Christmas

Christ the Savior is born!

Our Wonderful Counselor.

Our Mighty God.

Our Everlasting Father.

Our Prince of Peace.

Merry Christmas from the Velvet Lime Girls.

HOPE

Today we're continuing our focus on Breast Cancer Awareness month with another buoy of hope.

Wouldn't it be great if you could find a way to REALLY detect the earliest stages of breast cancer?  You know, long before a mammogram catches it? A mammogram can certainly detect a suspicious area, but how great would it be to know much earlier and begin an effective healing protocol?  Well, there IS such a test and it is called a thermogram.  The chart below sums up the differences between these two types of tests:


This short video clip of Dr. Veronique Desaulniers discussing thermography sheds a little more light on the benefits of thermography versus mammography: 
Dr. V on Thermography

And this article by Dr. Jockers sums up other benefits of thermograms:
Dr. Jockers on Thermograms

One of the places we've found to have a thermogram done in the Atlanta area is through Atlanta Mobile Thermography.  The technicians are great, and your report will be reviewed by a panel of doctors and then discussed with you.  Each week the thermograms are available in several locations around Atlanta.  Check out their Facebook page to see if a location is near you this week: 
Atlanta Mobile Thermography Facebook

For those of you outside the Atlanta area, this site can direct you to an accredited thermography center near you: Thermography Centers

If you're wondering about the validity of thermograms, take a quick look at this link from Atlanta Mobile Thermography. (The first segment is much of the same info presented above, but scroll down for additional info.)  Thermography Info

We hope you'll take the time to educate yourself on the benefits of thermography and set up an appointment for your first thermogram! You'll be glad you did!

Sending you hope,
The Velvet Lime Girls
"Getting wisdom is the most important thing you can do!" Proverbs 4:7 TLB

Whispers of Grace

Pink Speckled Gladiolus - Velvet Lime Girls

Our studio garden is filled with whispers of grace lately. Soft-petaled, dew-kissed flowers greet us each morning with freshly washed faces and delicate smiles. Some arise from dreamy slumber and others meet the day with a nice long stretch.

"Dreamy" Impatiens - Velvet Lime Girls

"Stretching" Impatiens - Velvet Lime Girls

A few wake-up with perky, petite faces. Bright and alert at the first ray of sun.

Asparagus Fern Flowers - Velvet Lime Girls

Miniature Hummingbird Bush - Velvet Lime Girls

And some just saunter around for hours in their pink slippers and pajamas.

New Guinea Impatiens - Velvet Lime Girls

Oh, do they know how beautiful they are?

Even the hardly-ever-noticed-ones, like the diminutive lavender flowers, shyly lifting their faces along sprigs of thyme. Who even knew flowers this exquisite nestled among thyme?

Thyme Buds - Velvet Lime Girls

Thyme Flower - Velvet Lime Girls

Thyme Flower - Velvet Lime Girls

We think The One who created them knew. He knew about every-single-little-detail.  And this attentive care is a mere shadow of the attention to detail that He lavishes on you.  He actually says you are far more beautiful, far more valuable, far more exquisite than any of these flowers.

Even if you wear your pink slippers and pajamas until noon.

Split-Second Morning Glory - Velvet Lime Girls

You are so beautiful wrapped in grace,

The Velvet Lime Girls

"You surround me, front and back... I am beautifully and wonderfully made ..."  

Psalm 139

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the great Mom's out there! Yep, you know just how our Mother bird feels in our graphic above. You know the joy that comes in giving to your children ... even when it's the very last worm.


"For it is in giving that we receive."  Francis of Assisi

Celebrating and honoring Mothers everywhere,
The Velvet Lime Girls

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 

Give-Away!

Valentine's Day will be here soon and we've decided to do a heart-themed give-away! It's an artisan glass plate we designed for the Enesco/Gregg Gift Company. The  4" x 4" x .5" size makes it just right for keys, jewelry, a sweet treat, a bridal shower favor or your favorite Valentine!   Just share this Facebook post with your friends and you'll be entered into the give-away.  We will randomly select one person on February 8th. 
If you'd like one of these Love glass plates for your favorite valentine before our give-away ends, you can find them online at these sites below, (we just do the artwork here!):
 ChristianBook.com or Ebay or  Amazon

Sending you heart hugs today,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Snow & Ice

 

Okay, we were expecting to be making lots of big, puffy snowmen this weekend here in Georgia, but instead we woke up to sprinkles of snow and lots of ICE.  It made us think about BAD ICE, one of our snowmen who didn't make the art licensing tour with any of the manufacturers we work with...yet. He has a few bad habits that he needs to get rid of before he can become a respectable snowman and join the ranks of other licensed snowmen who hang out on cards, wrapping paper, gift bags, napkins and wall art.  We're working on his tattoos, his clothing choices and some of the friends he's been hanging out with.  You know, bad company just has a tendency to rub off on you and BAD ICE'S yellow spot is a perfect example of what bad friends can do to you. 

So, out we go into the snow today!  Right after we put-out BAD ICE'S cigarette.

Looking out for yellow snow,
The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. Our Let It Snow snowman can be found at Fine Art America as a canvas, metal or wood print, at Walmart as a poster, and at Legacy Publishing Group,  where he enjoys the company of some of our other cards we created for them.  We hear our snowman has just packed-up all of his Christmas decorations and is ready for Christmas 2017 in this boxed set at Christian Book.  Enjoy the snow!

Hello 2017!

Hello 2017!  We've been waiting for you! We started thinking about you over a year ago as we created artwork for each of your twelve months. Legacy Publishing Group gathered all those sketches together, wrapped them into a beautifully packaged calendar, and made you look so good!  (Thank-you Legacy!) So 2017, we thought we'd show-off a few of your months today as everyone welcomes in this new year!

                                                  

Looking forward to each of your 12 months,
The Velvet Lime Girls
 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?  I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”  Isaiah 43:18-19

P.S.  We focus on creating fun artwork here in our studio and do not offer the calendars for sale, but we hear they are still available at Hobby Lobby, Amazon, Calendars, Sarah J. Home Decor, Ebay, and Bundy Online. Let us know if you see them at your local Christian bookstore or gift shop.

Flowers for YOU!

It's Friday!  A perfect day for you to receive a big bouquet of flowers!  Flowers just seem to wrap the whole world (or your week) in a warm embrace of love.  We hope our graphic flowers do just that... and also brighten your day, lift your spirit and remind you that you are very loved.  

God actually says that He has loved you with an everlasting love.  What a gift...everlasting love. We like the way the Message conveys this love note from God:

            “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.    

                  Expect love, love, and more love!"

                                    Jeremiah 31:3

Love, love and more love.  Ooooh, an expression like that will stay in your heart forever!  So receive the love today and this little graphic bouquet of flowers from us.  Just for you! 

Happy Friday,

The 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

Summer's Here!

Summer's here and we've been enjoying our studio garden so much that we almost forgot to share a few photos with you on this first day of summer!





 




























































We have buttercups, walking lilies, swiss chard, spiderwort and flowers yet to be named, just bursting-out all over our garden. Every morning there's a fresh, dew-kissed face, framed in petals, peeking up us!  

They're daily inspiration and gentle reminders of the grace God wraps us up in every day.

"My grace is enough to cover and sustain you..." 
 2 Corinthians 12:9 - The Voice


Happy first day of summer,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Faith Seed #1

Here's a little gift for you on this Monday morning.  It's the first of 7 art sentiments for you to print out for yourself or share with someone who may need a little extra faith right now. We're calling these faith seeds... simple art expressions that come straight from the heart of God.  They can also be found in their original form in that treasury known as The Holy Bible.

We're scattering these seeds out there for anyone who has a battle they may be facing in their health, or in a relationship, or in their emotions, or in their finances, or in their family... or in anything.  Join us over the next 7 days as we share a simple piece of artwork for you to plant deep in your spirit. 

These will build your faith.  

We were inspired to do this by the Battle of Jericho, one of the most intimidating battles every fought and recorded in the Book of Joshua.  The Israelites faced a formidable city named Jericho. This walled fortress could have been intimidating, if they had tried to conquer it in their own strength, but with bold, brave faith in God, the Israelites listened and obeyed His instructions, and with a loud shout on the 7th day ... they watched the walls come tumbling down.  

The story is a blueprint for us today when we face formidable challenges. It reminds us that with God, nothing is impossible.  

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

Nothing. 

In fact, with God, all things are possible.

So let these faith seeds empower you with strength.  Print them out, tape them on your walls, hang them in your car, stick them on your mirrors, share them with your friends, or pass them on to someone who needs a lift in their spirit today.  These are powerful words, because they are not our words, but God's words, straight from The Bible.  And when these words are mixed with faith, you're  going to want to shout ... as you watch the walls you face come tumbling down.

Believing with you, that all things are possible with God,

The Velvet Lime Girls

P. S.  As a reminder, we do not sell products with our artwork.  We just license our artwork to manufacturers.   If you are a retailer and would like to have the Be Brave Keep Going artwork in your store, it is available in various canvas sizes through MET Colors

Their website is being updated but the highlighted link will connect you with them.

A Work of Art in Progress

We love the beginning of any work of art.  Those first few strokes of color that slip out, so brave and bold, pulling shapes off a blank canvas, liberating the vision inside an artist. The first stroke, as beautiful as it may be, is merely the beginning of something so much bigger and grander.  

There are other strokes to add, other colors to blend, other highlights to scatter, for a true work of art to be created.  To a casual observer, there may be moments when everything just seems to not-be-working-out-well-together.

But, the artist has a vision inside and sees the final end before the beginning.  And each stroke, even the ones that seem out of place or the ones that mess things up, bring the piece closer to it's beautiful completion.

                            
At each stage, it simply progresses to something more glorious than before.  And those little strokes that began the artwork's story are so very glad they trusted the artist with a master plan. 

"Trust" 12"x16" pastel on paper
© James Rhodes 2015

Life is so beautiful when it's lived in trust. 

     " For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. 

 They are plans for good and not for evil, 

plans to give you a future and a hope."

Jeremiah 29:11

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. A special thank-you to James Rhodes, (the husband of Laura, one of the Velvet Lime Girls), for letting us photograph his latest piece of artwork as it progressed in our studio.
Gratitude also to his art instructor, Kathryn Gentile , who gently pulls the gifts and talents out of each of her students as she teaches at Johns Creek Art Center.