LAURA CARTLEDGE Life's Like That...Get out the glue and the glitter '“ it's just so much more romantic...

No sooner had the tinsel been packed away before the shelves turned into waves upon waves of hearts, chocolates, flowers and teddies. A million and one ways to say ‘I love you’, albeit using someone else’s pre-written sentiments and mass-produced wares.

Don’t get me wrong, I think it is great there is a whole day dedicated to telling those special people in your life just how much they mean to you. But while this is the date’s biggest positive, I think it also highlights its biggest negative – should we have to mark a day on the calendar?

I for one will admit to being a bit of a feelings phobe. I remember the first time I told my uncle I loved him. I was at university at the time and it was our weekly phone call. His response? He rang my parents to check I was okay.

With this in mind it can be argued that making a special day for affection is the motivation people like me need! For one day we can be soppy and blame it on the date! Not only are affections encouraged but we are given ways of sharing them, no fuss, no deliberation...no thought.

And yet again we have struck a problem.

Valentine’s Day – in fact, strike that, LOVE – should be a celebration of the unequalled bond you have with that person. It is a unique thing. If your loved one was a card, answer me this...would they be one picked from a faceless shop, in just another high street, sitting among rows upon rows of the same? Or would they be a handcrafted original, the only one of its kind?

It is estimated one billion Valentine’s Day cards will be sent worldwide this year, a statistic which makes it the second most card-heavy celebration after Christmas. In light of this I encourage you to make something! Get out the glue, the glitter, print a photograph. It doesn’t have to be a work of art, but trust me, the feelings and effort will make it a masterpiece.

And perhaps pledge to do little things throughout the year. I-was-thinking-about-you flowers on an spontaneous Sunday perhaps? Or romantic meal on a random Wednesday?

After all, it doesn’t really matter how you say it, as long as you do.