Valentine's Gift Guide part I

The month of February is always a fun one: the near end of winter (or perhaps more cold? you can never tell in Portland), my birthday (celebrating the big 2-0 this year!), and of course, Valentine's Day. A day that will always remind me of crayon written doily notes and candy hearts sent to classmates in third grade, cheesy valentines for friends in middle school, and ever so slightly annoying roses and balloons in high school. I never had an "official" Valentine, only my best friends who shared in our proud singledom while we watched girls ooh and ahh over their drugstore bought balloons and teddy bears from their clueless "boyfriends."

Now that I have a real Valentine to share the day with, I wanted to create a gift guide that girls and boys could enjoy. I was never the type to go the usual route of flowers, bears and chocolates (although any chocolate is fine by me, it must be the heart shaped box that I don't like.) So instead of Friday Faves, these next couple weeks will feature all things Valentine related.

First up, the ever so important...Valentine Card.

The sweet simplicity of Satsuma Press' circle heart card is elegant and to the point.

This I like you...a lot card from Anemone Letterpress helps get over that hurdle of telling someone you're interested!

Hello Handmade Paperie will hand write a card to your loved one, in three amazing fonts! Snap them up before they're gone!

These two cards from Paper Dragonfly are beautiful! (I got the bottom one for my valentine).

Dutch Door Press always mixes their love of Dutch folk design with simple messages, like their Will You Be Mine? card.

Roll and Tumble press has an assortment of adorable letterpressed cards that look crafty and vintage. Grab them here.

So thats it for round one! All of these cards were found on etsy, which supports small businesses and individuals. Skip Hallmark and shop handmade! Our next round features cool gifts for her.

Also, happy 100th post to me!