Finding your Artistic Voice – Olivia K. Kneibler
See Olivia and Company’s greeting cards on Greeting Card Universe What sparked your interest in art? Did you start as a young child? My fascination with my mother’s career is what sparked my interest in art, she was a beautiful portrait artist who worked mostly in oils. When I was a small child I could always tell when she was painting from afar, I could smell the linseed oil and the paint. As soon as I sensed that familiar smell I would stop whatever I was doing and make the fast dash to her because I loved to watch her paint. I truly was fascinated how one small stroke could Click to Read more… |
May Challenge Winner — PamJArt
Congratulations to our May Design Challenge winner, Pamela Jorgensen from PamJArts. Her winning card appears above. Please list any awards or contests you’ve won outside of GCU. I did win best victoria sandwich cake at a village flower show in England when I was 12 years old. That was a worthy accomplishment in my small village, unrelated to my artistic leanings but totally worth a mention. I previously belonged to a local art society and earned some minor awards for oil paintings and pencil drawings but generally I have not participated in contests. Please list the URLs of your 3 favorite cards in your storefront and why they are your favorites. Cold Get Well Click to Read more… |
March Design Challenge Winner – Tammy Moody
GCU March Design Winner Tammy Moody Please list any awards or contests you’ve won outside of GCU. Over the years I have won numerous awards (including Best of Show, First, and Second place awards), for my still life, wildlife, and horse art in local art shows. I was also published in Horses in Art Magazine several years back. Then I was honored to be invited to show a collection of art at the Grand National Rodeo Art Show in Los Angeles. I was one of 500 artists worldwide to be invited to the event. Please list your 3 favorite cards in your storefront and why they are your favorites. Jesus Click to Read more… |
February Design Challenge Winner — Michelle Lanoue
GCU February Challenge Winner Michelle Lanoue Please list any awards or contests you’ve won outside of GCU. I was thrilled to have my children’s books published a few years ago after going the self-publishing route. But sadly, the publisher, Crafty Canuck, closed shop. I am back to self-publishing although I have been putting more energy into my GCU greeting cards as of lately. I am always on the lookout for another publisher. You just never know! This is a page from my book, The Dinosaur and Ladybug in Heels Christmas Nativity Story. I have a few more in the series and a few different books other than the series. I have also Click to Read more… |
National Grammar Day – March 4
National Grammar Day, established by Martha Brockenbrough, has been celebrated in the United States since 2008. Ms Brockenbrough is the author of Things That Make Us [Sic] and the founder of the Society for the Promotion of Good Grammar. In this age of quick, short, electronic communication, grammar seems to have morphed into a new language. And that’s fine, even useful, if you’re speaking with peers. But when speaking with workmates, your boss, or a client, you need to be seen as someone who has command of standard language usage. It makes for effective and professional communication. Proper language usage serves the same purpose as dressing correctly for Click to Read more… |
Julia Bryant – January Design Challenge Winner
BallettElephant with Music Notes and Tutu for Dance Teacher Birthday by Greeting Card Universe artist Julia Bryant Please list the URLs of your 3 favorite cards in your storefront and why they are your favorites. Being ex-military, I wanted a card that would be encouraging to someone about to begin the most exciting and scary part of their life. What were your inspirations for both of your winning cards? Please walk us through the process of how these cards went from ideas to greeting cards. I wanted the dance teacher birthday card to be whimsical. I imagined a little girl or boy wanting to give a special birthday card Click to Read more… |
Thesaurus Day — January 18
Thesaurus Day is a celebration of Peter Mark Roget’s January 18 birthday. Roget, a doctor, spent his retirement writing Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases. A thesaurus is a book of English words and phrases with similar meaning. “Thesaurus” is Latin for “treasure”. Roget’s original (first/initial) thesaurus contained 15,000 words in six categories: quantity, relation, number, existence, and time. Currently, the book (volume/work/writing) has 230,000 words. Since its first publication, Roget’s Thesaurus has never been out of print. A thesaurus is an important (necessary/essential) tool (means/device) for students (pupil/scholar), but should be used cautiously (carefully, guardedly). As Professor Simeon Potter, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature Click to Read more… |
National Pharmacist Day — January 12
National Pharmacist Day, observed January 12 each year, is a way to recognize this important and helpful profession. The word “pharmacy” comes from the Greek word “pharmaleon”. University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, the first pharmacy school in North America, was established in Philadelphia is 1821 when 68 apothecaries met with the purpose of improving their profession, and thus, patient care. The name was changed in 1921 to the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science. They awarded the first pharmacy degree to a woman in the United States in 1883 to Dr. Susan Hayhurst. Pharmacists spend between six to eight years in pharmacy school, learning subjects such Click to Read more… |
Three Kings’ Day
Three Kings’ Day, an ancient church feast day celebrated January 6, is also known as the Epiphany (illuminating discovery or realization), Twelfth Night, or Theophany (the manifestation of God). For Roman Catholics and Protestants, this is a celebration of the visit to the baby Jesus by the Three Wise Men, Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar, who represented Europe, Arabia and Africa; for Eastern orthodox churches, it is a commemoration of the baptism of Jesus when he was 30 years old by John the Baptist. The six Sundays after the Epiphany are referred to as the time of manifestation. The Twelfth Day of Christmas ends the Christmas season, and does not, as Click to Read more… |
Get Organized Month, sponsored by the Association of Professional Coordinators, has been observed in the month of January since 2005. The timing of this event makes it perfect as a New Year’s resolution. It’s estimated that Americans spend up to an hour a day looking for misplaced items. From a child almost missing their bus because they can’t find their shoes, to Dad trying to find his keys, the stress and wasted time add up. Clutter makes organizing difficult, so the first step is to throw or give away everything you don’t need. This step is hard if you have an emotional attachment to your belongings, so you may want Click to Read more… |
