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Wanted New Cards: Postponed Canceled Wedding Encouragement.

May 7, 2020

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Wanted Cards – Postponed Canceled Wedding Encouragement
 
Important events continue to be postponed and canceled.  However postponing or canceling a wedding during non-coronavirus times is just as unfortunate and common.  Please consider creating encouragement cards that are due to a postponement / cancelation under normal circumstances as well as coronavirus impacted.

 

Please see prior post regarding Wedding Postponement Announcement. 
Consider cards to send to the bride or the groom, or both (if they’re still together) on the postponement or cancellation of their wedding.

 

These cards should go here accordingly:
Occasions >> Encouragement >> Wedding Canceled >> General
Occasions >> Encouragement >> Wedding Canceled >> Coronavirus / COVID 19
Occasions >> Encouragement >> Wedding Postponed / Postponement >> General
Occasions >> Encouragement >> Wedding Postponed / Postponement >> Coronavirus / COVID 19

 

COVID-19 specific cards should go in the >> Coronavirus / COVID 19 specific subcat in the above categories.  COVID-19 specific cards should also go in the catchall category:

 

Submit these cards for FastTrack review. We’d like you to create at least one card for these categories using your own graphic designs or Stock Card Creations.  Be sure to leave a note in the Note to Reviewers like “requested on the blog”.

 

Since Stock Card Creation cards are automatically assigned a category, their categories should be as follows:


Be inventive, be considerate and creative.

Thank you, stay safe and healthy!

Freebie Wednesday: Evening Dreaming Patterns.

May 6, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Evening Dreaming Patterns are hand drawn & digital painting floral collection. This fancy set in calm colors brings a romantic and slightly nostalgic mood to your design.

These patterns are suitable for textile and fabric design, decorative products, packaging, scrapbooking. Enjoy! 🙂

Set includes high resolution seamless patterns in 4000x4000px, 300 DPI:

  • 10 x PNG with transparent background
  • 10 x PSD with adjustable color fill
  • 20 x JPEG “ready-to-use” files

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by Zzorna ArtOnly available for a week on The Hungry Jpeg.

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

Dash of Inspiration: May 2020 Design Challenge

May 1, 2020
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Happy May, everyone! It’s been such a joy to see all the entries the last couple of challenges. This month we hope is no exception …

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Theme: Catch of the Day

Requirements:

  • Use Catch of the Day as part of your card design message with supporting imagery and be creative! However you can make the phrase work, works for this challenge.
  • Any category which your card speaks to.
  • Blank verse will not be considered for entry in this challenge.

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Entry Deadline: Saturday, May 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 Catch of the Day themed design.

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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: May 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 56,000 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:

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Be inspired to create and learn something new!

 

Nuts and Bolts: Word Cloud Art Examples (repost).

May 1, 2020

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Nuts & Bolts – Word Cloud Art Examples
 
Please see this related Word Cloud Art post and guest post Word Clouds are Fun on designing with word art and word clouds.  
Here are some additional wonderful examples by GCU artists.
 
Word cloud art or graphics can also be used subtly as a background design as done by Christie Black – Creations from the Heart:
and here by Cathie Richardson of Country Garden Cards:
and cleverly as a design element as Corrie Kuipers has done:
Lastly a wonderful example as words take literal shape by Martin Parker of Parquillian Design:
My word! Have fun, get creative and think outside of the box.

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

Wanted New Cards: Director of Operations / Hospital / Healthcare.

April 30, 2020

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Wanted Cards – Director of Operations / Hospital / Healthcare

 

We are in need of healthcare, clinic, and hospital themed designs for new job congratulations as a Director of Operations.

 

These cards will go here:
Occasions >> New Job >> Occupation Specific >> Director of Operations / Healthcare / Hospital

 

Please consider custom front designs that allow the shopper to customize the front with the name of their facility / organization.

 

Remember, add a little note in your Notes to Reviewers like “submitting per the Wanted Cards blog posting”.

 

Freebie Wednesday: Witham Family typeface.

April 29, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Introducing Witham Family typeface. It’s made in strong and dynamic label style. Witham comes with 3 font family Regular, solid and rough.

You can use this font for various purposes. such as Branding, Logos, Sign, Posters, Label, Letterhead, Letterpress, Packaging designs, Typographic Design, Apparel, Book cover and so much more.

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by BrandSemutOnly available on The Hungry Jpeg for a week!

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

Rainbow Connection: Cinco de Mayo

April 29, 2020

With Cinco de Mayo coming up I thought to share some Mexican color inspiration I found on Pinterest this week:

 

Nuts and Bolts: Review Times & Submission Details.

April 24, 2020

Nuts & Bolts – Review Times & Submission Details

 

It is wonderful to see artists creating new cards.  Especially artists that have not submitted in quite a while.  GCU is very appreciative and we hope you are enjoying making creative and productive use of your sheltered-in-place situations.

 

Submissions are up! This means more submissions for the review team.  First, we are so thankful to have our review team members working from home per usual and pretty much not missing a beat.  Can you say GRATEFUL?  We do every day!

 

We’re all a little off our game and struggling to find a new norm.  GCU is noticing both artists and reviewers making more than usual oversights and errors.

 

Due to the increased number of submissions and increase in errors the review times have increased slightly from 2 – 5 days days to 5-10 days.  You can check the Reviewing Cards Submitted on: date on your Admin page.

 

We’d like to request you to refortify your attention to the basics and details. One thing most of us have in abundance right now is time. Please take that extra time  to scan the details before clicking submit. Perhaps print out the Card Submission 101 document again and post it in your workspace.

 

In particular:

 

For example:
Incorrect Title:  cute green cat in a box birthday for cat lover
Correct Title:  Birthday for Cat Lover a Cute Green Cat in a Box

 

4. Avoid / Remove Extra Blank Lines above and below inside verse

 

Issues with the above will result in a Return for Edits which means more work for you, for the reviewer, and slower review times for everyone.

 

There is a general feeling of panic (especially after watching the news). Don’t let that get to you. No need to rush. Enjoy your creating and submission process.  Looks like we’re going to be in this predicament for a while so we might as well get comfortable.

 

 

Thank you for your attention, submissions, and be well!

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

Wanted New Cards: Father’s Day for Father in Law to be / Future Father in Law.

April 23, 2020

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Wanted Cards – Father’s Day for Father in Law to be / Future Father in Law
 
We could use more cards for a Father in Law to be / Future Father in Law on Father’s Day.

 

These cards should go here:

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 Stock Card Creation, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers as well as a note on all submissions like “submitting per the Wanted Cards blog posting”.

 

Freebie Wednesday: Retro Photo Cameras.

April 22, 2020

Freebie Wednesday:

 

Go vintage with the Retro Photo Cameras

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by NekoshkiOnly available for a week on The Hungry Jpeg.!

What you get?

  • Vector EPS file (EPS10)
  • 10 high resolution JPG files
  • 10 high resolution PNG files

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.