Friday, October 9, 2009

Party Like A Rock Star: MagneticMessenger & TrendyPrints

The time has come to tell the world... Big Sister E is a rock star.

So really, what better theme for her 3rd birthday party than that? I've had this idea for a few months now and have been mentally planning it in my head. It seems all of a sudden though, that the time has come. Are YOU ready to rock?

If you ARE ready to rock, don't feel like you also have to play your guitar like a violin.
I don't know why she seems to enjoy doing that.

The first step in throwing a Rock Star Birthday Party is to have really great invitations to not only let people know that you're having a party, but to let them know it's GOING TO ROCK.

I didn't think it was going to be that hard to find some cute invitations for Big Sister E's Rock Star Party, after all, it wasn't that unusual of a theme. However, once I started looking, I seemed to run into the same main obstacles over and over. The invitations I was finding were too expensive, poor quality or just plain ugly. And lots of companies either didn't even offer a rock star option or, if they had one, it had a bothersome teenage girl character on it or it wasn't a photo invitation. I love photo invitations, there is just something much more fun about seeing the birthday boy or girl on there to get me excited about going to the party.

Then I was saved by MagneticMessenger.com and it's sister company, TrendyPrints.com.

Side note: The invitations look even better without my editing-for-the-internet done to them.

A family-owned company, husband-and-wife team, Felicia and Greg, started MagneticMessenger.com after the birth of their third child and were disappointed in what was being offered when they looked for photo birth announcements online. I've seen a variety of invitations over the years and I agree with their criticisms and actually handmade both Big Sister E's and Little Sister B's photo birth announcements myself after they were born... which is not something I suggest for other people to do in the first week they are home with a newborn. Instead, MagneticMessenger offers a cool option of ordering your announcements in advance and then just sending in your new baby's photo and statistics after they are born. How convenient is that?

Among other reasons that I made my own birth announcements, a main one is that I usually don't like most of the designs that companies offer for their products. I want to be happy with the card that I'm sending out to all of my family and friends, so I want something that looks GOOD. With MagneticMessenger, however, I almost can't choose just one favorite.

There are classic, beautiful birth announcements...
The "comfort & joy" announcement. I love how timeless it is.

As well as unique, one-of-kind announcements that will get everyone talking...
"Newest blend." Perfect for the coffee-loving parents.

There are also great cards for almost any occasion, such as bridal showers, save the date and adoption announcements. And of course there are great birthday invitations that can be customized for ANY age!
"Turning one espresso girl." There are boy versions too, OF COURSE. I just can't seem to get away from the selections for girls for some reason...

There are some major bonuses that customers get when ordering their announcements or invitations from MagneticMessenger.com. First of all, they are printed on high quality cardstock and are the perfect size, 3.75" x 5.75", for mailing (with only one stamp! One!) and displaying. Other magnetic invitations I have seen are so small that there isn't room for the party information, which ends up being scribbled on the back.

Second of all, as these invites are printed on cardstock, they avoid having that look of being a magnet, that sort of plastic-like, stretched image look. Instead, you have a beautiful photo print with a thin laminated strip of magnetic striping on the back that can be displayed on ANY metal surface. Gone are the days of knocking into the bulky magnets on my refrigerator and having everything fall to the floor, instead my MagneticMessenger.com invitation is both eye-catching and sleek.


Not looking for magnetic announcements or invitations but you still want a beautiful card to send for your upcoming occasion? Customers who were happy with MagneticMessenger.com suggested to Felicia and Greg that there be non-magnetic alternatives... and TrendyPrints.com was born. There, you are still treated to the gorgeous designs from MagneticMessenger and its fast, high quality, professional-looking cards with wonderful service. Not to mention that these cards come at a price much less than what you will find elsewhere. Why send generic holiday cards this year when, for only 99 cents a card (99 cents!) you can send these?

"Jolly Dots." Simple, personal, sweet. Envelopes included!

But wait, there's more. TrendyPrints also has a huge line of photo gifts, so if you are looking to make personalized calendars, mugs, t-shirts and more for the holidays, they have a great selection. The RocketLife technology they use makes it easy and fun to create gifts for everyone and you always get to see a real-time preview of your item to know exactly what it is going to look like when it arrives.

Hold on! There's a special offer going on right now at TrendyPrints.com! For a limited time, you can try out their photo book technology by making a FREE photo book (a soft cover, 7.5 x 5.5," 20 page book) and only pay $4.95 in shipping. I love how you can customize so many aspects of their photo books, including the backgrounds, dimensions, borders, graphics, etc as well as the Smart Arrangement Technology that uses factors in your photos to automatically place them into the book for you. Did I mention the book is FREE? Start checking people off of your Christmas list today!

As for Big Sister E's Rock Star Party, MagneticMessenger.com and TrendyPrints.com started us off on the right foot. After the invitations were sent out, I heard many compliments from family and friends who not only thought that they looked amazing, but they loved having them up on their refrigerator as a reminder of the upcoming party.

Thanks, MagneticMessenger and TrendyPrints, for providing invitations for my little Rock Star, they were the perfect way to get everyone excited about the party. And, for delivering these and all the other party items to my door, thanks, Mail Carrier. You rock.

(Other than invitations from MagneticMessenger.com and TrendyPrints.com, I was not provided with anything or enticed to do this review in any way. This review is solely my opinion of these companies and their products.)

3 comments:

Nicole @ Chic and Cheap Nursery said...

Your review ROCKED as always!
Big Sister E's invitation looks amazing!

I love magnetic invites because that way you can stick to the fridge and not forget!

Anonymous said...

great review!

i use scrapblog.com with similar results..

following you through under 100 followers club at MBC..i hope you do follow back

Unknown said...

love no the invitation came out

knickgirl_3 at yahoo dot com