Round Robin: Great Pumpkin

Another fun lightning round in the Greeting Card Universecommunity--this time it's for Halloween! Be sure to visit these great posts from greeting card artists:


Plus I won the random drawing for a gift certificate to Amazon! I knew Halloween was my favorite holiday :)

It's Halloween or Howl-oween!
"I love Halloween..."
Blessing Art Cards, Sharon Fernleaf

Countdown to Halloween
"Halloween, a day of fantasy and fun..."
Che Bella Nota, Teri Nelson Kuster

The Big Pumpkin
“I”m born in Hong Kong, so Halloween for me is the most unusual holiday…"
Painted Cottage, Judith Cheng

Twisted Rainbows: It’s Halloween!
“It’s the time of year when ghosts and ghouls like to frolic in the streets…”
Reel Cards, R.P. Bulanadi

Happy Halloween
“Boo! Did I scare you?”
Tanitu, Creative Paradise

Colors of Halloween
“I have made two color palettes that scream the fall colors of the Halloween season…”
Dragonfire Graphics, Betsy Bush

Grumpy Halloween
“Help yourself to a little sweet orange treat…”
Naquiaya’s Cards, Naquaiya

Oh, Great Pumpkin, Where Are You?
“Cute, scary, on the doorstep or in food, I love pumpkins!”
What Dreams May Come, Maryann Nolan

Ooh… Candy Corn!
“20 million pounds of candy corn are sold annually...”
Hand-Me-Downz, Richard Skelley

Halloween Memories
“Happy Halloween, everyone!”
Warm Traditions, Candace J. Hardy

October 22 is National Pitbull Awareness Day

Today is National Pit Bull Awareness Day! I have known Pit Bulls through friends and a family member and they have all been sweet, loving animals. I'm glad to see that there is a campaign to help change the unfair image they have. When they are raised with love and discipline, like any puppy, they grow into balanced, loving, disciplined adult dogs. It is the person raising the puppy who determines that. When they are raised to be mean, they will be mean. So will children.

Here are some cards on Greeting Card Universe that show what a sweet and beautiful animal the Pit Bull is:
(You can click on the card image to be taken to the card shop and artist offering the card)

Remember to love the dog. We can change the Pit Bull image one dog at a time.

Pets and Wildlife Cancer, October Breast Cancer Awareness Month

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month, drawing much needed attention to cancer and its lesser known forms such as pancreatic cancer, a form of the illness that is on the rise and took the life of Steve Jobs this past week, or breast and cervical cancer which are on the rise in poor countries. And one area of cancer research we do not often hear about, cancer in pets and wildlife, which is also on the rise.

Cat Cancer
Cats have an increase of sarcomas in the location of their vaccine injections, according to the Vacccine-Associated Feline Sarcoma Task Force. "The VAFSTF is a combined effort of the American Veterinary Medical Association, American Animal Hospital Association, American Association of Feline Practitioners, and Veterinary Cancer Society, the task force consists of representatives from each of the groups, veterinary researchers and clinicians, and representatives from the USDA/APHIS and the Animal Health Institute." "In 1991 Veterinarians began noticing a higher number of sarcomas    a connection has been made between vaccines and feline sarcoma, a malignant tumor arising from connective tissues." Veterinarians insist it is more beneficial than harmful to have the vaccine than not, but to discuss it with your vet.

Dog Cancer
"There appears to be a cruel and bitter parallel between the rise in numbers of Canine Cancers and the same trend in Human cancers. Cancer in dogs was pretty rare not so long ago. Now, Lymphoma & Osteosarcoma are becoming increasingly commonplace, followed closely by others such as Melanoma, Fibrosarcoma, Thyroid and Anal gland carcinoma." says Michele Ovens in her Squidoo lens, The Rise of Canine Cancer.

Cancer in Wildlife

An article in Scientific American by Crystal Gammon, suggests there may be a link between a rise in wildlife cancer and environmental contaminants. She cites several studies including Beluga whales in the St. Lawrence Estuary, California Sea Lions, catfish in the Great Lakes, and North Sea flounder.

Denise McAloose, a pathologist with the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York, and who recently reviewed the topic in the journal Nature Reviews Cancer, notes “We know that toxic compounds in the environment can cause cancer in humans, so it's not a far stretch to realize that pollutants can cause cancer in animals”.

It does seem reasonable to assume that if environmental factors contribute to cancer in humans, they will likewise affect the animals we share the planet with.  So a month of attention brought to bear on Breast Cancer can also help shed light on cancer's many faces and hopefully move us that much closer to finding a way to rid ourselves of its destructiveness once and for all. In the meantime, we can love and support those of us living with cancer today. There are wonderful cards available by many artists on Greeting Card Universe for sharing with cancer survivors, their families and friends. Here is a sample:





By Corrie Kuipers

By Sandra Rose Designs




by Diana Liu

Dog Groomer Square Sticker from Zazzle.com

Dog Groomer Square Sticker from Zazzle.com

The hardest working artist I know! Corrie Kuipers

I have always loved Corrie Kuipers' artwork since I came across it on Cafepress years ago. She has a greeting card shop on Greeting Card Universe where all of the humor and whimsy she puts into her work has thousands of expressions. She is one of the bestselling artists on GCU and one of the hardest working.

I've also known her to be one of the most generous artists out there because she's often helping other artists be more successful. I don't know how she finds time to do everything she does. Really! Maybe it's something in the water in the Netherlands :)

If you want to sell your greeting cards on Greeting Card Universe, check out Corrie's GCU community blog,  and the Card Designing Tips and Sales Tips lenses on Squidoo. They will give you all the tools you'll need to be successful on GCU. Just add your 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration and you will be as prepared as you can be for successful greeting card sales.

Pet Loss

Losing a pet is one of the harder things we face in life. They are friends and family. They loved us unconditionally, gave us a chance to play like kids every day, looked forward to exercise even when we didn't, and greeted us with eagerness and joy when we came home. How can we not miss the love they offered us every day of their lives?

We can celebrate their life. A memorial is one way to pay tribute to a furry friend. Celebrating the life we've shared with a beloved animal reminds us of what we were gifted with and helps to ease the pain of losing that animal. The gift remains in memory forever.

Reading With Cats

Cat Duty: Bookmark

Life with cats is full of humor. It's also a life filled with love. This is an example of cat love...cats feel it is their duty to help at all times. Here is on e of my cat companions helping while I read, in case I lose my place :) Always so selfless, these guys!

Always double-check your text: Best Dog of the World Potato!

I enjoy writing for greeting cards and creating designs that include text because I love words and images. So I'm an illustrator. I love what I do. And I think my work loves me back because I bring humor to it. Humor's important and almost always welcome. Together, we create a happy environment for working.

Take translation of another language for example. Unless you are fluent in another language, translating your native language into that other is tricky business. I can laugh at myself pretty easily so it wasn't too embarassing today when I realized I had made a little mistake in a few designs I'd translated from English to Spanish. As in, "Best dog of the world potato!" Here's what I did.

I used a Google translation widget (word monkey)

exclusively for expanding some of my father's day designs to Spanish speaking people. What's funny is that when I typed in the phrase that I wanted to translate such as, "World's Best Dog Dad", I received "mejor perro del mundo papa". Okay. However, when I cross-checked it today (wish I'd thought of it earlier!) and put that spanish phrase in to translate into english, it morphed into something nonsensical, or "world's best dog potato!" 

I took one year of Spanish in school and I have a copy of Spanish for Gringos, but even that high level of preparation for tackling a second language is no substitute for careful double-checking of text when you design :) I had the designs for exceptional dog potatoes up on Zazzle for several days before I thought to go back and cross check the spanish into english, so I'm sure there were a couple of people at least who had a good chuckle. That's not a bad thing.

If you know of any dog potatoes out there, I've got t-shirts!

Love and Cats

One of my favorite websites is Gimundo, where good news, and only good news, is "served up daily". Today they have a video of a rat and cat relationship that is too cute! The rat loves the cat. And who doesn't love a cat? I live with five rescued cats and can't imagine my life without them.

One of our cats, Mama Cat, so named because she looked to have given birth many times in her homeless life, came to live with us via our backyard. She moved in and insisted on coming into the house and taking over. There were 4 other cats there already. She was built like a tiny bulldog, had the personality of a junkyard dog, and was clearly in control of all the cats in her vicinity. She fought with dogs and cats alike when she was outside. This little all black cat had decided we were to be her new family and so we were.

Now she has been with us for 4 years and she has learned to trust in that time that there will always be food, always be a lap to sit in, always be love and affection given freely. Her personality has changed completely. Now she is affectionate with us and at least tolerates the other cats! She also plays. One thing that hasn't changed is when she runs in the door every time it's opened to let her back in. I think she still doesn't completely trust that she'll be allowed back in. Trust is hard, but she has come a long way. Complete trust, well...every day a bit more :)

Love makes all the difference. It transforms and heals. I have this cat and love design here. I think loving an animal really can heal the world. It can heal an angry cat and that cat can in turn heal us with her love and affection.