CHA 2012 Show Preparations: Part 2

Banners; check

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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:

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...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!!