Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Folksy Valentines Part I: Scherenschnittes for your Sweetie

Valentine's Day is around the corner, and I'd like to kick things off by posting a weekly round-up of some delightful hand-crafted and home-made tokens of affection.

Let's start by taking a look at some cut-paper love tokens.

Barbara Ardizone offers this breathtaking scherenschnitte heart with watercolor details. The intricacy is astounding and the darkness of the period frame sets off the silhouette so nicely.



How sweet is this set of cut-paper lovebird love tokens? Too sweet for words. Seller Peggy McClard estimates them to be circa 1840 -- a miracle that they've lasted so long!



Carlson and Stevenson offer a number of lovely and unusual antique Valentines and love tokens. My favorites are the woven pairs of hearts, such as this beauty:



I wouldn't mind a bit if my Valentine gave me one of these antique love tokens . . . but 10-1, I get the same ol' Whitman's sampler I get every year.

2 comments:

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Lana Manis said...

Oh my ~ These are right up my alley! Though I make paper love tokens inspired by those of the 18th and 19th centuries, I do not own any that old. These are treasures to behold!

(sorry about the previous deleted post; I thought I was signed in with my blogger account)