CafePress.com: My First Sales

My first sale at CafePress...this design sold 3 times in less than a week. I started uploading some of my designs about 2 or 3 weeks ago.  

In case you are wondering... yes I am excited. I'm sure you've heard it before..it's not so much the money, it's the idea that someone actually paid me for my art. 

                                            My first sale at CafePress

Greeting Card Universe Review: My First Card Sale

I signed up to be an artist at Greeting Card Universe back in June this year. I really didn't do anything with it at first, but I finally submitted a few cards.

I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly my first card sold. Needless to say, I am quite excited about this opportunity. I believe it's a way for me to learn about card design, hone my designing skills and take careful note of what sells and what doesn't.   

My first card sale 

I was also happy with the feedback they gave me for a card that was not accepted- they told me exactly what to do to bring it up to par.

It's completely free to join and they take care of all the details- printing, e-commerce etc. You can earn up to 56 cents a card.  If you are interested in creating cards to sell, maybe this is a way to get started. 

Update: The commission structure has since been changed- artists get half of what we used to, unless we earn a certain amount of money in each quarter.  To meet this quota, I've been told we need to sell 428 cards for each of quarters 1-3 and 857 cards for the 4th quarter.

If you don't want to create cards, you can also make money by selling them. You get a 12% commission.

My enthusiasm may be a bit premature since I have not been with them very long but so far I really like this company.

Gimp Techniques: How to Create a Ric Rac Border in Gimp

by Lorene Troyer

Gimp is such an amazing program... I am so grateful for all the people who have made it possible... Anyway I thought I'd share an easy technique for creating a ric rac border in Gimp.

1. Open a new document.

2. Make a new transparent layer.

3. Choose the rectangle selection tool and make a narrow strip

4. Fill it with your color of choice.

5. Go to menu > select> none.

6. Next go to menu> filters> distorts> ripple. Select vertical for orientation and set the period parameter to about 30.

7. To give it some texture- from the menu select filters> artistic> apply canvas (I set the depth to 3).

8.You can also apply a drop shadow effect.  Filters> light and shadow> drop shadow (I put a 2 in each of the parameter boxes.)

Gimp Tutorial: How to Make a Matte Christmas Ornament

With Christmas just around the corner, I thought I would share how to create matte colored ornaments.

First make a round selection- Grab the ellipse select tool. As you drag- press Shift + Alt. This will give you a perfect circle. Next choose select (from the menu) and to path (this will give you a smoother edge.)

Next open a new transparent layer. Change the foreground and background colors to the colors you want your ornament to be. To get a matte effect, the foreground color must be a few shades lighter than the background layer.

Use the blend tool on the radial setting and starting in slightly from the upper left portion of the circle, drag the gradient to the lower right just past the center.

To make the cap, make a new transparent layer and use the rectangle select tool to make a small rectangle on top of the ornament. Select the blend tool again and choose the golden gradient, set the shape mode to linear and the repeat mode to triangular wave. Drag the blend tool straight across about 1/8 the length of the rectangle.

To create the hook, open a new transparent layer and use the ellipse select tool to make a small oval. Choose the color you want, and as you did before- go to the menu > select > to path. Then choose edit > stroke path.   Move the lower part of the hook behind the cap by putting the "hook" layer below the cap layer and finally, move it into place with the move tool.   

Scripture For Artists and Designers

This morning during my daily Bible reading,  I read this passage in Exodus 35 (NIV version)

 ³⁰ ...“See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel... ³¹ and he (God) has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— ³² to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, ³³ to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts... ³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—all of them skilled workers and designer.

Scriptures like this get me excited when I realize afresh how much God wants us to be successful in the things He's called us to do. If your calling in life is to be an artist, designer, photographer etc, be assured that God has equipped and anointed you to excel in your field.

Here is a way I made this passage more personal to me:

The Lord has chosen me and has filled me with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze (or Photoshop, Gimp, photography etc.) to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts. He has filled me with skill to do all kinds of work as an engraver, designer, embroiderer, (photographer, graphic designer etc.) in blue, purple and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and weavers—as a skilled worker and designer.

Or more simply:

The Lord has chosen me and has filled me with His Spirit. He has given me wisdom, understanding, knowledge and the skills to make artistic designs for work in (Photoshop, Gimp, photography etc.)   He has filled me with skill to become an outstanding designer (artist, photographer etc.)

Happy creating!

How to Set Goals For Your Life

By Lorene Troyer

If you want to be successful in your life, you will need to know how to set goals for yourself. Setting goals can determine whether your life is mundane and boring (aka as meaningless) or exciting and rewarding. Statistics show that people who write down goals have a much greater success rate (more than 80%) than people who don't and yet only 3% of people write down their life goals and 1% regularly read through them. Can you see how writing down your goals will give you an edge in life? 

If you do not set goals, you will likely let circumstances and other people decide how you spend your time, energy, money and other resources. Setting goals will keep you from drifting aimlessly through life.
One of the reasons why people do not write down what they want to accomplish in life is because they don't know how. Here is a simple way to get started.

Take a few days or even weeks to think about what you really want to achieve in the future. Keep a notepad and paper handy as you go about your day. Maybe as you are getting dressed, you start thinking about how you need to get new clothes for yourself. Make a note of it. As you watch your husband drive to work you wish you had a better marriage. Write it down.

Consider the desires of your heart-God will often lead people through the desires He has placed in their hearts.

Do you want to be able to stay at home with your children? Do you wish you could make a full time living as a graphic designer? Would you like to spend more time helping out at your church? Write it on your notepad.

In a few days you may have several pages of things you want to change or accomplish. Look through them and decide which of the items are really something you want to pursue and get rid of the ones which ones were just passing whims. 
 
Decide which goals you will work on this week, this month, this year and beyond. If you have a larger goal such as creating $500 of passive income a week from your selling designs or photos, you will have to break it down into sub goals, giving each of these goals a deadline as well.

Read through your goals and do something every day that helps you move closer to reaching your most important goals. It may not seem like you are getting much done but as you work on your goals day after day, you will be amazed at how much you accomplish in a year’s time.

How to Learn Gimp: Ideas to Get You Started

by Lorene Troyer

I started in graphic design about 2 years ago when my pastor asked me to take over the church website. One of the things I needed to do was to create slides.

I was a total novice, but I noticed that when I created slides in Paint, my text was jagged- (a look I really did not care for). Since I was working on a Mac at the time, I bought Pixelmator- this program worked well and I enjoyed it very much- I then had to quit using the Mac and start using a PC so I  found and downloaded this nifty program called Gimp :).

I really enjoy Gimp and it's the only program I use at this point in time (other than dabbling a little bit with Inkscape) to create images to sell.

Here are some ideas on how to learn to use Gimp.

First of all, you can read books that teach you how to use Gimp.  Awhile back I read the book, Beginning GIMP: From Novice to Professional by Akkana Peck.  I found it very interesting and easy to understand.  It covers a LOT of information so be prepared to spend some time with it and take down plenty of notes so you don't forget what you learned!

Hint- your local library might have the book as well if you don''t mind having to rush through it or if you just want to see whether this is a book you want to invest in.

Another way to learn how to use Gimp is to read or watch tutorials on the Internet. I personally like to go to Youtube and look for Gimp tutorial videos.  I can learn a lot by just watching the videos but I learn much more by actually following along and "doing" the tutorial.

This can get frustrating, especially if you are a beginner, but keep reminding yourself that this is a process and you won't learn it all in one day.   By the way, if you are a complete beginner, it will go a lot smoother if you master the easy tutorials before going on to the harder ones. 

If you happen to have a desktop computer as well as a laptop, it can work very well to watch the tutorial on one computer while following along on the other computer.  

The final suggestion I am going to mention is to experiment on your own- open the Gimp and start clicking around to find out what all those tools do. If you can't figure it out- do some research.   Put in the name of the tool + Gimp and usually you will find out all you need to know to use it effectively.  Here is a good place to start: Gimp Tutorials

Of course these are not the only ways to learn how to use Gimp but they will at least get you started.  Have fun!