Monday, April 19th
Shoaff Ballanger Studios, Design Challenge Winner, February 2021
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What was your inspiration for your winning card? Please walk us through the process of how this card went from an idea to a greeting card.
We knew we wanted a funny Easter greeting card about bunnies and chocolate. We searched through the stock images and found this one. It was perfect! We then had to decide how to incorporate the text on the cover and felt the best way was to fit it inside the handle of the basket with an emphasis on “feel”. It was just the right place because both the young lady and the earless chocolate bunny could be saying “I feel a little hollow”. The young lady’s expression of feeling a little hollow or guilty fit perfectly into the concept we were looking for. The dripping and smeared chocolate was a plus!
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Meaning did you have the verse and find the stock image to fit it or did you find the image first and the verse followed?
The stock image came first. It was our inspiration and then we brainstormed on the text and wording to fit the image.
Your store features many Stock Image Creations. What tips can you share with other GCU artists on making Stock Card Creations?
We always check the current cards available on Greeting Card Universe to make sure ours are different and unique and not more of the same. Don’t choose the first images that appear in your stock image search. Keep looking for the best one that fits with your style. We try to use the text tool in creative ways by maybe adding dashes as an element in the design or using the asterisk key/symbol as a snowflake. Experiment by using the various symbol keys to see how you can use them in your design. Making sure we use the stock image in a way that accentuates the visual appeal of the finished card is also important. Considerations such as making the image bigger or smaller to fill the whole cover or using background colors to emphasize colors that already exist in the stock image.
Let’s talk about Easter. Can you share a favorite Easter card by another GCU artist?
We have always loved this card by Tamara Dawn Adams. It looks so funny and we love cats!
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Ok, now for the fast five, fun questions …
Milk chocolate or dark chocolate? Susan likes milk chocolate and Jay likes dark chocolate. List something that is on your bucket list. We would both buy an RV and travel south where it is warmer. We would also have Brown Betty and Max, our poodles, in tow. What was the worst haircut you ever had? Susan says it was recently when her husband, Jay, cut her hair above her ears and gave her “boy” hair. Who is your celebrity look-a-like? Susan is Dame Judi Dench and Jay is Orson Welles. If your clothes had to be one color forever, what color would you pick?
Susan’s would be bright red and Jay’s would be bright blue.
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