Contest: A Little Help From My Friends
Here are the submissions for our first Design Contest/Blog Carnival mash-up called A Little Help From My Friends. We asked artists to choose another artist’s card on GCU, then make a blog post about it. Below you’ll find the master list of blog posts + the nominated cards (click on each card to get a bigger view) so you can vote on YOUR favorite. Check out the blog post, then place your vote!
Voting begins today and ends on February 7th. On February 8th, I’ll announce the winner. Both the artist who nominated the card and the artist who created the card will win a prize.
The rules are simple: only 1 vote per person. Anyone may vote, not just artists, so get out there and rustle up some voters via Facebook, Twitter, other social media sites, your blog, your website, e-mail, forums, groups, etc. Spread the word! And don’t forget to involve the artist whose card you submitted.
Good luck, everyone!
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MASTER LIST OF BLOG POSTS
- Judith Cheng nominated Studio Porto Sabbia
- Aqua Lee nominated Lauren Reeser
- Doreen Erhardt nominated Stephanie Laird
- Peggy Mundell nominated Colleen @ Great Scott Designs
- Cindy Johns nominated Ramelle Richardson
- Annie Lim nominated Judith Cheng
- Elizabeth nominated Dreaming Mind Cards
- Betsy Bush nominated Sharon Fernleaf
- Robin Chaffin nominated Barbara Schreiber
- Sharon Fernleaf nominated Betsy Bush
- Sri Devi nominated Susan Alison
- Laura J. Holman nominated Betty Matsumoto-Schuch
- TANITU nominated Betty Matsumoto-Schuch
- Robert Bulanadi nominated Makiko Kimura
NOMINATED CARDS
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A Fellow Artist Needs Your Help
A fellow GCU artist, Nikki Cutro of 13 Black Cats Designs has suffered a devastating house fire, losing not only her home and all her possessions, but also her beloved pets except one cat. You can read more about the fire here. She’s in stable condition.
Unfortunately, Nikki has no insurance and needs help. If you’d like to assist a community member in need, you can visit the Donation Page set up on her behalf.
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Design Spotlight: Laura J. Holman
Today’s Design Spotlight is on Laura J. Holman, who has a really bright and vibrant style.
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I live in the hills of Los Angeles, not too far from the Hollywood sign. From the views of the mountains and valley, to the indigenous plants and animals, the area is rich in inspiration for any artist.
Drawing has always been a part of my life. The minute I held my first crayon I could draw. I draw from visual memory as well as from life. I knew I never wanted to be a starving fine artist, so I attended FIT ( The Fashion Institute of Technology ) in NYC. There I took a minor course in advertising design, with a major in fashion illustration. Upon graduation, after some fashion related jobs, I was hired at a large ad agency in NYC as an assistant art director where I drew many, many storyboards and ads for Clairol hair care. I was thrilled to be making a living at what I loved to do best, and at the same time learn about marketing products, the printing process, and all about typography.
Moving to Los Angeles was a big change as I continued my ad biz career as an art director, and an even bigger change came when I had my sons. I didn’t pick up a brush or pastel for years, and I started to freelance design manufacturing catalogs. I also taught art at my son’s school, and that’s when I started to think about my art again.
My first painting since college days was done in 2007. It took about three years after that painting was completed for me to feel like I had the confidence to expose my work to the world. I started a store on Zazzle in 2010, and wonderful art friends guided me to GCU a short time later.
My best selling, and personal favorite card is the 2012 Happy New Year card. It’s a card, I feel, that can be used all year long as a lovely note card and reminder that this will hopefully be a better economic year for so many who have suffered job losses in 2011. I needed to portray that hope for 2012 in a card so in creating it, I thought about New Year’s resolutions and how they are really like little seeds we plant in hopes for positive changes for the New Year. From the seeds would spring forth the “flowers of hope” and knowing how popular flowers are to many card buyers, I thought combining the numbers 2012 with blooming flowers would be a winning combination. Painting the flowers vibrant colors would help further lift the spirits along with a fuzzy touch of a Burrowing Bettong and earthworm. Well… maybe not so much the worm!
I enjoy the conceptual challenge of creating a card as much as I do the execution. And then the best part is the emotional connection it makes with the buyer.
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Dash of Inspiration – Credit Where Credit is Due
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Credit Where Credit is Due
As I refer to and re-read the new Submission Guidelines at GCU I was actually pleased to read this particular section:
Creative Use Policy: “Effective immediately all derivative works containing elements and/or photographs that are not the original creations of the submitting artist, or the reviewer feels are not the original creations of the submitting artist, must have a link(s) to the elements/photograph or thorough source description provided in the Notes to Reviewer . . . (refer to the Wiki to read the rest of this section)”
Here’s the thing – there are a tremendous amount of sites out there offering free commercial use elements for your designs; from photographs to presets and most of those places simply ask for CREDIT in lieu of payment for using their imagery. Not too much to ask for, yet I see on POD sites everywhere, people using these works and not providing credit. Sadly, the results of those who abuse the rules are that those resources are going from a free-use with credit to a pay per download such as: Photos8.com – Sam Mugraby offers wonderful photographs and all he asked for was credit, but he finally had enough of the abuse of his photographs so now we can no longer use them without purchasing. This will happen across the board if the abuse continues. Yeah, I know . . . you’re right it’s a pet peeve of mine.
So I’d like to inspire all of you using these wonderful design elements to understand what your obligations are when downloading free-use goodies.
Derivative Works/ Remix means to adapt the work not to slap it on a greeting card or t-shirt and sell it. A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more preexisting works.
Here’s an example of Terms of Use from MorgueFile (which is pretty standard across the board):
“You are free: Remix — to adapt the work and to use this work for commercial purposes. Under the following conditions: YOU MAY NOT use the image in a stand alone basis, you can not sell, license, sub-license, rent, transfer or distribute this image exactly as it is without alteration. You may not claim ownership of this image in its original state.
So what does that mean? It means you CAN NOT download a photograph or design element and put it on a greeting card with a border and text and sell it. You can not just change the color. That would be a stand alone basis. You CAN download that photograph and paint it, use it or part of it in a digital composition made up of many different elements such as the examples in the article.
Now what about credit?
Here’s a good rule of thumb to follow: If you didn’t create it, then regardless of whether it’s in the Public Domain or from a site like MorgueFile, GIVE CREDIT. Here’s why – copyrights still apply, even in Public Domain in the sense that you can not claim it as you own; and when that artist, illustrator, photographer dies their rights transfer to their family some 70-years or so (depending on what & where). Let’s face it, we all know how family can suddenly become greedy. So, my rule of thumb is to ALWAYS give credit whenever the photograph or elements are recognizable . . . this includes Public Domain!
When working with Brushes and other presets, whether to provide credit or not will be in the license or TOU (terms of use) that come in a text file with the download or the TOU will be posted on the site. If you find neither, then don’t trust the site and don’t download. If the TOU state to credit the artist then provide it as near to where the brushes were used and as indiscreet as possible.
Here is an example of placing BRUSH credits so that they blend into the image and become part of the visual rather than drawing your eye away from the image to the credits.
and then here is the example blown up to see the credits:
Here are GCU TIPS:
You SHOULD:
- Provide a . . . courtesy of . . . statement ON THE IMAGE because that is the only place that will stay with the card. Photograph courtesy of MorgueFile for example
- Provide credit in your Artist’s Notes
- Use the Note to Reviewer Section to provide link(s) to the elements in your image which are not yours. As you’ll note in the Submission Guidelines that I quoted above, the reviewers will start returning cards to you which do not have this information.
You SHOULD NOT:
- Use a URL address on your image front or in your Artist’s Notes – this is not allowed at GCU. You can say Photo Courtesy of MorgueFile, but not Photo Courtesy of morguefile.com or www.morguefile.com
- Make your credit on the image so distracting in color, size and font that it distracts from your work.
Here is an example of placing credits so that they blend into the image and become part of the visual rather than drawing your eye away from the image to the credits:
and then here is the example blown up to see the credits:
Hopefully I’ve inspired those of you who, like me, use these wonderful resources to provide credit to the owner of the image, AND to help speed up your reviews by offering the reviewers links to where you got the imagery!
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Critique Clinic – January 27-29, 2012
How does it work? For three days a week (Friday-Sunday midnight), I will open the clinic to any artist who wants an honest peer review and critique of a card which gets plenty of clicks but no sales, so something’s probably not quite right, or you’ve got a new design you want to test drive, or you’re unsure about the marketability of a card. Or perhaps you’re a newbie who isn’t sure if a recently submitted card is up to a marketable standard. Anyone is welcome to participate. In fact, I encourage everyone to at least look at the cards in question and read the critique comments – you may learn something. The purpose of the clinic is to help artists improve the commercial appeal and marketability of their cards.
THE RULES
- ONE card per artist only.
- Card must be for sale at Greeting Card Universe.
- We will take an unlimited number of artists, including those who have submitted recently, HOWEVER I reserve the right to close a clinic for the day if the submissions become overwhelming. If the clinic has been closed, and you submit a card, your comment will be deleted.
- To submit a card for critique, post a link to the card at GCU in the comments section of this clinic post. Allowances will be made if you’ve had a card declined, or a new design you’d like advice on. Just give us a link where we can see the card, such as your private gallery, Flickr, etc.
- Any artist is free to comment and/or give a critique of a submitted card. HOWEVER, post-and-run comments like “great card” or “you suck” will not be tolerated, nor will abuse. Criticism should be constructive, not destructive. Play nice or you will be banned.
- I also won’t tolerate temper tantrums if you decide your “artistic integrity” is being stepped on because you asked for a critique, and someone told you the photo you’re using isn’t in focus. If you can’t take honest criticism, don’t submit. Once gets you a warning; twice and you’re banned from submitting in the future.
- Artists who critique may do so by giving their opinion, posting an example of another card, or pointing the submitter to a video, on-line article, or other helpful suggestion.
- Don’t forget that artists who are giving you tips and helpful advice are volunteering their time and trouble. Be nice. A link back to their store on your website or blog is appreciated (but not mandatory).
- You are free not to take any advice offered. There’s no guarantee any card will be a bestseller, so don’t come into the clinic with unrealistic expectations.
- Rules may change as we go along and we see how things turn out, okay?
So without any further ado, I declare this week’s Critique Clinic open!
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Contest: A Little Help From My Friends
As I told you yesterday, today I’m announcing the start of a fun, new contest that’s a mash-up of a Design Contest and a Blog Carnival called A Little Help From My Friends. How does it work? Read on…
I want you to choose your favorite greeting card on GCU but there’s a twist: the card you choose can’t be your own. I want you to pick a card from another designer, a card you really like, a card you’d buy yourself (or have purchased in the past). Post the card to your blog (you can use the Sell This Card tool to make sure you get affiliate credit), along with a few sentences about why you like the card. Then in the Comments of THIS post, give us the link to your blog.
But wait! That’s not all! Because at the end of the deadline, I’ll collect all the cards you’ve chosen and put them up to be voted on by everybody. Whichever card receives the most votes is the winner. And guess what? I’m feeling the love, so both the artist who chose the card AND the card’s designer will win a $10 Amazon.com gift certificate or 5 free card credits!
I know the choice may be hard, but only one submission per artist, please. There are no restrictions on category or theme. And since every vote will count, I advise letting the card designer know so he or she can also promote the card and help you gather votes. Facebook, Twitter, other social media sites, e-mail groups, Forums… it’s all good.
The contest begins today. All entries must be submitted by February 1, 2012. Voting will commence on February 2nd, and be open until February 7th. On February 8th, I’ll announce the winner.
So I want everybody to get out there and get picking so we can get voting!
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Community Shout-Out
Hey, everybody!
First, congratulations on doing so well on the GCU Badges Campaign!
By now, everybody’s heard about Phase II and how you can refer your friends to the program. If you didn’t get the email, let me know and I’ll send you a copy. For those who do know, you’ve found out the requirements are a Google PageRank of 1 and to be cached by Google within the last 2 weeks.
How can you tell? Well, you could just submit sites to me and I’ll check for you. However, for the DIY-ers, there are various SEO plug-ins you can get for your browser of choice. Or you could use Google PageRank Checker. And to find out when the site was last cached, just do a Google search. See those light gray chevrons to the right of the site’s name in the results? Hover over that to get a preview of the page. Here you’ll see a Cached link. Clicking on it will bring up the site with an information banner on the top telling you the date the site was last cached by Google. Easy!
So BRING ON the submissions! And if you have any questions, fire away!
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Next, I’m going to be spending a little time compiling an Artist’s Resources list. If you’ve got Squidoo lenses, websites and/or blogs containing helpful information for artists, I’d like to add you to the list. Leave a comment on this post with a link to your site. What we’re looking for: sites with information about GCU; tips on photography, illustration and design; color schemes and inspiration; fonts; graphic editing tools and tips; anything else artists would find useful. Bring ’em on!
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Finally, tomorrow I’ll be announcing a very special Design Contest + Blog Carnival – it’s going to be a fabulously fun mash-up, and everyone’s invited!
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Design Spotlight: Sue Shepard
Today, the Design Spotlight is shining on Sue Shepard of ABC by Sue – I like the idea of using photographs to spell words, it’s really cool.
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I live in Southern California and I am a Marriage & Family Therapist. What I love about Alphabet Photography is that it gets me outdoors and looking at the world with a new perspective. I began doing it a little over three years ago. First I just wanted to see if I could photograph my own A-Z, but then I got hooked and saw letters everywhere I went and could not leave my house without my camera. Prior to this, the only pictures I ever took were of my nieces and nephew on holidays and the camera I owned could fit in my pocket.
I started by making a 40th birthday gift for a friend by framing some of my photos to spell out their last name. At the party, people wanted to order gifts for their friends and I was asked by an employee of the local School of Arts to sell my photos at their upcoming Holiday Boutique. Immediately I was in business and I had only showed up to show off my new hobby.
At my first event, it was humbling to see real photography students and their instructors buying my photos. I was embarrassed when one of them asked me what aperture I was shooting at and I had to admit that I didn’t even know what that word meant. They were shocked to discover that I had taken my pictures with a pocket sized point and shoot camera. I used the money I made from that show to buy myself a “real” camera.
At the end of August 2011, I discovered Greeting Card Universe and decided to see if I could use my letters to create greeting cards. I sold my first card two weeks after my store went live and I was hooked. One of the things I like best about GCU is that it’s all about the creativity and they take care of all the work. I am thrilled that I can create as many cards as I want because I don’t have to keep any inventory, haul boxes of cards to a boutique, or pay for printing or postage fees.
This “Thank You” card is my current best seller. I like it because it has some of my favorite letters. The “T” and “N” came from a pier in Santa Barbara and I love that I captured these letters with the ocean in the background. The “A” is a weathered bench I found while taking a walk on a pier in Maui. Each letter has a story that goes with it and I enjoy seeing them strung together with every card I create.
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Dash of Inspiration – Military Themed Greetings
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Military Themed Greetings
Some of you may know that within the past couple of years there has been a camouflage copyright battle going on with the military claiming all rights to the use of camouflage patterns on clothes. I asked about the camouflage-use policy at GCU a few months ago and the wise team of experts who investigate these issues informed me that as of this point in time, GCU will allow the use of camouflage patterns on cards.
For some reason that came to mind this morning when I saw this fantastic Can You See Me? Unbelievable Animal Camouflage Photography featured at Noupe and I had to share it! This is a must enjoy link!
GCU has so many categories where a military-theme is appropriate and over the years I’ve sold many Military related cards. Look through the categories and you’ll find not only many holidays where these elements can help you create new greetings, but also keep in mind those military birthdays, retirements and sadly condolences. 
Here are some FREE Hi-Resolution downloads to get you going on military related cards:
Camouflage Pattern Bruhses by Peter Plastic
Military Ranks Brushes by ~TriCornDesign
Military – Veteran’s Day by Jayde at Net FX Studio
FONTS:
A couple notes on the subject before I go:
- Remember when tagging your new cards you are allowed to use Marine, but NOT Marines.
- Also I only provided goodies based on U.S. Military, but hopefully that is enough inspiration for you to search for other countries which interest you
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Critique Clinic – January 20-22, 2012
How does it work? For three days a week (Friday-Sunday midnight), I will open the clinic to any artist who wants an honest peer review and critique of a card which gets plenty of clicks but no sales, so something’s probably not quite right, or you’ve got a new design you want to test drive, or you’re unsure about the marketability of a card. Or perhaps you’re a newbie who isn’t sure if a recently submitted card is up to a marketable standard. Anyone is welcome to participate. In fact, I encourage everyone to at least look at the cards in question and read the critique comments – you may learn something. The purpose of the clinic is to help artists improve the commercial appeal and marketability of their cards.
THE RULES
- ONE card per artist only.
- Card must be for sale at Greeting Card Universe.
- We will take an unlimited number of artists, including those who have submitted recently, HOWEVER I reserve the right to close a clinic for the day if the submissions become overwhelming. If the clinic has been closed, and you submit a card, your comment will be deleted.
- To submit a card for critique, post a link to the card at GCU in the comments section of this clinic post. Allowances will be made if you’ve had a card declined, or a new design you’d like advice on, give us the link where we can see the card, such as your private gallery, Flickr, etc.
- Any artist is free to comment and/or give a critique of a submitted card. HOWEVER, post-and-run comments like “great card” or “you suck” will not be tolerated, nor will abuse. Criticism should be constructive, not destructive. Play nice or you will be banned.
- I also won’t tolerate temper tantrums if you decide your “artistic integrity” is being stepped on because you asked for a critique, and someone told you the photo you’re using isn’t in focus. If you can’t take honest criticism, don’t submit. Once gets you a warning; twice and you’re banned from submitting in the future.
- Artists who critique may do so by giving their opinion, posting an example of another card, or pointing the submitter to a video, on-line article, or other helpful suggestion.
- Don’t forget that artists who are giving you tips and helpful advice are volunteering their time and trouble. Be nice. A link back to their store on your website or blog is appreciated (but not mandatory).
- You are free not to take any advice offered. There’s no guarantee any card will be a bestseller, so don’t come into the clinic with unrealistic expectations.
- Rules may change as we go along and we see how things turn out, okay?
So without any further ado, I declare this week’s Critique Clinic open!
GCU Community 