Dash of Inspiration – Christmas in July, Part 2

A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen

Christmas in July, Part II

I hope that last week’s Part 1 of Christmas in July inspired you!  Today we continue the holiday theme with some thoughts and goodies for your 2012 creations.

Let’s begin with some GCU Categories that could use some new designs:

• Holidays > Christmas Cards > Anniversary on Christmas Day (only 21 cards)
• Holidays > Christmas Cards > Ethnic (only 14 cards)
• Holidays > Christmas Cards > Red Hatters / Ladies in Red Hats  (only 9 cards)
• Holidays > Chanukah / Hanukkah Cards > Birthday on Chanukah (only 4 cards)

Don’t forget about Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Festivus!  Look through the categories and you’ll see there are many with little to no cards in them.

• Holidays > Chanukah / Hanukkah Cards
• Holidays > Kwanzaa Cards
• Holidays > Festivus Cards

When creating greeting cards for holidays you do not celebrate and therefore are not 100% familiar with, PLEASE take the time to research those occasions.  Understand the traditions of what people are honoring/celebrating, find the colors, elements and phrasing which are used to represent the holiday . . . then and only then can you create cards that will respect those holidays and draw buyers to your cards.  For example using blue in a Kwanza card is not likely to be a big seller, the same would go for using red and green for Chanukah.  Always research what you don’t know!

Remember that the new GCU Guideline have those reviewers paying close attention to imagery suited for your category choice –  so tie the text/verse to your imagery and tie the imagery to the category if you seek approvals and sales!

Okay let’s get you some fun stuff to work with in your new designs:

There are some fun fonts for the holidays season, but please use them sparingly!  The first letter in Christmas for example can make a fun and professional statement in a funky font.  Overuse of these ‘fancy’ fonts will not only cause your cards to possibly not be approved and they won’t bring in sales either.

Snowdrift Font

Red Holiday Patterns by Pattern8.com

50 HQ detailed vector Snowflakes from All-Silhouettes.com

Tutorials

Creating Snow in Photoshop by PhotoshopEssentials.com

Paint Shop Tutorial – Making Frost & Snow by IrishActs

Winter Themed Photoshop & Illustrator Tutorials from AnidanDesign.com

For those new to the GCU Community or those who missed it; there are several posts from last year with fun Christmas Freebies, so browse the Dash of Creativity section here or for those who don’t know, I’ve put all of my Dash of Inspiration Posts since Community Blog began on my website under resources so you can quickly scan the list of links to find what you are looking for:  Salon of Art Dash of Inspiration

Remember to keep tuning in Mondays in July, the Dash of Inspiration will be offering inspiration and design freebies to help you get those new 2012 Holiday Cards on the market!  ENJOY!