I, on the other hand, have absolutely no problem telling someone how much I love them, admire them, appreciate them, or want to be around them. What I am horrible at, however, is keeping up with holiday traditions.

Love Birds © Alyice Edrich, 2009

I love the idea of a holiday, but I’ve never really been good at keeping up with traditions. I tried the gifts at the foot of the bed on Valentine’s Day idea, but it just wasn’t me. Felt guilty about not keeping my mom’s tradition alive, especially since I truly did love it as a child—but I soon got over it.

Now I embrace the fact that I am different from my mom—not better, not worse, just different. And I’ve also come to terms with the fact that when it comes to Valentine’s Day, I am definitely a “last minute” kind of gal.

If you are like me, and put off your decorating until the last minute, you’re going to love this idea!

Last year, I created a beautiful mixed media painting with the word, “love” across the top. I loved it so much that I framed it. But before I did, I photographed the image, cropped out a part of the top, and resized it to 5×7, so I could use it as last minute Valentine’s Day Cards.

Print And Glue Card © Alyice Edrich, 2009

Now, all I have to do is print the image onto photo paper, let dry, then cut and glue (or tape) to the top of a blank, 5×7 greeting card. Talk about instant gratification—and totally unique!

And if I want to get a little creative, I can use the image, along with some scrap papers, to create a mini-collage.

To create the Valentine’s Day wall art, just follow these instructions:

Supplies:

• Strathmore Paper for Acrylics or Watercolor
• White tissue paper
• Scrap papers
• Heart shape punch
• Small round sponge brush
• Paint brushes
• Risers
• White Gesso
• Acrylic paint
• Mod Podge, matte

Instructions:

1. Cover two sheets of Strathmore paper with Gesso paint.
2. Let dry.
3. Use Mod Podge to adhere tissue paper and scraps to one of the papers. Continue adding tissue paper until you build up a nice texture—sort of like little hills.
4. While your textures are drying, cut out tiny hearts using a heart shaped puncher.
5. Paint the bottom half of the textured paper with dark acrylic paints.
6. Let dry.
7. Dry brush light colors on top of the dark colors. This allows the textures you created with tissue paper and scrap papers to show through.
8. Paint the top half of the textured paper with light colors—colors that resemble a sky. In my case, I chose yellow with a hint of orange and burnt sienna. I also used the circular sponge to insert some blue.
9. Use Mod Podge to adhere hearts to the darker area of the painting.
10. Use red acrylic paint to paint the hearts. You do not want to leave them unpainted—even if you chose red paper—because the hearts would stand out too much and you want them to blend in with the rest of the painting.
11. Use red paint to paint the word “love” across the top of the painting.
12. Let dry.
13. While your painting is drying, grab the other sheet of Strathmore paper and cover it with acrylic paints. Don’t be afraid to create crazy and wild designs.
14. Let dry.
15. Turn the paper over and draw two birds, facing each other.
16. Cut out the birds and adhere to the top of your painting using risers.

Congratulations, you’ve just created a beautiful Valentine’s themed painting ready to be matted and hung on your wall!

Keep Creating

What I love about this painting is the vibrancy of the blue sky against the warmth of the red hearts. To me, the birds represent the flight of love. In other words, the birds represent our ability to take flight when it comes to love; to look beyond the other person’s issues and see the true heart of the person; to love without boundaries.

May this Valentine’s Day card remind you to take time out of your busy day to send a special note of love to the ones you care about—whether they live down the street, or many states away.

Happy Valentine’s Day © Alyice Edrich, 2009

Supplies:

• 5 x7 paper
• acrylic paints
• small round sponge
• paint brushes
• scissors
• torn pages from an old book
• doily
• dried wipes
• glitter flakes
• red tissue paper
• Mod Podge or Golden Gac 100

To create this Valentine’s Day card, follow the instructions below:

1. Find a 5×7 inch paper. It could be anything you have lying around the house.
2. Pick several colors of paint and paint the background.
3. Sprinkle glitter flakes over the wet paint and let dry.
4. Use a small round sponge and make dots in the sky.
5. Tear up old papers and make a tree trunk out of the papers.
6. Use the torn paper to have the tree trunk extend to the end of the page, with a small piece extending up into the sky—for the bush base.
7. Glue a large doily in the open space.
8. Fold red tissue paper into an accordion then draw a half heart and cut it out. Unfold the pieces to discover several, same-sized hearts.
9. Glue the hearts to the painting—as leaves and ground flowers.
10. Sketch tiny birds on dried wipes, cut them out, and glue them to the painting.
11. Let the glue dry.
12. Paint the tree trunk, the bush, the birds, and the hearts.
13. Paint tiny hearts on the bush.
14. Write “love”, or some other word of endearment, in the center of the bush—surrounding the hearts and birds.
15. Write your recipient’s family names on the birds.
16. Frame.

Please note, I have torn book pages in the center of the bush. Looking at the image now, I wish I hadn’t done that as the torn papers take focus off the hearts and the birds.

Keep Creating