Create your own valentine card

One of Loretta Morely Etchison’s prized possessions is a shadow box containing an exquisite pressed flower that once belonged to her great-aunt.

“I’ve always loved flowers,” she said.

Etchison teaches floral design at Spokane Community College. Five years ago she combined her two passions, art and flowers, and launched Retro Blooms.

“I’ve been an artist my whole life,” Etchison said.

She creates a whimsical line of greeting cards, bookmarks, magnets and original works of art using pressed flowers.

Make your own

Valentine’s Day can be the perfect time to get creative by making a pressed flower valentine. According to Etchison, all you need is basic card stock, a glue stick, Elmer’s glue, pressed flowers and wax paper.

Etchison says a simple heart design works best for beginners. You can trace the shape of a heart on the card stock but Etchison prefers to simply lay out the flowers on the card. She says it’s important to lay out your design before you start gluing to make sure you have enough flowers. For the valentine pictured, she used false strawberry and verbena blossoms as well as bits of dried vines and greenery. The false strawberry blossoms are naturally heart-shaped.

Etchison works carefully and quickly, swiping the delicate blooms across the top of a wide glue stick. She also uses a cotton swab dipped in Elmer’s to affix the most fragile flowers.

“Pressed flowers are very delicate and need to be handled with care or they’ll fall apart,” she said. Etchison also says it is important not to use too much glue so it won’t bleed through and discolor the blossoms.

When you’re happy with your design, cover it with a sheet of wax paper and place the card under a heavy book. Leave it overnight to dry completely.

You can personalize your hand-made card with a valentine greeting written with a thin-line pen or let the floral heart convey its own message.