The Calendar has Arrived!!!!

Well friends, it is FINALLY here!

"My Cup Runneth Over - Words of Encouragement" - a 2008 Scripture Calendar by Becky Schultea!!

I called the calendar "My Cup Runneth Over" because I am constantly overwhelmed by God's goodness and His blessings in my life! Each design includes a cup or mug of some sort to further illustrate the point. But first and foremost, each design is built around a Scripture and featured corresponding word of encouragement from the Scripture. I firmly believe that the Scriptures will bless you each and every day!

You can go here to order the calendar from my CafePress store (click on "View Calendar Pages" to see all the designs). I've also added some of the designs to notecard sets of 10 or 20 - you can see them here.

Here are a couple of the designs that I didn't preview yet - I will offer these designs on notecards as it gets closer to the Fall in 2008:

October - "Delight"

November - "Thanks"
______________________________

I want to thank all of you (chiefly my sweet hubby) for your encouragement over the past couple of months while I illustrated this Calendar. I have wanted to do this for the LONGEST time, and to see it actually come to fruition is both humbling and AWESOME!!

Enjoy!!

PS - I will be hosting a giving away on New Year's Day, and one of these calendars will be part of the prize - be sure and check back and tell your blog buddies too!! (pretty-please!)

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

O Come Let Us Adore Him!!!

Warm Christmas greetings to all our friends and family! We hope this celebration of the birth of our Blessed Hope, Jesus, has been and will continue to be the best ever...that certainly has been true for us!

Whether you are precious old pals from way back, wonderful co-workers, dear church friends, fun workout chums, incredible fellow artists, delightful blogging buddies, or beloved family members, we just want you to know how very much you mean to us - we love and appreciate you more than we can ever say - and knowing each of you has enriched us beyond measure!! Thank you all and God Bless each and every one of you!!

Love and hugs, The Schulteas

and Merry Christmas from our brand new Christmas present and family member, Miss Madeline Schultea (Maddie)!!

______________________________

PS - The image at the top of this post is the December design for my 2008 Calendar which is almost finished - stay tuned for the big reveal and ordering information later this week!!

Also, you will be seeing LOTS more of Miss Maddie, I can assure you!! She is a Peek-a-Poo ( half Pekingese, half Poodle) and she is the tiniest, cutest thing!! Love her so much already!!!

Christmas: Schultea-Style!

I created a quick collage of grandkid's photos from our oh-so-fun Christmas celebration with all of Johnny's kid's and grandkids this past weekend. We had such a great visit, as we always do - ate too much, laughed a lot, and warmed our hearts right down to our toes!

Here's the little collage of the 8 grandkids...such beautiful, sweet kids...

Oh boy - JUST got this by email as I was putting this post together - Baby Hope's Christmas portrait...goodness she is a cutie, and such a good baby...had to throw it in too!!

That's all I have time to post for now, but rest assured, there are lots more to come!! Thanks for stopping by!!

The 2007 Virtual Holiday Home Tour at "Notes From a Cottage Industry"

Hello, Merry Christmas, and welcome to our home!

I am participating in Tracey's 2007 Virtual Holiday Home Tour and sharing a few photos of our home decorated for Christmas. I forgot to send Tracey a photo to be included in her list of participants, but I'll try to send one just the same and be a late-comer - we'll see. UPDATE: The gracious Tracey made room for me on her list today - what a sweetie! THANKS!!! Meanwhile, please do head over there and see all the lovely sweet participants' homes - and check it out tomorrow too as Tracey says she will be sharing even more participants. There's LOTS more - so festive and beautiful and fun!! Her home is SO BEAUTIFUL itself - you don't want to miss that!

So, here you go - mostly just photos with minimal commentary :o) Enjoy!

______________________________

Welcome to our entry way:

(more Nativity closeups later)

______________________________

On into the living room with the tree done in a garden theme...

______________________________

Head over to the fireplace with the mantle dressed in candles, snowflakes and stockings of course

You may remember these...bought CHEAP at an estate sale...

...now used to provide candle glow and sparkle to the mantle...

______________________________

Little tree in the kitchen for fun!

______________________________

O, Come Let Us Adore Him!!

______________________________

Thank you so much for stopping by! If I don't visit with you again beforehand, I wish you a very, very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year full of promise and blessing!!

Please come back by anytime!! You are more than welcome!!

Calendar Sneak Peek: August

Time for another mini-sample from my upcoming 2008 Calendar - this is from August. I'm going to make this post short and sweet because I have lots going on, but I wanted you to have a little taste...

The last day to purchase items from CafePress in time for Christmas is tomorrow, so I am officially NOT going to be able to finish the Calendar in time for Christmas delivery :o( BUT, I will have it ready in plenty of time for January 1. Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause anyone... Meanwhile there are still lots of cuties available at my CafePress store that WILL be able to reach you or your loved ones by Monday if you hurry...

Please be sure, if you haven't already, to check out the Merry-Making Christmas Gift Guide for other last-minute gift goodies filled with homemade goodness.

More Glad Tidings Coming Up:

• Tracey's Virtual Holiday Home Tour (Wed. December 19th) - I'll be sharing photos from our cozy cottage


• Calendar Sneak Peek: November (hopefully Wed. December 19th)


• PHOTOS from Christmas Parties/Get-togethers including CUTE new photos of Baby Hope! (tonight!!)


• "8 Things" MeMe that Becky tagged me for (Friday, December 21)


• My virtual Christmas Greeting for all of you (Christmas Eve)


• My New Year's Day Giveaway (which will include a Calendar as part of the grand prize!!)
  

Take care out there friends - and ENJOY this magical, glorious season!! See you real soon!

Calendar Sneak Peek: June - and Several Updates

Finally, I'm done with June!! Here's just a mini-sample of it...

Oh my, I can pretty much guarantee that August will not be this detailed - this one took a while. But, I'm happy with it... It is after all, a scene that so many of us love - a good old junk/resale/antique store setting... Ahhh - I'd like to be there right about now digging around for a bargain - or a piece that really calls to me and says "take me home"...

So, what is all this,you may ask..? Well, for those of you just tuning in and wanting to know more - I have been steadily working to produce a 12 month calendar of my original designs for the past month or so and I'm coming down to the wire. I'm planning to have it all complete and ready to order in my CafePress store sometime during the week next week (week of the 17th). I will be charging $19.99 for it. I am doing everything I can to finish it in that time frame - so that it can still be ordered for last minute Christmas gift-giving - but the fall-back plan is to definitely have it done the last week of the year in time for using it by January 1. I hope that is OK with you guys that have been asking me about it...

When the calendar is all complete, you will be able to see all the pages in full on the CafePress site - meanwhile, I'll continue posting teasers as I complete them... Your support and interest in this project have been a delight to me and a real source of inspiration!! Thank you SO MUCH!!

______________________________

In other news, I am THRILLED to report to you (albeit belatedly) that I was the winner of a recent give-away over at sweet, hilarious Esther Sunday's place!! I am so overwhelmed - I've won several giveaway's lately, and I'm one that NEVER win's such things...oh well - I can't say that any more... Anyway, thank you Esther for this OH SO CUTE Santa that you lovingly made yourself - and for the Starbucks gift card that I will most assuredly spend before the week is out!! Many thanks - you are so darn sweet - congratulations again on your 50th post!!!!

______________________________

You won't want to miss the virtual Holiday Home Tour happening next week over at Tracey's place (Notes From a Cottage Industry). I love Tracey and her yummy blog - it oh SO INSPIRATIONAL to me - just the epitomy of what blogging beauty, gentle encouragement, and creative expression are all about! Here's the banner ad she created for the event:

I encourage you to head over there and see the details....Should be a blast!

______________________________

Finally, sweet hubby and I are hopping into the car this afternoon after work and heading to Lousisana to share Christmas with his kids and grandkids this weekend - Yeah!!!!!! There's nothing quite like Christmas with kids!! Having never had my own children, I am SO EXCITED to be sharing this first Christmas with all of them - I can't wait!! I'll have lots of photos to share I'm sure. I still have photos from this past weekend (my extended family's Christmas party) that I want to share too - and I will...hopefully by Sunday when I return.... It's a busy, busy time of year for all of us - I pray that you (and I) will take time to really drink it all in - the laughter, the music, the sights, sounds, aromas....but most of all, that not a day would go by when we don't pause in awe and wonder at the Reason for it ALL - Jesus - the real reason for the season!! May He bless you in all your coming and going in these last days of the year....and may He remain the center of it all in our hearts and homes!!

See you Sunday!

Calendar Sneak Peek: May

I'm almost finished with this design for May, but wanted to go ahead and share a mini-sample of it to keep you in the loop. My heart is just overwhelmed with your interest in this Calendar project! I'm not sure about the art, but I can assure you that my heart and soul are being poured into it and that the scriptures are blessing ME...so I pray that it will do the same to you! BTW, these images will be finished size 8.5 x 11 (because those are the existing dimensions of the calendar) - but I also plan to make notecards on CafePress of each design (I'm making them so that each design will be able to stand on its own) - I hope they will all turn out...

I'm in the home stretch on this one and I will do everything I possible can to finish on time for gift-giving... I'll post another sample soon too...

______________________________

Sweet hubby and me, my parents and my brothers and their families are heading for Beaumont, TX today for my extended family's big Christmas party (lots af aunts, uncles and cousins - a wacky gift-exchange, and FOOD!!!) - should be a TON 'o FUN - it always is! The food theme is Mexican - oh goody!! I'll be sure and share photos on Sunday!!

Oh, please don't forget to check out the Merry-Making Gift Guide - I added my sweet blog-pal and all around great talented gal Becky at Sweet Cottage Dreams to the guide - be sure and check out her beautiful wares - as well as all the other sweet vendors who still have LOTS of beautiful, practical, whimsical UNIQUE gifts for ALL your gift-giving needs... all from the comfort of your own little chair right there....who needs the mall, yall!

Have a blessed, hopefully-not-too-stressed weekend...

New Products in the Shop!

Hello friends!

Many of you have stopped by here from time to time and seen some of the illustrations I've done for Illustration Friday, primarily. Well, I have taken several of the most popular designs and have made available a whole new set of products on my CafePress shop, just in time for Christmas giving (or anytime). I created a new section in the shop called New Arrivals which features these new products. Here are a few of the highlights - I hope you'll check them out!

This design called "Open" is featured in a framed print, on mugs, t-shirts and more

______________________________

The "Wedding" design is featured on t-shirts, mugs, and a decorative keepsake box.

______________________________

This illustration of Noah's Ark appears on a wide variety of cute kid's stuff.

______________________________

This tongue-in-cheek design called "Missing" would be cute for a single friend or even for the laundry room!

______________________________

The "Big Easy" Alphabet is a fun design for anyone that loves New Orleans or the New Orleans "vibe".
______________________________

And here are some other "old" favorites that may be new to you...see them on a wide variety of products here...

BTW - CafePress is running a Free Shipping Special for orders of $75.00 or more for a limited time. So, not only Just Bee 'n Me merchandise, but TONs of other cute merchandise, and better yet, the ability to make and ship your own products, on-demand, from your own images and photos. It's so fun to make your own one-of-a-kind, personalized gifts...perfect for Christmas!

_____________________________

______________________________

Thanks, as usual, for stopping by...it warms my heart more than you know!! And please stay tuned - I'm getting closer and closer to finishing the Calendar, and will offer it on CafePress just as soon as I possibly can. (I'll be posting a Sneak Peek at May by tomorrow...)