Soul Humming

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

In My Heart of Hearts

Give me that man
That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him
In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of heart,
As I do thee.

Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 71-74

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Please enjoy all the gorgeous Valentines I received from my lovely friends in our Valentine Banner Exchange. I hope your day is full of love!

from Theresa Martin and Tanya Peacock

Thank you, friends! I love you so!

More Love

I made a few more hearts to fill out my Valentine banner...

Old book pages burned and sewn to cardstock with ghost paper hearts down the front.

Chipboard letters above a drawing of hands holding.

A couple years back I was in a Valentine exchange where I painted faces onto heart-shaped puzzles. I made laser copies of them before I sent them off. So these are some of the copies glued to cardstock for a rebirth on my banner.

I also made several of these long strands of hearts using a big heart-shaped paper punch. It was nice to have a different shape to break up the banner. These are longer than the other hearts and as these are strung like beads they have a lot of movement. They're super easy. Just punch your hearts, use a glue stick to attach two so you have a front and back side. Punch holes in the top and bottom of each heart then string them onto rope or ribbon and hang. My kid's love paper punches. If you are looking for a Valentine craft for your little ones, this could do it.

This was some paper I had previously painted. It was super thick and painted on both sides already so I just cut it out into the heart shape. The large white shape was painted on there by using a fabric flower as a stencil of sorts. Sometimes I would put the flower onto the paper and then paint over it, leaving the negative space of the flower below. And then, as in this particular heart, I used the flower after it was painted as a stamp by pressing it onto the paper. It's a fun and kind of abstract way to get flower shapes into your artwork.

I've had these little letter tiles for YEARS. I was so happy to finally find a place for them.

This was another thick piece of paper that I painted some time ago. I popped it into my sewing machine and practically disintegrated it. After that I colored the stitches with caran d'ache because I felt like it. :)

It's kind of crazy but I like it. Love is like that, too, no?

Come on people, make some heart art and tell me about it!

 

More Valentine's Hearts

Here are some more of the Valentine hearts I made to send to my friends for our banner exchange. This guy is one of my favorites.

My Hero

love is dreamy

love is family

I really love this original old photo of this family with their dog. I sent this one to a friend of mine that I grew up with, who like me, loves big dogs.

Most of my hearts used this same color pallette. I like this abstract. It's a nice break from the other realistic ones.

love is quiet

love is feeling.

 

so that's all of the ones i mailed out to my friends. today i spent a bit of time making a few more for myself to fill out my banner. i'll post those along with the ones i received from my friends before Valentine's Day arrives.

Are you making any Valentine themed arts this month?

Valentine's Day Exchange

I gathered a few friends together to exchange Valentine hearts so we could each make a banner with a dozen hearts. I just finished mine today (that's them up there) and have put them all out in the mail. That is always so hard for me. I want to hold onto them and hang them up right here. I would be better about it if I made them earlier and could enjoy them a little longer. But, as I was sick for a few days, I was up at the last minute painting like a mad woman. As soon as they were dry they went right into their envelope. Oh I will miss them. I'll highlight them over a couple days and then I'll show you the ones I get back from my friends. Which is wonderful! I love it when the mailbox overflows with envelopes full of painted and sewn treasures! It makes it all better again.

This was one of the first few that I made. It is of a broken heart that is healing.

And it has all manner of secrets and thoughts written all over it.

I think I posted this one another day. Not sure if I posted it here or somewhere else. It is titled Love is Never Lost. The morning I painted this a girl I went to school with when I was younger passed away. I was feeling pretty low and thinking of all the people who loved her and how sad they all must be feeling. And I kept thinking that the love we feel for someone never leaves even though the physical form of the person may pass on. Their love lives on with us long after they have moved on.

This one is titled Love is Home. It is hard to see the details in the photo. I used a chalky blue gel pen to write around the little collaged house.

The roof of the house was made from a check written on February 3rd, 1920 in Montana. The little birds are from a label from some old matches. This heart has lots of layers of paint, ink and pens.

This one is more abstract with a little home closing it up at the bottom.

Little Love

Love is Strong

All right, I have to run off and help a little boy study for his social studies test . 'Hope you enjoyed the hearts!

 

Love is Never Lost

Working on Valentines for a banner exchange this morning (using a paintbrush so tiny I think it only has three hairs).