Spanish Products Give-Away!

Hola!  Our storage area is overflowing with Divinity Spanish gift items, so we are doing a give-away!
We are SO appreciative of the generous box of samples we received from Divinity and as most of you know, we do not sell products, we just create the artwork for products, so a give-away seemed like a perfect way to share some of these cute gift items.  We had so much fun creating the artwork for these products and have enjoyed hearing about how well they have been received.  So, here's a give-away for our Spanish-speaking friends, (or for a Spanish teacher, relative or friend).

1. Just SHARE our post and your entered.
2. Winner will be randomly selected on Thursday, April 27th.    
3. Here are the items in our give-away package:
Spanish Clipboard with Matching Pen
Spanish Zip Pouch Purse with Pink Heart
2 Square Boxes of Matching Pad and Pen Set with Spanish verse
Spanish Magnetic Listpad and Pen Set
Spanish Thought of the Week Set

A big thank-you to the team at Divinity for producing a beautiful collection of such heart-felt gift items featuring our artwork and also to all of our Spanish-speaking friends.  We appreciate you!  Friendship has no language barriers. (Amistad no tiene las barriers del idioma)

Dios lo bendiga,
The Velvet Lime Girls
P.S. For our retail friends, here's a link to the wholesale Divinity Spanish products with our artwork, (just scroll to page 110 in the catalog):
Divinity Spanish Products by Velvet Lime Girls 

SWOONING

We're swooning today.

SWOONING: To be emotionally affected by someone or something that one admires, to be ecstatic.

Yep, that's us...swooning.  Ecstatic.  We  find ourselves humming that lively line from an old song:

"Look what the Lord has done! Look what the Lord has done!" 

And we just can't help thinking about this beautiful promise:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined the things that God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

(Yes, all you Bible scholars out there, we know this verse is specifically talking about the wonderful gift of salvation and eternal life with our God in Heaven, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, made possible to all who will receive Him... and our grateful hearts receive this with great reverence.)  

When, however, we experience a little glimpse of God's goodness in our daily lives, a little evidence of Him preparing something beyond what our mind has imagined ... could it be that the ripples of joy reverberating in our hearts are a glimpse of the eternal joy God has prepared for us who love Him?

The source of all this joy today is a little spotlight article on us, the Velvet Lime Girls, and some of the amazing opportunities that have opened up for us. Hey, we're just three women who had a little dream.  A dream to let the love and grace of God that changed our lives, SHINE OUT through us and encourage others.  And now, look what the Lord has done!

May our story encourage you and draw you closer to God, so He can give you a dream, a vision, a joy in life, as you simply walk with Him, listen to Him, and Let His Light Shine Through Your Life.

 Thank-you to the team at Painted Planet Licensing for this lovely spotlight. Here's the full article:

Velvet Lime Girls

Royal Color

How does the color purple bring such elegance to everything it touches? 
From those stately iris heads giving royal waves in the summer breeze...

To regal clematis blooms moving with grace...even as they drop their petals.
                         

The color purple just lifts a person up to a loftier place, a royal place, and it was the color we picked for one of our favorite pieces of artwork that called for a noble look ... our "You Are Chosen" artwork.

A study of Ephesians was the initial inspiration for the "You Are Chosen" artwork. As we read and reread the amazing verse that mentions our being "seated together with Him in high places",  we could hardly wrap our minds around that thought.  Us... being seated near God, in heavenly places?  Yeah, that's what the verse says:
"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus..."  Ephesians 2:6

Wow, we are really loved.

This verse painted a picture in our heads...a picture of a royal purple, plush chair. The kind you would just want to sink into and stay awhile.      

More cozy than stately.

More comforting than commanding.  

A place prepared with pure love and grace.

Marybeth, with her gift of turning the art in our heads into realities, created this initial piece of artwork in soft, pale purple watercolors and we wrote about it an earlier blog.  (Click Royal Seating  for earlier blog.)

The artwork evolved to a collage-style final stage for use on products with some of the wonderful manufacturers we work with. 

So, now this little message of grace and God loving us enough to seat us in heavenly places with Him, is now being shared around the world on journals, coasters, notebooks, memo pads and cards.  Thank-you so much to  Legacy Publishing Group,  Divinity Boutique and Painted Planet Licensing, for helping us pass this wonderful truth along to others.

Grateful hearts in Georgia,
The Velvet Lime Girls

JOY at LOWE'S

Our JOY flags are at LOWE'S!  We just spotted the first one on a casual trip to our local Lowe's store.  Imagine our surprise. It was like seeing your child or grandchild in a school play or sports event!!!  You know that kind of moment, when you find yourself yelling, "That's my kid!  Right there, right there! Look, look, look!!!  Lowe's should appreciate us for all the enthusiasm we can bring to their store on an ordinary day. We could boost sales everyday just by seeing one of our flags there. 
Actually, we behaved ourselves quite properly at Lowe's, but our hearts were flooded with joy when we saw our little garden flag hanging in the store. Knowing that it's now available in over 1,700 Lowe's stores across the nation, just kind of brings us to our knees in gratitude.  For the first time, we actually have more than one store to direct you all to for a product with our artwork.  Hallelujah!

We always like the "rest of the story" on any piece of artwork.  What was the inspiration? What was the artwork hoping to convey? What message did it long to impart? The answer is pretty straightforward on this piece. JOY!   That wonderful gift that fills up your heart like a hot air balloon and sets you sailing over mountains, rough terrain, or dreary days,  It's real.  It's powerful. It's a gift. And it can turn your life around.
God must have known we'd need it to live the life He planned for us, so He left some pretty clear guidelines for obtaining joy.  They're simple, just like our artwork.  We thought we'd pass on a few of them, in case you need a little of that hot-air balloon joy-lift in your life today.  

"You will fill me with joy in your presence..."  Psalm 16:11
Just being with God, spending time with Him, listening to Him...fills us with joy.

"But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace..." Galatians 5:22
You don't have to try and produce joy...it's a gift. It's like fruit in an orchard, as we join our lives to Him.

"The deepest pains may linger through the night, but joy greets the soul with the smile of morning." Psalm 30:5
When you're in deep pain, deep hurt, deep loss... joy, the joy that comes from God, lifts you and carries you through. 


So, joy is much more than a simple three-letter word.  It's a powerful force, a gift from God that will carry us through good times as well as challenging times, growing stronger as we connect our lives with Him. 

We hope our JOY artwork reminds you to pause and spend time with God, our sure source and supply of joy.

With hot-air balloon hearts of joy,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Our JOY artwork is also available on these Divinity products. Order @ Christianbook.com

BEAUTI-FULL.

It was a drizzly, cold day here in Georgia yesterday. The kind of day that just makes us want to hang onto our cup of coffee or green tea as we hum around and work inside our studio.   With the snow falling on the northeast coast though, we decided not to complain about the weather here in Georgia. Instead, we made a choice to look, really look, for the beauty that is out there when the landscape is a bit dreary.
Look what we found "blooming" outside on a gray, drizzly day!  A flourishing lichen, spilling shades of celadon, lemongrass and smoky blue all over the day. What a beautiful sight.  We probably would've never noticed how full of beauty this little lichen was, hanging onto a weathered wind chime, if everything was blooming all around it.  The stark surroundings just seem to frame it in for a perfect photo session and sharing with you today.

                                                                                             
It's kind of made us think about the beauty that God sees in us, regardless of what is or has been going on in our lives.  We could have been going through a winter time of sorts in our minds, our outlook, our circumstances, but God still sees the beauty in us, the beauty He has for us, the beauty He longs to infuse into our lives.  Even if the weather, the attitudes, the day, have shaped up to be one large pile of ashes, He promises to bring ..."beauty out of the ashes".

                                                                                               
  The Voice translation says it this way:
"God has sent me to give them a beautiful crown in exchange for ashes, to anoint them with gladness instead of sorrow, to wrap them in victory, joy, and praise instead of depression and sadness." Isaiah 61:3

This promise was part of the framework for the artwork in one of our new mini-books that Divinity Boutique released this month.(In retail stores soon.) The mini-book was created with teens in mind, but it's a good read for anyone. A reminder that each of us are full of beauty,("Beauti-FULL"), in the eyes of the One who loves us most.  We hope you'll pause and take in a little inspiration from the artwork below and then share it with someone who needs to be reminded of just how beautiful they are in God's eyes.

After all this talk about where beauty really comes from, we've been pondering that phrase, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".  Perhaps a truer version would be something like this:
 "Beauty comes from the eyes of the One we behold."  Because, when we look at Him, focus on Him, The One who loves us most, created every detail about us, cares for us, and sees beauty even in our ashes...His beauty just spills out all over lives.  It's kind of like we exchange our thoughts, our misconceptions, our perceptions about us and begin to see ourselves as he sees us.  Beauti-FULL.  Just like the dry, crusty lichen, draped on the wind chime outside.

Have a Beauti-FULL day,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Journal Samples!

 

Samples of the journals we did for Divinity Boutique have arrived!

We're just thrilled with the quality and the crisp colors.  

Our favorite part was opening up the first journal page and seeing the personalized tag that says, 

" This journal belongs to..."

Our hearts just leapt with joy when we began to think of the people who will write their name here, and then capture thoughts, dreams, sketches, whispers, and prayers on these pages.  We hope the scripture that graces each page will inspire, encourage and lift the hearts of each journal writer, doodler or dreamer. 

The journals are available at many Christian bookstores now.  If you'd like to find a store in your area that carries these journals, please contact the the wonderful company we've had the joy of working with, Divinity Boutique, on their website highlighted here - Divinity Boutique

Capturing life in new journals today,

The Velvet Lime Girls

"The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy."  Psalm 126:3

HOPE

Hope is sunshine for the soul. ©

With the Memorial Day weekend about to begin, our thoughts are already bobbing out to sea with images of the beach, and the sand-salt-and-sunny-serenity about to roll in with summer.  Actually, it's not technically summer yet, but here in
the south, summer begins on Memorial Day, as we slip into white shorts, sip on sweet tea and inhale the first breezes of summer. Life just lightens up with the very thought of summer!


Summery thoughts are a bit like hope.  
That beautiful gift from God that lifts our hearts up to a puffy, white cloud level. Carrying the expectation, the anticipation, the belief, that God will really come along to be with us, help us, and never leave us.  When God gives you hope, it's as if He breathes His powerful-life-giving-breath into the very chambers of your heart ... fully inflating you to live again. Life just lightens up with the very thought of hope!

Hope was the inspiration for this artwork recently created in our studio. We are thrilled that Divinity selected it to grace the cover of their upcoming catalog. For those of you who are retailers, please visit their website below.  
http://www.divinitywholesale.com/Scripts/PublicSite/


We hope you'll slip into this weekend with hope shining bright in your heart,
The Velvet Lime Girls

BOUQUET OF FAVOR

FAVOR. 

It’s a sweep-you-off-your-feet, love expression from God, catching your breath with His extravagant fragrance of grace, and filling your heart with such gratitude, that you just bury your head in God’s embrace at the end of the day, and say...“Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

And the familiar words, “He-can-do-over-and-above-more-than-we-can-ask-or-think,” pounds loudly in your spirit with each thrilled heartbeat. Oh, don’t you just love it when God sweeps you off your feet with a beautiful bouquet of favor?

We do. 

It's brought us to our knees in gratitude and stilled anticipation about the creative journeys ahead. May we share a little of our joy with you today? A few of the “petals” from this bouquet of favor we've been given?

Thanks to the work of Jan Draheim, Rebecca Hubert and Leah Cochran of Painted Planet Licensing, we met some wonderful new companies last year and created artwork and sentiments for products that they launched last week at the Atlanta International Gift and Home Furnishings Market.

Here’s a peek of a few favorites…

We’ll have more photos to come of journals, stationery items, garden flags, and other home accents that also launched.

Here’s a glimpse of one of the creative teams we’ve been blessed to work with. The talented team at Divinity, pictured below with us.

Laura, Marybeth, Keith Schwartz, Nicole McMaster

Keith Schwartz, President of Nicole Brayden Gifts and Divinity Boutique, and Nicole McMaster, Purchasing and Logistics Manager, are a creative team who spin out ideas, concepts, and visions so fast, that we’re inspired to get back in the studio to start sketching and writing! And our hearts were touched to see that the man at the helm of this great company, Keith Schwartz, has connected their company to an endeavor that certainly must touch the heart of God, the Production with Purpose program. See below. 

Divinity’s Facebook page gave us an informative read on the difference between Fair Trade and Free Trade. Read about it here at Huffington Post.

We’ll look forward to being involved with such a noble cause through our artwork and sentiments for Divinity.

During last week’s product launches, we made a quick stop by the Gregg Gift showroom, a division of Enesco Gifts, to see the totes, Bible covers, ceramic crosses and coin purses we designed for them. Although we were missing the third member of our team, Rebecca, her color inspirations can be seen in many of the products.

Laura and Marybeth with Gregg Gift products featuring Velvet Lime Girls' artwork.

We also stopped by the Carson Home Accents showroom to see the lovely display of placemats, table runners, napkins, tea towels, pot holders and aprons we designed for them. It almost makes you want to pull out the pumpkins and get ready for fall again!

We’ll share more product launches this week and you can look for these items in the spring at gift stores nationwide. 

For those of you who are retailers and would like to carry these products in your stores, please visit the company websites at: Divinity Boutique,  Carson Home Accents and Enesco/Gregg Gift.

Grateful Girls surrounded with favor,

Marybeth, Rebecca and Laura

The Velvet Lime Girls

“God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.”  

Ephesian 3:20 - The Message