Meeting with an Artist by Video!

I had a nice video meeting with artist Carol Grace Anderson yesterday. We spent time evaluating her card line and looking at ways to expand it.

Here is one of my favorite cards of hers.  It follows important greeting card guidelines: Bright Colors, text on the top third, and clear message.  I also like her texture and color blending.  It makes your eye move around the card.

You can see more of her work at www.HipGreetingCards.com

Learn more about Online Greeting Card Video Meetings for artists.

Inside Text:  With God, all things are possible. 

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Troubling News on the Greeting Card Industry

This article in the New York Times Blog offered some stunning statistics on the greeting card industry:

• According to the United States Postal Service, the number of greeting cards mailed within the U.S. has declined by 24 percent from 2002 to 2010, and continues to drop today.

• Traditional sales have fallen by 60 percent over the last decade, to $5 billion a year.

• American Greetings stock was valued at 65 percent less than it was in 1998. 

• Hallmark’s card sales dropped to 5 billion cards a year in 2012, down from 6 billion in 2011.

Some bright spots:

• Digital greeting cards continue to rise, up to $4 billion in sales in 2013, a 20-percent increase from 2012.

• The statistics were based on "traditional" cards, and not independent designers. 

• The report said barriers to enter the industry are not difficult and possible areas of growth are likely small geographic areas and niches in the market.

Unfortunately these stats only reflect traditional cards sold through corporate publishers.  It is unclear how all this reflects on card publishers who services boutique shops (see more confirmation on this here) .  Also, what about the imprintable industry?  Is that a growth area?

Book on creating wedding invitations.

HTML Geeky Greeting Cards

Check out this neat article on greeting cards using html web coding text by Costas Papaconstantinou.  If you do any website coding, you will probably find these humorous.

Greeting Card Association Convention this September!

The Greeting Card Association is extending an invite to greeting card artists and designers to attend the GCA's 72nd Annual Convention, taking place September 18-21 at The Westin Savannah Harbor in Savannah, GA.

Themed "Turn It On," card artists/designers can attend informational sessions at this year’s Convention – including guest experts on:

• Generational Behavior 2.0
• Licensing
• Design and Color Trends
• Paper and Process Trends
• Youtility:  Why Smart Marketing is About Help not Hype
• Retailing 

There’s also an option to "Ask the Experts" on several topics relevant to card artists/designers, including "Licensing 101" and "Small Business Ownership."

There will also be fun, food and networking opportunities. For more information and to register, visit their conference website page at http://www.greetingcard.org/AbouttheGCA/MeetingsEvents/2013AnnualConvention/tabid/272/Default.aspx.  or for a pdf of the event click here.

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35 Free Photoshop Tutorials

Here are some interesting photoshop tutorials on dzineblog.
Check out the list at http://www.dzineblog360.com/2013/06/35-newly-released-free-photoshop-tutorials-of-2013/

Here are some examples:

Making Poster Mockups

Matte Paintings

Texturing Text

My Greeting Card About Doing Chores

Here is another one of my cards published by Leanin' Tree:

Best time of day to post on social media

Here's a nice graphic that tells you when is the best time to post things on social media.   I'm assuming the time means when it arrives (according to the time zone of the person reading it).