Treasure: tiny prints

Top two highlights of my life so far: my wedding and birth of child.  (Notice I specifically did not write “childbirth.”  No.  {Shudder.}  That cannot be considered a highlight.)  But when it comes right down to it, I think I spent more time pouring over birth announcements than I did wedding invitations.  I had much higher standards for pressing issues such as paper weight, gloss vs. matte, fonts and wording, colors and graphics, and don’t get me started on how many photos to include.  Of course, the wedding invite is important, too.

But it’s not every day a Little Friend enters the world.  No, that requires an extra special announcement.

Hence, my zealous search for the perfect birth announcement.  I fairly quickly rejected the quick and easy route–photo paper elongated to masquerade as some special announcement.  I have papered my fridge with birth announcements that have arrived with Kodak watermarks dripped over the back.  I wanted a birth announcement that was a bit more memorable.

Sounds frivolous, doesn’t it?

Maybe it is.  Maybe it isn’t.  I remember the first few days of Little Friend’s life when she was lodged in the NICU.  I remember the tape that stretched from cheek to cheek, snagging her upper lip in the middle, securing a feeding tube trailing out of her right nostril.  I remember friends demanding with the sincerest of motives, “Send pictures!  We want to see what she looks like!”  I remember thinking, “So do I.”  When the tape and tubes were finally removed a few momentous days later, I finally got to gaze uninhibited on the blushing face of my daughter.  So sue me if I wanted to brag about her to the world.

If Malcolm Gladwell’s research can be trusted, first impressions really do last.  The birth announcement, then, has one shot at impressing the world on behalf of a new life.  That’s one heavy errand for a two-dimensional sheet of paper.  It’s an errand not be entrusted to just anyone.

Tiny Prints earned my trust.

Tiny Prints specializes in birth announcements, personalized stationery, birthday invitations, thank you notes, and holiday cards.  While many companies attempt to compete in the personalized stationery industry, I couldn’t find a single one that rivaled Tiny Prints in design or service.  And I looked for quite some time.  It took me two months into Little Friend’s term on this planet to narrow my birth announcement selection to Tiny Prints, but I couldn’t be more delighted to have found them.

The designs alone make Tiny Prints worth a few minutes’ (or hours’, in my case) browsing.  With featured selections from well-known artists and graphic designers, each announcement design, from the most affordable to most extravagant, carries a certain professionalism that sets Tiny Prints apart from other announcement sources.  The design selection should come with a warning: “May induce indecisiveness.”

Despite the fact that Tiny Prints is an online company, their customer service makes it feel like a neighborhood store.  While I can’t exactly see the customer service rep’s smile, I feel it’s there.   In ordering my birth announcements, I selected a photo with black and white contrast.  I clicked “order” and within minutes had an email in my inbox from Jack, a Tiny Prints designer, informing me that the photo would look less than optimal once printed.  Jack offered help in fixing the image.  Tiny Prints‘ commitment to making my announcement look as great as possible was nothing if not impressive.

Tiny Prints’ quality and service make me look for things to announce just as a new excuse to shop for a stationery item.

So I ordered Little Friend’s second birthday party invitations (a December celebration) in September.  I couldn’t help myself—I found the most adorable design from Tiny Prints and the price rivaled the write-in-the-blank invites from my local card shop.  Quality, design and price all from one place?  I’m sold.

Any company that’s able to match my child’s uniqueness, vivacity, and all-around quality is a company that’s going to earn and keep my business.  Which means I’ll probably start cruising Tiny Prints for Little Friend’s third birthday party invites, oh, sometime next week.

Tiny Prints carries cards and stationary for anybody and any occasion, good news for my friends, family, and self; bad news for my wallet.  Of course, it’s not too early to think about a stand-out card for the upcoming holiday season.