Nina Aubé

Hallmark Ornaments by Nina Aubé

(1994-2023)

Nina Aubé joined the Keepsake Studio in 1994 and retired in 2023. Her best-known series, Mischievous Kittens, began in 1999, but her work also reaches Cookie Cutter Christmas, Christmas Window, Cozy Critters, club pieces, family milestones, and interactive designs. Animals, people, and buildings all become small scenes in which gaze, pose, and spacing reveal a relationship.

Star of the Show belongs near the start of her Hallmark chronology. Its single performer must suggest an entire event through stance and expression. The artist credit uses Nina Aube, the unaccented form of her surname found on several catalog entries.

Primera Navidad de Bebé marks a baby's first Christmas in Spanish. Here the exact wording matters as much as the sculpture because the language identifies the family memory being honored. The design shows Aubé's work beyond animal comedy and annual series.

The Voice Changing Elf asks the owner to finish the performance. A person records a message, and the ornament plays it back as an elf voice. Unlike a fixed sound clip, every recording can be different. The figure still needs a clear North Pole personality when silent, so its face and clothing support the feature rather than merely surrounding it.

Let's Build a Snowman! uses several characters and one shared task, closer to the group storytelling seen in Aubé's window scenes. Its club status describes how it was offered, while the figures' positions explain what they are building.

Aubé's interest in tiny worlds began early: as a child, she made a felt vest and leash for her pet gerbil. That unusual childhood project fits the affectionate observation later seen in dressed animals and comic pets. Her ornaments often reward more than a front view because tails, window interiors, and one character's glance may complete the joke from the side.