If your kids are anything like mine, they come home with tons and tons of artwork -- and each one is their Special Favorite. Woe betide you should they catch you secretly putting some of it in the recycling bin! Thanks to the wonders of digital photography we've been able to capture their best works forever -- but what's the use of that if it's buried away forever on our hard drive?
Mom and entrepreneur Abbe Lunger has come up with a great solution: use your kids' artwork in note cards, note pads, and other gift items. She sent me a sample pack of PrintArtKids products to look at; here's what I thought of it:
The Basics
PrintArtKids.com turns your child's work of art into gift items that can be enjoyed over and over. Just upload a photo of your child's art, and use it to create a variety of products like notebooks, holiday cards, note pads, postcards, gift labels, return address labels and note cards.
The Bongga
Isn't this a great gift idea? Everybody hands out photo gift items but no one thinks of using their kids artwork; this is the first site I've seen that focuses on this specific niche. My favorite products were the note cards and postcards that had artwork on the front and a personalized message inside (or on the text area of the postcard) -- some even had a small photo of the young artists so that grandma and grandpa have a memento of what the kids looked like when they created their masterpieces.
Other great things: I like the fact that they use recycled paper and other earth-friendly materials, and I like how the images look on the products themselves -- although I was sent stock samples, not samples with photos of my own kids artwork, so I don't know whether the artwork on the products came from a photo that was taken by a professional photographer or by a mom with a point-and-shoot idiot camera (like mine). In any case, Abbe assures me that every order is personally inspected and you'll be contacted if there are any issues with image quality. She even help with correcting images (major rework will incur a small fee). Since this is a small business, you'll definitely receive personalized service!
Update: I've since learned that the owner of PrintArtKids, Abbe, photographed the majority of the artwork in the samples sent to me, using a Nikon D40 (a digital SLR) for the artwork and a Nikon Coolpix (a digital point-and-shoot) for the kids' photos. The rest of the artwork and photographs were uploaded by clients.
The Blah
I loved the note cards, postcards and notebooks -- they were printed nicely on thick, matte paper -- but unfortunately, I can't say the same about the quality of some of their other products. The return address labels and gift labels look like something I could have printed out on my own computer, using Avery labels purchased from my local office supply store. Also, if people already have an account on other photo sites like Shutterfly, Snapfish or Costco, they may be more inclined to upload the photo of their kids' artwork to that site and order from there -- which is why we need to give a shout out to this mom-owned, eco-friendly business!
The Bottom Line
I love PrintArtKids.com's unique focus on products made from kids' artwork. Their eco-friendly materials and personalized service set them apart from the usual photo sites!
Disclaimer: I received a stock sample in order to review this product, but no monetary compensation. The views and opinions expressed here are my own.
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