Celebrating an Artist

Last week we celebrated Marybeth, our art director, on the wonderful occasion of her birthday.

Whenever we celebrate a birthday for someone special we often use this expression. "We're so glad you were born!" And this was a sentiment expressed to Marybeth last week from our hearts.

If you happen to have a creative person to celebrate here are a few of our gift ideas:

  

1. Find arty, inspiring journals that just beg you to start sketching, doodling and writing.                     We loved these journals with embossed phrases on leather. Notice the pops of color in the text. We were thrilled to find these at TJ Maxx!

2. Fragrance their life with luxurious scented candles. Marybeth is a packaging connoisseur, so this ginger mango candle by Aquiesse was a visual treat filled with a little aromatherapy.

Who knew a candle could come wrapped so elegantly? Half the fun is just unwrapping the package! These lovely candles can be found at Armour and Co.
@ http://www.armourandco.com/

Just visiting their site is like stepping onto a luxurious beach in the middle of the day. Stepping into their store is absolute paradise.

(In a pinch, you may find these candles
at selected TJMaxx stores, but then you'd miss the 
experience of Armour and Co!  And the memory of the
visit, the essence of the candle and the uplifting feeling
you come away with, will just light up your spirit each time that 
lovely candle is lit.)

3. Finally, wrap up all celebrations with artistic edibles!

We gathered up these little treats from Alon's Bakery, a savory, culinary art museum itself!  You just have to go! @ http://www.alons.com/

With all the celebrating and singing that goes along with birthdays, we couldn't help to remind
ourselves that we're being celebrated everyday. In fact, there's a little bit of singing that occurs over each of us on a regular basis.

"God takes great delight in you...he rejoices over you with singing" Zephaniah 3:17

So, even if it's not your birthday today, just tell yourself, "Hey, I'm being celebrated! Someone is singing over me!" 

Cake and candles are optional for you today, but the singing ... it goes on forever.

Celebrating,

The Velvet Lime Girls

BLT

The first big, fat, juicy tomato in our studio garden was ready today.  It’s plump little body just beckoned us over and we could almost hear it saying “pick me, pick me!” It’s been living on a tomato bush for several weeks, loaded with little green polka dots of tomatoes. We’ve waited, and waited, and waited until they all grew up. They’re full grown now, firm fleshed, luscious, red garden tomatoes all begging to be picked.

They can’t wait to get inside to one of the most revered places in the South.  A BLT.  That’s a BLT sandwich. Or, a bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich for those of you who like things really spelled out for you.  It’s the best place for the first tomato of the season. There’s just nothing quite like it.  A BLT is simply fine cuisine without the fuss.  Especially if the star ingredient, the tomato, has just been picked from the garden.

Here’s a photo of our first BLT of the summer and our recipe. We’re not responsible for any mouth watering that may occur. By the way, don’t let your dog see it, because we think it causes drooling.  Actually, we hear that happens with humans who just start thinking about a BLT.

Velvet Lime Girls BLT

1 ripe tomato

1 lettuce leaf

Few slices of crispy fried bacon

Mayonnaise

Bread.  We know everyone says soft, sliced white bread is the best.  It is.  But, we like soft whole wheat or toasted English muffins too.

Slice the tomato and layer on top of your bread selection that has been slathered in good mayonnaise. Slathering may be a new term for you if you’re not from the South, but trust us, you need to master this move and get over the  sound of this culinary technique.  It’s kind of just like gobbing it on.  Oops, another Southern term.  Okay, for all you arty people, it’s like putting gesso on a canvas.  Just plop it on and rub it around until everything’s creamy white.

Now, layer the lettuce and bacon on top of the tomato slices, sandwich between two slices of bread and salt & pepper.  Take a bite and enjoy the true taste of summer.

Slicing tomatoes with smiles,

The Velvet Lime Girls

Mother's Day Art

Rebecca Rhodes Ladikos.  Circa 1987.  Copyright RRL.

The next few days we’ll be featuring some of our favorite Mother’s Day artists.  The first two artists that are featured belong to that heart- warming group that mothers everywhere recognize. Children. Many mothers have artwork from this talented group gracing their walls and refrigerators.  Today’s selections come from a collection known as “our children”.  In my mind, they were the finest little artists around in the late '80’s and early '90's.

Our daughter Rebecca, did the first piece above, an explosion of vibrant colors in an expressive, watercolor palette, around the age of eight. The color combinations and styling hint at a future talent now showcased at Velvet Lime Designs, as she splashes us with color selections and ideas for artwork that inspires.

  

Caleb Rhodes. Circa 1991.  Copyright CR

Our son, Caleb, did the second piece, an architectural study in pencil and watercolor, at around the age of eight also.  The linear projections, lines and “scaffolding” reveal a passion for building structures that is now seen in his projects at Green Friendly Homes. http://www.greenfriendlyhomes.com/

We love creative expression around here and we’re especially fond of the ones made by children.  We’d love to see yours and share them with our friends!  So, send us a copy of your favorite little artist’s work to: info @velvetlimedesigns.com

Look for originals from Marybeth’s girls tomorrow!

Celebrating “our little works of art”,

Laura

Tangerine Tango

Last summer the zinnias had a festive little party in our flower garden. Dancing around in vibrant luminescent colors from an ethereal palette, they put on a show stopping performance and we couldn’t resist snapping a photo for color inspiration.

The tangerine zinnia right in the middle, sizzled with creative color and we began to dream of ways to include this shade in our future art collections. Wow, what inspiration one color can bring! Imagine our surprise, in January, when we read that tangerine had been selected as the new color of the year for 2012! Great minds think alike!!! Pantone named the 2012 color pick, Tangerine Tango, and we think it describes our zinnia shade quite well. For a little more color inspiration visit: http://www.pantone.com/pages/pantone/category.aspx?ca=88

With tangerine tango smiles,

The Velvet Lime Girls

SHINE BRIGHT

“The ways of right-living people glow with light; the longer they live, the brighter they shine.” Proverbs 4:18

This proverb was the inspiration behind our sunflower artwork and with the sun shining bright in Atlanta today, it’s a promise that is warming our hearts.

We had originally used a translation of this proverb with the expression of living life in a brighter and brighter manner, because of our right standing, our connection with God, made available all because of His Son, Jesus. Today, when we read the Message translation, we glowed with a new illuminated insight. We felt like little lightning bugs pulsing with the presence of God within us.

Warm little lights glowing brighter and brighter and shining the longer they live. That’s God’s description of how our lives should be. Wow, it’s enough to give you a hot flash even if you’re not a woman.

We hope you feel the warmth in our new, slightly revised sunflower. We’re only able to give you a peek, to protect our original work. For a fuller view visit http://www.paintedplanetlicensing.com/velvet-lime-girls.html

Shine bright today,

The Velvet Lime Girls

Snow and Sunny Expectations

It’s snowing in Atlanta this morning! As Southern girls, we can’t believe it’s snowing (actually more of a light dusting) and find ourselves peeking out of our windows every five minutes, just to make sure it’s still falling. J Normally, we’d be outside letting the snowflakes fall on our faces, but today is a special day for the Velvet Lime Girls… more about that in a moment. This surprise dusting of snow this morning has made Laura recall one of her favorite songs of all time, “Somewhere It’s Snowing” by David Stearman. A beautiful soft, snowy sort of song, that she and her husband, James, first heard sung by David himself in the early ‘70’s, while they were all college students together. James & Laura say the words still embrace their hearts like they did years ago and we’d like to share it with you today as the snowflakes fall in Atlanta. http://www.davidstearmanministries.org/getmusic.html

We hope you take a moment to pause and let the words carry their message to your heart.

Now, back to our special day today. Do you remember being a kid and trying to go to sleep the night before something really fun and exciting? Maybe it was anticipating a birthday, a favorite relative’s visit, summer vacation, Christmas, or the circus coming to town. Whatever it may have been, it kept you fully alive and charged … ready for the big day to arrive.

That’s how we feel right now. We’ve been kind of quiet about it lately, but, our art collection will be making a debut this weekend at the Atlanta Mart. We’ll be on display at the Painted Planet booth on the License & Design floor. They were kind enough to even feature us in an ad that is pictured above.

Our new little home on the License & Design floor features art and design for license or sale to a variety of industries including: apparel, linens, decorative textiles, needlework, wall & floor coverings, tabletop, giftware, home decor, greeting cards, gift wrap, stationery, scrapbooking and much more.

We feel like kindergarteners with our pack of crayons, standing next to some Michelangelo type of artists. Really. The creativity that surrounds us is amazing and we have deep respect for these experienced artists. And still, we know, that our artistic message of inspiration and encouragement is unique. There’s no one who expresses it quite like we do. And we are thrilled to see the designs we’ve worked on in our studio for several months placed on display this week in Atlanta.

It’s like being all dressed up for a first date.

We’ll be showing glimpses of our work this week on our blog. To see the entire portfolio, register with Painted Planet Licensing Group, or stop by the booth this week at AmericasMart, Building 2, 774WW.

Thanks to all of you who have supported us and encouraged us. Our hope is that our artwork will draw people like a magnet to the inspiration and encouragement that comes from God… and the “good grace”, mentioned in the song above.

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. Sun is coming out and the last of the feathery snowflakes just blew out of here!

If you have a little time, here are the words to the snowy song:

“Somewhere it's Snowing”
by Stephanie Boosahda & David Stearman


I once read in a poem
When snow covers the earth
That it hides the world's scars and
Gives nature new birth.
And they say when a man turns
From sin to the Lord
That forgiveness like snow
covers him evermore.

(chorus)
And somewhere it's snowing,
See the soft drifting down
As the snowflakes surrender
To the hardening ground.
Like the good grace of Jesus
That now covers our sin
In the kingdom of heaven
it's snowing again.

And it's told that the angels lift
Their hearts and rejoice
When one traveler turns homeward
From his way to the Lord's.
If somewhere someone's turning,
He's giving his all,
Then God's grace like the snow,
Is beginning to fall.

(chorus)
And somewhere it's snowing,
See the soft drifting down
As the snowflakes surrender
To the hardening ground.
Like the good grace of Jesus
That now covers our sin
In the kingdom of heaven
it's snowing again.