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BLACK LIVES MATTER

6.11.2020

Like everyone, we have watched the events and protests sparked by the senseless and tragic death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Watching these difficult and necessary protests we recognize the need for every American to actively participate in changing the future. We cannot stand by and do nothing. We cannot remain silent on the fundamental principles of human rights and equal justice for all.

At Elūm we stand up and place ourselves firmly and unequivocally on the side of racial equality. The future we want for our children and ourselves is one where no grown man fears being stopped and killed by the police, where every young person of color can expect the same opportunities as every American, and where true diversity is represented and supported in local and national government, the justice system, financial services, the media, the boardroom, education and the Arts. We believe the Black community and all people of color have a right to see themselves reflected in the people they interact with on a daily basis. We believe positive action is necessary to counter the racial injustice entrenched in our country.

At Elūm we are committed to recruiting and supporting African Americans and people of color in the workplace. We are using our social platforms to promote African American artists who celebrate and draw awareness to Black culture. Our doors have always been open to people of color and we’re proud of our diverse design, sales and warehouse teams, but we pledge to do more. We are committed to learning about and understanding the challenges faced by the Black community. And we will not shy away from the difficult work of examining ourselves and our deeply held beliefs and practices.

We stand in solidarity with the Black community. You are our coworkers, customers, friends, partners, family and neighbors. We are committed to using our influence to lead change both in our local community here in San Diego and across the country.

Together we pledge to fight systemic racism and injustice.

In Memory Of

George Perry Floyd Jr. (October 14, 1973 – May 25, 2020). Age 46.
Breonna Taylor (June 5, 1993 – March 13, 2020). Age 26.
Ahmaud Marquez Arbery (May 8, 1994 – February 23, 2020). Age 25.


To learn more about the issues of racism and injustice and how you can help, visit Black Lives Matter.

Mother’s Day What May Come

5.04.2020

We’re counting down to Mother’s Day here at Elūm. With stay at home mandates still in place across much of the country, many of us won’t be able to celebrate in person with our moms this year. According to the National Retail Federation, two-thirds of Americans are planning some kind of virtual celebration with their moms. We’ll be face-timing, zooming, texting and calling: doing whatever we can to let Mom know how much we love and appreciate her.

Moms have never been busier. Home schooling, cooking, cleaning, working from home, caring for the family: moms are working harder than ever. Our moms deserve to be treasured and spoiled, but with some of the most popular Mother’s Day treats off the table—dining out, big family get-togethers, spa days—we need to get creative. That’s why we’ve come up with our Mother’s Day Come What May Guide. Nothing is going to stop us from celebrating our strong and amazing moms this May 10!

 

Card Love.

Thanks to the US Post we can continue to send and receive cards in the post so we can still surprise Mom when she goes to the mailbox. Stock up on our adorable Mother’s Day cards and take a moment to write something special inside. A handwritten note is a powerful way to connect when we’re physically apart. “Mom, I may not be able to see you in person this year, but I’ve never felt closer to you or loved you more. You are my rock. Love, Jess.” #MomsLoveCards

 

Flower Power.

There’s a reason why flowers make the classic Mother’s Day gift. They come delivered to Mom’s door, bringing all the colors and scents of the season with them. Spoil Mom with flowers that delight her senses.  Red and pink carnations say “I miss you” in flower language along with dreamy peach roses. Surprise Mom by sending her a fragrant bouquet of her favorite flowers. Or do a little detective work and discover what flowers were in Mom’s high-school prom corsage and ask your local florist to reproduce them in a bouquet. #MomsLoveOldSchool

 

Dinner & A Date.

If Mom lives within driving distance, why not surprise her with a home-cooked meal left on her doorstep? Better still, make two identical meals (lasagne would be perfect for this), drop one outside her doorstep with instructions when to put it in the oven and then share a virtual dinner date with mom using Zoom. If Mom lives farther away send both mom and yourself identical food baskets and open and explore the contents together with mom and the kids over Zoom. #MomsLoveDinner

 

Song & Dance.

If you have kids who like to sing or play instruments, how about putting on a virtual concert for Mom? Maybe the little ones could dance for her. Or how about the entire family staging a fun play in the living room which Mom could watch remotely? You can download family friendly play scripts here. If you prefer something more low key, how about a family movie night? Apps like Kast and Watch2Gether enable you to share movie night with mom no matter how far apart you are. #MomsLoveFun

 

A Gift For All Seasons.

Moms are the goodwill ambassadors of family occasions. They know everyone’s birthdays and wedding dates. They know when nephews are graduating college, the due date for family babies, and exactly how much each grand-baby weighs when they arrive! Moms are living breathing databases of family lore. They send the cards that mark family milestones. Give Mom an

Elūm Letterpress Greeting Card Subscription and she’ll always have our beautiful and award winning cards on hand to send to family and friends throughout the year. #MomsLoveToGive

 

Give Mom A Break.

It’s a stressful time for moms everywhere. With the kids home moms are working harder than ever to provide a sense of structure and normality to family life. Sometimes moms just need a break. Have the kids make breakfast for Mom (and clean up the kitchen afterwards!) and then have Dad take the kids for a walk around the neighborhood so Mom can have some much deserved me-time. Make Mom a little care package of bath salts, a sheet mask, and chamomile tea (or a bottle of wine!) so she can enjoy a warm relaxing bath. Later, look into what local restaurants are open for delivery and order a delicious family meal. Eat party-style on paper plates so there’s no cleaning up! #MomsLoveBubbles

 These are some of the ways we’re planning on celebrating our moms and all the amazing women in our lives this year. What are you planning for Mom on her big day? We’d love to know!

 

SHOW YOU CARE

4.28.2020

We’re all missing our family, friends and loved ones right now. Staying at home has become a new kind of normal. Working in our Pjs, streaming Tiger King, zooming with our besties, contemplating spring cleaning (but let’s face it, not getting much done!) and googling how to make banana bread: we’re all in this together. We’re cooking, painting, puzzling, crafting. Here at Elūm we’re writing. Like you, we can’t see our grandparents, our moms and dads, our brothers and sisters. We can’t be with our squad so we’re writing to them—real notes with paper and ink—to let them know we’re thinking about them. We’re staying connected. Old school.

The US Post is an essential service. Thanks to the dedicated and hardworking staff at USPS we can still send and receive mail. They’re giving us the opportunity to reach out to fam and friends in a meaningful and lasting way. When everything gets back to normal, it’s the note your daughter sent to Grandma that will be remembered. The card you sent to a coworker saying, “Hang on in there, sister. We’ll get through this together” and the letter you sent to your favorite teacher saying, “I always wanted to let you know what a difference you made in my life” that will be treasured as keepsakes. There’s never been a more important time to show we care that’s why we’ve put together some of our best ideas for staying connected while staying at home.

We’re not in high-school anymore. Thank heavens! No one is going to judge our handwriting, composition or grammar. As Shakespeare said, “Tis better to have written and misspelled than never written at all.” Or something like that! If you’re worried about making mistakes when you’re handwriting a note, type the text on your phone or laptop first. That way you can switch it around, edit it, and check for spelling and grammar before putting pen to paper. If you do make a mistake, don’t abandon the note, cross out the error, bless it with a smiley emoji, and move on. Our loved ones already know we’re not perfect: we’re not fooling anyone! #ToErrIsHuman

Put yourself on the page. Write like you speak so when your recipient reads your note he or she can hear your voice in their head. We’re not saying drop the F bomb on granny, but if you’re writing to a girlfriend to let her know how much you’re missing her, it’s okay to write,

“Going cray cray here without you, babe. Happy Hour is Sad Hour without my bestie stealing my wine & fries!”

Be yourself and speak from the heart and your words will always come out right. #NoOneExactlyLikeYou

More Hobbit, less Lord of the Rings. No one likes staring at a blank page knowing they’re going to have to fill it with words. A long letter can be intimidating both to the writer and recipient which is why we like cards and mini notes so much. A greeting, a couple of sentences, a signature and the page is full and we’re done. We don’t need to write a three book trilogy to show we care. “Dan, We’re so glad to hear your father’s getting better. We met him at the bbq last summer. He told the best stories about you as a kid! Love to you and Ash.” The value of a letter doesn’t lie in its word count. It lies in the fact that someone cares enough about you to take the time to write a note. #BigIsNotAlwaysBetter

Kids Play. If you have kids running around while you’re reading this we heart you! Suddenly we’ve turned into home-schooling, daycare providing, lunch ladying, backyard coaching multi-taskers. We’re doing it all. Dinners may have been burned! Corners may have been cut, but let’s cut ourselves some slack too. One of the best things we can teach our kids is gratitude. Recognizing the things we’re thankful for is a blessing and a skill that lasts a lifetime. Fill the kitchen table with colored crayons, stickers, glitter and glue (we never promised it wouldn’t get messy!) and a box of our Old School Notes and ask the kids who they’re missing and would like to write to. Let them sign a “Miss you, Grandpa” note with a thumbprint of glitter, draw pictures of the cat on the note to their favorite teacher, and write “A Big Thank You!” to local hospital workers in an entire rainbow of colors. #KidsSpreadingSunshine

Think inside the box. If you’re sending a note to your parents, why not print out a photo of you and the kids and slip it inside the envelope? Send a homemade coupon promising the bearer, “One home-cooked meal and epic catch up sesh.” Include a packet of seeds with a note saying, “We may be apart but we’ll always grow together.” Get creative. Include a self addressed stamped envelope and write in very small letters, “Just in case you were thinking of writing back?”.  #NoExcuses

Who doesn’t love receiving a letter in the post? The stamp, the handwritten address, the matching paper and envelope? It’s magical. We have a lot to be thankful for here at Elūm. We’re grateful to first responders, healthcare workers and everyone who works in essential services. We’re grateful for teachers who are working hard to provide online schooling for our kids. We’re grateful for our families and friends and miss them very much. We have a lot of notes to write. What about you? Who are you writing to?

Work From Home Essentials

3.27.2020

Like many of you, we are working from home here at Elūm. As artists, designers and creators we are spending our work days in front of computer screens and easels, fending off dogs and kids and everything that comes with working from home. We have cats purring at our feet, deliveries arriving at our doors, our moms calling to check on the kids. We all have a lot on our plates right now. Some of us, for the very first time, are having to organize and set up a home office. The family is home. The kids are home. A separate space to work is essential. If we’re lucky it’s a separate room, but even if it’s a corner of the living room or dining room, we need to differentiate it from the rest of the house. At minimum we need a desk and a chair and a vibe that says, “This is the place where I work.” We’ve been given a lot of thought to how to create an effective work-from-home space and have come up with a list of our Home Office Essentials. Read on to see how we’re getting the whole family in on the project.

 

To Speak Or Not To Speak

If the hubs or kids or roomie are at home while you’re working they won’t necessarily know when is and isn’t a good time to speak with you. Even if you’re not on the phone or busy typing away at the keyboard you thoughts could still be in the work zone. A homemade sign that you can hang on your door or the back of your chair can let your homies know when you’re open to convo or when you need to keep your head down and work. This can be a great project for the kids. A chalkboard, a piece of wood drilled with holes for string or even a sturdy piece of cardboard cut hotel door “Do Not Disturb” style can all work. Make it reversible and keep it light-hearted like this sign by Piccadilly Pedler. #OfficeCrafts

 

Chairman Of The Board

We understand the temptations of working from home. Around here we call them the “I’ll justs” as in “I’ll just do the dishes before I begin that report” or “I’ll just put the laundry in the dryer before I call the office” or “I’ll just work in my jammies today.” The single most important message having a dedicated office space in our home conveys is that we’re serious about work. When we’re in our office, we think work not housework! The minimum requirements for a home office space are: a desk, a chair, lighting and a fast internet connection. As artists and designers we live for excellent lighting! We’re also learning that while we can be flexible about desks—we can use counter tops, card tables, dining tables—we are passionate about chairs. We need them to be comfortable yet supportive enough to sit on all day. So our #1 home office investment is a fine chair. #ChairFlare

 

Pretty Paper

Nothing lifts our spirits here at Elūm more than seeing fire paper products on our desks. To us, paper is an affordable way to show off our style, change up the look of our desktops and surround ourselves with beautiful, useful things. Our home desktops are stocked with our Big Stack Note Bars for quick note-taking on the fly, our Paradise Weekly Planners for scheduling our busy work week and our Lemon Peach Thanks notes because now, more than ever, we’re grateful for all the smart, wonderful and understanding people we work with. Thanks, guys! Miss seeing your friendly faces every day! #AllInThisTogether

 

Accessories Make Everything Better

The fantastic thing about creating a home office is that you can totally make it your own. If you want a USB cable with a fish at the end of it, go for it! If you’d like a raccoon holding a lightbulb as your desk light we won’t stop you! And if you fancy planting a geranium in a plant pot shaped like a llama we wont just support you—heck, we’d like to see it! #LlamaLove. Accessories are a fun and affordable way to show your flare and take your home office from drab to fab. Working from home has it challenges, let’s do what we can to counter them with creativity and a little light-hearted whimsy. #HomeOfficeHijinks

 

How are you finding setting up a home office? What’s working for you and what are you finding challenging? Do you have any advice you’d like to share? We’re here. Listening, learning.

Anniversary Milestone GIfting Part II

3.13.2020

Quick quiz. If you receive an emerald necklace from the hubs on your anniversary how long have you been married?

A. Fifty-five years
B. Twenty-five years
C. Fifteen years

If you answered a) Fifty-five years you are correct. However, we checked and no one here would complain if we received an emerald necklace before the half century mark! #NoWrongTimeForEmeralds. Welcome to our Anniversary Gifting Guide, Part 2. Need some ideas about what to give your bae on the big day? We are professional celebrationistas here at Elūm and we’re here to help! Read on to see how were surprising our spouses this year.

 

Ten Year, Tin – Congratulations on reaching your first decade as a married couple!

You guys are doing something right. You’re learning and growing together, building a family and working toward a shared vision for the future. Like a good marriage tin is stable, flexible and grows better with age. Tin is also pretty useful, but we’re not about to suggest you give your spouse a muffin tin, a cheese grater or soldering iron. Not if you want to reach year eleven, that is!  When polished, tin becomes very shiny and as Lizzo says, “If I’m shinin’, everybody gonna shine.” Shine some tin love on your partner with delicious chocolates presented in a collectible tin box, arrange a weekend stay in a classic tin-roofed cottage, and stream the hot and steamy classic Cat On A Hot Tin Roof while you listen to the rain fall. #TinSorted

 

Twelve, Silk – You’re into your second decade. Kids, house, career: you’ve got this! 

Silk is all about luxury. Spoil yourself for your twelfth wedding anniversary. Turn your bedroom into a boudoir with ivory silk sheets, a champagne silk robe and a heart-achingly romantic silk roadmap showing the exact location of where you first met. We are swooning over this love map. Swooning! Seriously, where did you two meet? #RoadToLove 

 

Thirteen, Lace – It must be the spring air around here.

How else can we account for our current obsession with naughty British lingerie? Congratulations on your thirteenth anniversary! Gifts of beautiful and intricate lace traditionally celebrate your big day. Lace is created by weaving delicate threads together over time to produce something magical. Sounds like a pretty good definition of marriage to us! Celebrate with a his-and-her gift of a risque lace corset, a batch of freshly baked and decadent lace cookies, and a week long vacay to the world’s capital of lacemaking Bruges, Belgium. #LuckyThirteen

 

Fifteen, Crystal – Crystals are formed under pressure over decades, often centuries.

Like a fifteen year marriage they are precious, unique, and can’t be made overnight. We’re recommending you give your wife a beautiful ocean-blue Swarovksi crystal necklace and whisk her away to the Bahamas where you can visit the exquisite Crystal Caves. And for him? A bottle of vintage Cristal Champagne of course! #NeverSaidWeCouldSpell

 

Twenty,  Porcelain – We admit it, we struggled with this one.

If you’ve been married twenty years we believe you deserve something better than a teacup! Then we remembered that after twenty years you’ve not just built a marriage and a family, you’ve built a home. Porcelain is all about celebrating the home you’ve made together. Bring something beautiful into it with a gilded gardenia, a rose petal vase and one of our most beloved and romantic cards, the weeping willow of hearts.

 

Twenty Five, Silver

If you’ve been married for twenty-five years you’ve built a lot of great memories together. Let the gift of silver be a chance to create some more. Gift yourselves with a rooftop tent and a couple of weeks with no plans or itinerary. Let the open road be your guide. Give her something exquisite where she can keep a special photo next to her heart. And give him a night he’ll never forget by dressing in intoxicating silver. #SilverFoxAllTheWay

 

Thirty, Pearl – Congratulations on reaching Year 30! 

Spending three amazing decades together deserves to be celebrated in style. It’s time to push out the boat with a big pearl-themed blowout!  A breathtakingly lovely pair of pearl earrings, an international bestseller to read on the plane, and two tickets to The Hague, Holland, to wine and dine in this beautiful and historic city, and see Girl With The Pearl Earring by Vermeer in person. #PearlWhirl

 

Forty, Fifty, Sixty, Ruby, Gold, Diamond – What can we say? You have achieved what most of us dream of in our heart of hearts: a long and successful marriage.

Congratulations! You are our heroes. You deserve to be showered in love and celebrated! A beautiful piece of jewelry is a lasting way to honor the life you’ve built together, but we’d also like to suggest you throw the mother-of-all parties too. Kids, grandkids, family, friends: everyone you love gathered in one spot, celebrating the life you and your spouse have created. A fizzy card, some fun balloons, a little bling: you know the deal. You guys wrote the book on it! #BookOfLove

If it’s your anniversary this month, congratulations to you and your spouse from our family here at Elūm. We’d love to know how you’re planning to celebrate.

Anniversary Milestone Gifting Guide Part I

3.05.2020

Quick quiz. If a couple have been married for ten years do you gift them with:

A. a wood salad bowl
B. a wool blanket
C. a set of baking tins

Congratulations if you answered c, a set of baking tins! A couple’s tenth wedding anniversary is traditionally celebrated with gifts of tin. The wood bowl would be gifted to a couple hitting the five year mark and the wool blanket at seven years. It gets confusing pretty quickly. US couples married for eight years traditionally receive the gift of copper while British couples receive salt (here’s hoping it’s the fancy pink Himalayan kind!). It started us thinking. What should we give our spouses this year on our anniversaries? Milestones in marriage deserve to be celebrated. They represent shared laughter, shared tears, shared responsibilities and shared respect. Finances. In-laws. A new house. Kids. Marriages come with equal amounts of rewards and challenges. Honoring those challenges and celebrating those highs means a lot to us at Elūm, it’s why we created our Anniversary Gifting Guide. Read on to see what we’re gifting our spouses and loves ones on their special days this year.

 

One Year, Paper – You know this is our favorite anniversary, right?

It’s no secret we love paper products, celebrations and weddings. Combining all three is about as good as it gets round here! Celebrate your first wedding anniversary with a card that promises more adventures to come, a notepad that encourages you and your partner to share your dreams, and a ticket to a destination jazz festival. It’s amazing how far a humble piece of paper can take you. A picnic lunch on the lawn, a bottle of wine and Norah Jones at the piano singing love songs. We’re down with that! #ElumPaperLove 

 

Three Year, Leather – Hell yeah, we’re going there!

A gift for her, a gift for him, and a gift for both of you! You’ve reached the three year mark, you’re getting the hang of this married thing. You’re a team. And we all know the team that plays together stays together. Under no circumstance give your spouse a leather nut tray (yeah, it’s totally a thing) or key ring. Give them a stunning leather and coral bracelet, a luxe handmade credit card holder, and this saucy leather lingerie set from England. Nothing like a little red leather to help you reach year five!

 

Five Year, Wood – You can’t build a house without wood.

It’s the foundation and framework on which everything else rests. After five years of changing and growing together, of grocery shopping, cooking dinners, resolving disputes and sharing dreams you have that foundation. Spoil your spouse by planning a weekend getaway in a log cabin (built from yours truly, of course), bring cheese and wine and a personalized picnic table engraved with your wedding date, and a box of naughty jenga for those long nights in front of the fire with no TV. Yep, our minds are still there! #DontKnowWhatsGotIntoUs 

 

Six Year, Iron & Sugar – We love a little sugar around here!

You know we’re going to include the UK tradition along with the US tradition on this one! Without molten iron at the earth’s core our compasses would not point true North and the most precious and unique feature of our planet—its atmosphere—would cease to exist. Iron, like a six year anniversary, is a pretty big deal. And without sugar, cookies, cupcakes and the world’s best cocktails would never have happened. We need both sugar and iron to thrive. If you’ve achieved six years of marriage, you know and respect one another. You’re looking at the long game. For your sixth year anniversary take your man for a world class steak (rich in iron, of course). Whisk your wife to Paris to enjoy the best desserts in the world at Pain De Sucre (Sugar Loaf in English), or stay home and buy a cast iron skillet and make a deep-dish chocolate chip cookie. Together you are sugar and iron! #Sweet&Strong

 

Seven Year, Wool – Because well, who wouldn’t love a nice cashmere sweater?

Wool is one of the world’s most resilient fabrics. It’s strong, insulating, resilient and flexible. If that’s not a formula for a long marriage we don’t know what is! We love wool because it’s a renewable and cruelty-free resource. And because we adore newborn lambs.  After seven years you’re heading toward your first decade as a married couple. You’ve overcome obstacles and setbacks and stuck together through thick and thin. You deserve a hug. Give yourself a warm and fluffy one with an heirloom Pendleton blanket. Treat your sweetie to a once-in-a-lifetime trip to New Zealand (we hear they have a whole lot of sheep there), slow down, knit something, drop a few stitches. Get cozy. #NoSevenYearItchHere

 

Check back for our next Anniversary Gifting post where we take it all the way! We’d love to hear how you’re planning to celebrate your next anniversary with your beloved.

Spring Wedding

2.26.2020

A new season means new engagements, new trends in fashion and decor and a chance to create the wedding of our dreams. It’s 2020 and that means we have the freedom to play by the rules or throw those rules out and make our own! This year weddings are all about creating meaningful, sustainable, unique and endearing experiences for our bridal party and our guests. Whether it’s close family in the backyard, a sit down dinner for a hundred at a local vineyard or a blowout destination wedding in Bali the emphasis this spring is on celebrating true love while being truly ourselves.

Our founder Melissa started Elūm to celebrate couples getting married. The very first piece printed on our letterpress was a wedding invitation! For nineteen years we have been thrilled and honored to help couples create the weddings of their dreams. We love, love, love being part of your big day. This year we’re excited that brides and grooms have more options than ever to plan a wedding that captures all the wonderful, diverse, heart-achingly beautiful magic of two people in love. Read on to discover what wedding trends we’re falling for this season.

1. Finesse The Dress

In our humble opinion there has never been a better time to be a bride. We can show off different aspects of our personality and style with a wedding dress and a reception dress (think Megan Markle, Zoë Kravitz and Ellie Goulding). Not to mention the bride and groom’s first dance just got a whole lot easier. Let’s face it a formal full-length fitted gown has never been a gal’s best dance partner. Victorian high ruffled collars and lace sleeves are vibing this spring for the ceremony while flirty numbers with short skirts and full bling are heading to the reception and onto the dance-floor. Another major trend is personalized embroidery. When we saw Hailey Bieber’s “Till Death Us Do Part” veil we swooned.

2. Sustainability

Brides and grooms are bringing their Earth cred to their wedding planning by making a concerted effort to reduce the carbon footprint of their celebrations. Small but powerful changes can include using water pitchers and glasses rather than plastic water bottles, choosing locally grown flowers, donating leftover food and floral displays, and repurposing table fabrics and decorations. Party architect extraordinaire Johnny Roxburgh tells of one client who had her beautiful reception tablecloths made into curtains. You go, girl! Give those curtains a couple of years and they might even become a dress! #ScarlettOhara

3. Precious Paper

A wedding invitation sets the tone for the entire celebration. It speaks to guests about what to expect from your wedding and even more importantly who you will become as a couple. This spring we’re continuing to hand print invitations on soft and beautiful repurposed cotton rag paper with soy-based inks. More than ever we see couples leaning in to invites that shine light on their personalities and hopes for the future, like the effervescent and joyous invitations we created for Matt Farah and his beautiful bride Johanna that were featured in @theknot. We are honored to create a wide variety of invites from our one-of-a-kind couture pieces to our more affordable Umi by Elum options. When we sleep at Elum, we dream of weddings! ?

4. Grooming

We are all over this British trend that sees the groom and his groomsmen taking an active role in their outfits and grooming choices. We are all for the groom and his ushers spending a day spoiling themselves at the tailors over whiskey and charcuterie! And we are proud supporters of dedicated groomsmen spaces at venues where the male stars of our weddings can shave, dress, primp and moisturize their hearts out! (Okay, we admit it, we’re mostly women around here. We have no idea what guys get up to in front of the mirror. But whatever it is we darn well support it!). #GroomGoals

5. Sensory Delight

We all know weddings are a feast for our eyes and soul, but the latest trend in weddings is seeing them transform into a feast for all our senses. From wedding invites that are soft to the touch, to velvet tablecloths and tall grasses lining the aisle couples are looking for ways to create a touchable experience for their guests. Small things like whisper-soft draping around the arch at the altar, soft cushions and throw blankets, cut crystal glasses and bubbles floating through the air invite guests to touch and enjoy their surroundings. Fresh cut lemons at the drinks bar, vanilla candles in the church, roses at the table: couples are also giving thought to our sense of smell. The more senses we engage the more surprise and delight we create for our guests. Weddings may be a one time event but our senses can help us remember them for a lifetime.

If you’re tying the knot this spring, congratulations from our family at Elūm to yours! We wish you Champagne bubbles and tummy flutters, something old and something blue, one hundred magical moments and a long and nurturing marriage. Let us know if we can help. #ElumLove

Elūm Valentine

1.30.2020

We are hopeful romantics here at Elūm. We believe in red roses, tender kisses, long or short engagements, shared dreams, shared lives and true love. We’d like to hold a big Greek wedding where everyone gets to catch the bouquet. We believe that everyone, regardless of gender, race or sexual orientation deserves to be loved and treasured and that with the right person, every day can be Valentine’s Day. It’s in the small everyday acts—cooking dinner, exchanging texts, a hand on the small of our backs as we walk through a door—that true love truly shines. Valentine’s Day allows us to shout at the top of our voices “You are my one and only!” We’re down with that. And lucky for you we are professional celebrationistas (totally a word, right?) who are here to help you slay it on the big day. Read on to discover our Valentine’s dreams.

Our offices in San Diego are an hour’s drive from the World’s Avocado Capital in Fallbrook California so you know we’re going to combine our love of avocados with our love of Valentine’s. Our Truly Avo Half Card is wholly guacamole and packed with heart-healthy nutrients. Now if we could just get a side of toast!

Is there anything more romantic than camping under the stars? A camper van, a campfire, a soft blanket and you. We’ll lie side by side, holding hands, watching the Milky Way. If we’re lucky we’ll see a shooting star and make a wish. Our wish would be to stay forever in this moment with you. We created Our Binge Watching Stars Card to capture all the infinite possibilities of a night sky and two people in love.

 

You don’t have to be a unicorn to be magical. Hedgehogs manage it without rainbows or spirally horns. Hedgehogs are so extra they even have their own cafe. It’s in Tokyo which is a long way to travel for Valentine’s. However we thought we’d create our very own hedgehog hug right here at home. And here’s how we know hedgehogs are magical: When they blow bubbles they turn into hearts. #HedgeHearts

 

If your partner believes the most awesome sauce is soy sauce, that rice was made to be sticky and life has no meaning without wasabi, then our Sushi Cuddles Card is for you. Reserve a table at his or her favorite sushi place this Valentine’s, grab an Uber, don’t tell your love where you’re headed, and then hand them this card halfway. Sushi surprise! That’s how we roll in California. #CaliforniaRoll

We like to think of our Valentine Kits as slam dunks. They are everything you need to spread the love far and wide this Valentine’s. With twenty-four cards in each kit and twenty-four adorable favors, you can send a Hundo P cuteness to teachers, coworkers, family members and just about anyone who catches your fancy.  Our kits come in Football, Space, Wildlife and other fun and delightful themes. You can pick them up at your local TjMaxx, Marshalls or HomeGoods. #ValentineInABox

Warning: Receipt of this card does not guarantee its sender will actually be wearing fancy undies. She reserves the right to switch them out for granny pants without notice.

Now we’ve got the legals out of the way, let’s not forget that Valentine’s Day extends all the way to Valentine’s Night. #OohLaLa

We celebrate Gay pride, facial hair and love here at Elūm! We are pro ‘tache. And will defend your right to sport a ‘tache even when you’re drinking a foamy mug of beer (though we may hand you a napkin when you’re done!). We believe in inclusion and fusion and everything that brings us closer together not farther apart. And we proudly design, create and print cards that celebrate all the milestones of same sex love.

Is your honey glued to her phone? Is your bae beside himself when the wifi’s down? If so you may need a Valentine’s card that speaks their language. It’s a special language, first spoken by engineers in Sweden. It’s called Bluetooth. You may have heard of it. This year we’ve created a card that translates Bluetooth into the universal language of love. #TakeThatShakespeare

Okay, we admit it. We’re artists and designers, not writers. We get blushy and tongue-tied when it comes to love. Barry White helps. He wrote the romance playbook: Can’t Get Enough Of Your Love, Baby, Just The Way You Are, You’re My First, My Last, My Everything. If you’re like us, however, and have something to tell your loved one but can’t seem to find the right words to say it, our No Words Valentine can help. Because sometimes love is as infinite as the stars and to write it down is to lessen it. #BigLoveNoWords

I told you we’re romantics! How do you plan on showing your love this Valentine’s?

Hashtag 2020

1.17.2020

We’re excited here at Elūm. It’s a new year and a new decade, one with the best possible name: 2020! Yep, we have officially entered the Soaring Twenties! Will we have flying cars, teleportation and a lip gloss that actually stays on all day? We don’t think so, but we’re psyched anyway! A new year is a chance for a new beginning, and we believe we can all take small steps to make the world a better place and become our best selves. Now that the New Year’s confetti has been swept away and the Champagne bottles are in the recycling, we’re ready for our New Year’s Revolution. Read on to see how we’re hash-tagging the new decade.

1. #RevolutionNotResolutions

Photo by Catherine Jones on Istock via Getty Images

We are not going to beat ourselves up about breaking our New Year’s resolutions. Missed a workout? Got the old fashioned glazed donut instead of the Egg Bites at Starbucks? Blew your budget on a pair of bougie over-the-knee boots in the January sales? Don’t worry you’re in good company. Over a third of us break our New Year’s resolutions before the end of January and only 10% of us manage to keep our resolutions for an entire year. So let’s start by making 2020 the year we say no unrealistic goals.

2. #KindnessRocks

Photo By Kevin Butz on Unsplash

Kindness matters. We’re pledging to be kinder this year than we were last year. We’re giving up our seats on public transport so someone else can take the weight off for a while. We’re returning our grocery carts to the return receptacle—even when it’s raining. We’re going to actively look for ways to help those around us in the office, at school and at home. We believe small acts of kindness accumulate to make a kinder world. #KindnessRocks

3. #EarthDadsAreExtra

Photo by Lacey Williams on Unsplash

3. We’re going to cherish and sustain our beautiful blue planet. Every day we’re going to be mindful of our choices and the footprints they leave on the earth. We’re going to be recyclers and regifters, and water-wise, plant positive, tree-planting fools! And we pledge to think of our fathers every time we switch off a light or close a door when we leave a room. “No, we weren’t born in a barn, Dad!”

4. #LearnSomethingNew

Photo by NESA by Makers on Unsplash

4. We’re going to learn something new this year. Calligraphy, guitar lessons, line dancing, coding, sign language: when 2020 ends we pledge to have something new to offer the world. We may not be plucking the guitar strings like Eric Clapton by year’s end, but if we can sign “Hello”, “How are you?” and “Thank you” in American Sign Language we can at least start a conversation. #LearnSomethingNew

5. #WomenHelpingWomen

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

5. We’re embracing the mantra, “If one woman succeeds all women succeed.” We believe in women helping women at elūm. We walk the walk every day. This year we’ll be seizing every opportunity we can to encourage, support and elevate the women in our lives. In our workplace, our social circles and the charities we engage with we’ll be actively looking for ways to lend women a hand at home and around the world.

6. #StrongForThoseWeLove

Photo by Simon Migaj on Unsplash

6. We’re going to take time for self care. We’re mothers, fathers, daughters, sons, wives, husbands, artists, designers, soccer moms, head cooks and bottle washers. We have a lot on our plates and our natural inclination is to care for others at our own expense. In 2020 we pledge to carve out a couple of hours each week to care for ourselves. Arrange a mammogram, a massage, make it an early night, read a book and recharge. In 2020 we’re going to remind ourselves that in order to be strong for the people we love we need to be strong for ourselves first.

7. #SingleTasking

Photo by Djim Loic on Unsplash

7. Be present. Our lives are increasingly crazy and our attention is pulled a dozen ways. Our phones are pinging, our laptops are dinging, our To Do Lists are off the charts, and that report needs to be turned in by Friday. We tell ourselves we’re multitasking, but numerous studies have demonstrated that what we’re actually doing is hopping from task-to-task. A moment here, a few second there. Our attention is divided, and our focus and our passion is diminished. How can we give our full attention to the project we’re working on or the person we’re with while we’re checking facebook for updates? This year we’re pledging to spend less time being in two places at once and more time being in the moment.

8. #SoaringTwenties

Photo by Jude Beck on Unsplash

8. Recognize joy, embrace joy, bring it! We pledge to dance like no one’s watching in 2020, to buy waterproof mascara ‘cos we know we’re going to ugly cry, share smiles with the baristas who make our lattes every morning, laugh with our aunties about the good old days, swap dumb jokes with our nieces and nephews, bake cakes with sprinkles, sing in the shower and send cards to folk just because we can! We’ll stand ready to light up the room but will be just as happy when someone else lights it up instead. Because one way or another 2020 is going to be lit!

These are our hashtags for the new millennium. What are yours?