a peek inside the fishbowl

08 Feb, 2007

Creative distraction in the form of a Valentine PIF*

Posted by andrea tomkins in: - Mail art

[Signups are officially closed! Thanks guys! Please obtain the address of the person you’re sending to. If you need an email address, drop me a line at andrea at quietfish dot com.]

I’m feeling slightly overwhelmed by the day that is looming ahead of me today.

I have a ton of work to do. I have a sick kid at home. The house looks like it has imploded upon itself (I know I overuse the war-zone metaphors, but when I use it I MEAN IT and because it is an accurate description of the way things look around here). In fact, I hardly know where to begin. Scratch that, it’s 10:15 and it’s already begun. (1) The kids have been watching CBC kids all morning. (2) I have already had a large coffee (3) I took an hour-long bath (4) and now I’m here. Having a panic attack.

I need a creative diversion. This is a quickie, open to you all.

I want to send someone a Valentine. I have in mind a very special vintage valentine I bought on Ebay. If you’re my age – say thirtysomething – and you saw it you’d hoot and holler and reminisce fondly about this type of Valentine, because you’d surely remember giving one of these your first grade boyfriend.

If you would like to be the recipent of such a Valentine, please leave your name in the comments. I’ll get your mailing address later. BUT if you want it (you knew there was a caveat, right?) you have to be prepared to offer up a Valentine of your own. In your comment, please specify what kind of card you would like to send: homemade, store bought, a Starbucks gift card? And be prepared to send it to the next person who signs up after you.

Is everyone with me so far?

So the first comment would look like this:

“Hey, a retro Valentine from Andrea! Great! I have been itching to make my own Valentine’s Day card – all glittery and funky – and would love to send it to someone. Who wants it?”

The second comment would be:

“I want a glittery funky V-day card! I have a Hello Kitty card, who wants it?”

And so on.

The last person (let’s say the cutoff date is noon, Monday the 12th) will send to me. I don’t care if my card is late.

Okay? GO! We don’t have a lot of time so if you’re interested, please sign up ASAP. 

* pay-it-forward

1. Me (I will be sending a retro v-day card to…)

2. Natalie (and she will be sending a watercolour to…)

3. CC (and she will be sending a Dora valentine plus treats to… )

4. Megan (who will be sending a home-made acid free valentine suitable for a scrapbook layout … and maybe some treats (!) to … )

5. jibiibear (who will be sending a scrapbooky card to … )

6. Ginger (who will be sending a $5 Starbucks card in a store-bought Valentine’s card to…)

7. Marla (who will be sending a card made with a vintage 1950’s Valentine and a short story called “A Valentine Never Sent”  to… )

8. Me! Yay!


19 Responses to "Creative distraction in the form of a Valentine PIF*"

1 | Natalie

February 8th, 2007 at 11:35 am

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Yup sign me up!
Great idea. :)

2 | andrea

February 8th, 2007 at 11:42 am

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Natalie – I’ll get your address from you in a bit, but in your comment you have to make your offer. What kind of Valentine would YOU like to send to the next person who signs up after you?

3 | Natalie

February 8th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

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Oh ok – since I’m an artist – how abt a watercolor Valentine????

4 | CC

February 8th, 2007 at 11:06 pm

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I think it’s crappy if I don’t send something good but I’m not creative like y’all! I don’t want to see this fail Andrea…so how about a Dora Valentine with an extra little bit of treats included? “A Dora treat valentine”….um I’m serious? Dora because my daughter is handing out Dora vdays and extra treats because I’m totally embarrassed I’m sending this off……..but it’s been like 5 hours and no takers!

5 | megan

February 9th, 2007 at 10:10 am

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OK I’ll take the Dora card even though Dora is completely over at the MacBarr’s, replaced by Poke Mon (much to my horror). I can offer up a home made acid free valentine suitable to use in a scrapbook layout if you so wish and if I get around to it this weekend I will throw in a couple of pretzels covered in pink chocolate (I need to make them for the kids classes). Any takers?

6 | Natalie

February 9th, 2007 at 11:05 am

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Good grief are we making treats too???
Suddenly my poor excuse for a card seems pretty paltry…

7 | CC

February 9th, 2007 at 11:59 am

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Natalie….I had to toss something in the deal because I offerred up a DORA valentine…it’s a little pathetic don’t you think?

8 | andrea

February 9th, 2007 at 1:07 pm

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Treats are not necessary! It’s a nice extra but don’t feel required to send them. I’m updating the list now…

9 | jibiibear

February 9th, 2007 at 2:45 pm

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I’ll play along as long as no-one minds sending a Valentines down under.

I’ll make some sort of scrapbooky card.

10 | megan

February 9th, 2007 at 5:16 pm

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Oh crap…I just checked out jibiibear’s blog and there is no way she is going to be happy with my scrapbooking abilities. What have I gotten myself into and I am not sure you can mail pretzels to Australia.

11 | jibiibear

February 10th, 2007 at 12:34 am

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Megan….I love seeing other peoples work, and I love anything people take the time to make for me. As for the pretzels…I don’t see why you couldn’t send them. A good friend of mine from Connecticut is always sending us yummy treats, and if she can send goldfish crackers I don’t see that pretzels would be a problem.

12 | Ginger

February 10th, 2007 at 5:21 pm

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I love this idea! I have a $5 Starbucks gift card that I would love to send to someone who enjoys coffee. The card was a gift from a co-worker and I don’t drink coffee or visit Starbucks. I would love to PIF. Your $5 Starbucks card will arrive in a regular store bought Valentine’s card.

13 | Marla

February 10th, 2007 at 7:32 pm

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I’ll take the $5 Starbucks gift card in a store-bought card (‘bucks is the only place we can get coffee we can stand when we visit my parents in Buffalo, and it adds up!) and I’ll offer a card made with a vintage circa 1950’s Valentine that was never sent.

(Oh…wouldn’t that be a great title for a story? A Valentine Never Sent)

Okay…so I’ll throw in a short story called “A Valentine Never Sent” , based on the card (I have a collection of them, so I’ll have to see which one inspires me).

14 | andrea

February 10th, 2007 at 8:32 pm

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Yay! Great. The list is updated.

One more thing: you guys can figure out where you need to send your stuff, right?

15 | Natalie

February 12th, 2007 at 9:53 am

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What? Hey I need some direction here – CC where are you???

I gotta start painting! :)

16 | CC

February 12th, 2007 at 11:06 am

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Andrea, how to we get in touch with one another? This is all so new to me!

17 | Natalie

February 14th, 2007 at 2:13 pm

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Hey Andrea – are we going to go get any direction on how to send our cards???

18 | andrea

February 14th, 2007 at 2:28 pm

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Yes! I emailed you previously. And am re-emailing.

comment form:

Archives


  • alex: For a classic Canadian treat for valentine day , try a BeaverTail (a fried dough pastry) there its yummy
  • Juliet Luiz: I was at this park today and saw the foundation and historical sign which got me curious and let me to your blog post! Great information:) too bad t
  • Rowyn Tape: Hello, I was sitting at Easter dinner with my grandmother and she was telling me this story. She is Herbert Lytles daughter who eventually bought the
  • Bernie: I freeze ball sizes of bread dough for beavertails each winter season.Easy to thaw, roll out and fry. Best winter treat!
  • Jen_nifer: I feel very much the same about my SUP. Floating with snacks is fantastic! When I go on water with some current, I make sure that I paddle into the cu
  • sam: Great article. This is very insightful. Thanks for sharing
  • Renee: I just saw one yesterday on a small patch of grassy land near the Mann Ave 417 exit near Lees Station, Ottawa, ON. I had no idea they came in black!

The Obligatory Blurb

My name is Andrea and I live in Ottawa with my husband Mark and our dog Sunny who is kind of a big deal on Instagram. During the day I work as a freelance writer. I am a longtime Ottawa blogger and I've occupied this little corner of the WWW since 1999. The Fishbowl is my whiteboard, water cooler, and journal, all rolled into one. I'm passionate about healthy living, arts and culture, travel, great gear, good food, and sharing the best of Ottawa. I also love vegetables, photography, gadgets, and great design.

If you're so inclined, you can read more about me here.

I've deactivated the commenting function as well as my contact form so if you want to get in touch, please drop me a line at quietfish@gmail.com. Thank you!

 


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