I'm conflicted about Valentines Day. I'm all for the sentiment behind it but I feel a little weird about the commercialism and pressure it involves. With that said I love making valentines because they are the opposite of this.  Hand-made valentines are not mass produced and they involve no pressure: If one doesn't turn out to my liking I can just throw it away. Making cards is a quick and satisfying way to try out creative ideas, and you can use fabric, paper, yarn, crochet hooks, and a hole punch, anything but the kitchen sink!

When I decided that I was going to make Valentines I knew I wanted to use both yarn and fabric and make two different kinds of cards.

I wanted to crochet or knit the edge of one of them but my first attempts and mixing paper and yarn turned out looking like cheap doilies. I decided to keep it simple and do a basic crochet slip stitch along the edge of a heart shape. It looks unfussy and modern while still being recognizably handmade. I used the Rowan 4 Ply cotton because it's easy to use and comes in pretty colors. If  you want to make some too, check out my Crocheted Valentines project journal for the complete directions.

As for the fabric side of things, I knew I wanted to use the new Life Life collection from Yuwa. It's old fashioned colors and sentimental prints lend themselves perfectly to Valentines. In order to highlight the textile aspect of the card I used embroidery thread to sew the whole thing together. If you want create your own check out my Fabric Window Valentines project journal.

Enjoy! --Molly