I can always count on him for a smile, a little-known fact, a silly story, or a great joke.

All joking aside, Dave is a great guy and his blog has some wonderful product, inspiration, and laughs -- check out his blog under "Hallmarkers Who Blog." Also, check out his People Page on Hallmark's PR site.

Why I love my job #1086:

Because my boss cooks me breakfast.

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)

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.