A Sweet Day

Hello, my friends and Happy Valentine’s Day to you!  I hope you are able to incorporate some satisfying degree of sweet into your day. I know that, for some, Valentine’s Day, can be an unpleasant experience.  But for me, I don’t remember so much the romantic love or lack thereof.  Instead, on this day, I remember how when growing up, my Mom would always give me a sweet card, stuffed animal, or some edible treat.  At the time, I don’t know how much I thought about these little gestures, but I think they all had a potent result – they reinforced a sense of what it is to be loved.  So profoundly important for a child, I think, in that it sets up an expectation as an adult that one deserves to be loved.  Thanks, Mom.  I love you lots and lots.

Thankfully, my last few posts here were prepared weeks in advance.  So while I was grotesquely ill, they kept my home in the ether from languishing.  Happily I can say that today’s post is  impromptu, the result of feeling better, although I can’t believe I am still hacking up so much junk, a fresh batch each morning yuck – so very attractive to my mate, I’m sure :-/.  But I am catching up.   While ill, I ordered some roses –  as they are a much more significant financial investment than seeds, I thought long and hard before adding some into the mix.  I shall have some old roses, some new ones, a few of them climbers, all heavily fragranced, and all, hopefully, future sources of artistic inspiration.  They just arrived, so until the phlegmy lungs let me know when I have to stop, I shall be doing a bit of digging today.  Oh, if you are interested in seeing which ones I chose, I pinned them all on my Roses Board.

So far, LOVE DAY has been just right –  our furry/human  crew did some major dog-piling first thing this morning, breakfast consisted of some some yummy steel-cuts oats topped with raspberries and drizzles of honey and cream.  I shall craft and dig this afternoon before enjoying homecooked surf & turf a la hubbie, and molten chocolate cake a la yours truly.  So many words… Worry not, I won’t leave you without a little love craft inspiration.  This is a card I made using a great, versatile Bigz shape die from Sizzix called Leaves, Tear Drop, along with Core’dinations cardstock from their Pastels Collection.

A little hearty, a little knitty.  This die cuts teardrop shapes in a nice variety of sizes.

I arranged several of the small ones in a pattern like that you see in columns of knit stitches.  The Xyron X Sticker Maker saved me loads of time by getting the pieces adhered quickly and easily.   As far as dies go, this basic shape has so much potential and I highly recommend it!

Loving my pearl pens these days, and decided to use a soft blue for a little, precious embellishment.

I hope you enjoy your day, and take the opportunity to let someone know that he/she is loved.

-Vivian