1. Materiality
Don’t worry about archival quality, Get over it. Grab a pair of scissors and go ephemeral.
Use cheap and fun materials that you haven’t used since grade school, such as
glitter, doilies, stickers, crayons, and tape. You can spend a lot of money or none. It’s time to scour the junk drawers and baskets and find those cool wrappers you couldn’t throw out.
It’s a great time to recycle and use up saved detritus, like postcards, and ticket stubs.
2. Message
It is all about generosity of spirit. Receiving and creating Valentines are meant to alleviate sorrows and burdened hearts. They aren’t about whether you are loved or not- they are playful exchanges of color and whimsy. Make one for the mailman! Give one to the cook at the restaurant! Share with strangers. (Though – I once gave one to an older gentleman who regularly sat in the last pew of my church. I was grateful for the way he always offered a smile when I needed it most. He pulled me aside the following week to nervously tell me that he was a confirmed bachelor!)
3. Method
Play. Be silly. Cultivate a little garden of color in your own heart.
Lighten up. As the winter darkness weighs heavily on most of us, I believe
the crafting of frilly pink cards can be a spring to the spirit. Let it all
hang out. Creating these small tokens of color can be a meditation on all the connections we have to each other.
Don’t be so self-important. Create free art!
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