Skip to content

Wanted New Cards: Youth Fire Truck Birthday

May 2, 2019

wanted new cards head

Wanted Cards – Youth Fire Truck Birthday

 

Little boys are fascinated with large trucks, construction equipment and vehicles. Anything on wheels is eye candy and very popular for birthday party themes. Fire trucks are at the top of the list!  Bright red with wheels, ladders, hoses, sirens and maybe even a spotted dog.  So many eye catching, moving parts. Perfect for busy little ones who desire “a job” and fascinating role playing.

 

Please consider adding to GCU’s offering of fire truck themed birthday cards and birthday party invitations for young boys. Consider birthday designs that are general, age specific, relationship specific, name specific.
Most cards will go in their functional category (age, name, relationship specific). General fire truck birthday cards would likely go here:

 

And for general invitations (not age specific):

Freebie Wednesday: Shantik Font

May 1, 2019

Freebie Wednesday:

 

Shantik font is a beautiful and unique typeface. It includes amazing swashes which will add an elegant touch to your designs and it’s free at Creative Fabrica for another 5 days so you better make sure you don’t miss out!

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

Dash of Inspiration: May 2019 Design Challenge

April 30, 2019
  • DashInspirationBanner_2015

Hello everyone! We’re a bit early on this post, so you get an extra day. I’ll be out and about tomorrow morning and didn’t want you to lose time on this fun and different design challenge for May …

……………………………………………………………

Theme: Oxymoron Fun!

Requirements:

  • Create a brand new design which incorporates an Oxymoron phrase from this enormous list: OxymoronList.comNOTE: If you choose a quote from this site, make sure it’s in public domain by looking up the quote/author BEFORE submitting your challenge card.
  • Write your own verse/message, be creative and write a message that clearly speaks to your imagery, occasion and recipient.
  • Blank verse will not be considered for entry in this challenge.

……………………………………………………………

Entry Deadline: Friday, May 31st

……………………………………………………………

How to Enter: Post the PID (card number) and the URL (public storefront link – please WAIT for the card to be available in the public marketplace, please DO NOT post a link to your Manage Cards area) as a post in the challenge blog. We’ll forward your entry to the jury.

……………………………………………………………….

Category:

  • Any category well-suited to your Oxymoron message.

…………………………………………………………….

Rules:

  • Submission must meet GCU’s Submission Guidelines and be Approved through the usual Review Cycle– Fast Track your submission with this in the Notes to Reviewer: May Design Challenge Submission here is the link to the blog post: (include THIS blog post URL)
  • Only ONE card per artist per challenge.
  • Submissions must be NEW, no existing designs.
  • Your entry must meet the Challenge Requirements and Theme or it will not be included in the challenge.
  • Stock Card Creations entries will not be accepted.
  • Your designs should differ from those already offered in the category of your choice to offer shoppers a variety of choices, not more of the same.

……………………………………………………………………

BLIND Judging: We hope each of you enters every month. Entries are submitted anonymously for judging by the GCU Challenge Jury which means that before and during the challenge, judges do not have any way of knowing what artist is behind each entry. This eliminates any and all concerns with ‘favoritism’. Results will post on the Community Blog. The jury will judge the entries on the following criteria:

  • How well the card meets the Challenge Requirements and Theme.
  • How well the card speaks to the Category the artist chooses for the card submission.
  • Creativity, Execution and Marketability.

……………………………………………………………………

Winners: 1st Place:

  • The winning designer’s card and store will be featured on the GCU Public Blog the blog which customers view and follow.
  • As well as featured on the GCU Public Facebook Page over 57,000 followers, now THAT’S exposure!
  • The winning card will be Design of the Day following the announcement of the winners (within 48-hours).

    EXCEPTION: Horizontal (landscape) cards may not be featured as DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions. In these cases, GCU will choose a different vertically oriented card from your store to feature as DOD. Thank you for your understanding and apologies for this limitation.

  • The winning card will be added to the Greeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board – currently GCU’s Pinterest Page followers: 4K!
  • The winning card, should the artist choose, may be referenced in a new series by the winning artist and he/she may Fast Track all cards in the new series (being sure to give the Challenge URL and winning card PID in your Notes to Reviewer for each card in this series).
  • Winning card will be included in a marketing email to over 100,000 customers!
  • GCU will create a Meet the Team board for the winning artist under the Pinterest GCU account where the winning artist will be able to pin and promote her own storefront and all that makes them a unique card designer and one of GCU’s artistic community team member.
  • Winning card will be posted on GCU’s Instagram with 6,800 followers and counting!
  • GCU will create a Meet the Team board for the winning artist under the Pinterest GCU account where the winning artist will be able to pin and promote her own storefront and all that makes them a unique card designer and one of GCU’s artistic community team member.
  • NEW! – 10 free greeting card credits added to your GCU account. Apply them at checkout and they never expire.
  • NEW! – A Design Challenge GCU digital award!

2nd Place:

  • Your submission will be Design of the Day the following week of announcing the Challenge winners (within 7-days).

    EXCEPTION: Horizontal (landscape) cards may not be featured as DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions. In these cases, GCU will choose a different vertically oriented card from your store to feature as DOD. Thank you for your understanding and apologies for this limitation.

  • Your card will be added to the Greeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board.
  • Winning card will be included in a marketing email to over 100,000 customers!
  • Winning card will be posted on GCU’s Instagram with 6,800 followers and counting!
  • NEW! – 5 free greeting card credits added to your GCU account. Apply them at checkout and they never expire.
  • NEW! – A Design Challenge GCU digital award!

………………………………………………………………………

Tips:

………………………………………………………………………

Be inspired to create and learn something new!

by LillyARTS

Rainbow Connection: the Colours of Morocco.

April 30, 2019

Discover the unique colors of Morocco:

 

 

 

 

Nuts and Bolts: Stock Card Creations ONLINE

April 26, 2019

Nuts & Bolts – Stock Card Creations ONLINE

 

We are pleased to announce that Stock Card Creations is back online!
The tool now uses the new image library from Shutterstock offering millions of high quality stock images at no cost to GCU artists.

 

NEW improvements to the tool / process:

 

1. HEX Code – there is now a hex code entry for the Border Color. This will assist artists in matching border and font colors with precision.
2. Stock Image Id # – in Manage Cards, Stock Image cards have a new field “Stock Image Id” which helps relocate a specific image when needing to recreate/edit the image or create a new card with the same image.
3. Return for Edits – the review team can now return a Stock Image card to the artist for edits. This will be a big time saver by not having to start the submission from scratch. The stock image will still need to be re-created if that is the reason for the return, but elements like meta-data, inside verse, etc. can be edited vs recreated.
 

 

IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR EXISTING STOCK IMAGE CARDS (BigStock):
GCU has identified which BS images are (matched) and are not (unmatched) being offered in the new Shutterstock library.

 

MATCHED:  If the image has a match ARTISTS DON’T NEED TO DO ANYTHING
UNMATCHED*:  If the image does not have a match – YOUR CARDS WILL BE RETURNED FOR EDITS TO YOU

 

*The process for UNMATCHED images, using the Return for Edits feature, allows the artist to choose a new stock image (Change Image in Manage Cards) from the new library that is close to or similar in theme to the original image and resubmit it without having to recreate the submission and all of the meta-data. This will preserve not only the card’s PID# but valuable sales history and search engine indexing. If the new image you chose differs greatly from the original, please be sure to update your card meta-data (title, keywords, artist’s notes, etc.) to reflect the differences. 

 

Other than that, it is pretty much business as usual. We have worked diligently to make this a smooth transition for artists and we thank you for your patience!

 

Please see this original post:
https://gcucommunity.com/2019/01/04/nuts-and-bolts-stock-card-creations-update-bigstock/

 

And here on the forum where you can post if you notice any issues:
http://www.greetingcarduniverse.com/forum/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1556227309/0

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

Wanted New Cards: Second Semester Senior/Senioritis.

April 25, 2019

wanted new cards head

Wanted Cards – Second Semester Senior / Senioritis 
 

You may be quick to consult WebMd but not need.  If you have school aged kids, or remember being a school aged kid, you can understand and relate. Use some of that parental experience to create fun cards for students nearing the end of their senior year, particularly high school.

With graduations in May and June, senioritis reaches epidemic proportions … NOW!
These cards are found here:

 

A quick definition:
Senioritis is a colloquial term mainly used in the United States and Canada to describe the decreased motivation toward studies displayed by students who are nearing the end of their high school, college, and graduate school careers, or the end of the school year in general.  

Freebie Wednesday: Hand Drawn Vector Ribbons

April 24, 2019

Freebie Wednesday:

 

The Hungry Jpeg has a set of free hand drawn vector ribbons on their site for you to download for the next 6 days. Don’t miss out and click the link for a freebie of the week!

 

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

Rainbow Connection: Edible Colors IV

April 23, 2019

Here are some more Edible color inspirations I found on Pinterest this week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nuts and Bolts: Artist Interview Lisa Crisafi.

April 19, 2019

Nuts & Bolts – Artist Interview Lisa Crisafi


One of the many perks of being a GCU Design Challenge winner is an interview.  These mini-interviews are fun reads and a peek into the makings of the winning card.

 

Congratulations to Lisa on her winning card.


Note: Read about the other rewards and the two new rewards for 2019, in addition to bragging rights, of being a Design Challenge winner.

And remember to enter April’s Design Challenge.

 

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

Wanted New Cards: Gorgious Grandma Day

April 18, 2019

wanted new cards head

Wanted Cards – Gorgeous Grandma Day 

 

Uncommon and unusual, that’s us!

 

A shopper has requested more choices for the following category:

There are currently only two cards in the category. Please consider grandmas of all different ages, shapes, and colors. Also consider custom front designs that allow the shopper to personalize the front with their grandma’s name or nickname (ie: Nonna Kate)