left and bottom right: letterpress cards Bowne & Company Stationers top right: Love Grows card Squeedles on Etsy
Each year, my valentine and I choose handmade cards for one another. We both savor the search, a true treasure hunt, for the special card(s) we will choose — with the impossibility of settling on just one of these paper jewels. Thoughtful care, patience and a deft, talented hand is taken to make these charmingly simple-looking cards. And there is a permanence to them, with their thick, almost fabric-like, cotton papers. I see this thoughtful care, patience and permanence that went into creating the hand printed cards as a reflection — a rosy metaphor — for the care, patience and permanence in our relationship.
The typesets of letterpress leave beautiful textural impressions into the soft cotton papers. Beautiful to touch, hold and behold. The artistic quality of small-press and handmade cards make them little pieces of artwork. Fit to be framed. On the wall or in my lamp card racks, these cards of love are daily reminders of their giver and why they were given. Of special memories and moments they represent. A glance at them hanging on the wall. My heart is flooded with a rush of affection and a blush of love. They have become a permanent reminder of the giver's love. In a frame. On the wall. In a keepsake box. In my heart.
left: various antique postcards, handmade cards. Letterpress dove card in center of rack from Bowne & Company Stationers right: Two Peas in a Pod antique-like card Lunalux, Inc. ©heather cahoon • wordplayhouse®
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