Hearts and Flowers

Well, given that Valentine's Day is tomorrow, I wondered once again who the heck St. Valentine was and how a Christian saint got hooked up with a holiday celebrating romantic love. After all, most Christian saints are martyrs who met their ends amid nastiness and violence, not love poems and flower petals. So this year I decided to sit down and do some research. I was lazy, so the following is brought to you largely by Wikipedia.

As it turns out, there were several early martyrs named Valentine, and none of them had even the remotest connection with love and romance until Geoffrey Chaucer came on the scene in the 14th century. In his Parlement of Foules, a poem written in 1382 to celebrate the first anniversary of Richard II's engagement to Anne of Bohemia, Chaucer writes:

"For this was Saint Valentine's Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate." 

It is thought that the reference was to St. Valentine of Genoa, whose saint's day was celebrated May 2, also the day the treaty was signed providing for the marriage. The only connection between Valentine of Genoa and romance was that his saint's day happened to fall on this anniversary, and happened to be during the spring mating season for birds in England. Chaucer never could have foreseen how his poetic license would spawn an avalanche of commercialized bliss.

The further evolution of the holiday is a bit murky, but certainly by the 15th century the name of St. Valentine had become associated with love and romance in the popular imagination. (Those of us familiar with the "Sweetest Day" phenomenon can probably imagine the process pretty clearly.) February 14th was the saints' day of two more saints named Valentine. Apparently, any Valentine would do in a pinch. And thus was born Valentine's Day. Bring on the hearts and flowers!

Rose Hearts framed flower petal earrings

From my own studio on ArtFire, Daly Craftworks, come these earrings which celebrate the fact that many rose petals are heart-shaped.

Next are these beautiful heart-shaped glass earrings from Shadow Dog Designs on ArtFire. The salmon red color with the sterling silver is wonderful.

Handmade Hearts Padparadscha Swarovski OOAK earrings

I don't think I've featured anything from Chrysalis Jewelry yet, and she makes great pieces. Here are two wonderful Valentine themed bracelets. 

Valentine Charm Coral Bracelet

The first uses red coral and a gorgeous heart charm she made in fine silver. 

Desert Valentine Bracelet

The second takes a desert-hued look at the holiday, using a subdued Southwestern palette.

For our transition from hearts to flowers, here's My Girly Gear's combination of two in one! Yep, that there is a rose carved into a heart, folks.

Carved Flower Heart on Pink Jade and Black Agate necklace and earrings

Because this is my blog and I can do what I want to (do what I want to!), I will begin the flowers portion of the program with a flower photo of my own from Daly Art Works on ArtFire. This is a pink lily lovingly planted by my Dad.

Pink Lily, color, botanical flower photo 8x10

And this is a necklace lovingly made by Sage's Cupboard. Look, it's a pink lily! See, there is a method to my madness. And if you click through you can see more details of the wonderful beadwork on this and other items in her shop.

Lampwork Lily Pendant

Next is another floral lampwork piece, this time a rose pendant by Ragamuffin Jewels. Gotta love that rich burgundy shade accentuating the spiral patterns.

Pink Floral Lampwork Pendant

And I'll close with one more piece by Designs by Chaz, because I love these chain maille patterns and they always look like stylized flowers to me.

Gay Pride Celtic Vision Pendant

All of the work I've featured is by the members of the Jewelry Creators Unite in Numbers guild on ArtFire. They are a very talented group! Even though this post is ridiculously late for Valentine's Day shopping, I hope you'll agree that any of these pieces would be perfect for expressing your love and affection any day of the year. Meanwhile, have a happy Day of Christian Martyrs Transformed Via Chaucer and the French (TM), also known as Valentine's Day!