Venus At The Gates of Rome

I call the collage above 'Venus at the Gates of Rome' - I started out simply with a photo I took in Rome in January last year and manipulated it to a vintage look.  It seemed fitting that Venus would be there to welcome all her visitors.  I added an angel from The Graphics Fairy who is My Fairy Godmother.  Here is another original photo taken on the same day.  Feel free to try your own.

Valentine's Day....

Happy Valentine's Day.....


Here's a gorgeous vintage Rose in Hand from the  The Graphics Fairy


So, who was St. Valentine after all?  Here's a great article from the BBC on him.
His bones are placed in a Whitefriar's Street Church in Dublin and I have visited many times with my special requests.


 http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/saints/valentine.shtml


The Valentine's Day card began around 1500 and took off in the Victorian Times when printed cards advanced with the technology of the day.  I'm reminded of being a school girl when we sent and were sent (if we were lucky) Valentine's cards covered in verses.   The bigger the card, the better. We'd spend months collecting and swapping verses and the name of the game was to remain anonymous.  We often had to think up ways of delivering cards to 'heart throbs' because we wouldn't know where they live.  Aaah, those were the days.