beth moore called!

i know i have posted this image before (in my story of how it all began), but i had to write about it again! so, last week i saw beth moore teach at tyndale house publishers (where i formerly worked full time ... i'll write about that later :) and i took her the above artwork framed with a note of thanks for the ministry she has done in my life and for so many of my friends. i was not able to give it to her myself, but my friend who is designing her latest book was able to sneak it to her in the bathroom! i left tyndale not knowing if she would ever really receive it, and about an hour later while i was crazily feeding the kiddos lunch, i got an "unknown name, unknown number" call (of which i rarely if ever answer) & low & behold it was beth moore herself calling me on the way to the airport to thank me for my gift!

i was so deeply encouraged by her words to me; to keep bringing God's Word in my own, unique way, and she also totally encouraged me in my mommyhood. i am not very "star struck" with many authors or "famous" artists, as i try to keep in mind that they are just real people like you and me, but beth truly has God's anointing on her life. her teaching at tyndale was amazing and humbling and challenging, and most of all, her heart for God and the depth and passionate love that she exudes is something i just long for more of. so, needless to say, for her to encourage me to press on and keep glorifying my Savior meant a lot.

colorado

aahhhh, the mountains. fresh air. supreme beauty. it was so fun to see our kids react to seeing the rockies for the first time.
while hiking in rmnp, we saw a herd of 6 rams. some locals told me later that was like finding gold and that they will hike a whole year in the park and never spot 1!
these guys on the other hand are NOT hard to spot. we saw at least 50, some of which were blocking the road and in no hurry at all.
my sunshine girl, the tree hugger.
one of my favorite spots was the aspen forest. it felt magical as the leaves just shimmered in the cool breeze.
this was on one of our hikes where a ranger told us to keep the kids close to us as a mountain lion had been spotted there 4 days earlier. yikes! pumpkin-poos is on the lookout!
just a sampling of the many beautiful flowers we saw.
my favorite little mister at garden of the gods.
at the end of our trip we visited the focus on the family headquarters in colorado springs and i had my first Demdaco product sighting! i was so excited, they are really out there!

my all time favorite part of our vacation was simply being together as family, 24/7 with no work, no interruptions, no schedule. i did shoot about 1,000 photos, but that never feels like work to me. since being back i have created 15 new pieces for Demdaco, which also does not feel like work. it is true joy to create!

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.

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

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