Friday, January 16, 2009

Bride Design Valentines

When I was in college I had an incredible crush on my friend. He gave me a collection of ten poems by W.H. Auden for my 21st birthday entitled "Tell Me The Truth About Love" and I wrote his name in the back of the little chapbook and cherished it. Years went by and we lived in many different places. He in California, South Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island, and me in New York and Chicago. Sometimes we'd do a decent job of keeping in touch by phone, or we'd even manage a visit. Other times we'd fall out of touch, dating other people, and busy with our individual lives and careers. Still, I always kept that little book in my night stand and read it periodically.

When I was 21 (or even 25 or 26 for that matter) I never imagined that the boy who gave me that book would end up being my husband when I turned 30! And a wonderful husband and friend he is. As a result I decided to make Bride Design's first release of Valentine's Day Cards a tribute to him. Here are the first two designs, inspired by my favorite poem from that treasured book, "O Tell Me The Truth About Love.". Throughout the poem, the poet speculates on and questions what love is, often with humor and a simple beauty that I've come to appreciate in much of Auden's work.


These designs are based on the line "Some say that love's a little boy" and further into the poem, the line "Does it look like a pair of pajamas?" I hope you like my interpretation. I had such fun creating these designs, inspired by a great poet and my own love story as well. You can find these designs, with more to come, at my etsy shop bridedesign.etsy.com. Of course if there's something you'd like to see in our shop, let me know! I love to hear feedback from customers and friends.

9 comments:

vicki said...

I'm swooning! Love the cards and the story.

Erin Nowak, Designer and Illustrator said...

You are too sweet. Pete and I were pretty silly during our twenties. I comfort myself with the thought that at least our stupidity makes for a nice story. :)

Anonymous said...

My stupidity makes for volumes of stories...

cakegrl said...

I'm laughing out loud at you both, but with a grin all the while because I know you!

Candice @ Jubilee Events said...

Erin I love this!

Anonymous said...

That is just too adorable!

Unknown said...

Erin, what a beautiful story! Love the cards too.

bridechic said...

Touching and sweet . . . very unique look to the cards

Maria Elena said...

Oh my gosh, what a romantic story. The cards are wonderful!