Thursday, June 18, 2009

DEMDACO


a little over a year ago, i received an email from one of the creative product developers at Demdaco offering me a licensing deal on my artwork. i was of course in awe that God would drop this opportunity in my lap and it is just another evidence of His grace in my life. i am truly honored to be a part of the Demdaco family, along with such artists as susan lordi, the creator of the willow tree figurines, and kelly rae roberts whose mixed media collages i am in love with!

well, it is official! the product shipped to my house TODAY and will hit stores in july!!!!! and other exciting news is that they have already asked me to extend the line for summer 2010, which is a sign that store owners are ordering it. let's hope God gets his word out in a new, unique way!

here's us, tearing into the box of goodies and the other shots are my little models with some of their photos.




Thursday, June 11, 2009

Roots {How It All Began}


i thought i would tell you the story of how life verse design began. i have a bfa in illustration and have spent my career as a book designer (i will blog about more of that later...) so, photography, design, and illustration are my heart and visually bringing this to life is my passion.

while pregnant with my third child (pumpkin-poos), i was mentally preparing myself for the fact that i would not have much sleep, nor have much focused time during devotions while trying to nurse my newborn and care for 2 other toddlers. in the past when my babies were born, i would handwrite scripture on notecards and place them around the house so that i was at least able to see God's Word and think about it through my busy days. it then came to me that since i was a designer, i could do much better than a 3x5 index card, so i started thinking about how i could visually illustrate the verse.


at the same time, i was in a wonderful bible study by beth moore focusing on the fruit of the Spirit. we were memorizing galatians 5:22-23 and i thought it would be nice to design it for myself and my small group. (see above :) i did and the women encouraged me to sell in the fall craft show at church.

so, when pumpkin-poos was 6 weeks old, i brought 12 designs to sell at the church craft show and to my joy, they almost sold out! this was a huge encouragement and confirmation that this is something i should pursue, as well as the fact that it was such a natural part of me. so, in march of 2008 i launched my etsy shop selling scripture and inspirational art, and i guess the rest is history!

grace & peace,
julie

Monday, June 1, 2009

hello! i have a little secret...




hi there! welcome to my blog. i plan to write about my inspirational art, life in general, and this journey i am on so that you can get to know my heart a little more.

here are 5 things about me to get us started:
1. i am not chinese, though my wonderful husband is.
2. i have 3 amazing kids: my favorite little mister is 6, my sunshine girl is almost 4, and my pumpkin-poos is 20 months.
3. my favorite color is dark red (though sunshine girl wishes it was pink)
4. my favorite food would have to be bread. i would choose fresh bread and butter over dessert anyday.
5. i like to type in all lowercase because it is faster. hope it does not offend anyone :)

OH! and here's my secret: for the month of june 2009, if you purchase anything in my shop you will receive a free 5x7 print of your choice. when you are checking out, in "notes to seller" please write: blog special and let me know what you would like! thanks so much!

grace & peace, julie