Celebrating Valentine's Day with a Giveaway!

Valentine's Day is one of those holidays that you either love or you dislike passionately.  I have known countless numbers of people who not-so-lovingly refer to Valentine's as Singles Awareness Day.  I, though, do not fit into this category.  Even after my very painful divorce I looked forward to Valentine's Day.  To me, the whole sentiment of the holiday is not that you have a partner but to simply take joy in those around you that you love and that love you back.  

My children back in what seems like a long time ago, yet just yesterday!  And yes, my scrapbook skills have improved immensely since then. :)

One of my fondest Valentine's Day memories as a child is, honestly, odd.  I have no idea the circumstances or exactly what happened but this is what I remember.  I must have been in about 2nd or 3rd grade and I was in my parents' room.  My mother was sitting on the bed and she said there was a surprise for me in the closet.  It was a new pair of church dress shoes!  Now why this memory has such a fond feeling for me, I have no idea but I just remember being so happy.  In retrospect, my mother probably didn't have my traditional Valentine's chocolate box for me but did have a pair of shoes for me in the closet so she just settled for that.. I don't know.  It's funny how we remember some of the oddest things in a very fond way.

Of course, the most important activity for any school child was (and is) the Valentine cards.  Oh how I adored making the most beautiful box every year to house my cherished Valentines from classmates.  There was one boy which was in several of my classes throughout the years.  He attached "love" stamps of varying values to the cards of all the girls.  If you got a high value love stamp you were definitely more popular and prettier than the rest.  I remember thinking 'if only Ryan would give me a great big love stamp I would have more friends, be more popular, etc.', how silly!  Of course, I always got a low value love stamp!  Illusive 6th grade popularity darn you!

This is the actual card with the 'love' stamp from my 6th grade class.  Yes, I keep everything but hey, at least it's nicely organized in my scrapbooks. :)

 Nowadays there are so many choices for Valentine cards, both for kids and adults alike.  There are some great online options that give you so many fun choices.  Shutterfly seriously has some gorgeous - and I mean gorgeous - Valentine's Day card designs.  Oh, I can image back in the day if I had the option of giving out designer cards with my photo I would certainly have been the most popular girl in school.  Don't you think?  At Shutterfly I could have even created wonderful stickers of my own to attach to my Valentine's Day cards.  Or maybe even given some very cool Valentine's Day gifts!  Ok, ok.... getting myself worked up here.  Seriously though, Shutterfly has fabulous options for all occasions, even Birthday Invitations. 

So, now you're thinking you definitely want some of these gorgeous Shutterfly cards for Valentine's Day, right?   Shutterfly has very reasonable prices and will even give you free shipping on your order of $25+ with the code SHIP25.

*The giveaway is now closed.*

Shutterfly is also very graciously offering one of my readers a promo code good for 25 free Valentine's Day cards!  Fabulous!!  Want the chance to win?  Here's how:

*1)  Simply leave a comment below telling me your favorite Valentine's Day memory or tradition.  This is all that is required for entry!

EARN EXTRA ENTRIES:

*2)  Leave a comment on one of my non-giveaway blog posts.  Be sure to leave a comment here letting me know that you completed this.

*3)  Follow my blog with Google Friend Connect and leave me a comment letting me know that you are new or already a follower.

*4)  Follow me on Twitter and/or Facebook.  Leave a comment for each method, one entry each.

Giveaway ends February 01, 2011 at 11:59 pm MST. Be sure to leave your email or have it in your blogger profile so I can find you if you win. Winner will be selected by a true random generator. Winner must respond to winning email in 48 hours or a new winner will be selected.  Winning code is good for 25 free 4x5 stationery cards and expires 3/01/11.  Winner is responsible for any taxes and/or shipping charges.
 

Thanks for stopping by the Chaos!

I will also receive a promo code for 25 Valentine's Day cards from www.shutterfly.com for this blog posting.  This has in no way affected my opinion of the products offered at www.shutterfly.com.