Keepsake Ornament Chat

Hallmark presents

October 16, 2001

Read the chat with two Keepsake artists on hand tonight - Joanne Eschrich and Sue Tague.

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Meta Description: Hallmark presents two Keepsake artists on hand tonight - Joanne Eschrich and Sue Tague

Description: Read the chat with two Keepsake artists on hand tonight -Joanne Eschrich and Sue Tague.

Hallmark: Welcome to our Keepsake Ornament Artist Chat! We're delighted to have two Keepsake artists on hand tonight - Joanne Eschrich and Sue Tague. This is your chance to ask them about their Keepsake Creations and all the behind-the-scenes inspiration (and work!) that goes into them. And don't forget to visit Hallmark.com for your chance to win the entire Frostlight Faerie collection! Spend $50 on Hallmark.com between 10/15/01 and 11/15/01, and you'll be automatically registered to win. (Visit Hallmark.com for complete details.)

Sue Tague: We're happy to be here to answer any questions you have about our ornaments. If you want to reference anything specific, you might give us a small description, because many times the ornaments are named after we've designed them and we're not familiar with what they're called in the Dream Book. Welcome, and if you have any questions.go to it.

Joanne Eschrich: Hello from me, too. We're excited about doing this. This is our first time. I'll say hi to my family - my little girls, Jamie and Anna.

Michelle: How long does it take you to sculpt an ornament?

Sue Tague: Michelle, we're usually given about a week to do the actual sculpting, but leading up to that there's conception time or sketches to give our ideas. There's a time when they mold the ornaments into a form that we can paint in original paint, and we're given a week to do that. So, it probably takes about a month altogether.

Joanne Eschrich: From sketch to finish.

Sue Tague: It takes about two years for an ornament to totally go from the time we concept it until the time it's on the market. It's usually about a two-year time period.

Susan: How long have you worked at Hallmark?

Joanne Eschrich: Susan, I just celebrated my 20th year! I don't want to give that out all over the country, though. (grin) Of course, I started at the age of 12. I started right out of college in Massachusetts.

Sue Tague: I started 37 years ago right from college. I was going to be here one year and before I knew it, it was 37 years.

Leverne: Sue, which was the first ornament you sculpted?

Sue Tague: The first ornament was a 1973 fall ornament which actually wasn't sculpted. It was a two-dimensional piece that they wrapped around a glass ball. The first sculpted piece I did was in 1974. It was a little boy in a bunny suit with a couple of bunnies around him. It was an Easter party favor that turned into a Merry Miniature.

BigP24: Do you enjoy doing projects like Santa's Desk, where you get to work with the other artists?

Sue Tague: It's fun.

Joanne Eschrich: Yes, it's fun. Time consuming, but fun.

Sue Tague: We don't get much time on those at all. We usually just take a couple weeks. They need to be done in a week's time.

Corvette Elaine: Have you ever been recognized when traveling?

Sue Tague: I haven't, unless it's at an artist's show.

Joanne Eschrich: If they do recognize us, they're usually too embarrassed to come up to us because they're not sure where they know you from. The most rewarding time is when you walk into a Hallmark store (like I've done in Massachusetts) and the workers recognize you there. Usually, if a customer recognizes us, they're a little shy to come up and say anything.

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