Tips and Tricks: Wilderness Graphics
Spoon Graphics has free Wilderness Graphics, perfect for blackboard type cards (for example). Some truly lovely and trendy images here in silhouette format + links to some useful fonts. Note: I haven’t investigated the TOU for each font. You’ll find his Terms of Use here. Example below. Have fun!
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Dash of Inspiration: Freebies Week
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen Freebies Week
This week on Freebie Week I found a variety of fonts and text ornaments, a vintage mustache collection, a dark elegant set of backgrounds and some masculine color palettes. ENJOY!
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Matiz font by Beycan Çetin – the ‘rough edges’ on this font, make it a good choice for your chalkboard designs.
Pacifico – is casual handwritten font, great for many designs.
Schoolbell by Font Diner – a fun font for children’s cards
Bergamot Ornaments by Emily Lime Design – very popular in today’s card designs.
>>>> If you are new to using dingbat fonts, read “Who Are You Calling a Dingbat” for some great tips on how to make these fun fonts work as elements in your card designs. <<<<
Vintage Mustache Collection – as always, be sure to read the TOU.
Dark Shadow Patterned Backgrounds by wegraphics.net – The edge shadows are layered and editable within the PSD files and they also come with jpgs for those who don’t have Photoshop.
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Here are some wonderful color palettes to inspire Father’s Day designs and cards with masculine flare.
Soft Browns with a Hint of Gray
Bold Yellow, Gray and Black
Chocolate Brown, Saddle Brown and Turquoise
Olive Greens with Indigo Blues
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So until next week … Learn … Create … Inspire!
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Wanted: New Cards – Name Day on St Patrick’s Day
Every Friday, we showcase a GCU category that has few or no cards. We’d like you to create at least one card for this category using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock).
Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers – cards submitted for underused categories are much more likely to be approved provided they follow the Submission Guidelines. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!
Today’s category with 0 cards is:
Holidays – St. Patrick’s Day – Name Day on St. Patrick’s Day
In some religions like Catholicism, a child is often given a name associated with a saint. The day of that saint according to the religious calendar is the child’s Name Day, which can be considered of more significance than the child’s birthday.
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Font Frenzy: Bachelor’s Script
Handmade calligraphy fonts are all the rage at the moment, so take advantage of this deal at MyFonts, which is offering Bachelor Script – a family of two fonts, regular and bold – at a limited time discount of 60% off! The lines look great, free flowing yet sharp and crisp. Really terrific for formal occasions or used for emphasis and coupled with a professional sans serif font. Deal ends February 6. Examples below (don’t pay attention to the prices). Have fun!
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Dash of Inspiration: February Design Challenge
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen February Design Challenge
Congratulations to our January Winners and to all who participated! Wonderful cards were created and each of you should be proud of where your imagination led you last month. Today we kick off our new challenge for February. This one is very different and hopefully you’ll find it lots of fun!
This challenge should INSPIRE the illustrator and painter to let your imagination take you somewhere you’ve never been before; and the digital artists should push the boundaries of creating digital compositions using a variety of elements, letting your imagination create that which photography alone may not be able to capture. When all else fails, LEARN SOMETHING NEW!
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And our 1st Place WINNER is: Barbara Scheiber PID 1359144
Challenge 1st Winner for February 2015
With 2nd Place begin awarded to: Christie Black PID1361518
Challenge 2nd Place for February 2015
There were SO MANY great cards – thank you ALL for participating!
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READY, SET? Let’s GO! FEBRUARY Design Challenge – Theme: CURIOSITY Requirements: Your design must include the following elements. You may have as many other elements as you wish, but the finished visual must have these three elements. Look at my example below.
- a Door (any size, any type)
- a Sentient Being (no planetary or species restrictions, and yes I consider animals sentient beings)
- Water (a drop or an ocean from any source)
……………………………………………………………… Entry Deadline: February 23rd, 2015 ………………………………………………………………. How to Enter:
- Post the PID (card number) and the URL (public storefront link, 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 – Tip suggestions: Humor categories might work well for many occasions/holidays, also Get Well, Hi/Hello, Thinking of You – get the idea? Just remember to tie your image to the verse and to the category. ………………………………………………………………. 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: February 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.
…………………………………………………………………… Judging: Entries will be judged by the GCU Challenge Jury with results posting on the Community Blog the week of February 28th. 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 – nearly 13,000 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 can not be DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions.
- The winning card will be added to the Greeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board – currently over 800 followers.
- 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).
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 can not be DOD due to GCU Home Page space restrictions.
- Your card will be added to theGreeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board.
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Tips:
Check out these tips, tricks, freebies, and tutorials which would all be helpful in this month’s Challenge.
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Let the creativity flow and good luck!
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This image was created using the Theme and Requirements of the February 2015 Challenge. Sentient beings, a door and the water is the ocean view. Have fun with your creation!
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Participants for this challenge in addition to the above 1st and 2nd place were:
Julia Bryant
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Wanted: New Cards – Law Day Events Invitations
Every Friday from now on, we’ll be showcasing a GCU category that has few or no cards. We’d like you to create at least one card for this category using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock).
Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers – cards submitted for underused categories are much more likely to be approved provided they follow the Submission Guidelines. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!
Today’s category with only 0 cards is:
Invitations – Law Day Events Invitations
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Wanted: New Cards – Happy Birthday Sperm Donor
Every Friday from now on, we’ll be showcasing a GCU category that has few or no cards. We’d like you to create at least one card for this category using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock).
Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers – cards submitted for underused categories are much more likely to be approved provided they follow the Submission Guidelines. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!
Today’s category with only 2 cards is:
Birthday – For Sperm Donor Birthday Cards
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Rainbow Connection: Color Palettes Resource
Finding a new color palettes resource is like opening a Christmas present – lots of delicious new tools to incorporate into your designs! Wes Anderson Palettes is pretty bare bones in its presentation. No flash, just lovely palettes to play with in interesting and trendy combinations. See a sample below and have fun!
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Tips and Tricks: Graphics Bundles
Looking for the latest fonts, textures, Photoshop actions, Photoshop brushes, vectors, cool graphics programs, stock photos and other neat stuff?
Finding free for commercial use graphics isn’t easy, nor are free graphics always of a high quality. When you’re ready to begin investing in your business and want to take your card designing to the next level, there are now companies that provide “graphics brushes” on a regular basis for their customers. Prices will vary, as will the contents of these bundles. Sometimes you’ll get a bunch of fonts, other times a miscellaneous package containing different things. The one thing they have in common is value for money.
For example, just recently we picked up a font bundle – a value of over $500 if purchased individually – for less than $30.
We’ve personally purchased from three companies we can vouch for in terms of quality and service. No viruses or fake files here. And no, we’re not being paid for the endorsements.
One thing you have to watch for is EXTENDED LICENSING, meaning you can use the contents of the package for unlimited personal and commercial projects. The terms will be set out plainly for you to see. It’s up to you to ensure whatever you buy is a good fit for the intended purpose.
Don’t forget to bookmark the page with the bundle and the terms on the website for inclusion in your Notes to Reviewers.
And now here are three providers we can recommend:
Inky Deals: Most often offers limited time mixed bundles like vectors, fonts, textures, etc. Prices can go as high as over $100 for larger bundles, but you can pick up great deals and every Sunday they offer free downloads. Be sure to sign up for special offers by e-mail. Here’s a link to the FAQ. Payment by PayPal or credit card.
Mighty Deals: Offers limited time single element packages (like a font family at a reduced price) or mixed bundles. Like most, the prices are reasonable. Offers freebies. Sign up for email deals. Payment by PayPal, Visa and MasterCard.
Design Cuts: If you really like artistic, hand drawn fonts and graphics, Design Cuts has some of the best deals in town. Most bundles around $29 and certainly give value for money. Active community and Facebook, the administrators are friendly and approachable plus regular freebies. Sign up for email deals and to place an order. Payment by PayPal and credit card.
Save your receipts for tax purposes and have fun!
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Dash of Inspiration: Marketing Monday
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Marketing Monday
This year one Monday a month I’ll pass on great marketing tips so you can step up and make 2015 your year to build your greeting card business. Good promotion will bring more views to your cards, more views = more customers = more sales = meeting the threshold = more money in your pocket!
I took the St. George Salon of Art, LLC from a physical gallery to an online only presence in 2009. The first thing I came to realize was an absolute necessity as a one-woman business owner; was that I had to spend more time marketing and promoting those first few years, then I did being an artist creating. To be successful in this business, you simply must wear a variety of hats and ‘the creator’ is only one of many.
Over the years, Print on Demand sites have grown and changed, as have SEO requirements. The challenge for all of us is to keep well enough informed of these changes, and to make the most of the options you have available to you, therefore giving your cards the best possible chance of being found in both on-site GCU customer searches, and on external search engine inquiries.
Today, I’m passing on these great tips for making the most of Pinterest:
11 Tips for Multiplying Your Pinterest Following in 2015 – by Zoe Waldron
How a Pinterest Scheduling Tool Can Save You Time & Improve Your Pinterest Effectiveness by Robovy
Drive More Traffic to Your Website from Pinterest – by Viraltag
Pinterest Account Management Expert Reveals 8 Ways to Sell More With Pinterest by Anna C. Bennett
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If you missed our first Design Challenge post, be sure to tune in February 2nd for the next challenge and stop by later this week to the blog to find out who won January’s Challenge!
https://gcucommunity.com/2015/01/05/dash-of-inspiration-january-design-challenge/
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So until next week … Learn … Create … Inspire and PROMOTE
GCU Community 