I love the smell of Pantone 1777C in the morning

I've spent much of my professional life writing, reviewing, editing, creating, and otherwise poring over printed pieces. So when I left my job a few months ago to be at home with booger for a while, there was definitely a print-job void. In response, I've had to come up with personal projects to feed my glossy vs. matte, stock weights/types, die-cuts, and pearlescent inks fixations. Luckily, I've found a few sites online where customized print jobs can be ordered easily and (fairly) cheaply.

Invitingsmiles.com is where I designed and ordered both my son's birth announcement and our first official family Christmas card. You just type in your own text, upload photos/graphics, and away you go! For the birth announcements, they even sent the envelopes to me immediately, so I could pre-address them. Nice touch.

Photostamps.com allowed me to create custom postage stamps for our Christmas cards this year. While probably not an expense I'd be willing to spring for every year, it was worth it for baby's first Christmas. And people LOVED them.

VistaPrint is the mac daddy of cheap print sites. You can get stationary, business cards, and tons of other promotional printed materials on the cheap in a WIDE range of quantities (25 business cards, for example). I used them to print some personal "calling cards" listing my name, address, phone, and email address. (Beats scribbling things on the back of an old receipt at playgroup or elsewhere.) And did I mention that their prices are cheap, cheap, CHEAP?

So, minions, go forth, and work on your custom proofs!!

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