His Only Son

It’s Easter Sunday today. A highlight in our year. We’ve been busy meeting our design submission deadlines for Easter themed products with images of bunnies, eggs, and flowers dressed in pastel colors. We love these light-hearted themes with their fun traditions and memories of childhood, but we hold in our hearts the real message of Easter.

It’s not a pastel colored message … it’s a vivid, piercing, bold color of love message that wraps itself around anyone who will receive it. A love that is so giving and far-reaching that it cannot be expressed from a color wheel or even from the entire light spectrum in our universe.

It’s a celebration message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. A new life has been made available to us, a way to an eternal relationship with God, because the shed blood of Jesus paid the penalty for sin that separated us from God. The full story can be found in the Bible.

What must it have been like when God chose to give his son … his only son, to a world He loved? This watercolor that hangs in our studio is our constant reminder of God’s great love.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Celebrating Easter and reminding you that you are so loved by God,

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. “His Only Son” – a watercolor study by a young student, James Rhodes, in 1974. When photographed for this blog, the flash accidently reflected off of the “heart.”

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday to our "Platinum Advisor" (aka James Rhodes) from the Velvet Lime Girls. Your inspiration, support and art direction are so appreciated and we celebrate you today on your 60th birthday. We have to admit, you have the creative energy of a 30 year old and your funny, sharp-witted humor with a trace of witty sarcasm, brings joy into our studio and each of our lives.

Marybeth was inspired to create this original artwork with an assortment of varied fonts and descriptions of James. It's a fun design that may serve as a springboard for future artwork.

Happy Birthday James!!!

The Velvet Lime Girls

Run Your Race

“Let us throw off every weight and run with endurance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

We’ve all been running a lot this summer and that makes us think of feet. Those wonderful workhorses of our body that move us through our journey here on earth. This photo of a magnificent sculpture in south Louisiana had a magnetic pull on me last summer. A swift runner captured in flight. Running her race with determination and tenacity. Sure of her course and the prize ahead. The sculptor fashioned the delicate feet with attention to detail and the layers of weathered years, moss and lichen, now etched into her surface, only added a depth to her message … "Run your race with diligence."

We’ve been running our races with diligence lately. Always checking to make sure we are hearing God clearly and doing exactly what he has created us to do on this earth. (We’re learning a clue to this is usually doing what we find great joy in… kind of what’s already in our DNA from God). This passage has been our running fuel and the sideline cheering force to some of our new artwork. We brainstormed about it recently and Marybeth began creating again … the result is a celadon and sea glass colored palette of artwork that just makes your spirit soar and with the sentiment attached, it is heavenly. It’s kind of under wraps now and will be peeking out in 2012, but you can take its inspiration below today and begin to run your race with new enthusiasm. Especially when you realize that your path has already been marked out for you.

As every runner knows, one of the great things about running is that exhilaration that infuses your entire body at the end of the race. You did it! You finished! What a great feeling! It’s the kind of feeling expressed years ago by a man shortly before he moved to heaven … “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.” II Timothy 4:7

So find that path that’s been marked out just for you and enjoy your journey today… really enjoy it. Travel it knowing that it's been pre-arranged just for you. No one else can run this one except YOU.

Laura & the Velvet Lime Girls

Leftovers

“Leftovers” … that’s what the salesperson called them. The scraggly end-of-the season flowers left in a corner at the local gardening store. They were dry, brittle, and tossed on a refuse pile. I saw their potential and wanted to rescue them and give them a chance to flourish. I did. These leftovers are now the stars in my garden! Thick dark green succulent stems now hold buttery yellow faces that shimmer in the sunlight. They make me smile each time I look at them, because they remind me of the value and beauty that can be found in every “leftover”.

They also bring to mind a sentiment Marybeth expressed recently.

Marybeth has been a quiet inspiration to all of us over the past few years as she has said good-bye to three loved ones. She has traveled through these valleys of loss with her soul anchored to a strength that comes only from God … and journeyed on to mountains of joy with family, friends, faith and the creative expressions of Velvet Lime Designs. Recently she penned a few thoughts regarding the last good-by and they seem to fit in with the sentiment of finding beauty in leftovers that really matter. Here it is in her own words:

“I recently spent a few days helping go through what I term "the leftovers" -- what you leave behind when you are gone. This is the third time I've had to do it in my life and it never gets any easier. Sure, people make provisions for insurance policies, stocks, homes...that's all written on paper. It's the "leftovers" that bother me the most. Obviously, they meant something or they wouldn't have been kept. What about that high school track medal your son earned in 1974? Will he want it now? Or the mementos of your children's birth? Will it mean anything to them? What happens when you find that envelope with YOUR name on it and it contains mementos of YOU? Sometimes it's a little tough to swallow...these “leftovers." Deciding what stays and what goes.

I've decided when I am old and gray and it's my time to go, I will tell my family to happily throw it all away and remember me for the immaterial leftovers in my life. Keep what you must...but I want to be remembered for those things pertaining to the heart.”

“A good and honest life is a blessed memorial” Psalms 10:7

Marybeth & Laura

Accolades for Velvet Lime Designs!

Velvet Lime Designs received accolades last week from a very discriminating art collector. We thought we'd share the photos taken in our studio as this art collector pointed out her top choice in our new collection.

For those of you who haven’t met this art collector before, we’d like to point out that she is also Rebecca’s daughter and my youngest granddaughter, Alexa! We just love it when she gives us her opinion!

Some of our new artwork is blurred out for now in these photos and will be making it’s debut at a later date ... but we just love celebrating a compliment from such a discriminating audience!J

THIRSTY

Thirsty

Early each morning before the sun wakes up the elephant ears are still cradling little liquid jewels. They are nestled in the valleys of the broad plains of each green expanse. These diamond drops dance across the surface. Hovering, floating in a mercury motion, their slightly suspended form seems to shimmer a call to anyone who is thirsty … “drink me, I’ll quench your thirst!”

These water drops of morning dew make me thirsty each time I see them and remind me of Rebecca’s favorite verse, “As a deer thirsts for streams of water, so I thirst for you, God.” Psalms 42:1. We like the way The Message says it:

“A white-tailed deer drinks from the creek;

I want to drink God,

deep draughts of God.

I'm thirsty for God”

Thirsty. These little dewdrops carry a refreshing message. Our thirst can be quenched and filled with living water each day as we drink in time with God.

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. Thank-you to my sister-in-law, Sarah-Lynne, for reminding me of the beauty of dewdrops (and these photos taken in 2008).

HOPE

Weave HOPE into your heart today. Hope – an earnest expectation, an anticipation, a belief or a trust. It’s more than a word. It’s a force that undergirds you and carries you forward with a strength that is beyond yourself. Hope is the silent strength that supports your dreams. When it’s woven into your heart it enables you to soar above any obstacle. Let this new artwork send you soaring with new hope today.

"Hope does not disappoint us ..." Romans 5:5

Laura

Squash Blossoms

Each morning in my summer garden a series of squash blossoms unfurl and show off their bright little faces. They are a fleeting show and by late morning they pull their shades down and close up … the show is over until tomorrow morning when a fresh new group arrives. I’ve learned to respect their timing if I want to catch a glimpse of them in their full glory.

Timing is even more important if they are to be enjoyed as a divine culinary experience … known here in the South as, fried squash blossoms. Umm, just the thought of these lightly crisped, creamy morsels makes me swoon. These beautiful airy blossoms wrap their delicate petals around a savory cream cheese filling, swan dive into an egg batter and then frolic around in a dusting of flour & bread crumbs before they are glorified with a quick olive oil flash fry. Whoa … just brace yourself for the first bite and the explosion of creamy flavor that fills your mouth. There’s just nothing like it … and it’s only found in a rare commodity…fresh squash blossoms.

Timing is everything with squash blossoms. Picked too early, they can’t contain the filling … picked too late, they shrivel and lose the filling.

Squash blossoms are a little like the opportunities God gives us each day… and timing is important here too. Opportunities of giving time, giving a smile, giving an encouragement will present themselves each day and we can fill them if we are looking and don’t let them pass us by. The explosion of flavor from these filled opportunities doesn’t even compare to the fried squash blossoms.

Laura

P.S. Recipes for fried squash blossoms abound on the internet, but if you’d like mine, just send us an email @ info@velvetlimedesigns.com

A quote and a sponsorship...

Marybeth was recently quoted on April 2 by Six Sigma and Quality Improvement blogger Nadine Owens Burton at www.powerofcare.com under “Small Business Shoulda Coulda Woulda’s.” Here's what Marybeth said:

“You’ve got your vision...your ‘pie in the sky’, but getting in front of retail people and getting yourself into a showroom is literally a dog-eat-dog world. You're fighting trying to make yourself completely different and stand out from the crowd so that people notice you. I think a lot of it is about networking and getting the most opinions -- good and bad -- from anybody you can. Once you go through the whole process for a while, what you originally envisioned might be completely different from what you end up with and that can be a very good thing sometimes!“

We're out to show potential wholesalers and retail buyers that Velvet Lime Designs is committed to quality, creative artwork and inspirational products. We’ve got a lot of new products in development and hope to release those within a few weeks. As always, we welcome any comments...good or bad!

Velvet Lime Designs is also a proud sponsor of the 1st Annual LUNAFEST® presented by Faith's House (www.FaithsHouseInc.org) in Cumming, GA. We are happy to share some inspiration with single moms!

Inspirational décor for baby or child’s room

Have you seen our inspirational series created specifically with kids in mind? We believe the choices made for artwork in a child’s room are as important as anywhere else in your house...what your kids see every day guides their thoughts and actions. It brings inspiration to their OWN living space! We currently have these in a baby nursery and they look GREAT! We'll try to post some photos later this week of those.

Having hope gives your courage...

A new image we’re releasing today...and we LOVE it on the bamboo...It's not on the website yet, so if you are interested, e-mail us!

Velvet Lime Designs gets first press!

We’re really excited today! Just received the layouts for our first nationwide press in a magazine.... Materials Handling Illustrated picked up our press release. It's at the printer right now and will be mailed out to over 18,000 subscribers by April 1. They were intrigued by the fact that we are using a local manufacturer – thus the headline and subhead: “Oriental Rub: Georgia peaches opt for local manufacturing over fine China”...

In case you might be interested, here is the full text:

Velvet Lime Designs, based in Suwanee, Georgia, has taken 

the proverbial lemons of the Great Recession and made 

lemonade. A collaboration of three women, Laura Rhodes, 

Rebecca Rhodes Ladikos and Marybeth Wydock, who once 

kicked around the “idea” of creating artwork from photos 

they took as a hobby, Velvet Lime Designs introduced their 

line at the America’s Mart in Atlanta this past January and 

recently opened up their store online.

• With all three working for Rhodes Design Group, a design/build firm specializing in entrance and amenities packages for new communities, the homebuilding industry they catered to was devastated by the recent economic downturn. Needing inspiration themselves, the trio decided to take a leap of faith and put more energy into creating uplifting artwork for others. “This company has been a dream in our hearts for many years. It took hard economic times for us to combine our talents and plant the seed for Velvet Lime Designs,” said Laura Rhodes, one of the partners.
• 
  
• The team spent a year making prototypes, researching products and seeking feedback from prospective buyers and gift shops before finally creating some finished products. One important goal (mostly because of the economic crisis) for Velvet Lime Designs was to keep the manufacturing process in the United States. They succeeded in this endeavor for the table art using a local cabinet maker for the wood pieces and then adding the finishing touches on their own in the office – literally turning their studio space into a production line.
• 
  
• The gallery prints proved a little more challenging. It was quite cost-prohibitive to use a local printer and print on canvas paper unless the company could print a quantity in the hundreds. With three weeks before the America’s Mart show and a small budget, the team decided to have prototypes made by a company in California who first had the canvases printed in China and then shipped back to California for stretching. Rebecca Rhodes, the partner who worked on product price commented, “After a lot of research, this particular company came within the range of what we knew our price point should be and we had a deadline to meet.”
• 
  
• With gallery prints in hand from California for display at America’s Mart, the company was introduced to Art Effects Framing, a local company in Norcross, Georgia, just a few days before the show. Dave Nanney, Vice President of Operations, was more than willing to meet the price constraints as well as offer a novel idea for stretching the gallery prints. After Art Effects provided some prototypes, the partners felt confident taking orders at the show. The product has since proven far superior in quality to what the company in California offered.
• 
  
• The inaugural showing at the Mart for Velvet Lime Designs was a success! The team received initial orders and great feedback from store owners, especially on the children’s line. They are currently shipping the orders, as well as taking orders online. And, most importantly, Velvet Lime Designs is supporting the local economy with that tiny seed of faith.
• 
  
• Velvet Lime Designs is a company dedicated to planting seeds of inspiration in others through images and words. For more information, visit www.velvetlimedesigns.com.

Velvet Lime Designs adds artwork to bamboo

Getting ready to roll out our images on FSC-certified – meaning eco-friendly – bamboo! The option will be added to our website next week. And we have more plans for bigger pieces on bamboo, too! Watch for more details on this coming soon. Using a “green” option for our artwork has always been a big goal for us. We LOVE the way it looks and hope you do, too!

Arise my love...

Just added this image to our repertoire! It’s the same tree/same angle as the “all the trees of the field shall clap their hands”...only this time there’s SNOW! We get snow about twice a year in Georgia so we took full advantage of taking photographs after getting 3"! We can’t wait to take this same photograph again when the leaves are coming out...

New series for the kids gallery prints!

We had such a positive response to our “pink” series for girls that we decided to do something for little boys...something rough and tumble! We are selling these in our 1-1/2" gallery wrapped format...printed on 11" x 14" canvases. And we’re not limited to red! Ask us about different colors... See this link on our website to purchase!