Wanted Cards – Unplanned / Unexpected Pregnancy Encouragement
Finding out there is a baby on the way is not always an expected or planned event. It will take a while for the parents to be to resolve their mixed emotions and probably surprise and disappointment about the new little one on the way.
Please consider creating new cards for this new category. Consider cards for both parents to be, as well as for the mom to be and dad to be. They should go here:
Occasions >> Encouragement >> Pregnancy / Expecting >> Unplanned / Unexpected cid#37904

Note: cid# is the speed entry method of adding a category to your card via category id number (cid#) vs using search terms or click and hunt. See here on the blog:
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”.
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.
Mindy Rosso
GCU Community Manager
Be sure to review the Chinese New Year specific rules on Change or New Submission.
Not only should 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.
Create new cards for 2025’s year of the Snake:

Mindy
GCU Community Manager
Wanted – P/T Customer Support Representative
A little bit of a different “wanted” request this week.
GCU is looking for a part-time customer support representative. Remote / work from home.
This is an independent contractor position (1099 employee) at $16 – $20 / hr.
Responsibilities:Answer
customer support phone calls, online live chat, and emails for order status, order details, assistance using the website to place an order, etc.
Required Skills:
Must possess solid computer usage and phone skills, reliable, comfortable answering questions and a clear and effective communicator (spoken and written).
Standard hours:Monday thru Friday – 9am to 11am PST
Additional optional hours:Non-business hours, weekends and holidays – 1 to 2 hours a day responding to calls and customer support emails that are received during non-business hours. These hours are flexible and can be set by you based on your availability.
Additional hours available during busy holidays.
Due to the investment in training we’re looking for someone who is committed to the position on a long-term basis.
Interested? Want to learn more? Please contact us at Jobs@GCUniverse.com
Mindy Rosso
GCU Community Manager
Rainbow Connection: Dopamine Design Trend
What is Dopamine Design?
The dopamine design trend is a recent aesthetic movement in graphic design, fashion, and interior design that emerged in the early 2020s. The trend is characterized by the use of vibrant, saturated colors, bold patterns, and playful, asymmetrical shapes that are intended to evoke feelings of happiness, energy, and optimism.
Key features of the dopamine design trend include:
- Bold, contrasting color palettes: Think neon pinks, electric blues, sunny yellows, and bright greens, often used in unexpected combinations.
- Retro-inspired elements: Drawing from 70s psychedelia, 80s Memphis design, and 90s pop culture.
- Irregular shapes and patterns: Squiggles, blobs, abstract forms, and imperfect geometrics.
- Maximalist approach: More is more—layers, clashes, and busy compositions.
- Nostalgic motifs: Stars, smiley faces, rainbows, and other symbols associated with happiness.

The name “dopamine” refers to the neurotransmitter in our brains that plays a key role in pleasure, motivation, and reward. The design trend aims to visually stimulate this “feel-good” chemical, providing a burst of positivity and excitement through bold design choices. This trend emerged partly as a reaction to the minimalist, neutral aesthetics that dominated the 2010s, and partly as a response to global stressors like the COVID-19 pandemic, with people seeking out visually uplifting content.
The trend spans various fields:
– Graphic Design: Posters, packaging, branding
– Fashion: Colorful prints, mismatched patterns
– Interior Design: Bright furniture, funky wallpapers
– Digital Design: Websites, apps, social media graphics

Critics argue that the trend can be overwhelming or kitschy, while proponents see it as a much-needed burst of joy in challenging times. Whether it has lasting impact or is a fleeting trend remains to be seen.
You want more dopamine? I’ve got some interesting links for you:
Join Sarah from Floella Interiors as she dives into the world of dopamine interiors and dopamine decor! Expected to be one of the biggest interior design trends of 2024, Sarah dives into how you can add lots of colour, pattern and scale into your home to give that dopamine feeling.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_dNkszWB2o
Move over Barbiecore! Dopamine Decor is the new playful trend.
Martha Stewart about Dopamine Decor.
https://www.marthastewart.com/dopamine-decor-ideas-8630791

Homes & Garden: Dopamine decor is the latest feel-good interior trend for 2024 – how to level up your happiness at home
https://www.homesandgardens.com/interior-design/dopamine-decor-ideas
Forbes Home: Dopamine Decor: What Is It And How To Incorporate Dopamine Decor At Home
https://www.forbes.com/home-improvement/design/dopamine-decor-ideas/
Adentity: from dopamine colours to artsy fonts
https://adentity.se/graphic-trends-expression-colours-and-fonts/

Dopamine Design on Pinterest
https://nl.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=dopamine%20graphic%20design&rs=typed

Spoonflower – Dopamine Color Design in Fabric, Wallpaper, and Home Decor
https://www.spoonflower.com/en/shop/dopamine-color
That’s it from me for now.
Happy designing!
Corrie
Time to dazzle us with your creativity this month!
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Theme: Blending a Message with the Stock Image
Requirements:
- Create a new stock card for any category that has an amazing pairing of the card front text and verse with the image you choose. Judges will weigh heavily on how well your words/category fit the image. We want that WOW factor from your creativity this month. Added value is KEY here.
- ONLY Big Stock cards will be accepted in this challenge.
- The judges will be looking for professional quality text layout, typography placement and font combinations in addition to a unique and captivating message that tells the story of the stock image you choose. Your added value needs to wow the judges!
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Entry Deadline: Sunday, June 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.
NOTE: Submissions will appear immediately in your Private gallery as they await review. If approved, the reviewer will move them to the public gallery – they will then become ‘live’ in the marketplace within 24-hours or so just like regular submissions. Be patient and wait.
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Category:
Choose any category well-suited to show off your message and image pairing.
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Rules:
- Submission must meet GCU’s Submission Guidelines and be Approved through the usual Review Cycle. Big Stock creations are automatically identified as Fast Track – please add in the Notes to Reviewer: June Stock 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.
- Big Stock Card Creations ONLY will 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.
- No BLANK cards will be accepted.
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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. Your overall ‘added value’ determines this.
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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 58,000 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: 12.9K!
- 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.
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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.
- 10 free greeting card credits added to your GCU account. Apply them at checkout and they never expire.
- A Design Challenge GCU digital award for 2024!
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!
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Winning card will be posted on GCU’s Instagram with 10.8k followers and counting!
- 5 free greeting card credits added to your GCU account. Apply them at checkout and they never expire.
- A Design Challenge GCU digital award for 2024!
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Tips:
- Visit all the available tips, tricks and guidelines offered on the Big Stock Creation blog page!
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Be inspired to create and learn something new!

Nuts & Bolts: Custom Design Request Improvements
We hope all of these improvements will increase the confirmation, action and ultimately sales on Custom Requests.
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
Nuts & Bolts: Artist Interview
Here are the artist interview for:
April’s Before and After Design Challenge Winner by Lisa Charlton:

Congratulations to Lisa for her Design Challenge win and all those adorable fur faces!
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
Wanted New Cards: Birthday Remembrance of Angel Baby
Wanted Cards – Birthday Remembrance of Angel Baby
Having lost a baby, especially during pregnancy or shortly after birth, is unimaginably painful. To not have the date recognized or memorialized by others inflicts more pain on the noted day.
Please consider creating cards in remembrance of an angel baby’s birth. They should go here:
Birthday >> In Remembrance >> In Remembrance of Baby / Angel Baby cid#34050

Consider custom front age specific designs (1st birthday for an Angel baby, etc.), non-age specific designs, gender specific, etc.
Note: cid# is the speed entry method of adding a category to your card via category id number (cid#) vs using search terms or click and hunt. See here on the blog:
Nuts and Bolts: New Artist Enhancements
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”.
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. Go for it!
Making Moon Phase Birthday Cards With a Personal Touch.
GCU has added new sub-categories for Moon Phase specific birthdays here:
Birthday >> Moon Phase Specific >>
First Quarter Moon Phase Birthday
Full Moon Birthday
General Moon Phase Birthday
Last / Third Quarter Moon Birthday
New Moon Birthday
Other Moon Phase Birthday
Waning Crescent Moon Birthday
Waning Gibbous Moon Birthday
Waxing Crescent Moon Birthday
Waxing Gibbous Moon Birthday
If you want to create birthday cards with a unique celestial flair, designing them around the moon phase of the recipient’s birth is a beautiful way to add personal meaning. The phase of the moon on the day someone was born can be seen as symbolic of that person’s traits and path through life. Incorporating this into a greeting card makes for a very special keepsake.

Here are some tips for crafting charming moon phase birthday cards:
Illustration Style
The main visual will be the depiction of the specific moon phase. You can render this in different artistic styles – a detailed realistic rendering, a stylized illustration, a starry night scene with the moon as the centerpiece. Think about the recipient’s personality and aesthetic preferences when choosing an illustration approach.
Color Scheme
The colors you use can also connect to the symbolism of that moon phase. A new moon card could use deep blue/purple tones. A full moon could have warm yellow/orange hues. Let the moon phase guide your color choices.
Here’s an overview of the typical meanings associated with the different moon phases and an inside text example that can help guide you:
New Moon
Symbolizes new beginnings, fresh starts, initiating new projects/goals. It’s a time of new energy and turning over a new leaf. Designs could convey a sense of purity, optimism, and infinite potential.
Inside text example:
“A new moon has risen, marking a fresh start – just like the new year ahead shines with endless potential and possibility for you.”
Waxing Crescent
Represents growth, increase, and nurturing new ventures as the moon is just starting its waxing cycle. Designs can focus on upward momentum, taking initial steps, focusing intentions.
Inside text example:
“With the waxing crescent moon growing brighter, so do all the beautiful ambitions and dreams you are nurturing within. Happy birthday!”
First Quarter
This phase is about taking action, making decisions, and committing to paths. There’s a drive to push forward and overcome obstacles with determination.
Inside text example:
“Just like the first quarter moon boldly illuminates the night sky, may your birthday be brilliant and your determination unstoppable.”
Waxing Gibbous
As the moon is building up to its fullness, this phase symbolizes gaining knowledge, intuitive perspicacity, and reaping the rewards of previous efforts.
Inside text example:
“With each passing year, your spirit grows more radiant like the waxing gibbous moon. This birthday, embrace your hard-earned wisdom.”
Full Moon
The full moon represents fulfillment, completion, and realizing goals. It’s a celebratory phase of abundance, radiance, and glowing maturity. Fertile and lush imagery can capture this sense.
Inside text example:
“You shine brighter than the full moon itself! Wishing you a dazzlingly beautiful and luminous birthday celebration.”
Waning Gibbous
After the peak of fullness, this phase turns inward and signifies reflection, letting go, and preparing for the next cycle. It’s about taking stock and paring down before the next new start.
Inside text example:
“As the waning gibbous moon reminds us that every cycle must change, may this birthday mark your gratitude for last year’s gifts.”
Last Quarter
The last quarter squeezes out the final burst of waning energy. It can indicate a crisis before the renewal, but embracing the necessity of cyclical changes.
Inside text example:
“Though the last quarter moon wanes, your inner light still burns strong. Happy birthday – may this year renew your passionate spirit.”
Waning Crescent
The closing phase of release, forgiveness, and surrender as the moon slips back into dormancy. There’s a sense of rest, recuperation, and closing out unfinished business.
Inside text example:
“The waning crescent is a time of rest before the next rebirth. This birthday, replenish your beautiful soul as you prepare for amazing days ahead.”
Maybe in the artist notes you can give customers an idea on how to find out what moon phase they need for a certain birthday date.

Use an online moon phase calculator
There are many websites that have calculators where you can input your birth date, and it will tell you the precise moon phase and what percent illuminated the moon was on that day.
Some good options are:
Usually you just need to enter the month, day, and year of your birth.
Check a moon phase calendar/chart
There are numerous calendars and charts available that map out the moon phases for a given year or year range. You can find your birth year and see the moon phase marked for your birthday.
Use a moon phase app
There are apps dedicated to tracking moon phases that allow you to view the phase for any specific date.
Some popular apps are:
Deluxe Moon Pro
Moon Phase Calendar
LunarCycleCalendar

Here are some keyword ideas for each of the different moon phase greeting cards:
New Moon
Beginnings, Fresh, Potential, Rebirth, Seedling, Intentions, Waxing
Waxing Crescent
Growth, Increase, Nurture, Initial Steps, Momentum, Focussing
First Quarter
Action, Decisions, Commitment, Overcoming, Determination, Confidence
Waxing Gibbous
Insight, Wisdom, Expansion, Abundance, Rewards, Intuition
Full Moon
Radiance, Culmination, Fruitful, Bright, Wholeness, Fulfillment, Ripeness
Waning Gibbous
Reflection, Letting Go, Harvesting, Editing, Descending, Reviewing
Last Quarter
Transition, Crisis, Breakthrough, Shedding, Squeeze, Urgency
Waning Crescent
Release, Forgiveness, Rest, Recuperation, Closing, Surrender, Emptying
Some key concepts:
New/Waxing – Focus on openings, growth, effort Full – Ripeness, radiance, achievement Waning – Releasing, receding, resting before renewal
Using words capturing the symbolic meaning and “energy” of each phase of the lunar cycle can evoke that phase’s essence. Don’t be afraid to get metaphorical too with things like “squeezing” out the last efforts or “emptying” to hit reset.
Conclusion
By understanding these typical symbolic associations, you can imbue each moon phase card design with the spirit and tone that resonates with that phase of the lunar cycle.
The messages focus on connecting the symbolic meaning of each moon phase to wishes of potential, growth, determination, radiance, gratitude, rebirth and other uplifting sentiments fitting for birthdays.
Have fun, do some additional research on your own on this topic, and happy designing!
Wanted Cards – Firefighter Retirement Years of Service Specific
A source of pride for anyone retiring is usually the impressive number of years of service in the job.
Please consider creating retirement congratulations cards for firefighters that are specific on the cover design with the years of service. Consider custom front designs allowing the shopper to personalize the years to suit their needs.
They should go here:
Occasions >> Congratulations >> Retirement >> Occupation Specific >> Firefighter cid#15906
Note: cid# is the speed entry method of adding a category to your card via category id number (cid#) vs using search terms or click and hunt. See here on the blog:
https://gcucommunity.com/2022/06/10/nuts-and-bolts-new-artist-enhancements
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”.
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. Go for it!


