Valentine Surprise

Last weekend we attended a family wedding in beachside Paraparaumu. That sounds like it should have been lovely, but the reality was something less than storybook. Not that the wedding itself didn't go well, it was just that the family experience was in contrast to the romantic public display.

This presented a creative challenge for me - my journal theme for February was, of course, LOVE and I didn't want my cynacism after the bad experience to overwhelm the journal. I did want to somehow capture the sense of things not being quite as they seem. My journal is called "Surprise Valentine"...The background is paper fabric, made using lost of postage stamps and envelop fragments, all colourwashed in light red. I just learned how to make this in a class I started. Once this was dry I added Valentines "rub ons" with cute greeting card type messages, and the lovely couple in the bottom right. Then I stitched and added the mesh heart, and pocket.

The "surprise" or contrast element is the postcard. Isn't it a pretty Valentine? It's not really. It is a postcard my Mum sent me many years ago. Mum was not a writer and the message starts:

"Dear Lisa, You kow how I hate writing on post cards but this one I picked up on floor in shopping mall and it would have been a shame to not use it."

This is the back - stamped calico, colourwashed with red paint.


I think it still some kind of binding to finish and border it, and maybe some more stitching, but for now it's done. And I had fun making it even it I didn't enjoy the wedding that got me started on it.