Storkie - Review & Giveaway!

If there is one thing every couple needs for a bridal shower, it's thank you cards! Thank you cards are a great way to personally acknowledge the gift you received at your bridal shower and explain to the 'gift giver' how you much you appreciate the gift and how you and your husband-to-be will use it. Thank you cards are especially important when you receive cash or a gift card. Why? Out of human curiosity, I think most people like to know what you'll be purchasing with the money or gift card. Will you be purchasing something off of your registry? Will you use it towards wedding costs or a honeymoon? When I had my bridal shower, I had a few gifts come on behalf of the 'gift givers' with other family members or friends. In this case, I feel it is even more important to send a thank you card, since I didn't have the chance to thank them in person and I wouldn't have the chance to thank them until the wedding day.

Luckily, there are many companies out there that have wedding thank you cards. Storkie Express not only offers printable products but they offer items that are personalizable and reflect your personal style or your wedding style/colors. All of their products come in a variety of styles to suit anyone's taste, whether it be classic or modern.  Besides selling thank you cards, Storkie sells cards (and more) for just about every special occasion, including births, weddings, communions and baptisms, holidays, generic holidays, and the list continues!  Storkie is celebrating 20 years of fast, affordable, and high-quality personalized printing services.

One thing that I think is really great about Storkie is their iDesign ordering system. iDesign allows you to completely customize your design's text, font, and layout. You can even changed the colors of the backgrounds and many of the images; this feature is known as dynamic images and can easily custom your design by changing hair and eye colors, etc. I had a chance to use this program to make my thank you cards and I thought it was a lot of fun and extremely useful! One thing I did find out is that sometimes, the program is tempermental with different browsers. I tried Internet Explorer first and it didn't work. So, I tried Firefox and it worked like a charm. If you are having troubles with the program, I suggest trying a different browser. If that doesn't work, you can contact Storkie customer service and they'd be more than happy to help you!

To make sure that your product arrives with no mistakes, Storkie even offers a proofing service. This is one extra beneficial measure that will ensure you are satisfied with the item you ordered and aren't disappointed because of any typos, etc., that you may not have caught.

Review
Since I needed thank you cards for my bridal shower, I was excited when Storkie told me that they'd send me 20 thank you cards of my choice (with return addressed envelopes) for my review. The cards I chose to review were the Viva Victoria Thank You Cards with black Murray Hill typeset (aka font type).

Storkie's explanation of the design I chose for my cards:
"This fold-over note card, "Viva Victoria" features a gorgeous Victorian pattern in black at the top and bottom of this design, separated from the main body by black strips. Choose from different color options for the main section as well as the sections behind the pattern. Elegant and beautiful!"

These cards sell for $1.19 each, with an extra $0.25 fee if you'd like your return address printed on the envelopes. You can also upgrade your order (additional fees apply) to have return and recipent addresses printed on the envelopes, extra envelopes, etc. Storkie also has matching items such as return labels, customized stamps, wedding invitations, and more, to match your thank you card design.

The thank you cards I received are made from a thick (100 lb.), matte card stock and the envelopes are high quality as well. Each card measures 5 1/2" X 4 1/8" (W x H).

There are a few things I would suggest to improve the cards that Storkie offers:
1) Offer a glossy card stock option for the cards.
2) Allow people to order the cards without the message 'Purchase and Printed at www.storkie.com' on the back. Having the option of using a personally designed monogram for the couple's names instead would be fantastic!
3) Offer different colored envelopes.
4) Offer a bulk discount.
5) Give the option of different card sizes for each design.

While these options wouldn't necessarily deter an individual from buying from Storkie, I believe there are always (or at lease usually) things that could be improved to offer customers an even more personalized shopping experience.

I was really happy with the overall experience of ordering the cards (I loved all the customized options) and I appreciated how quickly the cards were shipped (the speed was rather impressive)! I also like that the cards were packaged with extreme care to ensure that nothing was damaged in transit.

So, would I purchase from Storkie in the future? I would definitely consider them! I really like all the different items they offer and I love that they allow me to customize the item to my taste and provide options for matching/complimentary items.

 *GIVEAWAY*

What can you win?  One winner will receive a $50 Storkie gift certificate.

To enter, visit Storkie. Then, come back here and leave a comment stating what you would use your $50 gift certificate towards if you won. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless stated otherwise). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:

- *NEW* For each $1 you donate to my Wedding Fund (through ChipIn at the top right hand corner of this page), you will receive two (2) bonus entries for this giveaway.  Please make such to leave two extra comments along with your PayPal email so that I can verify your entry.

- Following Storkie on Twitter (@Storkie). Please leave your Twitter name in your comment.
- 'Liking' Storkie on Facebook. Please leave your name that is shown on Facebook for verification.
- Entering one other giveaway on Everything Up Close, then leaving me a comment hear indicating the name of the other giveaway you entered (Maximum of 1 entry).
- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my main button to your blog sidebar.
- Adding my 'Everything Up Close Bridal Shower' event button to your blog sidebar.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name in your comment.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).
- 'Liking' Everything Up Close on Facebook. Please leave your name that is shown on Facebook for verification.

- Tweeting about this giveaway with a link to this page. Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 2 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

- Talking about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post. 2 ENTRIES! Please leave 3 separate comments if you blog about this giveaway.

Important Entry Details: The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Wednesday, July 21st at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blogger profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.  

This giveaway is open to residents of Canada and the US.

Good Luck!

**Disclaimer** To complete this review and post this giveaway, I was sent 20 Wedding Thank You Cards of my choice.  Receiving this clutch did not in anyway alter the information which I discussed in this article; this review is 100% my own opinion.  I did not receive any other type of compensation for this review/giveaway.

My 1st UPrinting.com Giveaway!

Recently I joined a new blogger program called the UPrinting Blog Sponsorship Program.  This program gives me the opportunity to tell of you all about UPrinting's products and services and offer a number of items as giveaway prizes! 

UPrinting's motto is 'Spread Your Message' and this is exactly what UPrinting allows you to do.  UPrinting provides you with a number of products that are completely customizable, including Business Cards, Labels/Stickers, Posters, Postcards, etc.  For each product, you have the choice of using UPrinting's designs or adding one of your own!  You can easily create your own design by using one of the templates offered by UPrinting.  These templates make it simple to create a design that reflects your style 100%.  Plus, you can use these templates with a number of programs (e.g. Adobe Photoshop, Corel Draw, Microsoft Publisher, etc.).  Not familiar with design programs but you still want a one of a kind (OOAK) design?  A number of Etsy shops sell premade OOAK and custom designs for business cards and more!  If this is something that would interest you, you may want to check out my Etsy shop - EUC Designs.  Additionally, UPrinting shows just how user friendly they are by offering FREE samples of a number of their printing papers.  This allows you to pre-order samples so that you can ensure that your custom product arrives just as you imagined it!

Finally, as you look through UPrinting's website, you will notice that their prices are very competitive compared to other online printing businesses.  For example, you can get 250 business cards for only $20 + shipping (dependent on options chosen).  Or, buy 100 custom Birth, Wedding, or Event announcement postcards for only $33.60 + shipping (dependent on options chosen).

UPrinting.com is an accredited member of the Better Business Bureau and Inc. 500 | 5000.

Now for the fun part - the giveaway!

What can you win? One winner will receive a package of 250 business cards from UPrinting.com.  The business cards in this package are completely customizable to your preferences and you can choose from the following options:

Size: 2 x 3.5”, 2 x 3”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.5 x 3.5” (skinny card)

Paper:  14 pt gloss cardstock, 14 pt matte cardstock or 13 pt recycled uncoated cardstock

*NOTE* - the winner is responsible for the cost of shipping.

How to enter: Tell me how you'd use the business cards if you won, or what you'd put on them.  This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway (unless otherwise noted). Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do. If a certain entry method is worth more than one entry, which will be indicated for methods worth more than one entry, please leave a comment to reflect each entry:
-Tell me the name of another product you'd like to try from UPrinting.com.

- Subscribing to my blog via email or RSS feed (Maximum of 1 entry - please tell me how you subscribe in your comment).

- Adding my button to your blog sidebar.  - IMPORTANT - If you've added it before, please add it again with the new code.  The button must point to http://www.everythingupclose.com for it to be counted as a valid entry.

- Following me on Twitter (@ihchicky) and Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page). Please leave a link to your tweet or your twitter name. You can do this once a day.

- Following me on Blogger / Google Friends Connect (publicly).

- Entering one of my other giveaways.  Please indicate the name of the other giveaway you entered.

- Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment.

- Writing about and linking to this giveaway in any public forum or on Facebook. If you do this, please leave your user-name and a link to the post.

-Donate a minimum of $1 to my BlogHer 2010 Fund using the ChipIn widget on the right hand side of my blog. Earn 2 entries for each dollar you donate! Please leave me your PayPal email address so I can verify your entry.

Important Entry Details:

The above entries (main and bonus) can only be submitted once per person (except for the tweet entry, which can be done daily). Please do not use more than one blogger account or add additional anonymous comments to gain extra entries. This is not fair to everyone else and this practice is strictly prohibited. If a person is found to be using more than one account to enter the same giveaway, they will be disqualified from that particular giveaway, as well as all future giveaways.

This giveaway will end on Monday, January 18th at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of the US only!  The winner will be responsible for the cost of shipping.

Good Luck!

*Disclaimer* As part of the UPrinting.com Blog Sponsorship Program, I will be receiving 1 free package of 250 business cards as a thank you for posting the giveaway and sharing information about UPrinting's products and services.  This review is 100% of my own feedback and I did not receive any other sort of compensation for my opinion.