Brave Bluebells

The bluebells are blooming in our studio garden.  They pushed their heads up through the dirt, moss, and pine straw last week and this morning they've been catching dew drops on their turned-up curly heads. We've caught them dancing around too.

We think it's because they've been brave.  
Brave enough to push through the hard, brown barrier that hung over their heads all winter long. 
Brave enough to believe their Creator had a purpose for them.  
Brave enough to trust the love they are wrapped in.  


When you've been so beautifully created, wrapped in such love, how could you not be brave?
When someone cares enough to trace the length of your petals with lavender love lines, mist your face with drops of dew from Heaven and wrap your heart in a tender embrace... you can push through anything.  

Love makes you brave.

"You make me brave, you make me brave,

 You call me out beyond the shore into the waves

You make me brave, you make me brave

No fear can hinder now the promises you have made."

                         Bethel Music

So take a cue from the bluebells.  Be Brave.

You can push through any challenge you face today with the strength that comes from being loved by God.

"Fear not, for I am with you;

Be not dismayed, for I am your God.

I will strengthen you,

Yes, I will help you,

I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."

Isaiah 41:10

The Velvet Lime Girls

Coaster with Velvet Lime Girls artwork, courtesy of 

Legacy Publishing Group

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.
                                           

Mini-Flags for Spring Gardens!

Spring has fluttered-in to all of Georgia.  The cherry trees have been in full bloom and, as Laura's youngest granddaughter recently observed, the trees look like snow trees filled with puffy clouds of snow petals. We are totally captivated by these snow trees when an April breeze fills the air and releases hundreds of blushing pink petals to dance across the sky.  Oh, spring is so beautiful here in Georgia under a cherry tree filled with snow petals.

We started announcing the arrival of this beautiful season with some of the cute mini-flags we created for CARSON.  The mini-flags grace our garden pots, flowers, and herb gardens. The flags seem to echo the thoughts we hum in our hearts as we stroll around our studio garden.
This one greets us every morning as it rests in a glazed pot of moss:

This one settled into the herb garden:

And this one waits to be given to a friend:

We just create the artwork for these cute flags and do not sell them here, but you can find the flags online at  AMAZON ,  ChristianBook.com or retail gifts stores that carry CARSON gift products.  (The helpful folks at Carson customer service can direct you to a store with a call to 1.800.888.1918)

If you own a retail store, here's a link and photo of the current Carson wholesale catalog: 
CARSON- Retailer Catalog for Mini Flags

We hope you take a moment to enjoy the sites and scents of spring around you today... and take a pause to sit under a cherry tree that might be "snowing".

Enjoying springtime,
The Velvet Lime Girls

The Color of Light

Lighthouses are slipping into our studio each week.  It's true.  A fresh new one seems to have appeared weekly over the last month.  They've been bringing a little color and light into our studio as we prepare our portfolios for the Surtex show in New York.  These lighthouses, created by Laura's husband, James Rhodes, are quite different from our whimsical, inspiration artwork, and they just seem to fuel our creativity.  We thought we'd share a little of this color and light surrounding us today. So, step into the studio and take a look around with us!

All the lighthouses began with strokes of pigment from Sennelier soft pastels that lie in casual piles along the edges of our studio. Chalky containers holding color, light and life.

At first glance, one might think these simple sticks of earthy substance were just stubby chunks of color. Nice to look at, but not much potential for anything beyond lying in rows.

But in the right hands, these chalky, earthen vessels are transformed into beautiful works of art. 

The soft pastels are quiet reminders of how beautiful our lives can become when we place them into the hands of God.  The master creator will pick us up, regardless of how ordinary we may look lying on the sidelines of life, and transform us into beautiful works of art. His strokes shape us into little earthen vessels that carry His light into the world and spill reflections of His color and life on to everyone around us.

Oh, you can be so beautiful in the right hands.

"Get away with me and you’ll recover your life... Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.” Matthew 11:28-30

Grateful for the colors surrounding us today,
The Velvet Lime Girls

First Day of Spring!

It's the first day of spring!  Really.  So, no matter what the weather is doing in your area today, rest assured, spring IS coming.  Flowers will bloom. Sunshine will brighten your days. Winter will leave.
When it's been cold and dreary, one can almost begin to doubt that spring will ever come.  But, it does.  Every time.

We'd like to send you a bouquet of flowers on this first day of spring.  A sunny, bright, cheerful bouquet of sunflowers!  We created these happy little blooms for our new Inspire mini-book.  A petite, encouraging, little  collection of words from the heart that is manufactured by Divinity. 

So find a little space in your heart today in which you can  plunge this bouquet of encouragement. And let it brighten your world on this first day of spring.

Shining bright inside,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Diamond Girl

We love real people. People who are brave enough to say yes when God directs them to do things far beyond themselves.  Lysa TerKeurst is one such person.  And her yes has inspired us lately.  We call her the diamond girl around here... because her life just kind of sparkles,  really sparkles, especially when you hear her story.

They say a diamond is formed in some of the darkest, deepest places on earth. Places that are hot, filled with pressure and so far below the surface they can't even be reached. It takes a "very deep-seated volcanic eruption" to even bring them to the surface. Only then, can they be gathered and shaped into brilliant, dazzling, multi-faceted jewels that bring a sparkle to our lives.

Lysa's life story reads just like a diamond's journey.  A beginning that certainly had a few dark and deep places, a lot of heat and pressure along the way, and a shame that kept her so far below the surface,  it was a miracle that she was even able to come up and live again. Her life also had more than a few deep-seated eruptions and, as one Velvet Lime Girl observed, (with eyes puddled in tears, watching Lysa tell her story recently),
all one sees now is a brilliant, shining, beautiful, diamond girl... "catching the light" of God and letting it sparkle all over the audience.  Yeah, whole rooms just hush and fill with a sparkly sheen when she speaks, as her story reflects facets of God grace and puts God's love on full display... in the life of a woman who just said "yes" to God.

If your life happens to be in a rough, dark, or desperate place today, reach through any little crack you can find and pull some hope into your life from Lysa's website and blog.  It's a healing place.  It's a little multi-faceted jewel filled with all kinds of freebies, fresh-faced honesty and a story that will touch your heart.  Go ahead. You're worth it.  You're that valuable. Treat yourself to a little treasure for your soul today @ Lysa TerKeurst.  If you want to load up a bit more, dip into another treasure chest @Proverbs 31 Ministries



Feeling quite sparkly today,
The Velvet Lime Girls

Laura Rhodes, Kelsey Rhodes, Lysa TerKeurst, Judy Benson

One of the Velvet Lime Girls had a chance to meet Lysa TerKeurst recently.
Pictured above,  l to r: A Velvet Lime Girl- Laura, with daughter-in-law- Kelsey Rhodes,
 "diamond-girl"- Lysa TerKeurst, and Kelsey's Mom- Judy Benson, @ A Beacon of Hope Gala
We talked about this event last week @ Velvet Lime Girls

Gala Favors

Enesco/Gregg Gift  is one of the great manufacturing companies that we are privileged to create artwork for on inspired gift collections.  They recently donated 250 ceramic crosses with Velvet Lime Girls artwork to a charity that is close to our hearts… A Beacon of Hope.  The crosses were given as favors to each couple who attended the annual fundraising Gala.  This event raises funds for the Beacon of Hope’s women’s center, a facility that provides education, counseling, support and medical care to women facing an unplanned pregnancy. Today we’d like to send out a heartfelt shout of thanks to Enesco/Gregg Gift for their generous donation.  These crosses echo the hope that many women find at A Beacon of Hope.  Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you.

The guest speaker at A Beacon of Hope Gala was Lysa TerKeurst, an honest, funny, transparent, strong, beautiful woman whose life is a brilliant display of God’s amazing grace.  We will devote an entire blog to her soon, because a treasure like this woman, (a diamond), needs much more room for display. Look for more on this amazing woman, who releases HOPE and HEALING through her life story, later on our blog.  If you're in need of a little hope, healing or humor in your life today, visit her site @ Lysa TerKeurst

Grateful Hearts,

The Velvet Lime Girls

P.S. A very special thank-you to Judy Benson for hand-crafting the burlap gift bags that held each ceramic cross.  A gift wrap of love and creativity!