Dash of Inspiration: MARCH 2021 Design Challenge
It’s time for another FUSION challenge! These really get your imagination rolling so get inspired and have some fun!
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Theme: Fusion Design
Requirements:
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Create a brand new design by choosing at least three objects from the list of eight objects below and creating a greeting card design. You may use more than three, all of them, or add additional items, including people and animals – but a minimum of three from the list must be clearly visible and important elements in the overall card design and message:
a remote control – a mirror – a mailbox – an orange – a daisy – a beach towel – a bird – a coffee mug
- Any category which your card speaks to.
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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.
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Entry Deadline: Monday, May 31st
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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 well-suited to the imagery/occasion/message.
Note: if your submissions is clearly COVID specific, please use these categories:
Holidays >> ….. >> Coronavius / COVID 19
Collections >> Health Awareness >> Coronavius / COVID 19
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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: March 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.
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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 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: 5.36K!
- 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 2021!
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 2,000 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 2021!
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Tips:
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Dash of Inspiration: Composition – Balance of Elements
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Nuts and Bolts: The Right Image
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Nuts and Bolts: Don’t Fall Into These Traps!
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Be inspired to create and learn something new!
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Wanted New Cards: Selling Your Business / Company / Start Up.
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Freebie Wednesday: Cotton Candy Digital Papers.
Cotton Candy Digital Papers is the freebie this week.
This collection of 12 sweet candy themed digital papers are here for all you sweet lovers! All files come in JPEG format!
This sweet freebie is brought to you by MutchiDesign! Only available for a week on the Hungry Jpeg site!
This product comes with a commercial license.
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Nuts and Bolts: Reminder February 2021 Design Challenge.
Nuts & Bolts – Reminder February 2021 Design Challenge
February is a short month and can catch us by surprise. With one week left, leap or hop to completing and submitting your Stock Card Creations Design Challenge entry. See February 2021 Design Challenge here. The theme is Bunny – Bunnies.
Simply submit your card for review as usual and include a Note to Reviewer “this is for February’s design challenge”. (Psst … since we’re getting close to the deadline go ahead and submit your design for Fast Track review and tell the reviewers Mindy said it’s ok).
NOTE: After your card is approved, 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 design challenge blog. We’ll forward your entry to the jury.
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Wanted New Cards: Grandpa / Grandma Would Have Loved You Day
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Freebie Wednesday: Glamlips Font.
Glamlips is an elegant and flowing handwritten font. It is PUA encoded which means you can access all of the glyphs and swashes with ease! It features a varying baseline, smooth lines, gorgeous glyphs and stunning alternates. It maintains its classy calligraphic influences while feeling contemporary and fresh. Fall in love with this font and bring your projects to the highest levels! Available on the Creative Fabrica site.
This product comes with a commercial license.
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Nuts and Bolts: In-Store Pick Up Update
Nuts & Bolts – In-Store Pick Up Update
GCU’s In-Store pickup option has been a great solution for shoppers who need their cards on the same day or next day. A great option for last minute shoppers. These orders were printed and picked up in the stores’ photo departments. The majority of GCU’s In-Store pickup locations were Target stores. Unfortunately most Target locations have closed their photo departments.
Since June of 2020, GCU has no longer offered In-Store Pickup. We are in development with another partner to offer this service and expect to have it operational later this year, 2021. In the interim, shoppers can upgrade their shipping options for cards mailed back to them with blank envelopes. Cards mailed directly to recipients are not eligible for upgraded shipping.
When communicating with shoppers, please do not recommend in-store pickup if they are in a rush but instead expedited shipping. Thank you for your understanding.
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Wanted New Cards: Mother’s Day both my Moms from Twins.
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Freebie Wednesday: Sweety Blue
Sweety Blue is a simple and friendly handwritten font. Its natural and unique style makes it incredibly fitting to a large pool of designs. The only limit is your imagination! Available as free download at Creative Fabrica.
This product comes with a commercial license.
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Dash of Inspiration: 2020 Founders’ Choice Awards.
1. Best New Artist: Sabina Kovacheva of SABIVO Designs
Honorable Mentions Best New Artist:
Amanda McDonough of Paper Yay
and Cynthia Shatzel of Cynthia’s Art Designs
Honorable Mentions Best Overall New Card:
Betsy Bush of Dragonfire Graphics – PID 1606850
and Sandra Rose Designs – PID 1583424
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3. Hottest Seller – CHRISTMAS:
Doreen Erhardt of SalonOfArt – PID 1643332
Honorable Mentions CHRISTMAS Hottest Seller:
Michelle Lanoue of Illustrations by Michelle – PID 1654418
and Mindy Pierce – PID 1641868
3a. Hottest Seller – CHINESE NEW YEAR:
Doreen Erhardt of Salon Of Art – PID 1655578
Honorable Mentions CHINESE NEW YEAR Hottest Seller:
Teri Nelson Kuster of Che Bella Nota – PID 1631938
and Tanya Hall of Moonlake Greetings – PID 1647954
3b. Hottest Seller – BIRTHDAY:
Sharon Dominick Photography – PID 1606092
Honorable Mentions BIRTHDAY Hottest Seller:
Sharon Dominick Photography – PID 1606764
and Mike Baldwin of Cornered – PID 1619538
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4. Best Custom Front (Text):
Annie Lang of Annie Thing’s Possible – PID 1654068
Honorable Mention Best Custom Front (Text):
Teri Nelson Kuster of Che Bella Nota – PID 1607434
and Sharon Dominick Photography – PID 1616652
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5. Best Custom Front (Image):
Mindy Pierce – PID 1595122
Honorable Mention Best Custom Front (Image):
Teri Francis of Squirrel Hugger Greeting Cards – PID 1637246
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6. Best Business Logo/Name: Ramelle Richardson of Eloquence by Ramelle PID 1661672
and Mindy Pierce – PID 1659080
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7. Funniest Card: Pamela Jorgensen of PAMJARTS – PID 1606400
Honorable Mentions Funniest Card:
Sharon Dominick Photography – PID 1606842
and Greetings from Anne – PID 1608834
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8. Most Creative Stock Card Creation (BigStock):
Doreen Erhardt of Exclusive Creations – PID 1629578
Honorable Mention Most Creative Stock Card Creation (BigStock):
Pamela Jorgensen of PAMJARTS – PID 1607394
and Stacia Gorge of Good Things by Gorge – PID 1600176
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9. Rising Star:
Cynthia Shatzel – PID 1655706
Honorable Mention Rising Star:
SABIVO Design – PID 1628468
and Carol Kearns – PID 1607722
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10. Custom Request – Nailed it:
Cisillia Tay – PID 1599676
Honorable Mentions Custom Request – Nailed it:
Alda Monteschio of Heart Tugs – PID 1629032
and Cards by Gail Pepin – PID 1650618
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11. Best Uncommon Card:
Teri Nelson Kuster of Che Bella Nota – PID 1611190
Honorable Mention best Uncommon Card:
Kate Taylor – PID 1611504
and Joy Ellaga of Creating with Joy – PID 1616408
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12. Best Design Challenge Submission:
Sharon Dominick Photography – PID 1657904
Honorable Mention Best Design Challenge Submission:
Simply Put by Robin – PID 1608578
and Liz Van Steenburgh of Starstock Greetings – PID 1598400
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13. Simply Clever:
Greetings by Anne – PID 1606408
Honorable Mention Simply Clever:
Kathleen Johnson of Encouragers for Christ – PID 1610332
and Stephanie Laird – PID 1608180
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14. Reviewers’ Choice:
Fiona, Reviewer #825 – Joyce Geleynse of JoyfulArt Cards – PID 1658192
Ella, Reviewer #758 – Colleen Kong-Savage of Konga Line – PID 1641880
Mackenzie, Reviewer #528 –Nancy Mink – PID 1636422
Desiree, Reviewer #121 – Christie Black Creations from the Heart – PID 1653948
Phoebe, Reviewer #443 – M. M. Anderson Art – PID 1663764
John, Reviewer #233 – Mindy Pierce – PID 1641868
Catherine, Reviewer #871 – Christine Quimby Art – PID 1662694
Victor, Reviewer #992 – Ron Magnes – PID 1641216
Sue, Reviewer #120 – Cher Jiang – PID 1658182
Jessica Renee, Reviewer #937 – Randy Burns – PID 1621834
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So there you have it, a true reflection of 2020 chronicling the ups and downs of the year. Your creative works continue to exceed shoppers’ expectations and chronicle the landscape of their lives. Thank you to our amazing community of artists for your endless creativity, support, and your resilience during a very challenging year once again making Greeting Card Universe the go to site for Any Card Imaginable.
Mindy
GCU Community Manager
