Dear Everyone ~
Valentine’s Day is around the calendar corner, and we are at the ready with a hearty array of Valentinear supplies and inspirations. We hope these papery pleasures will make your heart sing as much as your recipients’. Here are a few of our favourite things to do with the supplies we love.
Front & Center: Cambridge Imprint’s Origami Heart Bunting kits, whether you’re making an entire garland or merely in the mood to fold a myriad of hearts to give out—to your heart’s content. CI recently refreshed the box’s covering with their Bean Summer Pudding pattern; the kit also includes four sheets of that design.
Ruby decided to garland our in-shop counter with Cambridge Imprint origami hearts… and as she began to fold… inspiration knocked, or whispered. “I improvised an additional, optional way to give the heart a subtle and sweet extra roundedness. I folded down the small points at the top middle of the heart—on either side of the middle fold—onto the back, just a touch, to align with the horizontal fold on the back of the heart. Whether you prefer your heart to be more acute or obtuse is up to you!” We say V for virtuosity and voluptuo’sity!
Also from Cambridge Imprint are ruby-rosy-blushy small labels that look lovely on almost any surface, from an envelope to a Glue Jr. jar, from a gift-tag to a notebook.
Scene below is one of my Origami-esque gusset envelopes from our Hand-folding Envelope Happiness workshop, pouring forth tiny origami hearts. May we say charmola?
Bird Valentine is our freshest design from Denise Fiedler at Paste, and we had a chance to ask her about it. She started by saying, “I work so intuitively, I don’t actually think about what I’m making in a way I can express.” Maybe that’s partly why we like her work so much… but can’t exactly say why!
Denise spontaneously shared her philosophy of Valentine’s Day in general, “We all have love inside us, and we manifest it by our presence as well as by our actions. Valentine’s Day is all about the other person. I use animals to ‘deliver’ love. Birds to me symbolize spirit, so a small bird delivering an oversized Valentine seemed natural to me. I used a vintage label and selected a soft, romantic font.” So, we had to ask Denise about a big animal, her elephant. She said, “The elephant’s eye conveys emotion—if I were to illustrate a person, it would be less universal, the wrong gender, the wrong age, etc.—and the elephant is presenting the flowers through his trunk, which is how he breathes. So, it’s a breath of love, even if you don’t analyze it and just enjoy the image.”
As for Denise’s floral cards, we always love them… and we happen to know that her studio is in a former florist’s shop.
Two of my beloved paper-iest correspondents have sent me a joint valentine. Alyson, a.k.a. My Postal Muse, and her niece Audrey each wrote me a little love note, enveloped with a multitude of LOVE stamps, and my name in Audrey’s signature stripes. In stationery serendipity, they share the same initials, ARK. A mutual correspondent has taken to addressing them as ARK I and ARK II. Their envelope to me is the debut of ARK x 2! In our forthcoming Valentinear post, I'll decant their envelope for you in delightful detail.
And last but nary least, the latest addition to our Pencil Shaving greeting card repertoire is sure to make a recipient’s heart smile from ear to ear, as we love to say. And Ruby is going to hand embellish one to enchant & entice, as you will see.
We wish you many heart-filled & inspired moments whilst assembling & sending your warmest wishes to your nearests and dearests.
Origami Heart Bunting kits
PasteSF collage cards
Pencil Shaving greeting cards
Valentinian labels
Share the love freely, Bari