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Rainbow Connection: Unique April Colors

April 19, 2017
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Here are some Unique April Colors I found on the internet this week:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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from → Rainbow Connection (Colors)

Nuts and Bolts: Instagram Tips

April 14, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Instagram Tips

 

It was recently asked on the GCU Forum, we though it’s worth sharing here. We have found that if one artist has a question about something it is likely that other artists will benefit from the answer as well.

 

Question:
I’m trying to figure out how to get a GCU card image onto my Instagram account.  How do I do this?

 

Answer:

The best way is via your smartphone. On your smartphone via your browser go to the GCU website and find the card you want. You can capture the card image you want to post by a Save Image function of your phone. Via the iphone this is done by holding your finger on the image until the options popup (Save Image, Copy).  It should now be saved in your photo / camera roll.  We like to use the 3D card image from the product details page.

Go to your Instagram app on your smartphone and per usual, use the plus sign at the bottom to start a post and choose an image. The default should be Library which points to your photo / camera roll.  Find the photo you want and proceed per usual creating a instagram post.

Instagram is one of those applications that you can view and interact with via your desktop computer but you can only upload / post via the app.

A few tips … 
1. in instagram you can pinch to adjust the image size and add more that one image per posting
2. portrait cards tend to translate best
3. sometimes we edit/crop our photos first to “square” format before uploading, instagram seems to like this
4. be sure to use these hashtags and more that are relevant to your card: #greetingcards #greetingcard #anycardimaginable #greetingcarduniverse 
5. be sure to tag us @GreetingCardUniverse 

 

NOTE: If you want to get great exposure to your art and greeting cards you should have your instagram account set to PUBLIC not private.  It’s a good idea to have one account for your personal social media life and one for your professional artist life.  You can manage two instagram accounts from the same app so you don’t have to logout and login each time but instead toggle between accounts.

 

We are having fun following many of our artists!

 

Please see this related posting on Getting Social on Instagram.
The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager
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Wanted New Cards: Get Well Deviated Septum Surgery

April 13, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Get Well Deviated Septum Surgery

 

GCU offers cards for pretty much any kind of injury, ailment or surgery addressing the human body from literally head to toe!  We’ve added a new category for Deviated Septum surgery.

 

Occasions >> Get Well / Feel Better >> Deviated Septum / Septoplasty Surgery

 

There is currently one card in this category.

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

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

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from → Wanted: New Cards

Nuts and Bolts: Creative Tips for Stock Card Creations

April 10, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Creative Tips for Stock Card Creations

 

Creating cards using GCU’s Stock Card Creations (Bigstock) is a quick and easy way to create cards. The tool is fairly simple and has some limitations but with your creative ideas the possibilities are endless.

 

Below are a few things to consider when creating your cards to make them appeal to both the reviews and shoppers:

 

1. When searching for an image try a few different search terms/phrases to find what you are looking for and scroll beyond the first page of results to find something unique and underused. There are millions of images, don’t settle for the first image you find.

 

2. Consider deviating from the default image size. You can expand the images and move them around. This allows you to cropout elements on the fringe you don’t want or focus in a certain element and even position or expand an unobstructed area to add your text.

3. Consider different orientation (portrait vs landscape) to see which best suits the image and your desired cover text.

 

image with background added & changed card orientation:

4. Think outside of the box, borders don’t have to be on all four sides and equal width. Use the background colors creatively for an eye pleasing composition that highlights your image and text.

 

5. Play with multiple text blocks to add variety.  Unlike GCU’s Custom Front cards which do not allow text blocks to touch, overlapping text blocks is not an issue with Stock Card Creations. You can add multiple text blocks and move them around which gives you flexibility with font style, size, color and placement.
Example of variety with text achieved but using more than one text block:

 

6. Get creative with images and text placement to make it look intentional, like a perfect marriage, not an ill fitting afterthought. See these A+ examples:
7. Just like with traditionally created cards, if you’ve come up with a great design and one that seems to be selling well consider using the same image to create a like image series (age specific, relation specific, etc). Be sure to include a reference to the original pid# and your intent to create a like image series in the Note to Reviewers to speed things along.
Play around and have fun with it!

 

 

Tip: to see all of the Stock Card Creations cards search for “cuff” or view category Collections >> Off the Cuff

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Mother’s Day from…

April 7, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Mother’s Day from …

 

Some say birth order plays a big part in peoples’ personalities. Parents may be aware of this and certainly the fact that all their can be very different from one another. Create a special Mother’s Day message from the unique relationships like the first born, middle child, only child, baby of the family, the cherished “favorite child”, only daughter or only son.

 

Holidays >> Mother’s Day >> For Mom / Mother …

 

>> From 1st / First Born
>> From Favorite Child
>> From Last Born / Baby of the Family
>> From Middle Child
>> From Only Child
>> From Only Daughter
>> From Only Son

 

Tip: consider the same for Father’s Day >> For Dad / Father.

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

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

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Dash of Inspiration: April 2017 Design Challenge

April 2, 2017
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  • DashInspirationBanner_2015

What fun everyone had on last month’s challenge! The judges will vote next week and I’m sure it will be a close run with all those WONDERFUL designs and SUPER creativity.  Now it’s time to kick off the April Challenge! With the beautiful spring weather in my area, I’ve been busy all week preparing the vegetable garden for planting, so no new card to fit the challenge from me this month.

Theme: The King …

Requirements:

  • Creativity is key in this challenge! Whether you decide on King for the Day, Live like a King, The King of Kings, King of Beasts or ANY use of KING in your theme will be accepted.
  • CAUTION: Do your diligent research to ensure you are not infringing on any copyright version of King.
  • Your ‘king’ reference must match the overall message, occasion, and recipient.
  • Blank verse will not be considered for entry in this challenge.

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Entry Deadline: Sunday, April 30th

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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.

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Category:

Any category that is well-suited for your king message.

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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: April 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 categories above to offer shoppers a variety of choices, not more of the same.

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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.

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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 – nearly 46,000 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: 2K!
  • 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!
  • NEW starting this month, 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 2,000 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.

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 2,000 followers and counting!

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Tips:

Check out these tips, tricks, freebies, and tutorials from our own GCU Community Blog which might be helpful in this month’s Challenge.

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Be inspired to create and learn something new!1126212-1_3d

Greeting by Olivia A. Kneibler©

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from → Community Challenge, Contests, Dash of Inspiration, Design Challenge, Design Contest

Nuts and Bolts: Dedicate Yourself to the Details.

March 31, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Dedicate Yourself to the Details

 

Here is a wonderful example of edits made during the review of a newly submitted card to really polish it up to shine.
Reviewers request for edits:
The text on this card no longer meets our marketability standards. Specifically, the larger text (gives the impression of being pixelated) and the curved lower text. Thank you for your understanding.
Well done, Carol Kearns of Wilbi Designs and thank you for working so well with the review team.  Excellent teamwork!

 

TIP: it may take a little more time upfront to perfect a new design but this will save you time in the long run when creating a like image collection and derivative designs so the follow on designs all shine, pass review and are highly marketable. 

 

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Friendship Anniversary

March 30, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Friendship Anniversary 

 

A special friendship is worth celebrating every day, some friends make an official celebration of the anniversary of their friendship.  Many people remember the year and sometimes the day or even the moment when they first met and began their friendship.

 

The new category and subcategories are in need of cards:

 

Occasion – Friendship / Friendiversary
>> General
>> For Her
>> For Him
>> Name Specific
>> Pen Pal Friendship Anniversary
>> Photo Card / Your Picture Here
>> Year Specific
>> Non-English / Other Languages
>> Other

 

Remember friends come in all ages … school age, teenage, adult and seniors!

 

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

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

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Nuts and Bolts: Graduation 2017 from 2016

March 27, 2017
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Nuts & Bolts – Graduation 2017 from 2016

 

Graduation card sales are beginning! Many college graduations are in May and high schools right after that in June. There are hundreds of graduation cards on the site with 2016. This includes Congratulations, Announcements and Invitations. Not only should card images be updated but also card titles, keywords and artist notes. This even applies to custom front designs to make them more marketable and avoid shopper errors.

 

Search results for “Graduation 2016“
 

 

Tip: A quick way to pinpoint the bulk of your related cards is within your Manage Store >> Manage Cards find specific cards by keywords “graduation 2016”.

 

Please take the time now to update your designs before 4/7.  After 4/7/17, GCU will take any outdated cards offline.

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Anniversary Coming Out

March 24, 2017
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Wanted Cards – Anniversary Coming Out
 
For most LGBTQ people, the day or time they made it public to friends and family about being gay is a day they’ll never forget. However coming out is not easy and not necessarily a happy memory.  Having the support and acknowledgement of their journey and their courage is one to be celebrated each year.
Please consider creating cards for this new category.
Occasions >> Anniversary – Coming Out 

 

There are currently 0 cards in this category.

 

We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock) or your own graphic designs.

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

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from → Wanted: New Cards
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