10 Calendars: $3.99 $2.79/Calendar
25 Calendars: $2.99 $2.09/Calendar
50 Calendars: $2.49 $1.74/Calendar

Available at wholesale prices–only on staddonfamily.com!

It’s going to print next week. Look for the official release on the Bateses family website early in October!

Though we only had one day of training, we made the most of it and I was quite surprised at how easy it was to learn the simple procedures and clear-cut techniques of drawing with chalk. Due to the straightforward instruction and hands-on experience, I would say that given an easel, some chalk and a message from the Lord, any of the three of us (or better yet, the three of us working together!) would now be able to do a chalk presentation, albeit a simple one, at a moments notice.

(By the way I have so much that the Taiwanese  students and teachers gave me that even now, months later, a new surprise is “unpacked” from time to time. This Tuesday I found an art pad  I had been given from another teacher at the King Car summer camps. It was just what I needed because I had used the last page on the previous pad last week.)

These pictures have all encouraged me to use my art skills to bring glory to the Creator and joy to others.

It’s neat to see God’s hand at work in making this production possible! Two years ago, I ordered a small, $24 calendar to give to my Mom for Christmas; people liked it, so I went a step farther the next year by putting together a custom design and printing it myself here at IBLP Headquarters. I got rid of them so fast last year that I decided to put a bit more time and effort into one this year. The result was a complete re-design printed on a Heidelberg 10-Color press, an upgrade that places the product in the professional side of the spectrum.

Initially, the cost for this upgrade was quite steep. However, for some reason I knew that it would be worth it. And God knew why. I was sitting in my office making the final tweaks on the calendar after working on it for over a month, when a friend stopped by to say hi. When he saw the proofs on my desk, he intently inquired what they were for. After some more questioning, he reveled to me a request he had brought to the Lord that very morning: he needed a large quantity of gifts to use as a thank-you to give to a group of donors. Perhaps this calendar was the answer to his prayers.

After some discussion, calculations, meetings with other people, more discussion, more meetings and lots of prayer, we finally came to  a conclusion that benefited all parties involved: my friend now had a gift to give to his donors and I got a drastic cut in the unit price. It was amazing! I had never personally experienced God work with such precise timing in such a supernatural way!

To view or order the Inspiration of Creation 2010 Calendar, please visit the Online Store.

After I made the bear head I realized that the directions said it was too thick to be baked. This is why it is not painted. The second one was the dolphin. I made sure to make it the right thickness but while in the oven it broke. The same thing happened with Jonathan’s snake. By this time I was quite discouraged, but with patience and a little work we put them back together and they turned out just fine. Jonathan is not completely  finished painting his snake, but his flag and Psalms 81 plaque turned out extremely well.

I made the monkey with the colored clay. It was a lot of fun to create the surroundings and the fallen log he is perched on. I did the same with the dinosaur except I used the white clay.

Though quality is proportionally dependent on the amount of time you put into it, creating a personalized calendar is actually something most anyone can do!

As mentioned above, creating your own unique calendar can be summarized into four distinct steps: assemblage, design, layout, and print. Assemblage must begin now! Seasons change, snow melts, flowers fade, leaves fall, and days shorten. The key to a beautiful calendar is beautiful pictures, and beautiful pictures are captured, intentionally or not, only when your at the right place at the right time (with your camera). You have to take advantage of every opportunity: you never know which photo-shoot will produce the picture that actually goes into the final project.

When the year starts drawing to a close, it is time to sit down and do some designing! Go through all your pictures from the year, choosing only the biggest and most stunning images have. Often, the design will revolve around the pictures you choose. For the rest of the calendar, let your creative juices flow; it’s amazing how many different ways there are to arrange those familiar objects on a page! You can always add Scripture verses, famous quotes, fancy borders, wild colors, creative captions and background pictures. I did my designing in InDesign, working off a template of another calendar I liked.

So once your calendar all laid out, it is time to go in and proofread. Did I spell everything right? Is the 4th of July really on the 4th of July? Are references correct? Is text all sized up right? Will anything get chopped off on the final product? Are images in CMYK and not RGB? This step also requires you to layout the calendar in a separate document that accurately accounts for page placement: a calendar with an 8.5×11 size cover must be printed on a 17×11 sheet of paper with the front and back covers placed on one side and the inside covers on the other. It is really quite complex, but with a bit of thought (and reference to other calendars), you can calculate where each month and it’s complementary picture should be placed.

Finally, after a full year of shooting and many long hours at the computer, your calendar is ready to print! I am very fortunate to be working at a publishing house, so this step turned out be be quite relaxing. Once the 9 pages were printed, they were put through a folding machine, collated by hand, stapled together with a special staple gun, cut to size, and to top it all off, had a hole drilled through the top for easy hanging.

Yes, it takes an awfully long time to assemble, design, proofread, and print a little calendar. But now that I’ve given several away and sold many more, I can honestly say it was worth it! I’m just glad I only have to make them once a year.