Roy’s Valentine Dioramas
When I saw a call for a “Somerset Style” valentine diorama swap, I knew I’d have to join and make one for my daughter, too. These two little shadow boxes are made from a vintage heart-shaped candy box that was given to me in a previous swap, a bunch of odds and ends, and some vintage papers from Roy’s collection. Every last bit is recycled!
Roy was a local retired concertina player who passed away some time ago. I happened upon a large box of sheet music and vintage papers at my favorite thrift shop a few years ago, and paid $2 for the lot. Each sheet has Roy’s name carefully written in the corner.
He played at the VFW and hand-copied and wrote a lot of his own music – mostly about romance & love. He adapted a lot of popular songs to the concertina, too. I love to daydream about Roy playing his concertina love songs.
“Darling, I am growing old, Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today, Life is fading fast away.
But, my darling, you will be, Always young and fair to me,
Yes, my darling, you will be - Always young and fair to me.”
Somehow, I doubt Roy had any idea that a lot of this music would be living a second life in frilly little things like valentine’s day shadow boxes! 
