Inspiration: Valentine's

So Valentine's has been a huge inspiration to me and no doubt, will continue to be so!   Actually, it's not so much Valentine's as it is love...  My favourite genre of books these days is definitely romance.  Valentine's Day is like a little vortex that sucks up all the love themed things, including my bead designs.

I actually am not overly fond of Valentine's Day...  I went to a girls school and had an older sister.  I desperately wanted to receive Valentine's when I was younger and used to watch as my sister did receive them.  My first ever Valentine was actually from a boyfriend of my sister's.  He gave both of us some fabric roses, though my sisters was of course larger.  I always appreciated his kindness and his generous spirit and he remains a friend.

My first serious would frequently give me flowers and while this was lovely, I knew that it was because he worked in a supermarket and whenever they were discounted at the end of the day, he would make sure a bunch or two were reduced to pennies and set aside for me.  I kept some dried in a vase until I left home.

I have always loved roses but I actually prefer the old varieties that smell delicious and have great blousy blooms.  I grew up in an old house with a few well established bushes in the garden.  My name is related to roses and they have not surprisingly always been my favourite flower.  The roses sold for valentine's always seemed like pale imitations of those beautiful flowers...  The blooms were smaller, no smell, strangely straight stems and far fewer thorns.  Those thorns, such an important part of rose, some of the old varieties, they are huge!  To breed them smaller and tamer feels like the wild beauty of the rose has been removed somewhat.

Roses are not native to Britain.  They were first cultivated 5000 years ago by the Chinese and Egyptians.  The rosehips are rich in vitamin C and used to make a cough syrup.  Roses are used to make perfumes and rosewater as well as used in food.  Jams, jellies and soups all feature roses and it is a flavouring for the sweet Turkish Delight.  It is also an ingredient of the spice mix Ras-el-Hanout from North Africa.

Don't go thinking you can eat any garden rose though, the genetics of roses has been tinkered with considerably and many hybrids now exist.  Not all roses should be eaten and only some are licensed for use. 

Roses were linked to the Goddess Aphrodite and have become so closely linked to love and through that, Valentine's Day.  Sales of red roses boom every year....  Even though they naturally do not flower till the end of the summer...

If you want to look at my pinterest board for this post, it is here!