valentine book cards and a giveaway

Sometimes just a simple card isn't enough to tell your Valentine how much you really love them. Or maybe you just like really elaborate cards like I do. Here are a few ideas for Valentine cards with a little something special to satisfy either need. Each is in book-style, with room for photos or love notes. And read to the very end for a code for a free 8x8 photo book from Shutterfly, and our extra special Valentine book-card giveaway!

The envelope accordion card. Perfect for including "love coupons" for your sweet. We made ours using a tutorial we found at Paper Source. The only difference is that we didn't cut a slit for the ribbon--we just tied one around the finished accordion. We also decorated ours by adding paper to the front flap and a little stamping action.






Another easy book-style card is made from brown paper sacks. You can make as many or as few pages as you want, then include pictures and notes--even special pull-out pages for secret love notes! Check out this easy tutorial over at Scrapbook-Crazy. The only difference in our version is the pages are bound by two jumbo brads instead of by ribbon ties.





Altered board books make great Valentines for spouses or kids! I made this one a few years, ago, so I didn't have pictures for a tutorial. (But we're putting together an altered board book tutorial in the near future!) Basically I altered a childrens board book to tell my husband a few of the reasons I love him. I included pictures of myself and the kids, as well as special love poems. The digital artwork is not mine--I got this kit free from Two Peas in a Bucket. Click here to download yours for free!




Our last idea is this easy 2-Minute Memories card book by Simple Scrapbooks. It's a "Ten Things I Love About You" theme, and there are ten numbered pages with room for you to write in your top ten, plus a space for a picture for each reason. Just write your reasons and slap in a photo--how easy is that?

We're making it even easier by giving away one of these free. Just leave us a comment stating one thing you love about your Valentine by Monday, February 9 at 11:59pm PST. We'll pick our winner and send it out Tuesday so you'll have it in time for Love Day!

*UPDATE*: To those of you who saw the code earlier for a free photo book, we're sorry to say that the code does not work, so we have removed it from the post. Please forgive us!