A Tasha Tudor Valentine

This is a valentine card I made for my mom about twenty years ago. The idea and instructions came from the wonderful, but, sadly not-in-print book Drawn From New England, by Bethany Tudor. She's the daughter of children's book author/illustrator Tasha Tudor — who's about 93 by the way! Each flower or tree can be pulled out of its pot where a hidden Valentine message waits.

I used to spend a lot of time with this book dreaming about all the crafts, seasonal celebrations, and old-fashioned farm lifestyle this creative family experienced. Now that I have children I'm even more amazed at the life that Tasha made for herself and her family. If only I could accomplished a fifth of what she did/does...

Read more about the Tudor Family at their website, where you can also buy things directly from them, including Bethany's book.

Strawberries in the Sky — My Valentine to You

heart_garland
Originally uploaded by Green Kitchen.

Love is in the air, or on the wall, perhaps? Ever since I got this vintage crochet afghan for Christmas I've been looking at the red squares and wondering what I could do with them, without taking the blanket apart. So, I scanned my favorite blocks from the blanket and this garland is what I came up with — inspired by the wonderful freebie from Jenny at Allsorts.

To make a garland: download file (see options below); print (use photo paper for better quality); cut out hearts (I left a little white around the outside); cut little slits on the widest part of the hearts(see photo); and thread some yarn through the slits (I used a tapestry needle). I hung my garland up in the window and the daytime back-lighting makes the images a little hard to see. My oldest said, "What are those strawberries in the sky?"

To download: you may, go to my Flickr, choose "All sizes," and pick the size of your choice. Or, download it directly from my server as a JPG (1.3 mb) or a PDF (4.4 mb). You will need to right click these to get them to download to your computer. These files are designed to fit on an 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper. There are two of each color, making a total of six hearts per sheet.

This heart garland download is for personal use only, please, no commercial usage. Copyright 2007 Michelle Russell