Well, I have to confess to getting sidetracked by today’s Featured Artist, Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley, and actually doing some shopping of my own before I finished this entry ~ more on my purchases later!“Love paper. Love color.” Then you’ll love Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley, too! This writer, former newspaper graphic designer, first started making papercrafts by hand -- no computer -- for friends several years ago, who encouraged her to sell them, too. Beginning with marketing holiday cards to the florist down the street, this gifted artist has sold over 800 unique designs since then, almost all of her cards being OOAK.
Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley describes her style as eclectic and says she loves to experiment, getting “completely absorbed in engineering my varied creations for hours. Each one is a new and unique production, made of treasures from my collection of paper and ephemera, transfigured into a single piece held together by a little glue, a lot of ideas, practice and work, and most of all, a great amount of joy.”
You are sure to find a OOAK handcrafted card or papercraft waiting for you when you visit Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley. What did I find today? The perfect Valentine that I just had to have for “hubby.” You see, for all our almost 26 years of marriage now, we have had a tradition of signing every card to each other (birthdays, Valentines, special occasion, etc.) with the word “Always” and over the years, we’ve come especially to look for cards that have the word “always” incorporated in the message. Just a romantic sentiment, a lovely tradition? Actually, a very funny story is behind this long-lived “promise” that we exchange with each card. You see, when we took “hubby’s” wedding ring to be engraved before our wedding all those years ago, we asked the jeweler to engrave it with the the word “Always” on the inside of the band. The jeweler went into the back, and we waited patiently until he returned and handed over the ring for us to inspect. Imagine our rather stunned, embarrassed surprise when we read, “All ways” beautifully engraved on “hubby’s” soon-to-be wedding band. Not exactly what we meant…eh-hem….enough said…..The jeweler took back the ring and soon returned with our “Always” as requested.
Needless to say, I found the most wonderful “Always” Valentine card today at Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley! But, you say, “hubby” will know now that you’ve written about it! No worries – he never reads this!You can find Quirky ‘n ‘Berkeley at:
Etsy: QuirkynBerkeley.etsy.com
3 comments:
That is so funny about the engraving. Kinda romantic, though that you always look for cards with "Always". Thanks for sharing that. Hope your Valentine's is a good one!
A year later, I still enjoy the telling of this story.
A year later, I still enjoy the telling of this story.
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