Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Archives - Page 4 of 5

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2008 Finalist Highlight

Welcome back to another installment of the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look Back series. As we have done for the other contest entries, we always like to draw attention to the finalists.

Every year we get thousands upon thousands of amazing submissions and even through there is only one winner, the finalists deserve to receive as much attention as possible as well. In today’s entry, we wanted to show off a couple of submissions form our finalists which we particularly liked. You can view all of the finalists in the 2008 Scholarship Finalists Gallery. Also, don’t forget to let us know which of the below designs is your favorite in the poll right underneath the gallery.

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Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2008 Finalists

Welcome back to another entry in our Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look Back Series. As we continue our look into the 2008 contest we wanted to use today’s post to showcase two beautiful finalists entries which were turned into a set of amazing Christmas cards in our line. As has been the case in most years of the scholarship contest, we found a couple of entries which while they weren’t selected as the winner, we felt were just too beautiful to pass up.

The first entry is from Corinne Thompson, who submitted a beautiful painting of a quiet and serene view of a snow-covered hill glistening with freshly fallen snow on a cold winter’s day. The scene was just too beautiful to not be added to our line. When we converted the entry into a card, there was not much that needed to be done. Some of the designs details were enhanced with some embossing to give them a three dimensional feel and really make them pop! We also added some multi colored reflective glitter to give the sensation of falling snow before adding it to our line as the Glistening Snowscape Holiday Card.

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The second entry was from Devon Rutherford, who submitted an amazingly detailed painting of a poinsettia with rich red petals and bright yellow stamens. The entry was placed within a beautiful white frame with golden accents to give the card an elegant look and as added to our line as the Seasonal Splendor Holiday Card

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It truly is a testament to the skill and creativity of the entrants when you see just how great the designs are and how just a few enhancements to the submissions can turn them into stunning cards. We hope you enjoyed this look into the 2008 finalists and look forward to next week when we continue our look behind the scenes of the 2008 Scholarship contest.

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2008 Winning Design

Welcome back to another installment of our Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look Back Series. The 2008 scholarship was our second run and we were all excited and ready to get going. Clearly there was alot of excitement from our first scholarship contest and boy was it evident in the final number of submissions which totaled over 11,000! There were so many beautiful entries to choose from and in the end, George Humeston was selected as the winner for his beautiful painting depicting a stunning winter night scene with snow covered tree branches.

After the entry was selected as the winner, our artists turned it into the stunning Full Moon Winter Night Christmas Card.

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There wasn’t much that had to be done to the entry itself for it to be turned into the card but we did add some enhancements. The card was stamped with silver refractive foil and enhanced with some embossing (raising some details of the image to give it a three dimensional effect). Falling snow was added in with the use of silver foil dots to really drive home the winter scene feeling. A white frame was also added around the image to give it the framed painting feel. It was a beautiful entry which easily became a beautiful card in our line.

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2009 Finalist Showcase

Welcome back to the 2009 version of the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest Look-Back series. In today’s entry, we wanted to show off a couple of the finalists designs that, even though they were not turned into cards, we still thought should be seen by everyone. You can browse through the full collection of finalists from the 2009 contest in the 2009 Scholarship Finalists slideshow, but below are some of our favorites from the group. We would also love to hear your opinions on which design you liked so don’t forget to vote in our poll underneath the images!

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Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2010 Winner Interview

In today’s entry into our Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series, we have an interview with the 2010 Scholarship winner, Dawnee Burson. We recently caught up with Dawnee to see what she has been up to and were able to find out how the $10,000 scholarship came along at just the right time! Read on to find out just how amazing a person Dawnee really is and the things she was able to persevere through. It truly is inspirational.

Interview with Dawnee Burson

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1. How did you hear about the scholarship contest?
I found it online through scholarships.com. It’s kind of an interesting story. I had looked for scholarships on that website and saved those that were my favorite months back. I was going to apply for graduate school, but was also thinking of a mission for our church. I’m LDS, or a Mormon, and women can serve a mission if they choose for 18 months. One night I got really sick. I thought I just had the flu and went to work, but my dad was worried about me. He called me at work and asked about different symptoms and I started to realize I had had them over the past months. He told me he was picking me up and taking me to the hospital and he and my mom ended up taking me in and I had emergency abdominal surgery for a cyst that had ruptured. I was lucky I made it in just barely in time or my outcome might have been worse; I might not be here. I’m very grateful to my parents for watching out for me at that time and for my hometown community’s support. I came through surgery ok, but unfortunately caught the swine flu shortly after as it was going around New Mexico at the time. I recovered from that but went through a long and rather grueling recovery period that lasted about six months. It was a very difficult time, and it pretty much ruled out going on a mission. I actually took the GRE not long after surgery; it was definitely a rough exam that day. I got accepted into graduate school, which was great, but due to costs of the surgery and repeated doctor appointments I wasn’t sure how I was going to afford it. Still, I decided I was going to go and find a way to do so. I returned to scholarships.com hoping I could find the scholarships I’d saved months ago there and try for one of them.

2. How many scholarships did you apply for?
I applied for a couple with the college I planned to go to and started a couple of those online, but then decided to just focus on this one because I wasn’t doing well, had very little energy, and this was my favorite of them all. It seemed fun and provided such an amazing award, and it gave me something enjoyable to do while I was down. I’ve also always liked cards and thought they’d be fun to design, so it was right up my alley. Plus, I loved the fact that it provided another smaller award that would benefit your school. That is such a cool idea! I have to tell you, though, friends and I used to joke that we didn’t even know if the scholarships online were a real thing. Coming from such a small town, you don’t really know of anyone who’s ever received anything like this or of the companies that provide such contests. It seemed almost unbelievable to think that a company would do something like this, but I certainly hoped the scholarship contests were real and was going to give it a shot because I desperately needed it.

3. What was the idea behind your entry?
I love the outdoors, the mountains, and country homes nestled in beautiful areas. I know a lot of people love that, so I thought I would try to paint a scene portraying that and used my parent’s log home and the Montana mountains where I spent my summers growing up as elements for it. I’ve also seen cards showing all four different seasons and thought I might try a type of calendar card showing the same setting in all four seasons. Since oil paint hardens, oxidizing rather than drying, I thought I might be able to overlay clear plastic sheets on top of a canvas and just paint sections on those sheets to change the season. I had no idea if it would really work, but after doing the first layer and finding the oil paint stuck, it seemed like it was going to, so I created a few more that could be layered one on top another to change the seasons (summer over fall, spring over summer and fall, and winter over the other three seasons layers). I also thought of kids. I know kids love different things like that and thought they might like a card where you could flip one season over like a flip chart to see the next season below.

4. Did you create the entry specifically for the contest or did you submit a piece you already had?
I created the entry specifically for the contest and tried to make it something that would work card-size.

5. How long did it take to create your entry?
It took many months to create. I would paint part of it, then rest for a while till I had energy again and the paint had hardened. Oils oxidize rather than dry so it takes a long time for layers to set before you can paint another layer—sometimes days. I didn’t finish it in time for the year I intended to send it in. I considered doing a quick job to finish it but decided I would wait till the next year and make it a little better. It was hard to wait because I worried whether the competition would occur again the next year; I know things can change, but I waited and sent it in the following year after I’d finished it to the standard I wanted and that turned out to be the most perfect timing actually.

6. Does your entry have any special meaning to you?
It has a lot of special meaning. I think it shows a glimpse of what I love and what a lot of people love. I love the mountains, country areas, and the old style fence you see in the painting. I’m pretty patriotic and I love our land; we are lucky to have so many beautiful areas and I tried to make the scene one. I also love a lot of the simple things in life I tried to stick in the painting—gardens, tire swings, and anything to do with Christmas! Also, I spent my summers on my grandmother’s ranch in Montana growing up, a country area that will always have a special place in my heart, and I was trying to add some aspects of that country to the painting.

7. Where were you when you received the news that you won the $10,000 Scholarship prize?
I was in my apartment at college working on a paper.

8. What was going through your mind when you found out that you won?
About twenty things at once! Disbelief, elation, and a lot of gratitude being the top. I was trying to keep myself contained through our conversation. I was also trying not to laugh at Mr. DeVore’s nonchalant way of telling me I won. He had a good sense of humor in it all and was patient with my stumbling excitement.

9. Who was the first person you told after you found out that you won?
My mom, then my dad and brothers, then my roommate and friends, and then . . . 🙂

10. Did you celebrate in any way?
After I calmed down from jumping around in my apartment in excitement and gratitude I definitely did! My roommate and I went out to dinner and celebrated.

11. Have you recommended this contest to other people you know?
I have mentioned this contest to many many people and encouraged people to try for it or to try another type of scholarship contest because . . . they are real! And they are wonderful. Any artist reading this ought to give it a shot, you never know until you try, or continue to try if need be.

12. Did receiving the $10,000 scholarship change your school plans in any way?
It completely changed my plans. I was planning to quit graduate school if I didn’t receive the scholarship to work full time so I could save enough money to return and complete my degree. I have held at least one job all throughout getting my education, usually two, but the costs of a graduate degree can be steep.

13. How did receiving the $10,000 scholarship help you with your education?
Honestly, I wouldn’t have my education right now without it. I wouldn’t have completed graduate school, and I wouldn’t have the great job I have now.

14. What did you use the $10,000 for?
I used it for tuition mostly and some rent.

15. Which school did the $1,000 prize go to?
The $1,000 prize was given as a scholarship to another student, Michaela Stuver, at our college (the College of Natural Resources, Utah State University) and I was allowed to present it to her; that was, honestly, one of the coolest parts of this scholarship, especially as Michaela was pursuing her education to do some neat things in a related field.

16. What was your schools reaction to receiving the $1,000 prize?
Everyone was so pleased! When the cards came out, the college purchased cards to send out for that year’s Christmas cards and sent one to me here in Arizona. I think the scholarship spread some good will and excitement.

17. What are you currently doing?
I currently work as a NEPA planner (NEPA stands for the National Environmental Policy Act) with the Forest Service in one of the most beautiful areas of the Southwest and an area I used to want to live in when I was little— I really lucked out. I feel really blessed.

18. What did you study in college?
My master’s degree was in natural resources with a NEPA certificate. I just received my diploma in the mail a couple weeks ago.

19. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about entering the scholarship contest?
Do it, don’t doubt yourself, take a chance and do something creative you’ve thought about, and if it doesn’t work out, don’t quit, continue to build on what you know and try again. Success is often built on the stepping stones of failed attempts. I can’t remember how many times Edison tried to make a light bulb work, but it was many. And when he had one of the first models that actually worked, he handed it to a boy who dropped it and it shattered. Twenty four hours later after creating a working model again, he handed it to the same boy. I’ve done contests of various types throughout my life many without the hoped for results, but others that have worked out. You’ll never know what could happen if you don’t try, and give it your best try, and you’ll never know what you can do or come up with if you don’t challenge yourself. Plus, like Edison was with the boy, you’d be amazed at the people willing to take a chance on you or support you, even when they don’t even know you.

20. Were you always interested in art or design?
I have always been interested in art. I always liked to draw and paint and since we didn’t have a lot of elective courses to choose from in our school I took art almost every year if not every year. I had a truly good art teacher who moved to our small town for a few years and he really helped me with painting. I have actually been trying to locate him to send him a card.

21. How did it feel when you first saw the card produced with your design?
Excited, grateful, and motivated to continue painting, and I am. I hope to be able to learn from some other artists, possibly try a few new mediums, and if I can get my pieces to look like I want, perhaps do a few art shows down the road.

22. Do you still have one of your cards?
I certainly do. I have it framed as a reminder of the incredible good things that can happen if you keep your head up through hard times and of the good people willing to give to help a complete stranger in life.

We are honored that even though Dawnee was going through so much at the time, she still took the time to submit such an amazing piece of artwork to us. We want to thank Dawnee again for taking the time out to answer our questions and we hope you enjoyed catching up with Dawnee as much as we did!!!

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – 2011 Winner Interview

Our newest update in the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series is an interview with the 2011 Scholarship winner Whitney Fuertes. We love getting in touch with past winners to see how they are currently doing. In Whitney’s case, she has just finished up her first year at Grand Canyon University and is working part time on campus while volunteering at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital weekly. However, it looked like things might have been a bit different for her if it weren’t for the $10,000 scholarship prize. Check out the interview below to find out just how much the scholarship helped her.

Interview with Whitney Fuertes

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1. How did you hear about the scholarship contest?
I first heard of this scholarship through a website called Zinch.com, when I received an email notifying me about the opportunity.

2. How many scholarships did you apply for?
I have applied to about fifteen to twenty scholarships.

3. What was the idea behind your entry?
My grandparents had called us a lot from Mexico throughout the week asking my family about what we were planning on doing for Three Kings day, and my mom had suggested the idea about drawing an image about it.

4. Did you create the entry specifically for the contest or did you submit a piece you already had?
I did create the drawing specifically for the scholarship.

5. How long did it take to create your entry?
I worked on it for about a week with each day spending two to three hours on it.

6. Does your entry have any special meaning to you?
Yes it does, my Grandma was one of my inspirations when I was younger to draw and create what I loved. She always helped me create drawings before she passed away and learning to draw helped me out so much.

7. Where were you when you received the news that you won the $10,000 Scholarship prize?
I was at home getting ready to go to work when I received the first call letting me know that I had won the scholarship.

8. What was going through your mind when you found out that you won?
The first thing that popped into my head was, “Is this really happening? Did I just really win a 10 grand scholarship?”

9. Who was the first person you told after you found out that you won?
The first person I told was my Mom since she was the person right there with me then I called my Dad and told him what happened.

10. Did you celebrate in any way?
I went out to eat at my favorite restaurant with my family as well as going to celebrate with my best friend and play soccer.

11. Have you recommended this contest to other people you know?
Yes I have, I know a few people younger than me that love drawing and have the talent and potential to create beautiful art work.

12. Did receiving the $10,000 scholarship change your school plans in any way?
Yes it did greatly! I was planning on going to a community college and even considered joining the military since I was struggling at the time and wanted to better myself.

13. How did receiving the $10,000 scholarship help you with your education?
It helped me with paying for a majority of my tuition.

14. What did you use the $10,000 for?
I used it to pay for my tuition and housing.

15. Which school did the $1,000 prize go to?
It went to my high school La Joya Community High School.

16. What was your schools reaction to receiving the $1,000 prize?
They were very grateful and thankful for receiving the money.

17. What are you currently doing?
As of right now I just completed my first year of college, working part time on campus and volunteering at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital weekly.

18. What did you or are you planning on studying in College?
I am currently going to Grand Canyon University home of the Lopes, “Lopes Up!”

19. What are you planning on doing after you graduate school?
My two biggest goals are to be able to travel and help in third world countries and work at the children’s hospital as a registered nurse.

20. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about entering the scholarship contest?
Never give up! Always try and try and don’t forget to create something different something you don’t see normally, something when people see it will think that is something different.

21. Were you always interested in art or design?
I have always loved to sketch and draw random things as a stress reliever since I was younger.

22. How did it feel when you first saw the card produced with your design?
When I saw my drawing as a card I couldn’t believe it, to this day I still cannot believe that something I drew was created into a beautiful card.

23. Do you still have one of your cards?
Yes! My family loved the cards so much that they ordered some.

This concludes our interview with Whitney Fuertes. We loved having a chance to catch up with Whitney and see just how much of an affect the $10,000 Scholarship had on her life. Moments like these really allow us to see just how much this scholarship program means to students and gives us the continued motivation to keep going!

Check back next week when we finish up our 2011 Edition of our Look Back Series with some of Whitney’s favorite cards from our own line!

Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series – Card Design Samples

Welcome to our second installment of the Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Look Back Series. Today we are taking you behind the curtain and giving you a look into the test sampling phase for the 2011 Scholarship Winning Design, Gilded Nativity Christmas Card.

Each of our card designs goes through a significant testing phase before a final design is chosen to be added to our card line. These test samples are first provided to our creative team which goes through many different samples consisting of different card stocks, colors, layouts and foil imprints. You can get a taste of some of the samples that were considered below.

Finally, once a sample is chosen for the card and the creative team does not believe any more changes need to be made, the design is passed along to our approval team. This team consists of people from our marketing, production and order departments. Since our order department is our direct link to our customers, we always make it a priority to take any feedback we receive from our customers and inject it into every part of our operation, including the card design process. Once we get the stamp of approval from the team the design becomes a brand new member of our line of cards.

Browse through some of our test samples that were used for the 2011 Scholarship winning design and let us know which version you would have picked in the poll below. Next week we continue our series with an interview of our 6th annual Scholarship Contest winner Whitney Fuertes!

Congratulations to the Winner of our 6th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest

Congratulations to Kathy Zhou of Philadelphia, PA! She is the winner of our 6th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest! Kathy is a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania who is studying Computer Science with a minor in Design. She has created a beautiful design that features a unique and creative representation of a traditional Christmas image. Kathy submitted a design that is 100% original, and we can’t wait to see the finished product! Our judges had a truly difficult decision to make as there were so many creative entries in the finalist pool, but we think Kathy’s design will make a truly amazing card.

Here is the design Kathy submitted:

6th Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Winner — ***Kathy Zhou’s winning design for the 6th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest***

The 7th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Contest will begin on March 18, 2013. Be sure to visit the entry page to reacquaint yourself with the rules and guidelines. You may also check out our newly updated winners page to view the designs submitted by our previous winners and to get inspired.

The Greeting Card Scholarship That Keeps on Giving

When Dawnee Burson, a Graduate student at Utah State University pursuing a master of natural resources degree with National Environmental Policy Act certification, won our 4th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting Card Scholarship Contest we were gratified that such a deserving student was the recipient of our scholarship.

As some may know, a rather unique aspect of our scholarship contest is the additional $1,000 that is awarded to the school of the winner each year. So you can imagine that when we spoke with Nat Frazer, the Dean of Natural Resources at Utah State University, and learned that the University would be using the $1,000 to award an additional scholarship to an undergraduate student at USU’s College of Natural Resources we were thrilled.

Sure enough not long after hearing the good news, we received a picture taken at the April 9, 2011 College Awards Banquet ceremony. The College of Natural Resources came up with a wonderful idea to ask Dawnee to be present at the ceremony to help present the scholarship. The photo below features Dawnee Burson standing along side the recipient of the $1,000 scholarship, Michaela Stuver.

Michaela, we learned, is a sophomore from Orem, Utah majoring in Environmental Studies. Her emphasis is communication and she would like to run a program that educates people about the world around them.

The Gallery Collection congratulates both Dawnee Burson and Michaela Stuver on winning their scholarships. We are confident that both of these young women will be putting the funds to excellent use in furthering their academic careers and helping to do some good in the world.

Contest submissions for our 5th Annual Create-A-Greeting Card $10,000 Scholarship are accepted through January 12, 2012. To find out more information on how you can enter and win visit our Greeting Card Contest Page.

Announcing the 4th Annual Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship Finalists

After months of receiving and reviewing entries for our 4th Annual $10,000 Create-A-Greeting-Card Scholarship, we are so excited to at last be able to reveal the Scholarship Finalists ! Be sure to check out the entries and tell us which one you “Like”.

This year, we have a total of 177 possible contenders for the big $10,000 prize! And don’t forget, we also are giving away an additional $1,000 to the school of the winner. This is truly a wonderful opportunity for one talented student to help finance their education as well as showcase their artistic abilities.

Certainly, those students who put in time and effort to create and submit an entry whether it be of a Christmas Card, Birthday Card or some other occasion, all share and demonstrate important qualities needed for success in life. They all show initiative and taking responsibility for one’s self and future.

So on March 16, 2011 when we announce the lucky winner, know that each and every one of you who made a sincere effort at creating a beautiful greeting card design should also be congratulated!

Best of luck to all of our finalists!