CHA 2012 Show Preparations: Part 2

Banners; check

(click any image to enlarge)

I am BEYOND THRILLED at how the banners for my booth turned out!!  The colors are PERFECT and the details are crisp...yay!!!! I have 9 of these wonderful things to line my booth with - I hope they will be a hit! 

This is Annie, by the way, my Summer Just Bee 'n Me girl. Annie LOVES to sew and embroider and stays busy keeping her Etsy shop filled with her sweet handmade totes and pillows. She loves the outdoors and sunshine, meadows and butterflies, and denim is her go-to fabric no matter the occasion...

...and this is Sadie, my Autumn Just Bee 'n Me girl...

Sadie is most a home in the kitchen, her cute retro kitchen that is, filled with vintage Pyrex and other great flea market finds. An avid couponer, she can feed two or twenty on a shoestring while always managing to make them feel pampered, honored and loved. She's always sweet, but adds just the right amount of spice to keep things interesting...

I would be remiss if I did not mention the banner company I used to print these jewels...it is Empire Banners, and I am not in any way paid for recommending them, I just can't say enough good things about them. Their online interface was so easy to use and the price is clearly displayed as you enter the size and specifications of your banner. These banners are 3' wide and 6' long, hemmed with 4 grommets, and only cost $40.50 each! (they would have been almost 3 times as expensive at my local FedEx just for a little perspective) Plus, I uploaded the designs in the afternoon, OK'd the proofs by late afternoon, and the banners were printed and shipped that very same day! Now I did pay a bit extra for 2 day shipping, but it was well worth it to get these into my hands so fast. And the quality is superior...the color, fabulous...  Thank You Lord for leading me to just the right printer - You are so faithful!!

Oh yeah, I also completely revamped my portfolio website: http://beckyschultea.com  It's not perfect or 100% complete, but it is a good start and most of all has all my new art displayed gallery-style...or you can run it as a slideshow. Go check it out if you have a moment - I'd love to hear your thoughts...

So much is happening all at once now and I am documenting it all and will continue to share as I can. We are just under a week until we leave for the show...yikes!  But really, things are going well so far and I am not too overwhelmed... Next on my to do list is working on a few craft samples using my new designs - should be fun! My postcards and new business cards are on the way and should arrive Monday - when they come in I'll take pictures for sure...

Thanks for sharing this leg of my art licensing journey with me...I'm grateful as always for your support and encouragement!  Have a glorious weekend...I got some crafting to do...

CHA 2012 Show Preparations: Part 1

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Hello friends! Wow, I have been working non-stop for weeks to prepare for exhibiting in the Licensing and Design section of the Craft & Hobby Association Winter 2012 show and there is finally a little light at the end of the tunnel! The largest job I had was to create several new design collections and then create the artwork for the corresponding banners that I will use to decorate the booth. I thought over the next few days and weeks that I would show you several sneak peeks at the new art collections as well as a look at the various marketing and display pieces I am working on....

The image above is a mock up of the 3' x 6' banner I created for my new Cupcake Cowgirl collection. I had a lot of fun with this set of girly images. I can see these on a variety of cute products...I just hope the art buyers that will be at the show will see the same thing!!

I also did a related collection called Cupcake Cowboy - here's a sample of one of the patterns I created for that collection:

I also developed a new series I have called "Just Bee 'n Me - a celebration of individuality and creativity". (you've only seen bits of their faces so far). I designed a girl for each of the four seasons and created a coordinated set of "accessories" and patterns to go with each. The girls have a slightly vintage 60's and 70's vibe to them in their color combinations and accessories, and they *hopefully* will appeal to women of all ages.

For Spring, I created "Kate", a girly-girl romantic all the way who loves growing and arranging flowers, writing poetry, and making handmade greeting cards. Here's the banner mock-up I did for her:

(click images to enlarge)

...and here's a close-up of one of her patterns:

I have so much more to share, but I had better get back to work. The banners are being shipped (yay!) but there are still a LOT of things on my to do list. We leave for the show 2 weeks from this Friday (yikes!). I will follow up in the next day or so with more sneak peeks and hopefully a photo of the banners when they arrive... Meanwhile, thank you SO much for your continued understanding as I have been designing non-stop and posting very little. Y'all are the best!

Hugs all around!!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

&

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To all my poor neglected blog pals I apologize for the lack of posting, but I have done precious little else other than create art for the past weeks...  Progress has been steady and I am pleased with the work, so that's a good thing, but I hate being so out of touch. I haven't visited blogs in I don't know how long...I miss you guys... (Can't WAIT to show you all the new art!!!)

Hope you had a wonderful Christmas weekend with your loved ones - we had a lovely time! I am SO excited about the New Year and the promise it holds for all of us! It's gonna be quite a ride!

Hugs and Blessings to each of you and may God's love and grace surround and fill you!

New Marketing Piece

Howdy! Just wanted to quickly share a new marketing image that I just completed in preparation for the CHA show in January. I am working non stop on new portfolio pieces and I am having a blast! You'll be a seeing a lot more of these girls and all their "accessories" in the coming weeks...

Oh, you can see my new logo too there in the middle of the marketing image. That, by the way, is the official name for my art licencing business:  

Becky Schultea Design & Illustration 

where whimsy meets inspiration

...that seems to sum it up pretty well I think...

Gotta run for now...lots more work to do! I'll try to pop in like this a bit more often in the coming days and weeks to share bits and pieces of what I'm up to. See you soon friends - I MISS YOU!!

Have a great week!!

Blessing(s) in Disguise

I'm here, I'm here!! I didn't fall off the face of the earth...although at times over the past month it seems as if I might.

A few weeks ago, with no warning, my hard drive on my 2 year old computer died...kaput...just like that. Since that happened earlier in the year on my previous much older computer, and since I was able to save my files that time, I wasn't too worried. Well, ignorance can be bliss...  After friends and family attempts to check it out failed, I brought it to a PC repair shop and waited for word... Word did come, and it was NOT the word I wanted to hear. The files were unrecoverable...totally gone. My art that I had been toiling over (if you can call doing art "toiling") was simply non-existent...

This is gone (the full version):

...and this one too...

...and another one from this cottage series that I was almost ready to preview. Plus a new logo, and files for Universal Designs, and photos and so on and so on... I was just sick...

You might be asking, "but Becky, don't you do back ups...?" To which I say, "NOW I do!!!!"  Truth is, after the last hard drive crash, we bought an external hard drive, put all the rescued files on it from the previous computer, and promptly set it on a shelf where it remained for months.... Oh how stupid can I be?

But, a funny thing happened while I was waiting the 10 days or so for my computer to be repaired...I rediscovered my sketchbook and colored pencils...

I typically do a bit of minimal sketching before I create an illustration, but I rarely do color studies in the sketchbook. I simply do all that on the computer on the fly as I draw. But having time away from the computer, and being determined not to lose momentum in my preparation for the CHA Trade Show in January, I worked through a whole new series of girls that have been in my head for a long time now. It was so therapeutic to draw and color old school. I developed all of their various accessories, borders, patterns, etc. and it was so fun! Those of you familiar with my cartooning style may have noticed that I rarely draw open eyes on my characters...

Basically, I've done that because I like the smiley, joyful look of it, but frankly, it's also because it's just plain easier to draw them that way...

But eyes are so important, and I knew I wanted these new characters to have really pretty, big eyes and more detail overall than I typically do. Plus, I wanted them, and their colors and accessories, to have a bit of a 70's retro vibe. I really had the time to sketch and sketch and get it just right...and here's a little snippet of how they are looking so far...

I am having a blast creating these girls and their stuff - there will be four girls for starters, representing each of the four seasons. (above are the girls for Autumn, Spring, and Winter - Summer is waiting her turn next). I'd love to make a whole calendar of them eventually. For now, the goal is to get them to the CHA show for their debut...I can't wait!

So, what are the "blessings in disguise"  that I alluded to in the blog title? Well, one obvious one is the time I was able to spend sketching and coloring my new series. Another one was a bit more subtle, but important... 

When I look back at my journals from late Spring and into the Summer, I see one distraction/situation/problem after another that kept me from drawing time...my parents and my MIL each had a stint in the hospital, starting on Mother's Day...we were evacuated for a week due to wildfires...and so on. Plus, I noted several times in my journal that it seemed as if I were drawing in molasses - I was moving SO slow and wondering aloud what was wrong with me, why was I drawing so slow...? Well, as it turns out, if I had had an incredibly productive Summer, I would have lost that much more artwork! So my slowness and distractions and delays were all blessings in disguise! Even the original hard drive crash earlier this year was a blessing because when we got the external hard drive, we put all of the art files from the old computer onto it first, and even though I put those on my newer computer (and thus lost them), they were still safe and sound there in the external hard drive. Losing those completely would have truly been pretty hard to bear...all my Illustration Friday files, all my calendar files, all my photos, all my Aimee Asher artwork, all my Universal Designs artwork, etc. But they are all OK...overall my losses were fairly minimal...

BTW, I am going to re-do those illustrations that I shared at the beginning of this post...I just didn't have the heart to jump back into those first thing when I got my newly repaired computer back, but I plan to. They may not make it to the show in January, but they will be ready at the right time, whenever that happens to be...

Through all of this I have even more awe and admiration, and more understanding of this Scripture favorite:

"And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them."

Romans 8:28 (NLT)

Oh, one more little blessing to share. I thought I had lost my coloring pages that I created back in July...like this one: 

...but I remembered that I had burned them onto a CD when I took them to Kinkos to make sample coloring books, so I still have them! That was a nice bonus...  Come to think of it, that Scripture is pretty applicable too!  :o)

Have a wonderful weekend dear friends...oh, and back up your files please!!

Another Sample

Wow, another week has passed already! I just wanted to share another sneak peek at what I have been working on this week. This cottage porch scene sample is another image in a series of cottage-themed illustrations that I am creating for potential licensing. I will be taking it and many other new and recent images to the CHA Winter Conference in Anaheim in January. I am also in the process of re-designing my logo and planning my booth design. It's coming together pretty well, but it all seems too slow for comfort with the show just being 3 months away (yikes!). 

In other news, we had a blast at my Youth Group reunion last weekend! It was wonderful to reconnect with dear old friends. It was a special time that I will treasure forever! Oh, and I'd be hard pressed to forget the details because the photographers and videographer that were there captured every last detail of the humidity and then rain-soaked bad-hair affair. Oh yes, and there were skits too...and now they are videos... Good grief. Oh well, it was still a blast - I would highly recommend such a reunion if you were close to your youth group friends. It all came together through the magic of Facebook.

Well, back to the drawing board...the illustration I'm working on now is a still life within a cottage studio/craft room. It's sure to be super-cute, so stay tuned!

Have a great weekend friends!!

A Birthday and a Reunion!

Happy Birthday to my Sweetie!!!  

I love you so much - God blessed me more than I can express when He brought our hearts together!! I hope your day is wonderful, and that the next year is full of adventure and blessings!

We are headed to the south part of Houston for a very special reunion this evening - my youth group from church when I was in High School is having a reunion for all the kids who were part of the youth group from roughly 1975 - 1985! I spent a lot of quality time with these old friends and I am really looking forward to reconnecting!! Here's a photo of a small group of us from one of our youth trips to Tennessee in 1978 - that's me with the red and blue rugby shirt in the middle (mercy me...so young)

Should be a lot of fun...

Hope you have a wonderful weekend with those you love!! Can't wait to show you more of the art I'm working on...coming up this week!  Hugs y'all - we'll chat again soon....

Sneak Peek: New Series

Hello folks!! I wanted to take a quick break from my virtual drawing board and give you a sneak peek at my latest design project. I am creating a new collection of vintage cottage-themed illustrations that will be part of the work I will be bringing to the Craft & Hobby Association 2012 Winter Conference in January! Did I previously mention that I am going to exhibit at that show? Anyways, I am (in the Licensing and Design section), and I am so excited/nervous/crazy about it all. But I always feel good when I get into the groove with a new set of designs, because then the work flows much more freely. Now that I have this design done, the others in the series should roll out a bit quicker because I have figured out all the basic layout questions, style decisions, color palettes, themes, etc...

But, there is SO much more to do than just design new work and revamp existing work - there are press kits to design and prepare, a booth to design and create, marketing materials to finalize and print, and the list goes on and on...mercy!!

I'll be sharing more and more about my preparations for the show as I go along. Since this is my first time to exhibit, I hope to be able to take my experiences and help future new exhibitors to avoid the mistakes I am sure to make and to be encouraged by the wonderful things I am sure to see and learn. I hope you'll follow along the journey with me!

We'll talk again soon! Have a fabulous day and a fun weekend upcoming! HUGS y'all!

Wildfire Aftermath

I finally took the time to download and process all my photos from the wildfire and its aftermath here in the Magnolia, Texas area, so I thought I would tell the story through pictures...

The following photo if from my front porch facing East. It was about 3:15 in the afternoon on Labor Day and I had looked out of the window in our home office and noticed the dark black "clouds" near the horizon, and I thought, "it's not supposed to rain today, what are those clouds?" But in a split-second after I had that thought, I realized that those were not clouds - that was smoke - thick black and brown smoke! (the photos don't do it justice -the second photo captures the blackness at the horizon a bit better)

Well as you can see, the fire appeared to be fairly close by, and it wasn't just a small brush fire. About this time the police drove through our neighborhood informing us that we needed to evacuate. Within ten minutes, my husband and I and our dog Maddie were in two vehicles, carrying as much as we could think to grab from the house. It would be six long days before we were able to return, not sure what we would return to...

As I explained in a previous post, our entire neighborhood, with the exception of one house was spared from the fire damage. Strong NE winds blew the worst of the fire South and West of us on that first day, and the firefighters, who are true heroes, made fire breaks and managed to keep the fire from reentering our neighborhood! However, the fire went on to do incredible damage not far from us - 75 people lost their homes and the pretty countryside here is marred where huge swaths of pasture and forest lands were destroyed. Here are a few photos I took after we were allowed to return home. All of these photos are within a mile or two from our home, so it gives you a perspective of just how blessed we really are to come out with no damage...

Burned pastureland...

Charred underbrush...

Melted resin fence...

Torched trees and shrubs...

Destroyed abandoned brick house...

I am still amazed that we were spared...thank you Lord!

A few days after we returned, we got a heaven-sent blessing...RAIN! (though it was only a shower here)...this is our front porch...

(thanks for all your prayers for rain!)

But you can see beyond the fence that the drought has really taken its toll on our area. Here's a closeup of what the "grass" looks like in our yard and all around the region...

Those leaves are not Fall leaves, they are dead Summer leaves that have simply fallen from our trees from the drought. So, we are still in dire need of extended periods of measurable rain...

______________________________

OK, enough about fires and drought! It's the first official day of Fall! I love this time of year!

And I am happy about all the good things coming up! If you don't see me around here very often or if I'm slow in visiting your blogs, it's just because I am very busy with a number of projects that I am very excited about! More about all the upcoming goodies very soon I promise! Oh, and I've managed to do some fun thrifting and I've found some awesome stuff...photos coming!

Have a blessed weekend friends and thank you sincerely for checking in on me from time to time!

We'll talk again soon!

"The Cat's Pajamas" are in the Shop!

I've been working to complete a new product set in my Just Bee 'n Me online shop, and it's all ready! It's called "The Cat's Pajamas" and it has lots of fun products to help you throw an amazing slumber party! From coordinating flip-flops

 ...and pajamas...

...to customizable invitations...

...and matching pins for favors...

There's even a large wall-cling sign with the Cat's Pajamas design for decorating!

These products would also be great for the the cat lover in your life - there's lot's of sweet kitty-goodness to go around!

All of these new products also coordinate with my Cat's Pajamas digital clip art kit too...

 That kit could provide even more slumber party fun for craft projects, favors, decorations, plus all you need to scrap about the party after it's done!

______________________________

I'm still creating more new products non-stop, so please stay tuned! Next up, a line of cute Fall products for kids and adults, everything from t-shirts to notecards to art journals! Can't wait to show you!!

Now, I gotta get back to work... Thanks again for all your prayers and well wishes during our flight from the wildfire. We are so very grateful! HUGS to all!!

"I thank my God every time I remember you." 

Philippians 1:3