2024 Artist Insights: Pun-tastic Ornaments
For the love of laughter
Keepsake Artist Sharon Visker details her pun-tastic new ornaments.
Sharon Visker
From researching, brainstorming, sketching and sculpting, creating new ornaments is no joke! Well, usually. It’s a different story when Sharon Visker is working on a collection of humor ornaments. In that case, jokes are strongly encouraged. You could even say they’re required!
“Coming up with the visual joke is the best part. I don’t consider myself to be much of a jokester, but I love listening to comedy, watching cartoons and reading the funnies,” Sharon says. “I also have a brother-in-law who is a ‘punny’ guy, full of inspiration and dad jokes.”
Once Sharon has found a few punch lines, it’s time to conduct the laugh test.
Mistletoe Fishmas
“I usually have to pitch my idea to the art director planning the line that year. If they laugh, I know it might be a good idea or at least that we have the same sense of humor. Sometimes it might be a funny idea but a little too edgy and niche to appeal to the general public,” she says. “Humor is a hard category to work with because everyone has a different sense of humor, but that keeps it interesting.”
For her latest ornaments, Sharon used both tried-and-true humor methods (who doesn’t love a pun?) and modern visual approaches to give classic jokes a fresh twist.
“Something I love to create is automata, which are basically moving sculptures powered by hand. For Mistletoe Fishmas, I thought the idea of two fish swimming around in separate bowls stopping for a kiss would be fun, and our amazing engineer Ellie figured out the mechanics to make it work.”
All jokes aside, whether Sharon is dreaming up an elf using a jackhammer on some fruitcake or inventing new ways for that mischievous reindeer to runover grandma, we’re thankful for all the ways she keeps us smiling.
“For the love of laughter.” For Keeps 24 Summer 2024: 6-7
Shaky Cake
Grandma Got Runover By a Reindeer
Mistle-Toad
2024 Artist Insights: Gnome for Christmas
Are you ready to go Gnome for Christmas? You know we’re always ready, which is why we’re excited to share a behind-the-scenes chat with Keepsake Artist Gregor Benedetti.
Gregor Benedetti
When it comes to the continuing adventures of Gnaughty and Gnice, Gregor says, “It’s always about the fun storytelling with these two. They continuously love celebrating all the Christmas traditions together—usually with a twist.”
Gnome for Christmas
4th in the series.
You’ve probably noticed those celebrations include festive apparel for Gregor’s petite pals, including special touches like the snowflakes on their overalls and suspenders. “When I started this series,” Gregor reveals, “I wanted to give them special seasonal icon accessories on their adorable little outfits. When the gnomes go trick-or-treating next year, those icons will be different.” (Wait, did he just treat us with a little 2025 surprise?!)
Since he brought up 2025, we wondered how far ahead Gregor’s been working on Gnome for Christmas adventures. He explains, “For Gnaughty and Gnice, I tend to only plan a year ahead, unlike the sweet gnome sister companions. I designed Peppermint, the fourth sister, back in 2022, and she’s finally coming out next year in 2025. She’s just the cutest ever!” (And so was that sneaky reveal.)
Sticking with our 2025 theme, Gregor says, “Next year, the gnomes will be celebrating one of the most classic, time-honored Christmas traditions. Gnaughty’s extra happy about it since it involves food. And I’ll also be debuting a cute little critter sidekick.”
But Gregor’s not stopping there, because 2025 is a special year for Gnaughty and Gnice. “2025 marks the 5th anniversary of Gnome for Christmas, and I may have designed an additional papercraft ornament commemorating this milestone…just saying.”
Even with so many fun things to look forward to in 2025, we’re not losing sight of the fun this dynamic little duo is having in 2024. The 4th ornament in Gregor’s series will be available at Ornament Debut in October, and now is the perfect time to mark your Wish List so you don’t miss it.
And don’t forget to pick up the sister ornament, Ginger’s Favorite Gift, also available at Ornament Debut. She’s a limited quantity, so use your Early Shopping Pass to pick her up in store a day before everyone else shops the event.
Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. “Behind the scenes with Gregor Benedetti about his Gnome for Christmas! Coming at Ornament Debut in October.” Keepsake Ornament Club Facebook Page, June 5, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KOCMembers/posts/3664341110472553/
2024 Artist Insights: Young Santa
Sheyda Abvabi Best brings you the 3rd in her Young Santa series this year, and with a few years under his belt, it’s the perfect time to get to know the jolly young elf a bit better.
Sheyda Abvabi Best
For instance, did you know the pup Young Santa hangs out with is not his dog? Sheyda reveals, “Young Santa loves to spend time with Cinnamon, who is actually his neighbor’s puppy. He often dog-sits and takes her on walks to help his neighbor out.”
Young Santa
3rd in the series.
It sounds like Santa was on the nice list from a young age, so we asked Sheyda to share a little more about his personality. “Young Santa is a very sweet, curious little boy. He’s the sort of kid who will take apart a toy just to figure out how it works, and then he’ll put it back together again. He’s particularly fond of his mom’s sugar cookies, which he likes to give out to his neighbors. The only things he doesn’t care for are bell peppers and when others don’t play nice.”
Well, bell peppers aren’t for everyone, right? But having solved the mystery of how Santa’s lifelong love of cookies began, we wondered how Sheyda came up with this year’s ornament design. She explains, “I pictured Young Santa having just finished wrapping presents, while Cinnamon has been keeping him company. She hid in this present so she could pop out and give him a little surprise.”
So, what surprises might Young Santa be in for in the future? Sheyda says, “I start ideating for the next ornament in this series two years before it will show up on store shelves. I like to think about what ‘firsts’ Young Santa can experience, like the first time he puts on his famous red coat or the first time he goes sledding.
“And next year, you’ll see another first, when Young Santa will be making a new critter friend! I’m very excited about this one, so stay tuned, Young Santa is just getting started!”
Young Santa’s story is fun for kids of all ages, and you can pick up the third ornament in the series at Ornament Premiere in July.
Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. “Behind the scenes with Sheyda Abvabi Best about her Young Santa #3 ornament! Coming at Ornament Premiere in July.” Keepsake Ornament Club Facebook Page, May 1, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KOCMembers/posts/3639754192931245
2024 Artist Insights: Holiday Parade
If you love a good holiday parade, you’ll definitely love Tammy Haddix’s Holiday Parade ornament series! This year brings the 6th ornament in the series, which was originally inspired by the idea of a cute Christmas town with different trucks that represent each business you’ll find there.
Tammy Haddix
And the inspiration just kept driving Tammy further. She explains, “I had this idea to choose a different Keepsake Studio coworker each year to inspire the next ornament in the series. That ornament would be named after them and relate to them in some personal way.
Holiday Parade
6th in the series.
“This year’s ornament was inspired by my fellow artist Orville Wilson. I chose Orville for the town’s computer store because he is our go-to guy for anything technical. Whenever I have a problem with my computer, he’s the first person I call. With Orville’s expertise, he just had to be the computer store owner.”
The details Tammy added to this ornament make it especially fun. She points out, “The tree is made to look like computer circuit boards, and the store logo on the door is a laptop computer. And I love making cute, tiny hood ornaments for these trucks, so I couldn’t resist creating a mouse for the hood as my attempt at computer humor!”
So, who will be joining the parade next year? Tammy reveals that although all the ornaments so far have been inspired by Keepsake artists, next year’s will be a bit different. “For 2025, I’ve chosen our Keepsake editorial director, Lindsay Evans, and she’ll be our bookstore owner!”
You can pick up this year’s Holiday Parade 6th in series at Ornament Premiere in July. We can’t wait to see it keep on truckin’ for many more years.
Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. “Behind the scenes with Tammy Haddix about her Holiday Parade #6 ornament! Coming at Ornament Premiere in July.” Keepsake Ornament Club Facebook Page, April 2, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KOCMembers/posts/3620420028197995
2024 Artist Insights: Snoring Santa
So, does the big guy snore? You bet he does! And Keepsake Artist Matt Johnson captured it in his animatronic Snoring Santa ornament, available in July.
Matt Johnson
Matt shares how it all began. “We’ve been using animatronics for licensed ornaments, but we wanted to explore what we could do with a classic Christmas design. The initial concept came from our team looking through images in the Hallmark archives. They found an illustration Charlie Hadley had created of Santa nodding off in a chair with a plate of cookies. From there it was up to me to reinterpret it in the sculpting process.”
Snoring Santa
Imagination and research played a big part in inspiring Matt as he prepared to bring Snoring Santa to life. “I was imagining Santa finally getting back home after a long night delivering presents. He’s worn out and finally able to rest and have a snack in his favorite chair. It reminds me of seeing my grandfather napping on the sofa after good meal.
“I also looked at a lot of photos of people chilling in armchairs and took a bit of inspiration from the 1980s Maxell audio tape ad called ‘Blown Away.’ Sculpting someone sleeping can be tiring, but that’s what cookies and coffee are for!”
While Matt did all the sculpting work (energized by cookies and coffee), he says it took great teamwork to bring the sound and motion to this ornament. “I worked closely with Charles Young (Art Director), Samantha Heryford (Engineer) and Lindsay Evans (Editorial). We loved the idea of Santa’s whiskers and the plate of cookies moving up and down on top of Santa’s belly in time with his snoring. Samantha provided me with the mechanics and general parameters to work from, and Lindsay developed the great audio with our sound studio.”
While Santa definitely needs his rest, you can also wake him up with the push of a button to hear him speak. Matt’s looking forward to your reactions to the ornament—and to people seeing it on his tree as well. “I think it will be fun to see how people respond when they come into my home. They’ll hear the snoring coming from my Christmas tree and then they’ll have to figure out where the sound is coming from. There is some discovery involved, and it’s pretty funny. Don’t wake up Santa!” (But do pick him up at Ornament Premiere!)
Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments. “Behind the scenes with Matt Johnson about his Snoring Santa ornament! Ccming at Ornament Premiere in July.” Keepsake Ornament Club Facebook Page, February 28, 2024. https://www.facebook.com/groups/KOCMembers/posts/3598560493717282/