I'm normally not very good at corresponding by snail mail, and even sending Christmas cards has fallen by the wayside the past few years, though I still love receiving them. It's rare for me to hand-write a letter, especially since I work on the computer so much and type pretty fast.
But, I have always loved Valentine's Day and have fond memories of decorated valentine boxes stuffed with hand-made cards, back in 1st to about 4th grades at Smith School. I wanted to make something this year from alpaca felt, and combine it with hearts and sewing and to give them to some of the women in my life that mean a lot to me.
I gathered some of the materials I love- red burlap, cute fabrics, and scrapbook paper, and even some paper Trader Joe's bags, without any idea of how I wanted to assemble everything. First, I made the pins from hand-dyed alpaca felt, cutting heart shapes with pinking shears (I LOVE pinking shears, don't you?) and then sewing on hearts of coordinating fabric with zig-zag stitch.
I wrote a kinda corny/sappy but heartfelt poem, and printed it on scrapbook paper, trimmed it out with the pinking shears, and sewed it to the backside, signing each one in red ink.
I found lots of online tutorials on how to make envelopes,
here's one, and used a poster-board template to cut the envelopes from the Trader Joe's bags, leaving the printed side out. I made label tags from the brown paper as well, and glued them to the outside with mod podge. Homemade envelopes will definitely be on my agenda from now on, as they were fun and easy to make and added a unique touch.
Feel free to use any of my ideas, and Happy Valentines to All!
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I've been pretty busy trying to get things made to sell, and with home schooling our daughter its pretty hard to carve out time so I've been getting up early. I love my studio in the early morning especially, and I do lots of things to help inspire and keep it a pleasant work space.
Oftentimes I light a candle, and I have surrounded myself with artwork that I love (especially the fun and upbeat pieces of my friend, Marti. Podcasts make the time go quickly, and I hope to write an entire post about my favorites soon.
I got this cool star light at the Kalamazoo Museum of Art's gift shop, and it makes me smile.
The refrigerator is an idea board, and I even have magnets that I love.
My studio is definitely not as organized as some I read about in the pages of magazines, but it's my happy place and every once in a while I make something that turns out pretty okay. (This is a funky nuno-felted scarf that I completed today.)
There's really no excuse for me not to create... when the sun starts to hit the palisades on the opposite side of the river I feel the most inspired of all, and I'm ready to start teaching!
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