Oh, Kimberly. Sorry to hear that. I don't do photographs so I have no idea how hard it is to get those types of cards approved. Mine are strictly graphics.  
 
Be sure to read the reviewers comments and study any issues they are mentioning, then set to work learning how to improve on those issues. I'm sure you will get better and more approvals will come. Don't give up. Think positive. Practice always makes things better.  
 
Right now I'm trying to figure out a technique I like that I've seen. I'm working hard to figure it out and searching for answers. The best advice I can give you is to keep trying.

Kimberly,
 
I haven't seen your cards, but we've ALL had declined cards. I am also an amateur photographer and started this as a kind of therapy and to please my husband.  GCU is trying to maintain a very high standard and there is a learning curve to measure up to the standards.  I know it can be frustrating, and I've been there, believe me, but it does raise the bar when creating and I think it's forced me to be a better artist.  I'm not trained and am self taught, EVERYTHING!  I feel your pain, but I am glad that I've pushed ahead despite the huge set backs (my own personal situation).
 
Let GCU help you, they want you to succeed.  If they say why the card was declined, take it to heart.  It's very difficult to hear, but when YOU succeed, they succeed.  And there is alot of help from other artists here.  They are technically our competitors, but you wouldn't know it, because fellow artists are the first to jump in with encouragement, suggestions and praise.  
 
 
 
Hope this helps, I'd love to see your store.  Can you post a link?
 
Trish

Hi Kimberly,
 
Have you tried the critique clinic on the GCU Community Blog?  http://gcucommunity.com/
 
I have received some excellent input there for designs that I put up for critique.  Also follow other's design critique and always get something I can use.  You will get some input from professional photographers there.
 
There are some other excellent posts about photography and card making in the blog too.  Use the drop down category tool on the right hand side of page to find critique clinic.  If you type photography in the search box, you will get all the posts about photography.  Check out: http://gcucommunity.com/2012/08/13/dash-of-inspiration-10-reasons-why-your-photo s-might-not-meet-submission-guidelines/
 
Hope that helps.
 
Kati

Although there are some rules in art, those rules are made to be broken the same as is in what is good photography and what isn't good photography.  These are all subjective issues. Photography and art is still the conception of the artist and the interpretation by the viewer.  No two artists will create the same and no two viewers will see the same thing.  
 
Don't become frustrated with the decisions that the reviewers make.  GCU has given them a box to work within and they are just doing their job based on some semi-educated guesses as to what is marketable and what isn't.  
 
The higher standards thing is pretty much bs, but irregardless of what, how good or creative our design is, there are some rules and parameters that the reiview team are using to decide on what designs are acceptable.  They have nothing really to do with how good your photograph is, rather that it falls within these preset requirements and fits the intention of the card which include category and verse.  So don't take anything that comes back from a reviewer as personal and don't let anything they say make you change the way you interpret the world and concieve that in your art.  However, it is important to be aware of, learn and put into practice what they want for card designs and create accordingly.
 
A lot of your work may be great and readily applauded by your peers or your loyal fans, and possibly could be a big seller as greeting cards, but as a business, they aren't what GCU is looking for.  If you want to be successful at GCU, learn what they want, create GCU cards accordingly and if you have other designs which you think are winners, market them at other venues like Zazzle, RedBubble and Cafe Press which give you more lattitude.  
 
It was once strictly about developing artists at GCU, but with so many designs on the site now, it's about the optimization of time and particularly that of the shopper, what goes for the majority, what market trends are and what other card companies are offering.  The largest issue seems to be optimizing the shopping experience for the card buyer and rather than dazzle them with a staggering array of time consuming visual clutter, economize their shopping experience with a concise category specific directory and general market acceptable desings that fit within that scope.  That's this company's general marketing plan, so why we have the review system we now have.  So we must either learn it or move on.  The way I see it,  go ahead and express yourself any way you please, just not here!  
 
Best always, Randy
    
 
 
 

Oh yes Kimberly, definitely keep at it, that one card of yours is really lovely, and I'll look forward to seeing more of your work  

Don't let rejection discourage you. I wrote this blog post last year after having a card rejected. I went backt to the drawing board and I've sold several cards with my new and improved design  
 
http://photographytkdesigns.blogspot.com/2011/11/rejection-is-not-failure.html

Quote from Kimberly_205113 on Dec 4^th, 2012, 1:52pm:

 
You're welcome Kimberly,
 
I think Doreen misunderstood me as I agree that GCU isn't against creativity and the artists, but wants us to be successful as that means success for the company as a whole.  What I was trying to say is that stepping out of the normalcy as far as what conventional artists  consider basic rules is not readily accepted here.  I have a couple of self portrait images I just took of timed exposures where the images of me are quite blurred, but they work for me for what I was trying to create and people who have seen them really like what I did.  Now they won't work for greeting cards, but they aren't supposed to either.   I also just saw some firework photos done where the artist zoomed the lens while doing a long exposure.  they're beautiful images, but more than likely would never be approved here.  I personally think they could be good sellers, but GCU won't take that chance.  That kind of creativity is what I was referring to.
 
 
All I was saying is that GCU accepted some things in the past, but they've now tightened down the strings so to speak.  Exploring beyond the limits of what is considered the norm is basically a tough design to sell and pushing those bounds is a waste of time if you're looking to have any cards approved, but as a true artist, unless you want just to be a production artist like many and follow the rules, you should continue to pursue art as you feel it.  I'm not a real fan of Picasso though many consider him a genius.  He definitely didn't follow in the conventional 'wisdom' of his time and probably endured a lot pursuing his style until it was finally accepted, and now considered elete artistry.  That is really what art is about, but graphic arts and business are another story.  
 
Here it is best to stick to conventional theory if we want designs that will be approved.  This is what pays the bills.  We're almost like copy artists in a way, given some numbers and lines to paint within, it's still called creativity because not everyone can paint or draw a cute flower, dog or horse and not everyone can make an acceptable photographic image either, however stretching the limits or boundaries is best left to other venues.
 
Anyway, that's why I'm saying that we shouldn't put too much into taking declined cards personal and associated that with our ability as an artist.  Were jus not being understood and there's nothing wrong with that.  Our time will come!    
 
Seriously, as an artist you have to seperate what you are creating for yourself and what you are creating for economic reasons.  Bottome line, we need money to support ourselves, so prudence says, "create what sells!"