Looking ahead and since most of my cards I had designed for Valentine's Day have been removed from the Valentines Day holiday category ...
 
Tell me again ... why is a card that has a heart on it and says "I love you" not a Valentine? I'd really like to understand that.
 
val-en-tine - noun - a card or message, usually amatory or sentimental, or a gift sent by one person to another, for example, on St. Valentine's Day.
 
Yeah the "for example" in that defintion really surprised me too.  But ya see folks it's the amatory message or sentiment that is the issue ... not the wishing someone a "happy some dead saint who no one really knows who he is or even cares day" that makes a valentine.
 
Every candy company sells candy in a heart shaped box ... at one time of year ... with no words on it at all ... yet everyone knows it as or calls it a valentine.
 
Yes I am still annoyed by this issue because I think I designed some really nice valentine's last year that were in the Valentine's Day category and this year they willd get no exposure at all because the administrators here made a bad decision.  No one looks under love and romance for a valentine ... but they do look under valentine for love and romance.  
 
I think you folks removed a lot of very nice valentines form your selection of Valentine's Day cards ... and wrongly so.  
 

Hi Mary … thanks for the kind words about my cards. My “heart” cards seem to be popular with folks overseas in the armed forces … that gives me a real smile when I see that.
 
If Valentine’s Day were indeed about the Saint, I might say you and GCU are right. Maybe even take it one step further and say all cards for the occasion should be of a religious nature and about the Saint himself.  But it’s not and they aren’t.
 
Since the time of Chaucer the festivals celebrated around St. Valentine have evolved into a celebration of romantic love, hence the definition of a “valentine” itself. Is GCU selling cards for the religious holiday or the popular notion? From what I see of the cards in the category, it’s the popular notion. Even the cards that use the words reflect this by, in many cases, dropping the Saint and simply saying … Happy Valentine’s Day. So is the day about the Saint or the other noun definition of “valentine” … a sweetheart or someone we hold dear in our heart? I think more people would agree the latter. The two cards of my own that were left in a subset of the Valentine’s Day category don’t say Happy Valentine’s Day but are in a category about “sweetheart” and “be my valentine”. And I didn’t exactly use those words either.
 
About Valentinus himself … there are at least three potential Christian martyrs with that name, as I understand the history, and the church wasn’t specific as to who was being named a Saint, what he did, or when. The Pope at the time just noted that the name was indeed revered by the Church and his acts were known to God and basically that’s all that mattered.
 
Anyway … after removing a ton of cards from the category I know GCU won’t back pedal. I still think they should reconsider.        

Quote from Mary__137064 on Dec 4^th, 2009, 5:52am:

 
Excuse me, but I grew up going to Sunday school and church as a Presbyterian.  Saints have no meaning or importance to me at all and I feel what I was taught is just as Christian as any other so claimed religion.  As far as I am concerned Valentine's day is about love and sentiment and has nothing to do with religious figments.
 
Harry - I totally agree with you and have had the same issues with GCU categories.  I have come to understand what they are thinking with their stringent rules, but I have a lot of doubt about whether J Q Shopper realizes it or not and knows why he/she should go looking in another category to find their perfect card.

Quote from Amy_137576 on Dec 4^th, 2009, 1:52pm:

 
HI Amy ... well I am glad you understand what the folks at GCU are thinking ... I have to confess I've stopped trying.
 
Mindy ... maybe so ... but in the REAL world a card with a heart that says "I love you" ... is an appropriate Valentine's Day Card.  
 

Well, based on all I've learned on GCU and the sales I've made, I have to agree with Mindy.  
 
Harry, two of your cards say 'be mine' on the inside which certainly relates to Valentine's Day, however the other cards are simply beautiful Love cards.  They can be used year around to express love and that is the difference.  And whether you believe it or not, people absolutely DO look under Love and Romance for Valentine's Day cards.
 
A simple solution is to just create a second version of each of those cards with Valentine's Day text somewhere on or in the card.  Then you have them in both locations.  Isn't that a better solution than making demands that aren't likely to be met?
 
Just my 2-cents.