Happy Holidays - and a Personal Note - from If It's Hip, It's Here.

I want to take this moment to write something of a personal nature, which I very rarely do in my blog.

First and foremost, I want to wish a very Merry Christmas to those who celebrate the holiday and my warmest wishes to everyone for a happy holiday season. I would be remiss if I did not take this moment to thank all my wonderful faithful readers and especially those generous ones who have donated money to help me keep If It's Hip, It's Here going. A few folks went above and beyond, donating as much as $50.00! It warms my heart that anyone has enjoyed the blog enough to fork over even a dollar of their hard-earned money to support it.

I truly hope that this blog continues to inspire and educate you. It brings me great pleasure to expose others to all the artists, creative and interesting things I discover. I began the blog in December of 2006 and have since published over 3,900 posts and 40,000 images. I have never missed a single day since I began the blog and I will continue to try to provide you with unique content not found everywhere else - and yet still feature what is popular and current.

Just when I think the blog is consuming my life (which, for the most part, it does) and I am about to give it up for lack of sleep, lack of income and lack of a life, I receive a nice note from some random person somewhere in the world who tells me that they look forward to reading the blog every morning with their coffee and that it makes their day. That reminds me why I do it. And why I will continue doing it.

This year, I intend to overhaul the blog with a redesign and direct url. Making it easier for you to search the archives and delve into the posts via categories. I may have to stop blogging for a few weeks to get it right, so I hope you will stay with me and be patient and return once it's up and running again on a new platform. I will be sure to give you a heads up at that time.

I hope you and your loved ones have a happy, healthy and fulfilling holiday season.



Sincerely,
Laura

Animated Christmas Gifs By Various Artists Bring The Holiday To Life.

Christmas Gifs is a festive showcase of animated gifs created by an international group of illustrators, animators and directors; a project curated by Ryan Todd and built by Enjoythis. Some cute, some funny, some stylish, others twisted. They have a mix of illustration styles, yet all add a little fun, and talent, to the holiday.

Here are several of my favorites, in no particular order.

The Christougenniatiko Dentrophobic Bauble by Supermundane:


Chris Robot by UpstartThunder:


Magical Santa Henshin! by Khctang:


Santa's Little Hopper by Versus :


Happy Birthday by Ross Phillips:


Way Home by Cento Lodigiani:


FORE-ther Christmas by Animade:


Väterchen Frost by Finally:


ROUND Christmas by Vagoom:


The Gif That Keeps On Giving by Kristian Hammerstad:


Santa's gotta gun by Jack Hudson:


Sprouts alone by Matthew the Horse & Amy Mackay:


Snow Angels by Tom Mathieson:


Christmas CanCan by Malika Favre:


Merry Saturnalia! by Stephen McNally:


Christmas Puddinged by Rumpus:


Losing Sight of the Holidays by Will Bryant:


Santa's Coming by James Wignall:


To see all of the animated Christmas Gifs, go here

Meet Two Lovable Guys Who Don Gay Apparel In Some Very Pun-ny Christmas Cards.

Although Bill Bowersock Jr. and Gregg Higuchi met in the Le Marais neighborhood in Paris in 1997, they soon learned they actually lived less then two miles away from each other in San Francisco. A coincidence that turned out to benefit them and, as you'll see from this post, anyone on their annual Christmas Card mailing list.


above photo of Gregg and Bill by James Gosnell

After a five year friendship, the two San Franciscans (who are now legally and happily wed) began dating and their tradition of sending out humorous holiday cards was born.

Their first joint holiday card in 2002 featured a photo of their seasonally manicured toes at and the caption, "Living, Loving and Laughing under our Mistletoes":


That was the beginning of their pun-driven, tongue-in-cheek holiday cards that tap into some funny takes on Christmas Culture, from being Vegetarian Deer Hunters to chefs wishing you a Happy Hollandaise.



Each year since they have executed a different theme - from "Christmas Mime is Here" to "Silent Knight, Holey Knight" to " 'twas the Twilight before Christmas."  In 2011, Bill & Gregg were included in a December article in the San Francisco Chronicle by Alec Scott on "Cardies", people who create their own usual holiday cards.

2003, Vegetarian Deer Hunters:


2004, NUTScracker, Men In Tights:


2006, Christmas Mime is Here:


2006, Silent Knight, Holey Knight:


2009, Married Mistletoes:


2010, "'twas the TWILIGHT before Christmas ~ are you Team Santa or Team Claws?"


2012: Late night SF Partying


2013: Two of the Wiser of the Three Men

above: This year's card proves that they are truly wise men, opting for Palm Springs as their mid-winter desert destination.

"We talk through several ideas throughout the year, keeping a running list," says Bill, on behalf of the two.  "Our default conversation topic is often, What should our card be this year? We have a lot of fun planning our Christmas cards."

A true Holiday Ham, I had to include this recent photo of Bill by Rey Rey's Photography donning a Christmas Tree skirt as a cape despite it not being one of their annual cards because.... well, it's fabulous.



Full disclosure is that I've known Bill Bowersock Jr. for over 30 years now and he's one of the brightest, kindest, most generous human beings on the planet. Friends of Bill and Gregg heartily agree.

New Set of Modernist London II Winter Edition Greeting Cards by Graphic Designer Stefi Orazi

Designer Stefi Orazi of East London has produced her second set of Modernist London Winter Edition cards for 2012.



above: details from London Zoo's Penguin Pool card and the Centrepoint card.

The elegant and graphic urban snow scenes are printed in 4 special colours. The iconic buildings featured in this set include the Brunswick Centre, Erno Goldfinger's house on 2 Willow Road, Lubetkin's Penguin Pool at the London Zoo, Centrepoint as well as her old favorites - Barbican and Golden Lane Estate. She's also donating £1 of every sale to a homeless charity Shelter this year, making them even more beautiful.








Printed on recycled paper in England, each pack includes 6 illustrated cards (size A6) and envelopes. Since the cards don't feature any text they work throughout the season as Holiday Greetings, New Year's Cards or just for special correspondence.

Get your pack here.

Stefi's first set from 2007 which contained four cards and is no longer available, can be seen here.

Wishing You All A Very Hip Christmas.

To all my readers - faithful and infrequent - thanks for the kind notes, interesting submissions and continued readership. Your encouragement and compliments make the daily task of blogging very rewarding.

I wish you all a happy and healthy holiday from the bottom of my heart.

It's Snowing Star Wars! 10 new DIY Star Wars Paper Snowflake Templates.

above: Yoda, one of the ten new DIY Star Wars paper snowflakes for 2011



This year, one of my most popular posts has been my 2010 how to make your own Star Wars snowflakes (Darth Vader and a Bobba Fett/Clone snowflake) as taught by a husband and wife team.

UPDATE: Now, there's a new set of 19 new ones for 2013! See those here.



...back to the original:  Well, now it's snowing Star Wars!
Two more designers, Anthony Herrera and Chaunce Dolan of Matters of Grey have jumped on the paper Star Wars Snowflake bandwagon and provide us with ten new Star Wars paper snowflake templates for 2011.


above illustration by Anthony Herrera

A new Darth Vader, Yoda, R2D2, C-3PO, Scout Troopers, Storm Troopers, Clone Troopers, Admiral Ackbar, Ashoka, and Boba Fett snowflakes you can make yourself with some paper, a pair of scissors, a downloadable template and a little help from The Force.

c3po Snowflake:

R2D2 Snowflake:

Scout Trooper Snowflake:

Storm Trooper Snowflake:

Clone Trooper:

Ashoka Snowflake:

Admiral Ackbar Snowflake:

Darth Vader Snowflake (new for 2011):

Boba Fett Snowflake (new for 2011):

The Yoda paper cut snowflake is shown at the top of this post.

The pdf diagrams/templates of all the above can be downloaded here (but it requires payment as of 2013).

and the original two...
Darth Vader Snowflake:

Boba Fett and Clone Trooper Snowflake:

pdf diagrams/templates of the above two can be downloaded here


"Have A Merry Christmas, You Will."


Looking for Star Wars related gifts? Check these links:

Other Star Wars toys, Star Wars christmas ornaments, figurines and more

Star Wars Books, Movies, Calendars and more from Amazon