Little bottles of love

 

A few years ago I met a lovely man and as a Valentine's Day gift I made him a ribbon message in a bottle. After a while he asked me to marry him and I said yes*. I'm pretty sure that it was the message in a bottle that caused him to overlook the fact that he likes tidiness and I have an ability to spontaneously create untidiness at the drop of a hat! Well, at the drop of a hat and some shoes and a handbag and probably some books and bits of ribbon and....

So that was the beginning of the ribbon in a bottle idea. I can't remember why I wasn't satisfied with making a little scroll of paper, but drawing a ribbon out of a bottle to reveal a secret message just seemed right.

After trying to write on ribbon with lots of different types of pen I really wasn't happy - it smudges and runs and generally just looks messy. Eventually I got a notion that typing the message might work so I asked around to see if anyone knew where I might get a typewriter. Somehow I ended up with five of them! I tested them all out and I liked a little vintage Hermes Baby the best  - it also looks cutest and packs neatly away in a matching case.

I've created quite a few customised ribbon messages for people in recent months for birthdays, weddings, christenings and even one for someone joining a silent monastic order! They're somewhere between giving a card and giving a gift, yet a combination of both. I love making them and I hope that I'll have some enquiries for customised messages - I think a marriage proposal in a bottle would just be fantastic!

*Some facts and even whole aeons of time may have been omitted from this part of the story :-)

I ♥ lighthouses

I’ve always wanted to live in a lighthouse and once, for a week, I did. This day 10 years ago I was getting ready for my 21st birthday party at this lighthouse in Wicklow. After an unforgettable party I stayed on for a week, commuting to college in Dublin. Even on a grim January day it was so cozy. Looking out the windows on the top floors in foggy weather you couldn’t see the ground, and with a storm raging outside it felt like the safest place in the world. It was worth the sore legs from the 109 steps to the top!

These days I’m making heart shaped boxes. I’ve been testing out my templates in different sizes, colours and types of paper. They’re stacking up all over the house and one might wonder if there are little cupids hiding on the shelves throwing little hearts around! If there are I would like to ask those cupids to stop throwing my work around, its not helping. Roll on Valentines Day to keep them busy elsewhere!