arts and crafts

     Love is in the air. And I am not just talking about romantic love--not just the eros that many dream of--no, I mean the substance that makes one heart touch another. And it is here for everybody. 

      It's evident, if you just look for it. It's a kind word. A smile. A door held open, though you're at least six steps away. 

      It's a warm meal that you actually eat sitting down. A piece of music. A shared laugh at nobody's expense and everyone's benefit.  

      And to me, it's always always a card. There are other ways to show that you love me, sure (and much to Drew's relief--not being the greatest lover of cards himself!), but some words, a picture--all within the neat and orderly confines of a square--these things make me smile.  

      *And now allow me a tangent, thankyouverymuch*

     It's funny, most wedding invitations are rectangular, but it was utterly important to me that ours were square. I. Love. Squares. I like the symmetry, I guess.  I could forgo the ice sculptures and the swans, yes, but square invitations were a must. 

     Anyway, we found the perfect ones--the parchment was thick and looked a little old and textured, which added to the magic. We made them into invitations, literally, and I took all 200 of them to the post office, stamped and ready to go. 

     Or not, as the case may be.

     I guess mailing a perfectly square envelope is much more difficult than it would be to mail the more common relative, the rectangular envelope. Which is why, I suppose, most people just don't even bother. I was sent back home armed with two more stamps with which to decorate my already stamped square envelopes.    

     

     Which is what I did.

     

     Oh, and lest you think that I was the only one adamant about the details of our wedding, let me just say that for a period of time Drew fought for couches being the predominant seating at our reception. Bottom line, he was sick of being uncomfortable during receptions and wanted to ensure the comfort of our guests by providing them plush couches into which they could sink during our first dance and the others to follow. Seriously, guys--couches for two hundred people!  

     Let's just say that I got my squares and Drew did not get his couches. Sorry, babe. 

      Anyway, back to cards. I actually don't know which I enjoy more--crafting and/or buying them for others, or receiving them. So in honor of this great holiday that is upon us, I decided to get out my arts and crafts and get busy. 

      All for love. 

      

      All for a great cast and crew that I am happy to work with. 

      

      See, I bought some chocolates for them already, but I wanted a nice, big old-fashioned card to go along with it.

      So I started cutting, not sure what I would do with all the strips.

   I knew which colors I wanted--I usually pick the brightest, anyway--and I am always a sucker for anything patchwork. I know, the squares again. Can't get enough of them. In fact, someday Drew and I are going to have a beautiful patchwork quilt for our bed. And, um, two hundred couches. A girl can dream, right?

 

   So I decided to go all patchwork.

   And then added some doilies (what's a valentine's day card without doilies?!), and a ton of letters that I unfortunately had to tape to the patchwork. I was really hurting for some glue, but the tape worked in the end. Just not as smoothly as the glue would have. But really--who cares? Certainly not you, dear reader, so I will stop about the glue vs. tape. But really, I would recommend glue. Sorry, I really will stop now. 

   And voila! I ended up with this.

     All cut, stapled, arranged, and painstakingly taped while watching Twilight.

     Arts and crafts make me happy. Probably embarrassingly so, actually. 

     

     And now I have to wait a whole two days to bring my candy and card to the theater...!