Mr. Postman

The Professor and I are hitting the road tomorrow in a strange, obligatory, and yet somehow fun weekend involving him having “man time” with my brother-in-law while my sister and I continue north to DC for some lady time.
Due to this last minute holiday, we’ll be riding back to Georgia on Monday, St. Valentine’s Day. The Professor and I generally do not make a fuss on this very strange day. Not a lot is known about this feast day’s saint but Chaucer did basically invent the secular holiday. And I just can’t deny a good Chaucer invention stemming from courtly love. So we usually do little things, generally baked goods, like cannolis (which are, surprisingly, extremely difficult to find fresh in Georgia.)
In keeping in our Valentine’s tradition of do less, say more (and since it needs to be done before this little trip,) I’ve just finished my V-Day project for The Professor.
I love Western Union telegrams. Working in the archives, seeing how they were used to tell good news, bad news, important news, I just fell in love. I was going to use a service like this one to send one to The Professor. But then I remembered two things. First, we share an address with his parents due to our unique living arrangement here at the cottage (read: no address) and I was not sure if such a shop would keep the messages private or send as a postcard. Second, I am trained as a freaking graphic designer. This would be the easiest project ever. And it was.
I downloaded this blank telegram. Opened it in photoshop and wrote a message using one of my favorite fonts, 1942 report.
I then slightly tilted the text box to give that “just stamped” look. I followed these instructions to size, print, and fold my telegram. I thought of tea-dying it for aging, but I only had twenty minutes, so I just printed on slightly yellowed paper and went about my business.

I finished the whole thing by melting some wax and stamping it shut, and completed the back with a lovebirds stamp I used throughout our wedding planning. Adorable alternative-card finished!