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Rainbow Connection: Muted Color Schemes.

April 21, 2020
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Colorpalette got some pretty color inspiration for us this week:

 

 

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from → Rainbow Connection (Colors)

Nuts and Bolts: Custom Requests Inside Text (repost)

April 17, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – Custom Requests Inside Text (repost)
 
We are seeing a lot of new customers shopping on our site.  Many of them do not realize that they can change the inside verse on all of our cards to personalize them.  Many of you may be seeing an upswing of custom requests that are solely for inside verse changes.

 

These are requests for a design change directly from a shopper via the Manage Custom Requests tool.


You may be getting requests like these:

“can you make the inside read me instead of us?”
” no words, blank on the inside, please”
“please sign the card, love from Nonnie and Poppy”
Shoppers can do this themselves!

 

These are all simple requests for the inside text that the shopper is able to do during the personalization step. Give the shopper a little help with an informative reply.

 

Simply reply to the shopper via the Manage Custom Requests tool something like:
“Thank you for your interest in my card and for your request.  As with all of the cards on GreetingCardUniverse, you can add your own text to the inside to personalize it.  In fact, you can even change the existing inside text and even remove the entire verse if you like at no additional cost. You can do this in the Personalize Your Card step.”

 

Be sure to be polite, prompt and professional and you’ll be more likely to get the sale!

 

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Mother’s Day Bereaved.

April 16, 2020
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Wanted Cards – Mother’s Day Bereaved

 

Mother’s Day is not a joyous occasion for all moms.  For those moms who have lost a child, be it miscarriage, teen or even an adult child, Mother’s Day is a painful reminder of their loss. For many grieving moms, no acknowledgement of the day from friends and family can make the day simply unbearable.

 

We are in need of more cards for the following subcategories for Bereaved on Mother’s Day:
>> 1st / First Mother’s Day Bereaved 
>> General Bereaved on Mother’s Day
>> Miscarriage / Stillborn / Angel Baby
>> Mother’s Day without Son
>> Mother’s Day without Daughter
>> Other Bereaved on Mother’s Day
Please use great care and sensitivity creating these cards.  The reviewers will be accomodating on verses and not require them to be so literal as long as they speak to the occasion, sentiment and relation accordingly.  

 

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”.

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from → Wanted: New Cards

Freebie Wednesday: Ignazio Serif Family.

April 15, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Ignazio is a powerfull sans serif font family with modern touches. A balance of hard lines and smooth curve makes them able to stand on their own dynamically

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by Figuree. Only available for a week om The Hungry Jpeg!

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Nuts and Bolts: Reviewer / Artist Communications.

April 10, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – Reviewer /  Artist Communications

 

We encourage a positive working relationship between the review team and our artist community. Reviewers are GCU artists, so they’re just like you!  There are a few ways this is done to foster clear communications and a positive working vibe making the review process as efficient as possible for all.

 

1. Notes to Reviewer – when a card is first submitted please include a note that gives additional information for the reviewer to assist in the review of your submission.  You are not able to update this field at any other time, however you can append to it if your card was Returned for Edits. This is the primary place (and quickest) for reviewers to know what they need to know.

 

2. Card Review Emails – with each action by a reviewer on your submitted card(s), reviewers can leave important notes.  If your submission is a straightforward and simple approval, there may not be a note.  But if they have made any changes to your submission (category, keywords, etc.), are returning it for edits, or have declined your card there will ALWAYS be a note.

 

THESE NOTES ARE VERY IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ THEM and refer to any additional resources they instruct you to seek.

 

3.  Email – if you need to reach the review team directly send an email to cardreview@gcuniverse.com  Please be specific and be sure to include the product id number(s) in question.
Good communication is an important part of all relationships and is an essential part of any healthy partnership. Thank you for your teamwork!

 

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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Wanted New Cards: Admin Pro Day Coronavirus / COVID 19.

April 9, 2020
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Wanted Cards – Admin Pro Day Coronavirus / COVID 19

 

Seeing a pattern?  Welp, this virus is pervasive and impacting every holiday and occasion on the near horizon.

 

With Administrative Professionals Day soon, April 22nd, there will be many different issues for these professionals who may be working from home, working in an office yet socially distanced, or not working at all.

 

Consider creating cards to speak to this occasion during these conditions.  These cards will go here:
All COVID-19 specific cards should also go in the catchall category:

 

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

 

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”.

 

Be inventive, be clever, be creative but most importantly … be well!

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from → Wanted: New Cards

Freebie Wednesday: Rembank (Font).

April 8, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

Rembank (by Garisman Studio) is a cute and casual handwritten font with an incredibly friendly feel. It features gorgeous swashes and ligatures that make this script incredibly versatile. Whether you’re looking for fonts for Instagram or calligraphy scripts for DIY projects, Rembank will turn any creative idea into a true piece of art! Available on Creative Fabrica for free.

 

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Nuts and Bolts: Collection Minded Designs.

April 3, 2020
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Nuts & Bolts – Collection Minded Designs

I love a good collection.  Makes for an interesting grouping of cards, especially of a favorite subject matter or by a favorite artist.  Shoppers often ask if we sell boxed sets of cards, and we always share that they can mix and match to make their own.

 

Here is a lovely example of a collection of like minded designs for Birthday by Flower Month by GCU artist Cathie Richardson:

 

Just food for thought for artists when you are thinking of different ways to use your designs.
Well done, Cathie Richardson, perhaps some of my favorite cards.  I can see ordering all 12 months of these to have on hand or trying a ribbon around them to give as a gift.

 

 

The difference is made in the details!

 

Mindy
GCU Community Manager

 

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from → Nuts & Bolts

Freebie Wednesday: Black Angel Font.

April 1, 2020
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Freebie Wednesday:

 

FREE Black Angel Font. This is asignature text with natural style & flow. Beautiful and elegant fonts with natural hand scratches. This signature font is perfect for weddings, watermarks, branding, such as interviews, business cards, product logos, etc. Black Angel is perfect for branding projects, logos, wedding designs, social media posts, advertisements, product packaging, product designs, labels, photography, watermarks, invitations, stationery, and any project that requires a sense of handwritten signature.

What you get?

  • Black Angel OTF
  • Black Angel TTF
  • Black Angel Swashes OTF
  • Black Angel Swashes AI, EPS, PDF
  • Font feature

This beautiful freebie is brought to you by GlyphStyle. Only available for a week on the Hungry Jpeg site!

 

This product comes with a complete commercial license.

 

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from → Fonts, FREEBIES

Dash of Inspiration: Big Stock ONLY Design Challenge APRIL 2020

April 1, 2020
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Amidst all the uncertainty in our world today, let’s spread a little happiness around with this month’s Stock Card Challenge.

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Theme: Happiness is …

Requirements:

  • ONLY Big Stock cards will be accepted in this challenge.
  • Write your own verse, be creative with a message that includes ‘Happiness is’ in some form and ties the imagery of choice  with the category choice and challenge theme  – this will be extremely important 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: Thursday, April 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: Any which suits your message, recipient and imagery.

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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: APRIL 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.
  • 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 57,000 followers, now THAT’S exposure!
  • The winning card will be Design of the Day following the announcement of the winners (within 48-hours).
  • The winning card will be added to the Greeting Card Universe Design Challenge Winners Pinterest Board – currently GCU’s Pinterest Page followers: 4K!
  • 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.
  • Winning card will be posted on GCU’s Instagram with 6,800 followers and counting!
  • 10 free greeting card credits added to your GCU account. Apply them at checkout and they never expire.
  • A Design Challenge GCU digital award!

2nd Place:

  • Your submission will be Design of the Day the following week of announcing the Challenge winners (within 7-days).
  • 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 6,800 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!

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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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from → Community Challenge, Contests, Dash of Inspiration, Design Challenge, Design Contest
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