carmen's birth announcements from minted

I'm a card person. I love sending cards and I love receiving them, as proved true by our 'fridge filled with the smiling faces, announcements, save the dates and invitations from friends (okay, mostly from Ethan's friends. He has more than us!). Since Carmen joined our family, I've found myself upping my do it big mantra. I mean, she's our last baby. She's our last baby and we've been through hell and back in adding her to the empty space within our family. I wanted to announce her arrival from the rooftops! Here she was, the most beautiful, wonderful dream come true waking us up at three in the morning for a feed. We were fortunate enough to be able to team up with Minted to create Carmen's birth announcements.

After much (much, much) deliberation, we decided on the Sweetest Gift design. I'm really into the handwritten, minimalist thing these days and the soft, sweet gentleness of this card seemed to pair up perfectly with the impromptu newborn photosesh that Carmen, Ethan and I had in our living room after she was released from the NICU when her ever-fleeting newborness was fresh. If you're unfamiliar with Minted, let me tell you something that makes this company stand out from the rest.

Minted brings you designs from independent designers across the country and around the globe. Our design in particular is the creation of designer Kerry from San Francisco. It's easy to get bored with the typical, routine, predictable cards that every other stationery retailer seems to churn out. I absolutely love that Minted incorporates designs from independent artists ensuring that the products listed are always innovative, fresh and one of a kind.

Not only does a lot of love go into the creation of each product, but a lot of heart goes into the packaging, too. The staff at Minted was so unbelievably supportive as we announced Carmen's impromptu arrival and adoption, and that meant so much to our family. I've ordered cards before from other retailers and find myself sorely disappointed at the flimsy, thin quality. This was not the case with our cards from Minted. Everything arrived packaged beautifully and printed flawlessly. There was no room for bends, tears or folds. In fact, our cards were such a strong, quality cardstock paper that they take effort to even bend. I love that these will hold up beautifully as the years go on and serve as a timeless keepsake of the time we brought home our incredible daughter.

Minted offers customization options on each design as well. From font styles to the shape of the edges on your card, there are many options for you to pick the design that is best suited for you. I loved being able to customize the back of our card as well.

"And then my soul saw you and it kind of went 'oh there you are. I've been looking for you.'"

I've been so eager to unveil Carmen's birth announcements. They are an absolute treasure to our family and we are so fortunate to have had the opportunity to team up with Minted. It's always awesome to support independent designers, creators and makers and what an added bonus to end up with such a high quality, cherished announcement to shout our daughter's birth to the world (many of whom had no idea we were adopting -- hey, surprise!).

Craving some fun, new art but have nothing to announce at the moment? No worries. Minted also offers incredible designs for the home (including fabrics and lampshades, as just an example) and tons of beautiful typography.