Heart Thoughts

Here's a little love note from us to you today.  Just a gentle reminder to choose a treasure place that is worthy of your heart.  We like the way The Message translation sums this thought up:

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being"  Matthew 6:21.

It's so true, the place where your treasure is, IS the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

Enjoying pink-watercolor-splashed-thoughts of our treasure,

The Velvet Lime Girls

Amazing Day

We've had a rainy, drizzly Monday morning here in Georgia today and all the Velvet Lime Girls had a big choice to make when each of us woke up.  All three of us, perhaps like a few of you out there, had some challenges pop up.  Some changes in our day that we had not expected.  The kind of changes that just make you not want to skip around singing "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Da" all day.

So, we each decided to make a choice.  A good choice.  A choice to remember that the sun is really shining behind those clouds today and with God's help, we can choose to make this day great. 

We remembered that many years ago God offered a group of people a choice.  A choice to live life in a way that would result in blessing or hardship.  It was a pretty simple choice to make, but just in case they missed it, God gave them one more push in the right direction and said, "Choose life!" (See Deuteronomy 30:19 for details)

We believe He's still kind of doing that each day.  Encouraging us to choose life. 

So, we pulled out the most celebratory graphic on our studio walls, one we had planned to save for a fun Friday post ... and we're posting it today, right in the middle of this rainy Monday! A day that will, with God's help, be AMAZING.  And we'll say a little prayer for you too today, that your day turns out to be as amazing as ours. And if you happen to hear a few lines from that Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah song, it's us singing in the studio!

"Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Zip-A-Dee-A

My oh my what a wonderful day

Plenty of sunshine heading my way

Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah

Zip-A-Dee-A"

Choosing Amazing,
The Velvet Lime Girls

No Worries

"It's wonderful what happens when Christ replaces worry at the center of your life."  

Phil. 4:7 The Message 

The center of our life is a pretty important place to guard.

Wow, it is so easy to let it fill up with worries.

In fact, for some of us, it actually seems like the responsible thing to do.

You know, to make sure that everything's thought of that could possibly go wrong and then worry about it.

It's what responsible people do, right?

Actually, wrong.

There's a much better way to live and for all you 

professional worriers out there,

here's a little nudge in a more peaceful direction. We can offer this advice because we were highly experienced, professional worries at one time.  Yeah, we all came from long-lines of worriers.

Then, one day we really let this quote sink into our hearts:

"Don't worry about your life.."

Matthew 6:25

It wasn't a suggestion.

It was more like a loving command meant to protect.

And when we did it, stopped worrying, we had some amazing side-effects.Things like: 

PEACE

CALM

SERENITY

RESTORATION

JOY

Yep, trading worry for all these was the best thing we ever did.

Today's graphic kind of sums it all up for us around here.

It's kind of how we did it.  It's called prayer.

We thought we'd share it with you all today.

Our hope is that, like us, you'll just once-and-for-all, toss all those worries out the window.

Then open-wide the doors of your heart and pray, 

letting God replace all those worries as the center of your life.

 "Don’t fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it, a sense of God’s wholeness, everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

Philippians 4:6-7

No worries,

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. We hope you'll pass along some of your favorite worry-busting verses, quotes or thoughts.  We just may weave them into a new graphic or art collection to share with others. Thanks!

Paths

We're taking a pause from posting one of our regular whimsical pieces of artwork that are used by manufacturers for various gift items or products.  We love creating those light-hearted designs, but in our studio we're often surrounded by totally different styles of art, and on many occasions, it's a work-in-progress by James Rhodes, the husband of Laura, one of the Velvet Lime Girls.  When he's not busy at Rhodes Design Group, he often slips into the studio, and as he says, "picks up his crayons and starts coloring again".  We like the way he colors and it brings us such inspiration that we wanted to share it with you today.  This piece is not yet signed because it's a work in progress, but those bright-faced daisies in the foreground, that weathered barn, and those billowy clouds just had to be shared with others outside of our studio.  We gave you a peek at some of James' other pieces that grace our studio walls in these posts:  Color of Light and Work of Art in Progress. 

The path in this piece of artwork, with it's grassy mounds of wheat, goldenrod, and bright-faced daisies, waving their tousled heads in the breeze, just seem to whisper over and over to us thoughts about paths. Paths are so important in this life. It's important to choose the right one. When you have Someone to walk with you, guide you and encourage you on your path ...it is a beautiful gift.  Here are just a few of the path promises that have carved themselves onto our hearts lately, like a well-loved path in a grassy field.

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path .." Psalm 119:105

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him and He will make your paths straight." (or direct your paths) Proverbs 3: 5-6

"The path of the righteous shines brighter and brighter". Proverbs 4:18
To us, those words brighter and brighter always convey the idea of  better and better...and those joyful little daisies in the foreground of this picture just seem to be shouting this...as loud as their little petals will let them.

We'll be writing  more about this grassy path as the work is completed and would love to hear what comes to your mind when you see the grassy path, the barn, the clouds, the green expanse, or that little peek of aquamarine-blue sky in the left hand corner.  Oh, this one is going to be fun to follow!  Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Walking on the paths prepared for us,
The Velvet Lime Girls 

Grateful Hearts

We're not exactly sure where this great quote came from, but when we saw it we just had to capture it in a Velvet Lime Girl's graphic to share with you!  It drew us in like a magnet from the moment we first read it and it seems to pull our hearts back to that place where miracles often begin.  A place called Gratitude. 

Grateful hearts in Georgia,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Grace-Full

We've been thinking about the old story of a very sick woman who tried everything she knew to do medically and still came up short.  She still suffered.  She still had to face her medical challenge every single morning.  
Then she decided to get BRAVE.
Apparently, she had heard about Jesus and the miracles he had done and she told herself, "If I can just touch his clothes, I will be healed." So, she bravely came up behind him in the crowd and touched his clothes. And she was healed!  Right then. 
What kind of bravery does it take to interrupt Jesus' schedule?  (He was on his way to an important man's house.)  And what kind of bravery does it take to risk ridicule? (By law, she wasn't even supposed to be in public while sick.)
It takes a bravery that believes in the compassion of Jesus.  A bravery that trusts in his grace.

We created this graphic to remind us of this grace-full story.  The whole story is found in the book of Mark in the Bible and we hope you'll take a moment to read it and be inspired to live bravely in His grace.

Living brave,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Little Bird, Big Song

This cute little bird fluttered into our studio this morning with a BIG song in it's heart.  
It was a song so big for such a little body that it just had to come out! 
When your soul really sings, that's what happens.  
You get so big on the inside, that a song of praise just has to come out!

Singing in the studio,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Royal Blood

  

Hi girls!  This one's just for you today.  A little reminder of the royal lineage you step into when God becomes your heavenly Father.  It's a regal bloodline and you've been invited to become a part of this family. It's a family that backs you all the way and loves you like no one else.

The Message translation says it this way:

“I’ll live in them, move into them;
    I’ll be their God and they’ll be my people...

I’ll be a Father to you;
    you’ll be sons and daughters to me.”

2 Corinthians 6:18

So let this amazing truth sink into your heart today.  You have a heavenly Father who promises to be with you and go before you as you walk through this life.  That brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "have no fear".  You've have God with you! 

For all you guys out there, this promise holds true for you too. Just replace the word daughter with son on the graphic above, and then run out and play with the rest of the kids! 

The sons and daughters of The King.

Grateful to be in the family,

The Velvet Lime Girls

Rainy Day Promise

We've thought about just "singing in the rain" lately to brighten things up a bit, since it's been raining for over a week here in Georgia.  Then we remembered this refreshing little promise that always showers us with joy. It's a perfect rainy day thought for you and we couldn't resist turning it into a graphic to share. 
So, as this new week begins, go pull out the brightest umbrella you can find, sing in the rain a little bit, and let each tiny raindrop splash fresh new joys into your heart.

Playing in the puddles,
The Velvet Lime Girls

A Door of Hope

If you're in need of a little hope today, here's a promise just for you. God has a door of hope. Right in the middle of any valley you may be walking through. The Message conveys this promise so beautifully:

And now, here’s what I’m going to do:

I’m going to start all over again...

    I’ll turn Heartbreak Valley into Acres of Hope.

Acres of Hope is a lot of hope.  And that's what God is offering. So today we're sending this little graphic out to encourage you to look for that door of hope that God has promised to provide just for you.

The Velvet Lime Girls