Oh, thus thy beauty,
Loveliest on earth to me,
Dark with no sorrow, shines
And burns, with thee.
- excerpt from "When The Rose Is Faded" by Walter de la Mare
There's something so enchanting about the way a rose dies. The way the velvety edges of its petals darken and curl, their dewy softness overpowered by the slow creep of age. But a rose's beauty is not diminished by death. Even after the tragic death nod, and the fragrance of fallen petals is swept away, the memory of their loveliness lingers.
A little satin, a little fire and an antique button capture what I think is the perfect moment in the life of a rose. Plus these are even heart shaped. I made these pins/hair clips for all the woman and girls in my family with one extra to giveaway for Valentine's Day.
Trace and cut. I cut double of the smallest heart and then cut half down even smaller.
My inner pyro was absolutely delighted with the evening's festivities.
Because I didn't know yet what the centerpiece of the heart would be, I sewed the layers of petals together while I thought about it. Jon suggested metal arrows but I was never able to find any.
And then I discovered Button Button in downtown Vancouver. The owner buys button collections at estate sales and the like and has collected a trove of vintage and antique buttons. The store is a joy to look through (and buy from). Every drawer, and there are a lot, is filled with button treasure. It reminded me of how fun it was to go through my own Grandmother's button box. The owner taught me the difference between vintage (pre 1930) and antique (pre 1903) buttons. Of the sixteen buttons I chose, a few are antique and the rest are vintage. You can tell by looking at the shank on the back of the button. In this case the metal shanks are antique and the molded plastic is vintage.
Isn't it too much fun to imagine how these buttons were used?
For packaging, I lined a white jewelry box with black satin. "Black, like your soul." Jon said. He finds it funny that I think black goes hand and hand with Valentine's Day. To me, nothing says 'I love you' better than metallic lettered sentiment on black cardstock. Well, maybe black lingerie. Zing.
Happy Valentine's Day ladies!
If you want a chance to be chosen as the lucky lady, or guy, who gets the extra heart shaped rose, tell me about the most creative Valentine you ever gave or received. You have until Thursday at 6pm when I will chose at random from all the entries. Leave your story in the comments below.
