Tag Archives: julie chen photography
You know how you get to know someone & just know they are really going to change the world?! Well, that is how I feel about the sweet, intelligent, selfless, kind & absolutely beautiful {both inside & out} Miss K.
Thank you for allowing me to create these memories for you! So thankful we are family. That way I will get to see the awesome things God is going to do with your life.
You are loved. Grace & Peace, Julie
Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart {Vintage Style Art Available HERE}
{Words to Move You Subway Art Available HERE}
{Modern Color Art Available HERE} I do not know anyone who does not need this verse plastered on their walls. I have had it in my bathroom for years, so that first thing in the morning when the “to-do” list or the “what-if” list starts to race through my mind, I can meditate on truth & give Him my day, my thoughts, my worries, and my circumstances which are so often beyond my real control anyways.
Some things to think about in this verse which is so commonly used, but go ahead & dig deeper: “Trust in the Lord” … what does it really look like to trust the Lord? To me, it is often surrender of my own control & opening my hands & letting go. “With ALL your heart” … how do we trust Him with ALL of our hearts? I think about completely, fully, and not wavering back & forth, but really choosing to depend on Him. This is very hard to do consistently, but as we keep our focus on Him & His love & goodness, it gets easier. “lean not on your own understanding” … what does it look like to REALLY lean into God’s way, His will, and His wisdom? I think of a verse in Isaiah which talks about how His ways are higher than ours; they are beyond us & often times we can look back on a situation and much later see the reasoning or the fruit or the growth, but in the moment we are called to walk by faith & trust in Him. I also think of the book of James which talks about heavenly wisdom vs earthly wisdom and how we lean into His wisdom not our own. “in ALL your ways acknowledge Him” … do you acknowledge God in ALL areas of your life, or only a few? Do you bring God into your relationships, your use of time, your finances, your health, your home, your life choices? When pondering a decision, do you think about what would bring glory & honor to God or what His Word says about the situation? “& He will make your paths straight” … what are straight paths? Especially when we are hurting or when the circumstance does not always turn out in our favor? I think about my path leading straight into the arms of Jesus. He is where I find straight paths; not confusing or meandering ones, but a straight path with a purpose, a mission, an end point or goal.
The image for this passage was easy. To show a path was a must, but what I really loved was the bench where I just picture you resting in His presence, soaking up the peace and joy of the surrounding despite circumstances.
No matter what our situation may be, I pray we all live out this verse steadfastly.
It’s Giveaway Time! Earlier this fall, I introduced my new color line of inspirational art & today I am giving away one 12×18 Proverbs 3 Trust in the Lord fine art print.
How To Enter the Contest: 1. For One Entry: Hop on over to Life Verse Design & then come back here & let me know in the comments below which art is your favorite from my shop. 2. To gain a Second Entry: Hop on over & like my shop on facebook & then come back here & let me know you did in another comment here below. 3. To gain a Third Entry: Share this giveaway with all of your friends & family via facebook, twitter, your own blog, word of mouth… however you function & come back here & let me know in another comment that you did.
The winner will be announced Friday night! I hope YOU win! Thanks for passing the word along & enjoy! Grace & Peace, Julie
I had so much fun photographing this beautiful senior. She was a natural model {to say the least} & those deep, brown eyes love the camera.
Grace & Peace, Julie
Today I had a date with my Sunshine Girl. I pulled her out of school EARLY {she thought that in itself was the BEST… missing part of writing!} to take her to my alma mater for a women’s soccer game. My cousin’s daughter plays goalie for Akron and since I am a passionate soccer mom, I knew Sunshine would be thrilled to watch the “big girls”. We also enjoyed the company of my large family, especially “Aunt K” who spoiled her rotten with an all-you-wish-for-candy-extravaganza!
We then drove through campus {which has changed SO much… I am OLD} & I took her all through the art building where I practically lived for 4 years. Oh, the memories came flooding back. Especially of my art buddies Andrea & Jon. Oh, the smell of the paint & clay. I wanted to bust into the dark room, but figured that may make someone very upset. So, instead we meandered through the studio spaces looking at paintings and drawings. We both wanted to dig our fingers into the clay & sculpt away. It’s also interesting how much has changed in the building: technology of course. It was in my JUNIOR year of college that I did ONE project on the computer. Everything else was done by hand. NEVER in a million years did I imagine being a designer or digital photographer. {I have a BFA in illustration & focused on multi-media collage & watercolor mediums.} All of my design and computer skills were learned on the job, but my foundation for composition, color, & creativity was laid in high school & college.
We then grabbed a quick bite to eat & the entire way home she spoke in awe of my cousin {to her: “Aunt K”} {Aunt K: does she look like me at all in this photo?!}
OK, off to bed, but one more thing, the winner of the Psalm 34 fine art print is ERIKA!
Grace & Peace, Julie Aunt Susan here-so great to have you with everyone yesterday; and yes Gabrielle does look like her mommy. Holidays are almost upon us so will be looking forward once again to “our awesome, large family gatherings” Love you! She looks just like you when you were little. Yesterday was awesome. I just wanted to stay at your house and chat the day away. It was FUN. Aahh the candy! Xoxoxo
{Art available here} Taste and see that the LORD is good; Blueberry picking in Michigan each summer has become one of our family’s favorite summer traditions. We will drive up for the day, pick about 12 pounds worth, stick them in the cooler & head to the beach for fun in the sun! {Vintage Art style available here} A few years ago, I decided to use a photo I had shot of my favorite little mister’s hands stained & full of those rich & juicy berries to visually illustrate Psalm 34:8. This verse, and actually all of Psalm 34, has meant a lot to me over the years, as an encouragement and a huge challenge… verse 1 proclaims that I will extol (or praise) the Lord at all times … really? Will I? What a challenge. Back in 2002 my pastor was doing an entire series on Psalm 34 and I prayed about those powerful words and proceeded to go through the biggest trial and heart ache of my life. For the first time I understood the Psalm in more of it’s fullness, which talks about the concept of worship being a sacrifice. {Worship isn’t much of a sacrifice when life is good, right? And, up till then, life had been pretty darn good, so it was easy to give thanks & praise, but when you are crushed & heart broken, it is not.} Then, moving on through the Psalm it gets to the taste & see part. Some thoughts I had: Do I really believe that the Lord is good? Or do I just think the things He gives me are good? And, what does it really mean to taste the Lord? When you taste something, you partake of it. It must enter in. When thinking through a visual food to represent the tasting, fruits came to mind since they are naturally more sweet & tasty than other foods. Apples have too much of a symbolism with the garden of eden; bananas would like silly; juicy grapes remind others of wine; then, after taking the photo of the handful of blueberries, I thought, “This is it!” This is a book I designed for Tyndale House Publishers for the fabulous Lisa Velthouse. I wanted to show the cover {as well as the rejected covers on the left} as her concept for the book goes along with Psalm 34’s taste and see theme. {Side note here: While designing Lisa’s cover, I had the privilege of meeting her & giving her my Psalm 34 art which she said encouraged her to press on through the editorial process!} In the book, Lisa relays an amazing story of a rabbi giving the pentateuch to his kindergarten class. The books he laid on their desks were fresh, brand new, and made of leather. He then goes around & puts wax paper on top of each and every book. After that, he goes around again and pours out blobs of honey on the wax paper. He tells the kids to taste and lick the honey & says to remember that this is what the Lord tastes like!
{btw, Craving Grace is available here} It’s Giveaway Time! Earlier this month, I introduced my new color line of inspirational art & today I am giving away one 12×18 Psalm 34 Taste and See fine art print.
How To Enter the Contest: 1. For One Entry: Hop on over to Life Verse Design & then come back here & let me know in the comments below which art is your favorite from my shop. 2. To gain a Second Entry: Hop on over & like my shop on facebook & then come back here & let me know you did in another comment here below. 3. To gain a Third Entry: Share this giveaway with all of your friends & family via facebook, twitter, your own blog, word of mouth… however you function & come back here & let me know in another comment that you did.
The winner will be announced Friday night! I hope YOU win! Thanks for passing the word along & enjoy! Grace & Peace, Julie I love this Bible verse, Julie!! You do such a great job at it!! Love this picture, Julie!!:) shared Hi Tenille! Yes, it counts! 🙂 Are you back in the states? Hope you & your family are well! Does it count if I’ve liked the fb page for a long time?? Hope so! I shared on fb! I like the Micah 6 scriptural art. But I also love the personalized baby one that I look at everyday. 🙂 Shared! I love all your work.. You have a gift! Liked your page.. I shared on fb! I like your fb page! My favorite photo design is your adoption one – so meaningful! Beautiful Julie!!! Love ALL your work!!! God has gifted you! |
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{Color Art Available 
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Lou - Shared!
Lou - Liked on fb
Lou - I love the “color this is the day” from the modern collection!
Amy klug - Shared on fb
Amy klug - Liked on fb
Amy klug - Adoption feet…have I said that already? 😉
Melissa Doak - Vintage style
Jennifer Abraham - Just shared it on fb!
Jennifer Abraham - Color Do Justice Love Mercy this time around. 🙂
Jessica - Wait, are we supposed to pick just one favorite from your shop? 😉 I suppose I can narrow it down to, say, three . . . at this moment . . . and that’s only from the vintage shop!
Tenderhearted, The Ten Commandments and Trust, of course!