Letterpress: Good Luck Dala Horse

This card was a lot of inspiration merging into one little card. I recently got back form a trip to Sweden where I purchased myself a little plain wooden dala horse. I grew up with my parents displaying a classic red one in their home and wanted a small one of my own. My grandfather on my mother’s side is partially Swedish, so I always thought of him when I saw it.

I was about to do a run of other cards and needed to fill in some blank space on the order I was about to do. So I checked what I had in stock and found a bundle of classic red envelopes left. This color immediately trigged the dala horses I had just seen in Sweden so I quickly sketched one in illustrator.

These little horses can symbolize a lot of things. Even the color of each horse means something though red is traditional. In most homes they stand for strength, courage and happiness. And yet some believe that they bring good luck. I decided to pair the horse with the Swedish, “Lycka till” for this later belief. The color red too is well known as a color of good fortune.

These horses always make me think of family and I am thankful to own one of my own now. These cards were quick to print and came out beautifully. They are printed on 100% cotton paper and I paired them with the classic envelopes I had already. My logo is on the back in grey ink.

Head over to Etsy to pick up a little dala horse card today.