Happy Valentine’s Day to all of my readers, wherever you may be! My day began with a lovely bouquet of flowers from John, which is looking as good today as it ever will, given my history of botanical failures. I take a photo of John’s bouquets as soon as I can so that I can preserve the flowers in their best state.
In return, I sent John a dancing JibJab card. For $18 a year, you can have a lot of fun, uploading your photos and inserting them into ridiculous cards and videos that you can share via email, Facebook or—if you pay an extra fee—that you can download to your computer or upload to YouTube. Click on the image below to view one of two cards I sent John.
Whether you have a special someone with whom to share Valentine’s Day or not, it appears that everyone can enjoy a Valentine’s Day gift, courtesy of the Internet. Take note of the following offers:
1. Download a free sewing pattern from Craftsy to make a cute Be Mine Tote designed by Melissa Stramel of Lilac Lane. Easy enough for a beginning sewer to assemble, the finished tote bag measures 10 inches x 19 inches x 4 1/2 inches.
2. Television sewing celebrity Nancy Zieman offers an adorable paper-pieced Fabric Valentine pattern you can download. Transform it into a special handmade card, incorporate it into a tote bag design, stitch a mini pillow, or add it to an apron or bib pattern. Use your imagination! And by the way, Nancy just published her autobiography, Seams Unlikely, which is a fascinating read. You can purchase the paperback version or the Kindle edition on Amazon. I purchased the digital version for $5.99 and am reading it via my Kindle app. If you have an Android device, you can download the book for $4.61 via Google Play.
3. Scrapbookers will appreciate Deena Boese’s journaling cards and border that appear in the February issue of Paper Crafts & Scrapbooking.
4. In the same issue, you’ll find Jaimee Kaiser of Just Jaimee’s journaling cards. These are perfect for gift bags, scrapbooking or handmade cards.
5. Need a gift or candy box? The designers of We Love to Illustrate for Children have five too-cute-for-words gift boxes for you to download, print and assemble.
6. Other Valentine projects to download include:
- A Heart Mug Rug Free Quilt Patternâ„¢ by Debbie Taylor in the Fat Quarter Shop
- Heart-Shaped Potholders from Martha Stewart
- Fabric Valentine Hearts by Anne Sutton, blogger of Bunny Tales from Bunny Hill Designs
- A crocheted Valentine’s Day Basket from Cherie Durbin of Crochet Carnival
- AÂ DIY Celtic Heart Knot Necklace from Heritage of Scotland on Facebook
- 99 Valentine’s Day Free Sewing Patterns at Linda Matthews’ Love to Sew Web site
Hopefully at least one of the above projects will appeal to you, but if not, here’s one last “dancing card” for you to enjoy. If you have trouble imagining John and me as flower children of the sixties, rest assured that you are not alone. Click on the photo below to view the video.
© 2014 Judy Nolan. All rights reserved.
Beautiful bouquet!! And LOVED those cute dancing JibJab cards. I remember Sonny & Cher. When I’m on a long drive, I try to find an Oldies station and sing along.
Great collection of freebies for Valentine’s! I never knew that Jib Jab does cards.