GCU Community

Nuts and Bolts: Custom Corner: The Ultimate Snowman.

December 28, 2019

Nuts & Bolts – Custom Corner: The Ultimate Snowman

With my 2019 card hot off the press, I’ve finally taken some time to review my family’s 2018 holiday card created by GCU artist Dale Simpson.

Having been mesmerized by the movie The Greatest Showman, I had circus on my mind. Comparing a busy family to a colorful circus is not a huge stretch of the imagination. But to make the circus holiday themed would have been challenging if it weren’t for GCU artist Dale Simposon Design’s adorable juggling snowman. Easy snowman, showman. The world’s greatest snowman was obvious as the ringleader. Then think sideshows, spectators, daring acts, and all the makings of busy family life is right there.

Thankfully, Dale was up to the challenge and as of December 11th quickly began working on the concept leveraging her Master sketching skills.

Circus Design Inspiration:

Cover Image Sketch:

Now for the inside, where it becomes a family act and the cast of characters with photos and costumes as examples for Dale’s amazing sketching of caricatures:

See the finished inside below which is a full bleed 10×7 image that I uploaded to the inside of the card just like any shopper can do with an image/photo. I adore the layout, colors and fun family caricatures. The two important things to mind with the inside image are 1. the fold line so nothing really important is positioned on the crease and 2. the outside margin allowance so nothing along the edges gets trimmed.

A standing ovation to Dale making sure that our show must go on last year and entertaining our friends & family with this action packed design.

Dale shares this about the design process:

I hadn’t had a store on Greeting Card Universe for very long when Mindy contacted me in December to enquire if I could create her family Holiday card. She had seen a Juggling themed Snowman design of mine and wanted a Circus Themed card created. With the time limit it was a little scary but sometimes a deadline is good for us creatives! Although I haven’t seen the movie “The Greatest Showman” (Am I the only one?) the image had that vibe, and with a Circus theme an illustrator can indulge in rich colours which is always fun and very much suited my natural style. The inside of the card proved to be more complex content wise so I opted to illustrate in a more cartoon style with slight caricatures of Mindy and her family again in a circus theme, which I’m sure raised a giggle from them all. I think it all came together nicely in the end and she seemed to be delighted with the design to send to her friends and family.

The difference is made in the details!

Mindy

GCU Community Manager

Wanted New Cards: Valentine’s Day from Babysitter.

December 26, 2019

tags: occupation specific cards, valentine's cards, Wanted: New Cards

by GCUAdmin

Wanted Cards – Valentine’s Day from Babysitter

Special babysitters not only do an excellent job keeping the kids safe and happy, but sticking to the rules while having fun at the same time. Although it’s a paid job, sitters and the littles that they care for often have a close relationship and special bond.

Sitters may acknowledge special dates like birthdays, holidays and other important occasions with a card and a small gift.

Please consider creating more cards for Valentine’s Day FROM the babysitter:

Holidays >> Valentine’s Day >> From the Babysitter

Keep in mind sitters (male and female) who care for a single child or multiple as well as for children of different ages.

To expedite the review of these cards, please check Fast Track Review on the card image details page when you create your card and add a Note for Reviewers like “for Blog – Wanted Cards”. For standard front designs, consider using Stock Card Creations to create new cards quickly. These cards are automatically set for expedited review so no need to Fast Track.

Remember, when you’re submitting your new stock card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!

Nuts and Bolts: 2019 Best Nine Instagram.

December 20, 2019

tags: 2019bestnine, Instagram, nuts and bolts

by GCUAdmin

Nuts & Bolts – 2019 Best Nine Instagram

Social Media is a great way to share your creative works and things that inspire, entertain, and maybe even annoy you. It’s also a great repository or chronicle of your past years. Again, let’s have some fun and share your best 9 posts of 2019, hopefully they are greeting cards or your creative works!

Here is how to generate your top or best 9.

Be sure to use the hashtags:

#2019bestnine #bestnine2019 #top9 #topnine #best9 #bestnine #bestnineof2019 #topnine2019

And most importantly, be sure to tag us @greetingcarduniverse

Looking forward to seeing your best 9 on Instagram!

The difference is made in the details!

Mindy

GCU Community Manager

Wanted New Cards: Christmas for Sheriff.

December 19, 2019

tags: occupation specific cards, Wanted: New Cards

by GCUAdmin

Wanted Cards – Christmas for Sheriff

Any card imaginable for every relationship possible especially during the holidays!

Holidays – Christmas – Occupation Specific – Sheriff

Remember, when you’re submitting your new stock card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!

Freebie Wednesday: Mulled Wine Season.

December 18, 2019

tags: free font

by GCUAdmin

Freebie Wednesday:

Mulled Wine Season is a bold, rounded font with a bouncing, playful rhythm and tight letterspacing. Perfect for Children’s Book, Cartoon themes, etc. The character set covers Western and Eastern European Latin and Vietnamese accents and special characters along with basic punctuation. As a real rarity, this font has an exclusive language extension which is the Old Hungarian script! It’s free at Creative Fabrica so be sure to check it out.

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

Rainbow Connection: Eclectic Folk.

December 18, 2019

tags: color trends 2020/2021, Pantone Eclectic Folk

by GCUAdmin

Eclectic Folk is the hot new trend for Autumn/Winter 2020/2021.

Nuts and Bolts: 2020 Design Challenge Theme Suggestions.

December 13, 2019

tags: 2020, GCU Design Challenge, nuts and bolts

by GCUAdmin

Nuts & Bolts – 2020 Design Challenge Theme Suggestions

As GCU prepares to round out the year with the 2019 Founders’ Choice Awards, we look forward to another exciting year of challenges in 2020.

We are open to theme suggestions for future challenges. Please share your ideas in the comments here!

See the GCU Design Challenge Forum board where all challenges are posted.

The difference is made in the details!

Mindy

GCU Community Manager

Wanted New Cards: Christmas Step Grandson & Granddaughter.

December 12, 2019

tags: christmas cards, Wanted: New Cards

by GCUAdmin

Wanted Cards – Christmas Step Grandson & Granddaughter

Every Card imaginable for every relationship possible especially during the holidays!

Please consider creating new Christmas cards for these two new relation specific categories:

Holidays >> Christmas >> For Family Relation Specific >> Step Family >> Step Grandson

and

Holidays >> Christmas >> For Family Relation Specific >> Step Family >> Step Granddaughter

Create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs. To expedite the review of these cards, please check Fast Track Review on the card image details page when you create your card and add a Note for Reviewers like “for Blog – Wanted Cards”. For standard front designs, consider using Stock Card Creations to create new cards quickly. These cards are automatically set for expedited review so no need to Fast Track.

Freebie Wednesday: Emelyne Script (Font)

December 11, 2019

by GCUAdmin

Freebie Wednesday:

Emelyne Script is a new, modern calligraphy-style font. This fresh design is perfect for a large range of projects. It’s free at Creative Fabrica for another 4 days so you better make sure you don’t miss out!