The Language of the Heart

Happy Valentine’s Day! This day is set aside to let those dear to us know how much we love them. In most cases hopefully they know that every other day of the year as well. Over twenty years ago I decided to let the women in my life know this by making handcrafted valentines for each of them. The list was relatively short, as it was mostly relatives and a few close friends. I think I made about 30 at the time. Well, as the years in my life grew, so did the valentines list. Today I send out right around 100 to family, friends and my working gals. I think every year it will be my last, but alas, this year delivers one again to them all.

This year’s them has been in the creative process during the last five years. I started with an idea, sketched it out, mulled it over, reworked some parts, and then let it age for a while. I just needed to find the right time to make the virtual image a reality. This year was finally the time. The design is an around the world theme which I have also been working on for a “Wee are the World” collection.

The card does not open, it is a spinning wheel with heart windows showing two phrases as the wheel is rotated. Kind of a color wheel of the world. There is a set of words meaning “love” that each child is holding, representing the language of their nationality. As the children rotate to the right, the phrase “love makes the world go round and round” is shown in the second set of hearts (starting with the little Dutch girl). The top piece of the wheel is attached to the bottom piece with a teeny tiny little brad.

When the card is turned over there is a globe of the world, complete with yours truly and a few icons representing various places around the world. What map is complete without the “you are here” phrase? Which just happens to be in my heart. :) The outside edge finishes off the love around the world theme with a verse from the beautiful Sandi Patty song, written by John Phillip Mays and Jonathan Mark Mohr, “Love in Any Language.”

Since many of the people I send valentines to are all over the country and a few beyond, and they are as diverse as the theme, I felt it fitting to let them all know I’m sending love from the heart, a language we all can speak.

I’m sending it to you as well. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and share the language of the heart with those you love.

Oh, Nuts! I’m a year behind.

I realized that I forgot to tell you all Happy Valentine’s Day last year and now we are a week away from hearts and flowers and candy once again. This is a holiday that I love, but not because I’m all about the box of chocolates and flowers each year. It’s because I take this time each year to create and send out valentines for my family and friends. This is the time to create what’s in my heart for those close to my heart and I have been doing it now for twenty-one years.

I promised myself last year that I would stop at twenty years. However my daughter, who finally is at the age to have her own mailing address said she’s been waiting all these years to finally get her own valentine and envelope with canceled stamp sent to her very own mailbox. I cannot disappoint the only daughter I have so . . . the cards are ready to go out Thursday and once they do I’ll share them with you as well.

In the meantime I’m going to get you caught up on the card from last year. As you know by my woodland holiday art I was big into squirrels and birds and deer. The squirrels have a special spot in the heart so they wandered right into my valentine design and settled in.

As you see above, the card was designed with a pull-wheel (the acorns on the green ribbons, which were longer than you see here) that would change phrases on the clock face as the acorns were gently tugged. Of course the obvious phrases were “Be My Valentine” and “I’m Nuts About You.” A few tip-ons were added for the window at top with the little bird and the flower pots at bottom.

The back of the card shares a sentiment I feel for all those close to me and at the top is a small hanging device so the card can be hung on the wall, as it really isn’t such a good standing card design. :) Oh, and one more thing. This is the only pink version of this design. I actually branched out and made all the other cards with reds instead of pinks. It seemed a bit more fitting for the holiday.

Don’t forget all those nutty people in your life you love so much and send them sentiments of love on Valentine’s Day!

A Case for Good Design

My daughter, Shelby, as you’ve heard, has gone off to college this year. No one starts college anymore without a laptop. Well, probably most kids already have their own before they even finish high school. Let’s just say we’re not the first on the block to get things, but when duty calls, Shelby gets her own Mac. And that she did.

The problem is, Shelby and I have a hard time finding just the right thing in products out there in the market place. One of the frustrations of being the creative fam and just wishing you could design and produce it yourself. There is many a time I have seen this creative girl reconstruct, redesign and re-Shelbyfy items that need a special style she can be all about. The latest creation comes in a laptop case to keep her beloved Mac protected in.

As her mom is a huge collector of almost anything retro-30’s-40’s-50’s (other than actual full-sized cars), Shelby has her pick of nostalgic fabrics at her fingertips. She is quite the seamstress and dabbles in hand-stitched embroidery work. She’s a natural at it. She does not use patterns, but prefers to come up with her own, more or less wings it, and every time it comes out perfect. (This mom can say that; I can be proud, while the kids stay humble:)

She found these neat quilter pieces from my retro stash and voila, here is her one-of-a-kind laptop case embellished with name and sequins.

Case closed, Shelby’s got a great eye for design!

My Incredible Instructables Son

It’s time to share the creative genes with you all. This entry is all about my incredible son, Logan. He and his dad have a tremendous amount in common. Let’s just say the apple, it’s right next to the tree. Oh, he gets a little from yours truly, but his amazing ability to engineer with such precision, his attention to detail, the ease to which he can visualize, all comes straight from his dad, not to mention his capability of writing with such accuracy. This he does with the ability to come across with the aw shucks, anyone can do it attitude.

He has been making three dimensional paper crafted art for some time now. It started with a miniature model of the house from the 2009 Pixar movie Up (made from index cards). Then he moved on to a paper model of a cryptex, which Logan explained to me is a mechanism in which a word is spelled out to unlock a chamber that holds a secret object.

He created a prop Dagger of Time (from the movie Prince of Persia) using materials including paper, chipboard, and a light bulb. The light bulb was used for the handle with the sand of time inside. He has also made numerous other items such as a paper gun and cross bow, miniature chainsaw, and the key from the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He is the constant 3-D producer in the family. I don’t think there is ever a time when a project isn’t under construction in his room or on the workbench.

Now, what makes this incredible son also an Instructables contributor? One of his latest projects, a corrugated cardboard shelf (shown in photo at top). Logan built the shelf and then posted a how-to guide on the popular website Instructables.com. Soon his Instructable became popular and is now listed in the featured section. So far it has been viewed and commented on many times. The Instructable can be viewed at the following link. Amazing Cardboard Shelf!

Logan also likes working on animation related projects and has a love of movies and their production. You can view one of his animations here: A Tiny Animation.

Whatever my incredible thirteen-year-old becomes one day will likely have something to do with what he enjoys now. What he has become so far amazes me and makes me proud. And it’s not even his creations, it’s that he is such a great kid. Thanks Logan, you are my #1 son!

This post, brought to you by the letter “M”

How do you encourage college kids this time of year? They have just had a month off, the holidays are over, and they are now on the second semester, at the halfway point. It is the dead of winter and summer seems forever away. It’s not that anticipated beginning of a new school year, and it’s not the end they are so relieved to reach. It is the middle, and that’s where they are stuck. Thus, the postcard of the week.

Well, I realize now that I grew up being stuck in the middle of most things. In fact I was even born right in the middle of the United States, just a little south of where I live now. When I was a kid in school, and we had to line up alphabetically, I was always right in the middle. With the last name McCulley, that is where you would always find me.

I wasn’t a middle child, however. There are only my sister and I, so being the younger one I was not the middle, but the little one. This too had its way of ensuring a middle position in my world. I was always stuck in the middle of the back seat with a car full of people, usually having to sit on someone else’s lap. And then there is the yearly class photo. Every year the littlest one in the class was stuck sitting on the floor, in the middle of the front row, holding the class sign. Every year that little person was yours truly. Need I say more. The evidence is here. The clue ~ pink has always been my favorite color. :)

Well, as I am now middle-aged and can look back on it all, I realize that being stuck in the middle isn’t such a bad place to be after all. In fact it is a very happy place to be. There is a security and a peacefulness about this place in life and I welcome it happily.

So, if this time of year makes you feel like you’re stuck between the excitement of the holidays and the activities of the summer months, or if you’re right in the middle of your school year, take heart and remember that nothing has a beginning and end without a middle. As the song says . . . stuck in the middle with you . . . I think that’s a pretty good place to be.