Sunday 7 February 2016

Project 293: Two emotional valentines


When I get asked to make personalized cards I am so happy to tailor to what they want. It's often something light-hearted like 'my husband likes dogs' or 'she loves red and polka dots' or whatever. But this week I had two incredibly special requests and both made a pretty emotional impact on me.

The headline card was from someone who told me a tragic story of how their first born daughter passed away in an accident - on Valentine's Day. They don't like to forget her and so the day has a different meaning to them. He asked if I could make a card that showed their two living children dancing or playing with an angel watching over them. He said his wife liked yellow, blue and turquiose.

I wanted to keep any patterns lighthearted but respectful. I chose a pale yellow spotted paper for their daughter, and a white and blue plaid for their little boy (both really old scraps in my scrap file). The cloud paper is vellum layered over a stitched white circle, layered over a plain teal card. I drew on tiny music notes to hint that they were laughing and dancing. For the angel, I used thick offwhite glitter stock for wings, punched into a heart and then cut in half. I cut out her dress and added two layers of Wink of Stella shimmer. I added a band of gold glitter glue as a halo.

I wanted to reflect the parents so I added two solid ribbons at the bottom as a representation of them. I was asked to include this message specifically, so I hand wrote it rather than printing it. Just something special in that I think. I added five little pearls in the middle to represent all of the family members.


This second card is from a completely different brief. A friend is pregnant with her second child and it is very early days. I was asked to make a valentine that was 'light and cheerful' featuring the new arrival and had a specific request for no pink, purple or red.

I came up with the idea of the little heart family and used orange and yellow for the parents and a little green heart to represent their little girl. The tiny blue heart is added to the yellow one with a tiny little bump. I blended the background from orange to blue to represent the colors of the family, and then I added a simple little greeting and some tiny seed pearls for texture.

 I am getting emotional just writing this, I was so honoured to be a part of both these cards. I don't think I've ever had such significant briefs and it really was special making both of these.


4 comments:

  1. Wow Jessie!! What a fab post… I have tears in my eyes just reading this. I think you've done a fab job with the two briefs you were given.
    The first card is really beautiful with the gorgeous muted tones… so tastefully done and filled with love for the whole family.
    Love the second card too…. so bright and cheery and the wee heart is adorable… the background looks absolutely stunning!
    Hope you are keeping well
    Big hugs, Sue B xxx

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  2. Oops sorry! I meant to say also...
    HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!
    Hope you have a wonderful day hun
    Love Sue B xxx

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  3. Wow! Pretty emotional man. Great cards, that totally reflect what you were asked to do. Very beautiful and I bet the 'clients' loved them. Cx

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