Disney Princesses on Ice

Being a designer in the Licensing department the Disney Princesses and I have become BFFs! And guess what?!? They are in Kansas City starting this Friday with Disney on Ice Presents Princess Wishes!


Ariel, Cinderella, Belle, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Jasmine and Mulan all make their wishes come true in this collection of celebrated tales wonderfully told through artistic skating and acrobatics.

With the help of the magical pixie Tinker Belle, the Disney Princesses’ embark on an adventure to find their heart’s fondest wish. Ariel dreams of a life above the sea; Mulan finds her inner strength; Jasmine discovers a whole new world; and Snow White finds her true love. Cinderella, Belle and Sleeping Beauty also find happiness in this beautifully imagined new ice show.

Hmmm... maybe Princess Tiana will get in on the action next year!

Show Times at the Sprint Center:
March 19th : 7:00 pm
March 20th : 7:00 pm
March 21st : 10:30 am and 7:00 pm
March 22nd : 11:00 am, 3:00 pm and 7:00 pm
March 23rd : 2:00 pm

Hallmark Channel Branding

Design firm Imaginary Forces just finished up the 2010 Network Branding for Hallmark Channel (The website got a facelift too).

Here is what they said about the concept:

"The new branding for the Hallmark Channel emphasizes the Network’s goal of “celebrating life’s moments.” Taking the design for the new branding a step further, we celebrated the brand itself. Using an embossed 3D logo, the design physically explores the ins and outs of the logo, and highlights the content of the network with changing color schemes and subtle cues to the programming it surrounds."

It is very very cool! Check out the video on their site.

Big 12

Not going to lie and say I follow many college sports events, but I keep hearing about the Big 12 Conference coming to Kansas City this week. The Women's and Men's Basketball championships start tomorrow March 10th-14th. Kansas City is expecting to have tons of visitors for the games and the Visit KC website has a wonderful site devoted to just that.

Things To Do
Where To Eat
Places to Stay
Where to Park
Getting Around

Sourdough Bread

Every Tuesday of this year the Centennial Committee has been posting a video giving us a glimpse into Hallmark's history. I enjoyed this one a lot- one of our bakers tells the story of the sourdough bread recipe J.C. Hall brought back from San Francisco in the 1960s. Enjoy!


Watch other Crown Minutes on the Hallmark Youtube page

the new Garment District opens today

Did you know that Kansas City once housed a world-famous Garment District right between Washington and Wyandotte? Many don't. In fact, clothing manufacturers employed thousands after WWI, and according to the KC Garment District Museum website, '1 out of every 7 women in the U.S. purchased a KC made garment.' I highly suggest taking a tour there.

The Kansas City Power and Light District unveils their own Garment District today at 1350 Main.


The district is touted as a boutique | bar | collective and will house seven regional retailers such as Westport fave Imagary, City Girls Boutique (from Salina), Urbantique (repurposed vintage), Denim Couture (OP), Label, Two Chic Blvd, & Polka Dot Petals. The best part is, there is a bar in the middle of it all. So grab a cocktail and shop until you drop.

HELLO ART

Kansas City has a cool art community.

Hello Art is a membership organization created and sponsored by the Arts Incubator to serve as an introduction – an ice breaker of sorts – to Kansas City’s arts community. Hello Art bridges the worlds of the artist, gallery owner, experienced collector and “curious beginner” through a year-round calendar of events designed to strengthen the Kansas City arts scene. The goal of Hello Art is to bring together all who want to appreciate and support art. The point is to build community and have fun.


On First Fridays, members can come by the Hello Art Lounge located in the Arts Incubator. Here, they mingle over wine and hors d’oeuvres and look at art work by featured member artists. Then, members hop on the Hello Art trolley and visit a few galleries where volunteer docents will greet them and introduce them to exhibits and/or artists. Other events include workshops, discussion groups and behind-the-scenes studio tours.

Check it out!

precious places in Kansas City

As a member of this blog I feel like it's my speciality to inform you of all of the spots here in Kansas City. Well... I'd like to tell you today that there are some little precious places filled with antique and whimsical goods.

Over the weekend I went around to four places for some Valentine inspiration.
• Curious Sofa
• Urban Mining Homewares (owned by a Hallmarker)
• Bon Bon Atelier
• Good Juju

I must say that Kansas City has some of the best antique and thrifting spots. Such eye candy!

See my blog for more!

Hoops & Yoyo LOVE you!

Around Christmas time I was a bit too busy to blog. But if i could have, i would have blogged about this:

Hoops & Yoyo MOVIE NIGHT

HOLY MOLY! Are you excited?! They're at it again! Hallmark's beloved characters are hosting a movie night, every so often, to get you psyched about movies... and Hallmark... and donuts... and coffee... and popcorn... and all around goodness! The first time was at Christmas, but this time, Hoop and Yoyo will be part of Hallmarks Countdown to Valentine's Day, appearing on February 5th (TONIGHT!) and again on February 12th at 9/8c. Don't miss it!

Check your local cable listings for channel. If you don't have the Hallmark Channel, call your cable provider to find out how. ;)

Cards Reflect Our Culture

I have never really thought of a greeting card as a sort of "time capsule", but when you think about it...they really can be a freeze frame of world events, slang, social norms and design styles. The Hallmark Centennial site has a really great section where they showcase cards from the past 10 decades, they are grouped in themes. With Valentine's right around the corner, the album up right now shows the different ways people used to say "I Love You", and how they say it today.

While you're there check out the past albums.
• Tough Times, Good Wishes
• Cards Are Groovy, Man

I'm Keeping Busy, and so is Hallmark.

I haven't been around for a while. But i finally got a break in my busy schedule, so, I thought I would give you an update on what I've been up to. Not that it would normally be interesting enough to mention, but i have had my hand in pretty much everything that has come out in the last few months.

1: DVD Cards - Wouldn't it be cool if you could have a customized movie with pictures of you, your family and/or your friends that can be played on your home's DVD player? Say no more. Hallmark's done it. Takes 10 minutes. Packaged conveniently into a card so you can send it out to your loved ones. Imagine Grandma's surprise when she sees that gem. It will blow her mind. Available at your local Hallmark Gold Crown.

2. Augmented Reality - The world has come one step closer to Holodecks with this innovation. Basically, when you buy specially marked Hallmark Cards (available at Walmart and Gold Crown this Valentine's Day) you get an "Online Surprise". It's a 3D, virtual reality movie, that moves around in your own world when you hold the card up to at webcam. Don't understand a lick of what i am saying? Go try out a free demo here or let Hoops and Yo-yo try and explain it! GO. QUICK!

3. Kids Encouragement - This may not seem terribly innovative, but in reality it is. Hallmark has found that kids need to be spoken to in a certain way. And that parents are starving for a way to talk to there kids. So Hallmark Gold Crown is currently (or will be very soon, depending on the store) sporting a brand new wall display featuring dozens of new products that help encourage kids in their everyday life. And not just cards, but TOYS, BOOKS, and GAMES!

The others are so top secret i can't talk about them. But i will. Oh, i will.

I know this is all pretty boring without many pictures, but maybe you will just have to go out to Hallmark and take a look. ;)
Seriously though, there has been a lot of hard work put into these cards and we'd love to know what you think when you see them!

Love, Josh

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.

Centennial Colors

It's starting to look like a celebration wherever you look around here ! Loving these colors everywhere. 

This is a photo of the Visitor's Center and Kaleidoscope.