How to use Heart Drawings with a pun on a DIY Valentine

Let’s put those heart drawings from the last tutorial together with a valentine pun to make a DIY valentine. 

We are getting close to Valentine’s Day now. It’s the time to celebrate our special someone, but for me, it reminds me of my whole family, the laughter we share, a few sweets and a little together silliness plopped right in the middle of a cold, brown, possibly snowy winter. 

There are a couple of times a year when it’s absolutely necessary to get a little punny: Valentine’s Day and April Fools’ Day. 

Oh! 

And birthdays … 

Father’s Day … 

and … okay, it’s just fun to get a little punny. We always need another laugh around here (even an eye roll and a groan will do). 

Yes, our family gives valentines. Handmade or creative valentines. No, it doesn’t matter that our children are teens now or that they are boys. We still love it. All of us. 

Give it a try with your friends or family. Exchange valentines just for fun. This tutorial will get you started. 

Jump to the video or continue for written tips. 

Gather your supplies:

• Basic calligraphy supplies with Ziller Soot Black Ink
• Basic Watercolor supplies  
• Winsor & Newton Cotman Sketcher’s Pocket Box
• Pink watercolor (optional but here’s my favorite)
• Micron pen, size 03

Start with some Heart Drawings

You can make any hearts, but if you want some calligraphy heart drawing ideas, there are several in this 5 Heart Drawings tutorial. We’ll use some of them today and maybe a new one.  

Sketch your drawings first. Then, draw over your pencil lines with a calligraphy pen and Ziller Ink. I chose Ziller ink because I didn’t want to wait too long for my ink to dry before adding the watercolor layer. Ziller ink is dry enough for watercolor when it’s dry to the touch. (Read Ink and Watercolor if you want to learn more about the time it takes for some inks to dry enough for watercolor.)

Vary the thick and thin strokes on the heart shapes. 

Trace over the heart on the right with a micron pen. Then, use the micron pen for all of the balloon strings. Micron pens dry quickly and work well with watercolor too.

Add a Valentine Pun

Next, choose a valentine pun that has something to do with hearts or balloons to add to the bottom right corner of your valentine. Going with the balloon theme, I chose, “I’m blown away by you.”

Paint some Watercolor Hearts

Now, you can add watercolor heart backgrounds to all of your balloons. Mix up the styles and the colors to make it colorful. I used styles from the 5 Heart Drawings tutorial.

Then, I added one different balloon. The balloon that’s blowing away should stand out a little from the rest with a different style and a bright color.

When the backgrounds are dry. Use some pink and blue paint to add splatter to the whole card. If you used different colors for your balloons, splatter with a couple of those colors to tie it all together.

To make splatter, fill your brush with pink paint, and lightly tap the brush on your finger over the page. Repeat with blue paint. 

And you’re finished!

Now, you can think up another pun, mix together a few more heart drawings with some different watercolor backgrounds, and make another valentine to share!

How to use heart drawings with a pun for a DIY valentine video

As always … enjoy the process.

Do you want even more pun fun? You can find another of my punny valentine tutorials on Breaking Average Blog. Hint: It involves something sweet.

While you’re there, check out her other posts where she talks about people she knows who are breaking out of the normal and following their dreams. Let it inspire you to try one of your dreams.