It's no secret Valentines Day is actually an old tradition, celebrating Saint Valentine. What you may not know is that Valentine was an early Christian Martyr, buried in Italy on the 14th of February. (Although, confusingly, Malta claims to have his relics.) The details of Valentine's life are long lost, but it seems he was a priest who refused to denounce Christ before the Roman Emperor and was beheaded. Not nice.Strange then that 'Valentines' is generally a super-sweet celebration these days (possibly due to a poem by Chaucer - but that's another post). A quick look at Valentines-craft on the web shows lots of pink, red, frills, and lace... But what if you or your loved-one, is more of a teen-twilight-theme kind of person, and Valentines is so sickly sweet it gives you a toothache?
When I was a teenager we had our own vampires to love. With Vampire-novels tucked under elbows, we were all swooning over the Vampire Lestat and quaking at Salems Lot. 'Our' vampires were a dusty crew, they would never have shimmered like diamonds in my day!
Today's "I love hearty-craft" challenge is for 'something old.' It takes inspiration from dangerous-love, disturbing books, and some old-fashioned artwork. The three items could be given together or each on its own.
The first craft is the heart-in-a-bottle. The idea came to me while reading a strange book to my children called "The Heart and the Bottle" by Oliver Jeffers. Print out a heart-graphic, place it in a mason jar or decorative bottle, and 'give your heart' to the one you love.
Craft two comes from the classic love story of Snow White who was done in with a poisoned apple then kissed back to life. This V-Day you could recreate the romance by giving a 'posioned' apple to the one you love, then help resuscitate them after the first bite.
If that's all too 'eew' for you, simply get a cute-as card (I stuck a printout of a vintage postcard onto blood-red card stock), and then set fire to it. Yep. You read right. Set fire to it. I highly recommend you do it over a water-filled kitchen sink as you might be surprised how quickly the flames take off. I burnt two corners, then dipped the card in water to put it out. The water made the red paper 'bleed' onto the postcard which enhanced the overall effect.
You'll find the 'heart' graphic and vintage valentines card on the graphics fairy website, and the 'poison' label came from the royalty-free DoverPictura "Label Art" book with CD.
If none of this was to your taste - ha ha - fear not - there's lots of feminine craft to come over the next few days.
The Valentines Printpapers will go on sale shortly at PartycraftSecrets.com and don't forget to join facebook for your chance to win a personalised set of printpapers.
