oh, the issues. i had intended, first and foremost, to make gyotaku -- japanese fish prints. i did this a long time ago, and had a lot more success with it then. don't know where i went wrong this time -- wrong paper, wrong ink, wrong fish -- but it was just icky and strange. none of the prints really took, there was a problem with bleeding gills, and i ended up laying waste to numerous postcards, envelopes, and tiny little plain-white jigsaw puzzle-cards. phooey.
trying to stay away from EITHER a) hearts or b) red and pink, and having exhausted my fish and mercilessly screwed with their reincarnation process, i ended up doing a traditional hearty-thing in browns and greens and silver ink. for the record, those little jigsaw puzzles -- good in theory, hard to use. two out of four went into the trash, and not just because of the fish. i think, unless you really know what you're doing and can anticipate the problems, they are a little unpredictable.
i have always liked this holiday, whether single or coupled. i wish more people made valentines. i wish grown-ups gave them out at work, just like we did when we were kids. all homemade. i would save them all.