I am starting to feel the love! I have been searching the web for some Valentine’s Day inspiration and I have found some really neat ideas. The pinks, the reds, the lace, the glitter, I want it all.
The past couple of years my kids and I have handmade the cards they give to their friends for Valentine’s day. This year I wanted to try something different using two printing techniques. First of all, because I love homemade prints and secondly, you can make a whole whack of them at one go. I am nothing if not practical!
I knew I wanted to do heart potato prints. If you haven’t done them before run and get a potato, you will love it and it really is the easiest.
Cut the potato in half and use a pencil to draw your shape. Take a small, sharp paring knife and carve away the excess potato. I used a paint brush to put on my paint and experimented on scrap paper quite a bit before printing on my cards.
I tried regular card stock but found it too slippery and non absorbent. I switched to watercolor paper and the results were better because of the paper’s texture.
For my other method of printmaking I tied some scrap wool around a wooden block. Again I used my paint brush to smooth on the paint and stamped away.
I love the graphic quality of the stamped paper.
Next I cut a heart out of scrap paper and traced the shape on the stamped paper and cut out my hearts. And then I put it all together. I am happy with the way they turned out. Handmade, unique and organic looking. I can’t wait to make a bunch with my kids this weekend.
What do you think? Are you feeling the love yet? Any plans to make homemade Valentine’s this year?
