[You're going to want to read this post. All the way to the bottom. Trust us.]
How many of you have your holiday cards already? Raise your hands.
Well, that’s not too surprising. Because as one of our bloggers put it, “I’m just far too lazy to go to the store, pick out a box or two of generic holiday cards, write a pithy letter to accompany them, address them and take them to the post office.” She wasn’t the only one, either. Several of the lucky recipients of cards from Minted.com routinely send cards from Big Lots and the like - if they manage to send them at all.
So it’s no wonder they were awed by the loveliness of Minted.com - both the selection of cards and design options, and the finished products themselves. As one blogger described, Minted is an “online stationery designer known for their artistry, exquisite printing and superb papers.”
The bloggers each selected a set of 25 cards and were free to customize the design as they chose. One blogger enthused: “The possibilities are endless with these cards. If you can dream it, the folks at Minted can make it happen.” Choose flat notes or folded notes, and incorporate the printing format that suits your needs best: “This “yearline” design fit my needs beautifully - as I could write a brief, humorous summary for each of the four pictures…If you prefer the traditional Christmas letter, this format is also offered.”
But the customization doesn’t end there, and that’s where the personalized attention really begins: “My card required the Minted designer to do quite a bit of tweaking; changing the “circle” pictures to “squares” and changing the fonts. She presented me with two versions to pick from. My choice was made, and final edits were sent back. The process was effortless, easy, and fast.” And even if you think you might not need to see a proof, you might want to anyway. One blogger was glad to have a chance to check out her proof: “We used that opportunity to swap out the image with something with more contrast because our photo looked washed out in the card.”
Thanks to the vast range of options, each creation really is one of a kind. This blogger commented: “That’s what I loved most about the ordering process. There were so many opportunities for customization, that I really felt at the end of the “design process”, that this card was mine and unique.”
Minted.com is a new company, and the site is new too, so inevitably a few glitches arose: “I had a lot of page freezing and previewing different designs was a bit tedious because we had to keep scrolling back down the page every time we closed the pop-up windows.” But another blogger noted: “Navigating the site was exceptionally easy and I was impressed that my session didn’t once time-out…no matter how many times I clicked forward and back while looking at designs multiple times.”
What did the bloggers think of the cards when they arrived? “The card itself turned out even better than I hoped. The colors are bright and cheerful and vivid…these are cards that I am going to be very proud to send out to my friends and family,” this blogger wrote. “I promise you, I will be sending these out this year. I can’t wait to put the stamps on them, in fact!”
The paper itself naturally softens the photos, so another blogger cautioned readers to make sure they sent high-resolution photos: “The photo cards I’m accustomed to seeing are printed on photo paper, while Minted’s cards are on a nice, sturdy card stock.”
This blogger was thrilled not only with her cards - “The cards themselves are absolutely gorgeous. They are sturdy, high-end, and made from 100% post-consumer waste.” - but with the address labels she treated herself to as well: “…frequently such things are so shiny that one cannot use pen without creating a smudgy situation…I am pleased to report that the address labels I received from minted.com have a tiny bit of sheen to them - indicating quality and style - but are primarily matte, and can handle my favorite rather wet black pen. Although it required a bit of drying time, within a few minutes I could wipe my hand across it with no smudge.”
Two bloggers did run into trouble with their orders, but both happily reported that the mistakes were resolved, most definitely to their satisfaction.
The first found that the cards she received were the flat style, vice the folded style she’d ordered: “I could have lived with the flat, but they not only reprinted them but sent them 2-day shipping. Everybody makes mistakes, but it is rare you find a company that is so responsive, with such great customer service.”
The second blogger was the unfortunate victim of a transitional mix-up that resulted in an unusually long delay between placing her order and receiving her cards. As the Minted.com Merchandising Manager personally explained to her:
She’d been so impressed by Minted - “the usability of the site and the beauty of the designs were such a dream” - that even after such an “oops”, the responsiveness of the company just knocked her socks off: “Even though I wasn’t a paying customer, [the Merchandising Manager] still offered to give me more cards or customized address labels on Minted’s dime…Way to save the day, Minted - you can bet I’ll be back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that, and…”
It looks like Minted has earned the admiration and loyalty of not only the bloggers whose orders went perfectly smoothly from start to finish, but also the bloggers who ran into a snag or two. Now that’s the sort of company we love, especially when they turn out a “super quality, gorgeous finished product that would impress the pants off people.”
More Minted.com reviews coming up! But if you’re already convinced that you’d like to check out Minted for yourself, hop on over to Krississippi.com - the lovely Krissi is giving away what Minted offered up to her: 100 customized cards! But hurry up - she’s got a deadline of November 25. Gotta beat the holiday rush, you know!
Wed 11/19 - Hot Mom Reviews
Thurs 11/20 - Rookie Moms
Fri 11/21 - The Chunky Purse
Mon 11/24 - Mom to the Screaming Masses
Tues 11/25 - mothergoosemouse
Wed 11/26 - Mother Bumper
Mon 12/1 - Binkytown
Tues 12/2 - Formula Fed and Flexible Parenting
Wed 12/3 - Round-Up Review on PBN
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I love, love, love the Falling holiday card by ringo baby.
[...] were each treated to a set of 25 customized holiday cards from Minted.com were just as thrilled as the first half. They included a few people who usually dread choosing and sending holiday cards (if they remember [...]