Faboo (née Heather) is, of course, short for fabulous (or long for fab). Faboo makes her fortune cookies completely by hand from upholstery vinyl, deploying floral wire, ribbon and glue in the creative process. Our valentine fortune is glittery pink with a retro feel à la ’50s dinette set, although the vinyl is not vintage. Faboo describes its shade as “kind of raspberry, but more like light strawberry, but definitely not Pepto Bismol.” She also makes the fortune cookies in glittery gold and comments that they would make terrific bridal favors. Tad & Faboo offers sets of 10 fortune cookies à la carte, and you can customize your fortune(s). As the submitter of our readers’ favorite valentine, Tad & Faboo will receive a $100 gift certificate for Felt & Wire Shop.
Here are a handful of other cards — and envelopes! — that caught our fancy.
Blue Eye Brown Eye‘s sweet stitchery shows that the medium can make the message. And we appreciate that proprietor Lauren Smith took the time to dot her i.
Colleen Walsh of Cleanwash Letterpress lined ’80-ish valentine envelopes with vintage wallpaper. She comments, “Each liner was cut from the same roll, but the layout of the pattern was not the same for every envelope. I have a small collection of wallpaper, and I really can’t get enough of it. This was the first time that I actually was able to talk myself into using an entire roll!” The type on the heart is Massel Two, from YouWorkForThem.com. And the ornamental edging borders on being certifiably a-doily-ble.
Cassie and Christine of I’ll Know It When I See It sent us a sweet stand-up, proudly DIY (the opposite of die-cut). And, bless their hearts, they’ve posted the file on their site, so you can try your hand at making one. Two, two, two hearts in one.…
Ayano Takeuchi sent us a love note from Australia. “Audrey the archer” is also silhouetted on Ayano’s compliment slip. Ayano’s zine about the adventures of Audrey and her doll, also named Audrey, was a finalist in Mohawk Show 11. “Audrey & Audrey” was recently selected by the National Library of Australia for its collection.
Do the patterns on this valentine look familiar? Nancy Shapiro makes collages and sculptures by recycling security envelopes. She fashioned us a valentine from several envelopes. Instead of a love-dove, a postal eagle delivered our delightful time-sensitive document. (We first reported on Nancy’s recycled-envelope collages here.)
Every year, Michael Osborne sends friends and clients a valentine letterpress-printed at One Heart Press. Some from years past are available at Felt & Wire Shop — but the envelopes Michael decorated for us are, well, priceless. On the envelope directly above, Robert Indiana designed the 8¢ LOVE stamp; Michael Osborne designed the other three for the USPS.
Chris Harrold at Mohawk received a delicious valentine at the office and shared its contents. The accompanying card featured a photo of three real-life cupids (Daisy, Ella and Pippa) — as did the custom postage from Zazzle.
Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who mailed us. We love your energy and creativity!
So many creative ideas… a great read to end the week! Thank you for featuring our little cut-out. The Blue Eye Brown Eye stitchery is awesome!
Can’t say enough about how fabulous all of these Valentines are! Thanks, Alyson, for your amazing reporting, and for all the warmth that fairly flows from the computer screen on this murky, yucky Friday. Every entrant deserves kudos and hugs!
Thanks for posting my card! I love seeing the creativity and beautiful work from everyone.