Make Valentine Photo Cards

Valentines day, the day to send that special someone in your life a little note to say you love them. This Valentines, send an environmentally friendly Valentine photo card and go green. Create spectacular Valentines e-greetings using your photos or videos, and Smilebox. With Smilebox you can create amazing photo greetings, scrapbooks, slideshows and photobooks with music, words and themes and add in your own videos. Smilebox gives you an easy way to go green and send out beautiful personal greetings.

Create and share a Valentine ecard in minutes.

For a fun and creative way to send a Valentine to that special someone, try a Valentine photo card. You can make Valentine photo cards with one photo, or many photos and turn it into a slideshow or photobook. You can even add in your own video, as well as music and embelishments. Adding a personal touch to your Valentines Day e-greeting makes it all that more special to the person you're sending it to and more fun for you to create a beautiful personalized greeting to share with that special someone.

One of the most inovative products on the market today is called Smilebox. With Smilebox you can create the most amazing animated greetings that feature your photos and videos. With hundreds of designs to choose from, the possibilities are endless.

Unlike other sites that focus on photo sharing and organizing photos, Smilebox's focus is on creating personalized multimeadia scrapbooks, e-greetings, slideshows and photobooks with music, words and themes. Basic Smilebox designs are free. Upgrades are available for individual designs, or by joining Club Smilebox. Since there's no public sharing of photos, or onsite search functions, you don't have to worry about the safety of your photos.

Simply drag and drop your photos into one of the many Valentine templates, add your own words, music and embelishments.

You don't have to download or upload any photo sharing software, just copy your photos from your camera to your computer and select the ones you want, drag and drop them into the templates and you're done!

Save your work as an email, then e-mail it to your family and friends. They don't have to sign into Smilebox themselves or use any passwords. They just have to click on the link to enjoy your creation. They can even print it, You can also post your creation to your bolg, facebook or myspace.

You can also make a scrapbook or slide show of all your favorite pictures to send to family and friends. Anything you make on Smilebox can be emailed or blogged.

With hundreds of templates and music to choose from the possibilities are endless

Surprise a friend or family member with a membership to Club Smilebox!

For a full year they will get all the benefits of a Club Smilebox membership.

A personal message from you will be delivered to their inbox with all the details they need to get started.

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, Susan Wright from Smilebox , has put together a list of ten tips to use the digital camera tucked in your bag or drawer to create a heartfelt video message for the sweetie in your life. And then check out the dozens of great Valentine photo egreetings from Smilebox - the perfect way for cupid to deliver your video masterpiece!

1. Let the sun shine in. Digital cameras offer little lighting control, so throw open the blinds or film outdoors to provide maximum light and create a better video clip.
2. Frame your subject. Before filming, think about what's behind the subject that you won't want your viewers to see. It could be a pile of paperwork or yet-to-be-folded laundry or a random looker-on. Avoid distracting items and find a neutral and pleasant background.
3. Plan your message. Before hitting record, think about what you want to say. You don't want to sound rehearsed, but a little forethought will save you from countless retakes. I actually write out 4 to 5 words that remind me of the points I want to make, review the list and then throw it away. This way, the order of the words keeps me on track without memorizing the entire message.
4. Shorter is better. This is one of the few times it's good to be short. Keep your clip to just 10 to 15 seconds to avoid boring your viewers. No matter how funny or precious, no one has the time or the patience to watch much more than that.
5. Interview the kids. Even a well-rehearsed kid can freeze up once the red light is on, so consider asking your kids some thoughtful questions. Or have someone else film while you stand just off camera and ask the questions like the professionals do. Answers to questions such as "What are your favorite things to do with Daddy," "What is your favorite memory from when you were little," and "What about Mommy makes you smile," will tug at your heart and will become keepsake clips for years to come.
6. Keep your camera handy. Some of the most memorable video comes from those spur-of-the-moment opportunities. The great compact size of the new digital cameras lets you tuck it in your bag, pocket or kitchen drawer. Make it a habit to routinely recharge the batteries and/or keep a spare. You'll be ready to capture first steps, first words and first dates.
7. Easy on pans and zooms. You don't want to make your viewers dizzy so use the pan and zoom controls sparingly. And, when you do use them, use a speed that seems even overly slow and it will turn out just right.
8. Avoid the nostrils. Keep the camera at a level slightly above your subject and your viewers won't be looking up their nose. And, it's just a more flattering angle for most people.
9. Narrate when necessary. You don't have to provide a play-by-play color commentary of your baby crawling across the floor, but sometimes a contextual narrative helps your viewers understand what they're seeing. And remember to remind viewers - and yourself years later - about details such as age, grade, school, position or team name.
10. Editing makes perfect. While you need not strive for perfection, there are many easy, free video editing programs that will get you close. Movie Maker is a good example and it comes with most new PCs as well as iMovie which ships on iMacs.

Smilebox is 100% free to use with a basic account, which means it doesn't cost anything to personalize and send as many basic creations as you like, although, when you send them out by email, they will have a a short ad along one side. Buying a premium design template for $1.99 allows you to choose from hundreds of music options including your own, send your creations full screen without ads, print keepsakes and reuse the template.

To get the full benefits of SmileBox - unlimited designs, hundreds of music options, send creations without ads and print keepsakes - sign up for Club Smilebox and receive a free 14 day trial and unlimited access to all premium SmileBox designs, plus you can choose from hundreds of music options, send your creations without ads and you and your receiver can print them out for keepsakes.

Create your very own Smilebox account - an account is needed to enable you to use thier service. Any personal information that you provide to Smilebox is for the purposes of record-keeping only and won't be ever be shared with anyone else. You can create your account at any time, by clicking on the "Sign In" button at the top right of your screen. You will need to provide your name and email address. Once you have created an account, Smilebox will automatically sign you in each time you start it up on the same computer

When a card just isn't enough, chocolates are always wonderful