Back in 1966, when I was 11 and my wise old grandmother was helping me set up a typing business for college students, she introduced me to many four-letter words: free, give, help, love, need, want.
She told me that when I got to the point that I loved to give free help to people to meet their needs and wants, I would know that I had a career, and my career would provide for my own needs and wants. She taught me all about marketing, yet all she had was a partial first grade education, having dropped out of school to work in the fields after her dad died.
At the time, what she was telling me didn’t make a whole lot of sense. Now it does.
Since we are now in the fourth quarter of 2014, I have to start seriously thinking about the new year, and that always means calendars. I have rarely liked the calendars that you buy in the stores. They are always too big, too small, have a few pictures that I didn’t like, would not remain flat against the wall, were too heavy to hang on the wall with a pushpin…. whatever.
For 2015, I have resolved to create my own calendar, and that’s where YOU come in.
Here is my October 2014 calendar page:
So what’s different between my calendar and store-bought calendars?
Well, first, my page is 8½x11…. easy to print on any printer.
Second, I use my own photos.
Third, I start the week with Monday. I have never understood why religions say that Sunday is the seventh day of the week but calendars make it the first day of the week. With my calendar, the weekend is now together instead of split.
Fourth, I have six rows instead of four or five. That means that every day gets its own square…. always!
Fifth, if I have a calendar hanging on the wall, I’ve always disliked having to remove it in order to look at the previous month’s last days. My calendar fills in all the squares with days of the month…. last month’s, this month, and next month.
So here’s the deal:
I’ve made October 2014, but I need November & December 2014. And I need 2015 months…. January, February, March, April…. well, you get the idea.
For the first 50 people who leave a comment here on this post on my WordPress blog, YOU get a free calendar page. You can make it any month and year you like…. You can send me a picture to use (needs to be high resolution, at least 800 pixels wide at 100 ppi) or you can choose any of my pictures, one that you’ve seen in my blog over the 2½ years I’ve been here, or one in my galleries at Fine Art America.
Once you’ve decided, leave a comment here, and then email your month, year, and picture choice to me at
photographicart@russelrayphotos.com.
Attach your picture if you want me to use one of yours. I will create your calendar page and email a digital file to you.
These calendar pages are not easy to make, so I’ll acknowledge those first 50 comments and acknowledge your email. After that, you’ll just have to be patient.
This would make a great present for Christmas, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.
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