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

Diamonds in the Trees

The trees are wearing diamonds in Atlanta today.  Sparkling, brilliant, dazzling diamonds. They slipped on the frosty facets overnight, draping them, ever so elegantly, around their slender necks, branchy arms and twiggy, little fingers.  

And this morning...

   the whole tree-world glistens with these shimmering ice-jewels that catch the light and reflect a twinkle straight from the eyes of God.

                                   

Strands of liquid crystal necklaces adorn the branches wearing hints of spring.

And raindrops, captured in free-fall freeze, are mounted in settings of hydrangea whispers and garden lace.

 Oh, the master jeweler of creation has suspended the world in a luminescent splendor, an iridescent, enameled guilloché of sorts, far more magnificent than any House of Fabergé treasure.  And it's all on exhibit in this limited-time showing for you.  Just for you.  A gilded, embellished, lavish expression of God's creativity on full display for you.  

"God's glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon."   Psalm 19:1 - The Message

Enjoying the exhibit on display today,

The Velvet Lime Girls

Giving Roses

Bushels of roses spill all over our studio garden this time of year.   We plunge them into vases, pass bouquets on to those stopping by to visit, and share them with just about everyone.

They just keep blooming.
Blooming, blooming, blooming...an endless tangle of flushed petals, drenched with the scent of heaven.









The more we give them away, the more they come.
We just can't out-give the roses.



It's as if the giving triggers an unseen force inside their tiny ruffled faces and they explode in pink profusion at the very site of the last cutting...the last giving place.

They seem to whisper one of our favorite quotes, by 
Saint Francis of Assisi, in every scattered petal...
"It is in giving that you receive."


The little roses know a hidden truth. 
Life is enriched, fulfilled, multiplied ... as we give.
Giving doesn't take away from us ... it releases us to be more than we could ever imagine.

Giving, real giving, scatters self-focus to the wind and showers the world around you with grace, beauty and the very fragrance of heaven.

Oh, you are so beautiful when you give.  

When you pour yourself out for others.  

When you live your life to be a blessing.

Inspired to embrace a life of giving more,

The Velvet Lime Girls

"Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” 

Luke 6:38 - The Message

Dragonfly Inn

  

It was the blue shells. 

The simple wooden bowl of blue shells, glistening in shades of sand-washed, sea-glass colors, that began to slowly pull me out to a sea of summer calm.  I had just stepped into the spa-like, never-never land, of the Dragonfly Inn, nestled in Corolla, North Carolina, and already, that deep soul-exhale one has when they’ve found a place to really relax, was beginning to softly ripple in.

Who would take the time to search for a thousand shells in shades of blue, to simply match the colors of ocean, sky and sand that grace this beachfront inn? Only two gentle souls, schooled in the fine art of hospitality, and gifted with an eye for design, luxury, and comfort ... the Dragonfly Inn innkeepers, Dan and Lori Evans. These two creatives have fashioned a sand-castle getaway on a secluded strip of beach in the very remote Outer Banks of North Carolina. 

Pause a moment and take a beach stroll with me, through photos, as I sift through memories of a recent stay here, with my husband, where we slumbered on silky bamboo sheets, counted stars on the edge of the ocean, awakened to gourmet breakfasts, and lived like pampered beach royals for 3 days.

Roses, roses, roses...everywhere! 

Greeting us upon our arrival, gracing our bedside and breakfast table, and filling the entire beachfront inn with floral notes mixed with salty air.

Sunlight dancing off sparkling details, draped on a hand-forged iron chandelier, and suspended above the expansive breakfast table. A tiny detail...just for delight.

Breakfast splendor every morning! 

Five shining orbs, instead of a single light fixture, illuminating a circular staircase, nestled in the center of the inn.

Colors of calm everywhere.

Beach views wrapping themselves around us everyday.

And a lovely wooden bowl filled with a thousand blue shells
that seem to whisper this old adage,
"Offer hospitality to one another."  1 Peter 4:9 

Finding bliss at the beach,

A Velvet Lime Girl

post scriptum

Pictured above is a casual gift of randomly collected beach glass given to us from Ellie, the innkeepers beautiful daughter. Hospitality just runs in this family and it's on full display in the next generation.

For those of you still planning a vacation, please visit the site of this recent inspiration that slipped into our studio today @
The Dragonfly Inn

Poppies!

A poppy burst open this morning in our studio garden. 
It's been said that one can actually hear the sound of a poppy opening...a subtle little "pop!" 
One thing's for sure, they do make a grand entrance!
A poppy opens up with such bright faced joy, and summer surprise in its petals, that we've wondered if it silently plans the explosive, celebratory debut for weeks ahead, inside its fuzzy little head?  

That little head must swirl around with thoughts of celebration, joy and gratitude...and it's probably because the poppy has its mind set on right things, on good things, on the beauty that is to come in its life.

This poppy unfolded a few thoughts in us today. Thoughts about the same joy, the same celebration, that we can hold in our hearts, as we, like the poppy, set-our-minds-on-good things, good thoughts and promises spoken directly to our hearts by God.
 
We know that when we let our thoughts, inspired by God, swirl around in our heads and hearts, we too, like this fresh-faced poppy, will be able to lift our heads and be filled with a joy, a gratitude, that simply overflows and kind of "pops" out into our own worlds.

So today, we'll be looking at the poppy party going on and letting our hearts join in with lovely thoughts like this...
"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of The Lord rises upon you."
Isaiah 60:1

Enjoying the party in the garden and in our hearts,
The Velvet Lime Girls