Mixbook Review and Giveaway!

When I was contacted by Mixbook to review their photobooks, I was really excited. I took a quick look at the website and was really impressed with it. With Mixbook, you can create your own photobooks, cards, announcements and photo calendars on the web. You create or customize the design for free using their design software and then you have the option to purchase your final product. Hubby had previously created a photobook a few years back using the Mac software, and we enjoy having it around to show people, so we were really excited for the opportunity to create a new book. I would have loved to have done a book for the baby, but he was not yet arrived. Instead, Hubby and I decided to design a book about us, using photos from our travels and various adventures.

A page from our book

When creating a photobook, it is essentially online scrapbooking. Mixbook has a whole array of templates you can choose. Then you just upload your photos and start arranging. Or, you can also use the auto mix feature and the program will arrange everything for you. I loved this option, since the templates look great. They have gorgeous backgrounds and stickers and even appropriate quotes already arranged for you. Since I am not a scrapbooker, I would have chosen this option. However, Hubby had a vision of what he wanted, and he also had a ton of fun playing with the software, so he created our whole book from scratch. Basically, he chose the photo layout for each page and then customized it all. My job was to go through after he was finished and add some quotes, stickers and other design elements to make it look purty. We were really happy with how it turned out, and it is the perfect coffee table book. The shipping was very quick, and I have to say that the  customer service has been phenomenal!

More of our book

Things I really loved about Mixbook:

• The software is super easy to use, and it looks sharp! 
• You have the freedom to create something from scratch or to just add your own photos to an already designed template
• The colours on the photos turned out exactly as they were on our computer (one of the drawbacks we had with using the Mac program on our other book). 
• The Mixbook software will tell you if your photo's resolution is too low to turn out in print, if you have margins which won't look nice once printed, etc. It's basically a goof-up protection plan. It's fabulous, and you don't find it out at the end when you've already arranged it beautifully; it tells you as soon as the photo is uploaded. 
• The quality of the book is awesome. I was very impressed.

They also have a ton of wedding invites, save the dates, birth announcements, etc. Their birth announcements look awesome. They have a ton of great designs, and most are double sided, which I think makes them look much more high-quality than the ones with just the plain white photo paper backs. We will be ordering a bunch once we get some nice photos of the Peanut. 

Head on over to the website and check out their current promotions. 

They are also offering my readers a special discount of 20% off any Mixbook product!! Just enter the code UPMOMC20 at checkout! Woo hoo! 

The Giveaway!! 
**The giveaway is now closed. Thanks for entering! **
One lucky reader will receive one free 20 page 11x8.5 landscape hardcover photo book with free shipping! It's a great way to show off travel photos, or create a fun wedding album or a personalized baby book. 


To enter: 

Leave a comment below telling me what you would create with your Mixbook. 


For bonus entries (leave a separate comment for each entry): 

• Like Mixbook on Facebook
• Share this giveaway on Facebook/Twitter/your blog
• Follow Mixbook on Twitter

The giveaway will be open until Monday, August 29th at 5pm MST. I will choose one winner randomly from the comments posted here (using random.org). Contest is open to both Canada and the US. Woo hoo!

Please note that I received a free photobook so that I could write a review on the product. All opinions are my own, and are my honest feelings about the product. Just want to be honest!