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Tag Archives: behind the scenes
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{Art available HERE}
I know I’ve told all of you before how obsessed I am with trees. Branches, leaves, roots, blossoms… I love it all. In college I kept a pile of branches under my bunk which I would use to sew sticks as frames to my paintings and I also had books full of leaves being pressed which I would collage into my art.
These roots I photographed in Colorado while on our first family camping trip. LOVE!
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I love how in God’s Word there are so many tree/leaf/fruit analogies we can learn from and grow in. This promise in Jeremiah is so powerful. It is essentially saying anyone who trusts in the Lord will be like a peaceful tree full of life.
In the last month, the theme of roots has repeatedly come up in my personal life and that is why I have chosen this verse to be half price today.
I recently went on a field trip with my daughter’s first grade class {in which they dressed me up as a flower btw!} & we went to the forest to study plants. Our first station was dissecting acorns & I had never realized how cool it is that the roots begin to grow RIGHT AWAY & they are soooo tiny {hairlike really} & yet SO STRONG! Roots are the source of nutrients thus bringing about life. When your roots are strong, you are strong. When roots are cut or broken or diseased, the entire plant/tree/life will be effected also.
A week after the field trip, we had a little sewage back up in our basement. {YUCK!} It turns out roots were in the pipes… did you realize tree roots are so strong that they can grow through metal pipes?! That is just crazy to me. A root literally starts as fine as hairs & grow so thick and strong they can effect pipes and foundations.
In any case, roots are important. So it got me thinking:
What is my life rooted in? What are my desires rooted in? What are my motives rooted in? What are my words rooted in? What are my actions rooted in? What is my self-esteem rooted in?
Of course, my desire is to be firmly rooted in Jesus Christ, but honestly so often I am rooted in selfishness and pride {me, me, me}.
I challenge you to take a look at the different areas of your life & think about what are YOU truly rooted in?
Then think through how you can grow your roots to be healthy & strong & bear fruit.
Today only I am offering the Jeremiah 17 8×10 print HALF PRICE!
Just head on over to my Facebook page & leave a comment if you would like one & I will bill you.
Grace & Peace,
Julie
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{Faithful & Loving : Psalm 145 art available HERE}
TODAY ONLY the 8×10 fine art print is HALF PRICE over on my Facebook page!
I will never forget driving home from our first big family outdoor adventure to Rocky Mountain National Park and scouring the Psalms looking for Scriptures to pair with some majestic photos I had just taken in the mountains, and coming across this little verse. For you see, this verse is not in all Bible translations. {I grew up on the NASB version & this “part b” of verse 13 is not included … nor is it in the KJV or NKJV sad to say.} I was reading my hubby’s NIV Bible & there it was, one of the most beautiful statements in all of Scripture showing God’s faithful & loving character.
I knew immediately what image would pair perfectly with this verse & it was the tender, gentle, and intricate Aspen leaf. The leaves are full of life, just like God’s promises. They are tender & delicate, just like God’s promises. They are intricately woven & in each & every leaf are so many details, just like God’s promises for YOUR life. Walking through that Aspen forest was magical. I will never forget how they shimmered and moved in the gentle breeze. God’s promises are sometimes a gentle whisper to our soul & other times strong & mighty like the mountains surrounding these trees.
What promise of God are you clinging to today?
I hope you feel His deep love for you today.
Grace & Peace,
Julie
{The Fruit of the Spirit available here}
TODAY ONLY the 8×10 fine art print is HALF PRICE over on my Facebook page!
The following is a re-post of one of my earliest blogs ever, talking about how Life Verse Design all started with this one little piece. Enjoy!
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 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 3×5 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. 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!
I saw Beth Moore teach at Tyndale House Publishers {where I formerly worked full time} 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 designed So Long Insecurity 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.
Grace & Peace,
Julie
{best hubby model ever!!! & the kiddos had to dress up too!}
A few years ago, a customer of mine requested that I create Ephesians 6, the chapter about spiritual warfare, for him in my Life Verse style. I wrote it on my “to do” list, thinking that would be a very unique piece to create. The problem remained, where on earth would I get authentic looking armor to create such a cool piece?
I decided to use Facebook to ask people where I could find a suit of armor … I got lots of advice as to where to pick up some local armor and my best lead came from my Tyndale coworker’s wife {whose hubby creates some awesome covers btw} … I cannot believe I did not think of that. For, you see when we are creating fiction covers at Tyndale we sometimes need to rent costumes for those covers.
So, my art director’s advice was to go to a little shop in the burbs called Kult of Athena, where the owners of the shop were experts at armor {and any type of weapons you may be looking for in fact}. The shop rents out to both Disney and Hollywood! He also told me to be sure to take Sam & my favorite little mister, as they would LOVE the store {boy, was he right!}.
After I briefly explained to the store owner how I wanted to visually illustrate the Ephesians 6 passage, he immediately knew exactly what I was looking for. He said for that New Testament era the high Roman guard armor would be authentic to what I need and what Paul would have been referring to in his passage.
My knight in shining armor {aka my hubbalicious} was more than willing to pose for this shoot. He graciously suited up in all the layers (a wool tunic & all) in about 90 degree heat to pose for me. As we previewed the images, he would state how it “needed to look tougher”… oh so fun to get a man’s perspective!
I was really awestruck when viewing the pieces of armor in light of thinking about Paul’s instructions on how we ought to daily suit up to fight the spiritual battle.
put on the full armor of God
{every piece to be fully covered} the belt of truth
{which holds everything together in its proper place} the breastplate of righteousness
{Jesus’ righteousness covering our hearts}
your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.
{walk your talk, go & share, be active}
take up the shield of faith
{which extinguishes the fiery arrows of attack}
the helmet of salvation
{protects our mind and thoughts}
the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God
{the only offensive piece with which to attack with:
the powerful word of God}
The piece that shocked me most was the shield. I guess I always just pictured a shield that you would carry around that covers your chest area, but they were saying at the shop that the shields were HUGE {as you can see from the proportions of my images} and were placed on the ground & then you were almost completely covered. So interesting to think of faith in light of that shield.
I hope I utilize my spiritual armor in a more powerful way in light of this passage.
The art is available here with FREE shipping for a limited time.
Thanks for listening.
Grace & Peace,
Julie
{Art available here}
With tulips growing around my yard & the fact that Sunhine Girl’s 9th birthday is quickly approaching, it made me think back to this piece of art I created 5 years ago now. Sunshine was about 4 years old and we were at one of our favorite local gardens. I was photographing the kiddos & she {in her silly way} decided to do the above. I kept shooting & think the image is so sweet. When Demdaco licensed my art in 2008, they split my collection into 3 categories: Scripture, General Inspiration, & Baby/Child. They provided me with the above quote & I knew right away this image was the perfect match to illustrate this quote:
Children are like flowers,
water them daily with love
and watch them bloom.
Lately I feel like time is flying faster than ever. My Favorite Little Mister just turned 11, Sunshine Girl is almost 9, school year is almost OUT & I still cannot even believe it’s May!
One thing in life is sure: I have LOVED watering my kiddos daily with love & watching them bloom into who God has created them to be. This mommy-journey is the best. Every year I love it more. I love the ages they are at, the fun we have, and most of all, the deep & meaningful conversations. Sunshine Girl is apparently a budding theologian & seriously asks the deepest questions about God & life & humanity. It blows me away what her mind is thinking. It is an honor to be their mama & be a part of their journey.
I look forward to seeing how they will continue to grow.
Grace & Peace,
Julie
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7 Years {Pumpkin-Poos Birthday} | Life Verse Design Blog - […] Pumpkin’s life has taught me so much. The first & biggest lesson is that God has bigger & BETTER plans & they are not always our own. {You might call her our love child or our little surprise blessing, ahem.} She’s rocked my world as my “life plan” exploded for the better. It was because of her that Life Verse Design even began. {You can read more about that here.} […]