Valentine Card

Valentine cards are the most precious gift you can gift to your beloved. The card never wears down and you can keep it with you for all the time to come. It will remind you of all the memories that you spent with your beloved. Have you purchased your Valentine cards yet This year plan to create beautiful, unique, and mesmerizing cards. There are many different types of Valentines that you could make and even buy from the market. Let us discuss a brief history of valentine cards that will give you ideas on how to make cards that will delight the people you give them to.

A brief History

» Middle Ages: Poetries and greetings were quite popular during the Middle Ages when the lovers sang or recite their heart out in this form. During that period only, instead of singing and reciting a more modern tradition came up that is of writing the love message and gifting it to the loved ones. This tradition came up in 1400. The oldest written message on valentine was made in 1400s and it still is existent in the British museum.

» 15th century: During 15th century, the art of paper valentines messages were started in Europe. The art of giving valentine gifts also started in the same century. Paper valentines were most prevalent in England. During this period, the cards were made by hand and with colored paper, watercolors, and colored inks. Although a valentine from that era is very rare. During that period, Rebus valentines also had poems where tiny pictures were used instead of words. For example, instead of writing the love message, a little heart was drawn. Many other forms of expressing love were uses such as: Rebus puzzles that school going children learn today. Some of the popular types of valentines used at this period of time are as follows:

» Acrostic valentines – These had poems in which the first lines written out as the loved one's name

» Cutout valentines –folding a piece of paper several times made Cut-out Valentines. Small, pointed scissors were used to cut out lacey patterns. This makes an enjoyable card. You can use a piece of white copy paper to make your design. Paste it to a piece of red card stock or construction paper to make your Valentine.

» Pinprick valentines: Pinprick Valentines are very convenient to make. They were very popular at olden times. For making a pinprick Valentine, make use a white piece of copy paper. Use a pin to goad a design in the paper. Create any design you desire. It could be a cupid, heart, or something else. When using the pin, be sure not to prick up your fingers. When you complete the design, paste it to a piece of red card stock or construction paper. Utilize a piece of red copy paper or even tissue paper. Incision your design into it and paste it to a piece of white card stock or construction paper.

» Theorem or Poonah valentines – These were the designs that were painted with a stencil that was cut in oilpaper. This is a style that came from the Orient.

» Rebus valentines –These were the rhymes in which tiny pictures took over some of the words.

» Puzzle Purse valentines –These were the folded puzzle to read and refold. Among their many folds were rhymes that had to be read in a certain order.

» Fraktur valentines – These were made from ornamental lettering in the style of illuminated manuscripts.

» 18th Century: During the 18th century valentine cards started to be made in the factories. This was mainly due to the advancement of the printing technology. For some initial period of time, these cards came only in the form of black and white. They were basically hand printed. The later period witnessed the making of fancy valentine, which was made of real lace and ribbons and paper lace in the mid 1800s. By the end of the 18th century these card were made entirely of the machine.

» 19th Century: In the beginning of the 19th century a company named Norcross began to make valentines. Keeping within the similar lines, the other companies such as Hallmark and Archie’s came up. Each year Hallmark displays its collection of rare and thought provoking cards on valentines at card shops around the country. These cards are wonderful. Rare greeting cards can also be seen in Museums and Libraries.

The Practice today

Although the companies are making their effort to come up with as diverse cards as they can, but a recent survey demonstrated that majority of women favored a handmade card over a purchased card. They said it was more romantic to get a hand made card instead of expensive mall-bought gift for February 14.

One Simple technique to make a hand made card:

This year, present your Valentine a special, homemade card. You can get outstanding results using easy techniques. The most convenient way to make a Valentine’s Day card is to fold a sheet of paper in half and decorate it. Does it sound boring Well try out several fun options for decorating cards:

1. One of the easiest ways to decorate the card is to cut different heart shapes out of paper and paste them to the front of the card. Make different designs, animals, cupids, couples, people, and so on.

2. Work on the heart idea further. Cut the hearts out of fabric, wallpaper samples, tissue paper, wrapping paper, or anything else you can think of instead of cutting heart shapes out of paper. Make an outline of your hearts/designs using 3d fabric paint.

3. Utilize the last year's cards. Make a shape on the card. Paste it to a piece of construction paper, and cut down around the picture avoiding about a 1/4-inch border. Make an outline of your hearts/designs using 3d fabric paint.

4. Try and make use of the college techniques. Cut pictures out of books and magazines and paste them to your card. Find out collection of pictures that will narrate a story. Cut jazzy words out of magazines that can work wonderfully for a secret admirer.

5. Make use of the stamping/printing techniques. You can get a range of rubber stamps on the market today, coupled with custom inkpads. Try to make your own stamps by abridging a heart design out of a potato, apple, sponge, cookie cutter, or even a piece of Styrofoam.