And I love you so....

R and I spent most of Valentine's Day apart this year. I had a long overdue weekend away booked with my girlfriends  (in fact, when we booked it into our diaries, Valentine's weekend was the only one everyone could do and none of us remembered the significance of 14 Feb!). Anyway, R and I only ever celebrate Valentine's in a cursory way so neither of us minded. When we were courting (hehe) we used to go out for a meal on Valentine's but after one ill-fated evening spent crushed up next to a couple who loudly discussed broadband connections for most of the entirety of the meal, we decided we wouldn't do that anymore..... 

We do always exchange cards though, and if I have time I usually make one for R, both because I like doing it but it also feels nice to spend a few hours doing something to show him how much I laaav him! (Two years ago we both made cards - you can see our attempts here!)

This year I kept it very simple, inspired by the folded out paper wreaths I made for Christmas. I took photos of the steps below but really it's very self-explanatory!

I cut hearts out of a variety of different papers, sticking to a palette of greys, taupe and white cos I like stuffs natural (and so does he!)

When I had about 6 hearts I piled them all up together and decided where I wanted to position them on the card. 

I then sewed down the centre of the heart. Remember to open out the card before sewing otherwise you will not be able to open it afterwards. Sounds obvious, right? Evidently not if you're me. 

Open it out like a fan and admire your handiwork! It will look like a little heart shaped book:)

The next step is to decide what to write on it (or you could leave it blank). I chose the first line from the song we had for our first dance at our wedding - And I love you so by Don McLean (love a bit of 70s romance) Apologies for the smush - no more I promise. 

That's it! Done! The only thing left is to write a message to your love. I had to cut out a piece of paper to stick inside first to cover the sewing machine holes.....

After making my card and taking multiple photos of it, I set myself to a bit of floral faffing with some really lovely dusky pink roses I bought FOR MYSELF. 

I decorated my (still-up-no-I-won't-take-it-down-even-though-Christmas-has-been-and-gone) wreath with rose heads and some eucalyptus.

I think it looked rather pretty (if a little Miss Havisham-esque)!

I arranged the rest of the roses in little posy jars and bottles - I often prefer doing that to plonking them in a vase all together. 

On Valentine's Day I came home a little worse for wear (oops) and we did some super romantic stuff like tidying the house, putting bird feeders up in the garden and tackling laundry (god, so much laundry). Then R made me a chicken pie (he knows the way to my heart) and we did some holiday planning at the kitchen table. Pretty sure that's actually what true love is. 

Oh and I did get flowers:)