Tutorial for mixed media Valentine Postcards by iHanna of www.ihanna.nu

I signed up for a Valentine swap and I am sending out 10 Valentine postcards to people all over the world. In return I will get 10 special postcards made with love from other artists. Making 10 similar cards gave me a fun opportunity to experiment with my material and play a bit. To me art is all about play and having fun.

Postcards are a lot of fun to make – and receive!

Here is a step-by-step tutorial if you want to try to make a fabric heart-postcard yourself!

Tutorial: Make Valentine Postcards with your Heart

Valentine Postcard 2008

1. Sewing the stripes together
I took some small stripes (about 4 cm/1,5 inch wide) of cotton fabric in different red shades that was discarded from a quilting project, and sewed them together, forming a square. You need about four or five different fabrics with a length of at least 10 cm (4 inches), but it’s easier to handle if they are longer. You can cut of the excess when you shape the heart in the next step!

2. Cut your heart out
From that square I cut out a heart shape that would fit a postcard. I cut mine freehand but you can make a pattern by first drawing a heart on paper and pinning it to your fabric and cutting after that. But remember, it’s not supposed to look perfect. Just like humans, hearts are imperfect and still beautiful. We’re only playing, remember?

Valentine Postcard 20083. Find a background piece
Then sew the heart into a postcard sized background. You can use fabric or thin paper and later glue your design to card stock. The card stock makes the card sturdy so you can write on the backside. If you want to decorate the postcard with more sewing and embellishment I recommend to use fabric as background. You can either sew the heart in place by hand or machine, your choice!

4. Go wild!
When you have the card shape with the heart shape, it’s time to look into your stash and decorate to your hearts content. Use my cards below as inspiration. You can add more fabric, lace, sequins, rocaille beads, buttons, ribbons, fussy yarn and embroidery thread.

Have fun!

Like I said, after the first patchwork hearts I did some experimenting. Sewing the heart to paper, sewing paper to fabric… I had so much fun making these. I’m thinking about a art series featuring more hearts right now.

Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008 Valentine Postcard 2008

To me my postcards speak of passion and warmth, and I hope all of them will make the receiver happy.

When I had finished my cards I found out that Purl-bee also made Valentine cards using fabric and paper, but hers are more romantic and not so wild as mine. Check those out too, they are very cute!

Recently I was featured in the Artist Spotlight: Hanna Andersson at Go-make-art.com!