Tuesday, January 19, 2016

Another Valentine and a Question or Two

Love, love, love the simplicity of this little card!!!!

Card size 4 7/8" x 3 3/8"


The sentiment is from Papertrey's Keep It Simple: Valentines. That font is adorable and made me squeal with delight! The whole Keep It Simple line is brilliant, actually. The trio of hearts is from Papertrey's Love Birds set. The smaller size of the card is just right for Valentine's Day.

Now for some questions.

How many Valentine's Day cards do you make and, more importantly, send?

Typically, I only give them to my husband and sons, but this year I'm making more and sending them to my niece and nephews, sister, mom, an aunt and uncle, and perhaps a few others. The uncle sends me a valentine every year, so I figure it's time to send him some love, too. This change is really provoked more by Operation Write Home closing than anything else. It's fun to make valentines, so why not still make them and just send them myself instead of sending them to someone else to send?

Does that make sense?

But some people see Valentine's Day as a day to celebrate romantic love only, at least for adults. That seems sensible to me, too, as a part of my simple self resents how over-blown so many holidays have become. (Yes, Halloween, I'm talking about YOU!)

I'm curious what y'all think. Do you go crazy for Valentine's Day, or do you, like my sister, roll your eyes and wait for all the pink and red hearts to go away?

Note: I honestly don't think there's a right or wrong answer here...just personal preference and philosophy. I'm just interested in your thinking on the subject! 

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Love Birds, Keep It Simple Valentine
ink: SU real red, Memento Luxe tuxedo black
paper: Papertrey white
accessories: silver metallic marker, craft foam, glue

23 comments:

  1. I used to make Valentine's cards, when my son still went to school. There were some great ladies working there, and I figured they would appreciate it. I don't think I will make any cards specifically for Valentine's Day this year.

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  2. When I first read your question my initial response was No. I do not make valentine cards. Then I stopped and thought, why not? Many years ago, before I started making my own cards, I felt like a lot of the card giving holidays were there to serve the card making companies, and I decided I didn't want to be told when to send a card. So I quit. Now that I am making my own cards, I send them when ever I want someone to know I am thinking about them. So I guess I do send 'valentines', just not on the prescribed day.
    Lu C

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  3. Valentines are big in our house. I make class sets for my two kids, my classroom and my mothers classroom - about 100. My kids always help by doing all die die cutting and punching. DS loves peeling the backing off the double-sided tape.
    Sometimes I'll tack on one or two more class sets for close friends if they cover the cost of supplies. These are usually pencil tops, bag toppers, ruler holders or something to make a "gift" to the recipient. I usually have about 10 designs to keep from going insane with boredom. I then do personal cards for DH and my children.
    I find winter is so dreary up north that anything to make someone smile is a great idea. Valentine's is a great time to celebrate friendship and thinking of you without the pressure of holiday expectations. (No expensive gifts and we don't do candy.) I often send Valentine cards to family instead of Christmas cards but this is because I am not trying to write report cards now, unlike the last week of November and the first week of December.

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  4. First up, I love the simplicy of you card.
    The answer to both of your questions is NO. Before I turned 21 or so, I had never even heard of Valentine's day, not until a friend showed me the card she had received from a friend. In the Netherlands, where I grew up, Valentine's day was not on the calendar and neither was Halloween, not until more recent years that is. So I've never felt the urge to make or send Valentine's cards or Halloween cards for that matter. I'm always happy when challenge blogs get past this Valentine/Halloween spell.

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  5. Mother's Day and Valentine's Day are two holidays where I liked to send lots of cards to lots of people ... every one appreciates receiving evidence that they are respected and loved.

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  6. In theory I love Valentines cards, in reality I'm often delinquent in getting cards made and sent! I always view Valentines as a great time to tell people you care about them. I do have a goal to give and send more cards this year, so we shall see if I meet it!!

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  7. My card recipients are usually the same 8 to 10 people on my list so I make about that many cards for nearly every occasion except for Christmas when the list is quadrupled. I love making cards clean and simple and take so many ideas from site. Thank you.

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  8. I'm with 'unknown' on this one......I send cards when I want folk to know they are in my thoughts.

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  9. I usually give a Valentine to my hubs and my daughter. But, like you, I love to make Valentine cards. So this year, I'm gonna make them and send to lots of folks. And while they won't all be gushy, lovey-dovey type cards, they will will have a Valentine vibe.

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  10. Love Valentines day and I generally just card my Hubby and my little gal but I was thinking I should give some good gal pals a card too!
    My favorite part about all the Valentine stuff is you can use it all year round so I don't mine a ton of hearts flowers and the Love stuff!

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  11. For quite a few years, I've been sending Valentines to my single (for a variety of reasons) friends. #1: I don't think we always tell our friends how much they mean to us, and, #2: It warms their hearts...every time. #3: I think it is especially important when romantic love is not a part of someone's life now; I don't believe in Holidays that make us feel bad or sad.

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  12. My first thought is always phooey about Valentine's Day. As a widow, I don't have my DH to make a card for. But, I do have 3 wonderful grandkids and they always get a valentine. It is more difficult to make one for my grandson, though. Because of the above comments, I think I shall make one for each of my daughters this year. TFS

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  13. I make (and send) 40-45 valentines to those on our Christmas card list (because I'm too busy and tired to make Christmas cards)and to friends and several widows at our church. Other than that, Valentine's Day is just another day of the week. Back to the craft room to finish making valentines...

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  14. Well, it has been interesting reading the responses. I make and send about 17-20 Valentines. The thing that makes it difficult for me is that I really -- for a reason that totally escapes me -- dislike heart images. I don't care for heart shaped jewelry either. I can't stand the sentiment "from the heart". BUT I like to let people who mean a lot to me, whether family or friends, know that I care about them and that they touch my life each in their own way. Valentines fulfill this need that I have. I don't like sloppy, sentimental, sweet cards but also don't like to be flippant. The whole thing is always a bit of a dilemma for me, but one way or another I still manage to make several cards and mail them. (I seem to have a lot of friends who MAKE cards but never MAIL cards!! What's with that????

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  15. I LOVE your card. I wish I saw it before I made mine :) I make (and send) about 20-25 cards to my family and to the elderly shut ins at my church. I really don't like all of the Valentine's day sets that are out there because I don't like the whole 'love you' when I make them for people I just want to send some cheer. I think having a 'holiday' (even Halloween) makes it easier to figure out what to make. Thanks for the great topic to go with the eye candy :)

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  16. I'm with your sister on this one...along with a few other holidays. However, this is the 3rd year I'm sending birthday cards to the birthday lists on 2 groups I belong to...now THAT I enjoy!

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  17. I don't send any or be bothered with it..I thought it was a day to send a card to your one true love?? I think it odd to send to many my thoughts love your cards!!

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  18. I make them for my grandchildren, and also for a few good friends that I appreciate and love. But I don't make the hearts/lace type, and actually do feel relieved when the fixation with hearts/pink/red fades. But then I'm right with you about Halloween. ugh.:-)

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  19. I like making a card or too with reference to valentine incase someone wants one but tend to go with love cards that I can send any old time. One of my sons will usually ask me to make a card for his love but thats it really.

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  20. I do like your card. I make two cards for my grandchildren. I do not like a lot of pink and red, and I do not like most of the sentiments for Valentine's Day so my two cards are simple, usually on craft card stock, and no "mushy" sentiments.

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  21. I just like the idea of sending "I care about you" cards to my friends.

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  22. Oh honey! Valentine's Day is what started all this madness. In kindergarten when we made heart shaped paper mailboxes for ourselves and then Valentines to put in everyone's mailbox I was hooked. I still say that is why I am the paper crafter/mail addict that I am today. Like Christmas cards, the amount that gets sent varies by how many I made. I have a handful of people I make it a point to send to, then a larger circle of folks I will send to if I have the cards, and some years I send to an even larger group of people. I think it is a nice way to keep in touch. I never thought of VD as a romantic holiday, but I know that is how it is marketed. And as an aside, I don't send hubby a VD card or make him a birthday card. He just opens cards to see how much money is inside, doesn't pay attention to the card at all. No point in wasting effort on that!

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!