Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions Music Boxes at www.audreyjeanne.com

music box, music boxes, calligraphy music box, 50th anniversaryCan be found at www.audreyjeanne.com in limited quantities.  These music boxes are my artist samples from a company that is no longer in business, so when they’re gone… they’re gone! 

Each box runs $24.95 and is in a mahogany finish with four mats.  The musical movement varies with each design and is appropriate for the occasion or relationship.

music box, music boxes, friends, friendship calligraphy, watercolors, Audrey Jeanne RobertsI am offering an introductory coupon for May and June of 2008 good for a 15% discount on your order.  To access the coupon simply use "welcometoaje" on the check out page.

 Keep checking back at the web site as I will be adding a lot of small products that I have taking up space in my studio.  These are items that I have received as artist’s samples and will be in limited quantities only!

THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: Matt 25:21 "His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’  NIV

PRAYER:  "Lord, I so want to hear you say ‘Well, done, good and faithful servant!’   You’ve given me a few things to be faithful with, my children, my husband, and the talents you’ve given me.  Please teach me how to be more and more faithful with them.  Strengthen me for the task and give me opportunities to serve you more effectively that I might bring much joy to your heart.

And Lord, as I learn to be faithful with what you have given me, help me to be open to your increasing the responsibilities that you will give to me (and not resent it!)  Give me a joy in being put in charge of ‘many things!’  Enlarge my vision and show me what is possible for you to do in me and through me.  AMEN"

Grand Opening Coupon for Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions (www.audreyjeanne.com) Web Site

graduation, inspirational, scripture Jeremiah 29:11, personalized calligraphyTo celebrate our "Grand Opening" of our website, www.audreyjeanne.com we are giving a coupon special of 15% discount on any order.  To redeem this coupon (which is good through the month of June, 2008) enter the code "grandopening" at check out.  It’s our way of saying both, "Welcome" and "Thank You!" 

The first day hits were amazing and we hadn’t even hit the search engines yet this morning, thank you to all who referred friends.  Hopefully, I’ll have a guest book on the site soon so I can know who stopped by and perhaps even start building an email list for a monthly newsletter. 

The piece that is shown can be used for graduation and can also come with an opening for a 5 x 7 photo in cap and gown.  The photo opening version isn’t on the web yet but will be by the end of the day (fingers crossed!)

 

Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions Web Site (www.audreyjeanne.com) is Live Today!

We specialize in personalized wedding, anniversary, family, baby and other special calligraphy gifts with many original verses written by Audrey Jeanne Roberts.  

Audrey Jeanne Roberts' framed baby handprints calligraphy personalizedAfter many years of desperately needing to have a web site  — we have finally gotten one up.  Though it is incomplete and imperfect, it’s live!!!  This site currently carries only our framed print line, which is where I began in the art business.   You can find our site at: www.audreyjeanne.com

Many of you know me only for the art I create or the design work I do for about 35 manufacturers in the art, gift and home decor industries.  However, I began my career as the artist, author and calligrapher of a framed print line called, "Audrey Jeanne’s Expressions."

baby birth announcement, little girl, Audrey Jeanne Roberts' framed print, personalizedAbout a decade ago we had nearly 4,000 stores that carried our products, but as my licensing career grew, we cut back on our wholesale operation.  It became too overwhelming to do both manufacturing and designing.  It felt a little like trying to ride two horses at once! 

During the almost 30 years that I have created these products we have built relationships with thousands of retail customers who love to give our products as Wedding, Anniversary, Baby and other gifts on a regular basis.  Now there will be an easy way for those customers to see what is available and order online.  We do continue to do some limited wholesale sales, so if you are a really, really special store that likes to carry unique items (especially personalized items) you can give us a call.  The contact information is on our web page.

Sympathy, Memorial, Memory framed print, personalized by Audrey Jeanne RobertsSome of the things we are capable of doing, but are not yet reflected in our web site are drop shipping, gift wrapping and including an enclosure card.  So if you have an out-of-area Wedding to send a gift to, you can find the piece you like and call our office to have it wrapped and sent as a complete gift without having to leave your home!

THE SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: Zech 4:10  Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin, to see the plumb line in Zerubbabel’s hand. For these seven lamps represent the eyes of the LORD that search all around the world."   NLT

PRAYER:  Lord sometimes I tend to feel a little "less than" when I am beginning a work.  It seems so small and puny I can’t even imagine how it can grow into anything significant.  But in this verse you said "Do not despise these small beginnings, for the LORD rejoices to see the work begin."  What was true then is still true for me today.

When I take steps in new directions, or begin new ventures, remind me that great trees from tiny acorns grow.  A "ministry" can begin by meeting the first need that is put before me.  A deep and wonderful relationship will begin to develop with the first, "Hello."  Every thing that you want to do in and through me has to start somewhere — help me to rejoice in the day of my small beginnings trusting that everything I commit to you for your blessing will grow to produce fruit in its season!

Lavender Fields Paper Pack in Store Next Week

french lavender, lavender fields, clip art kit, digital clip art, digital crafting, scrapbookingThis paper pack should be out in the store next week at www.daisiecompany.com.  It was created to go with the Lavender Fields art kit that is part of the May, 2008 Daisie Club set which released yesterday.

Lavender holds a very special place in my heart.  My earliest memories of the scent were from the hand embroidered sachet bags that my two dearest Great-aunts would make for me for Christmas each year.  lavender fields, digital clip art papersI remember how incredibly they fragranced my entire room when I tucked them inside my sock drawer.  They were both such talented ladies, the knit, tatted, embroidered and crocheted great masterpieces.  I wish they were alive today to see the way their genes have been passed along and how I create with a unique set of gifts that have come from the same family "stream of creativity."

lavender fields digital clip art kit papers, scrapbook, card making, craftingEach sprig of lavender that was painted to create the plaid "trellis" of lavender, was painted at full size from stalks I hand picked at a local lavender farm near where I used to live in Southern California.  The experiece of picking your own lavender is one I highly recommend if there is a farm near you!  At first I was frightened because there were thousands and thousands of bees buzzing all over the place.  I’m very allergic to their stings, but though the bees buzz all around you, they aren’t the least bit interested in humans as they are practically drunk on the nectar of the lavender plants!   The smell of thousands of lavendar bushes is too awesome to describe and the lovely purple hues of the hillside with the sun shining in a clear blue sky is a picture I have stored away in my heart and mind forever.

hybrid scrapbooking, digital card crafting kitsI’m including just one product shot of the "Lavender Fields" art kit so you can see a little bit of how these papers would coordinate to create hybrid scrapbooking layout, or how you could make your own greeting cards out of them or other crafting uses. 

You can see the rest of this art kit here: "Lavender Fields"

 

By the Way… the Winner is…

The tenth comment on this post:http://www.daisiecompany.com/blogs/audreyjeanne/?p=361

Congratulations!  She wins the paper pack I created to go with this month’s club selection "Lavender Fields"  I’ll be previewing it tomorrow and it will be in the store probably tomorrow. 

For anyone new, I have a blog contest twice a month and all you have to do to enter is leave a comment or comments on any and all of the posts for the two week period.  The next contest will be drawn on the 16th of May.  Good Luck!

 

Today is the National Day of Prayer

Many, if not most of you may never even have heard of the "National Day of Prayer."  It was a tradition started at the very founding of our nation.  Days of prayer were declared at odd intervals as the needs of our young nation grew urgent.  However in the middle of the last century a yearly observance was declared and for a little over 60 years has happened on the first Thurday in May each year.  Today is that day and there are somewhere between 40-50,000 celebrations happening from coast-to-coast. 

I have a very special fondness for this celebration, as it was the day I first lost my heart to my husband.  Long story short, we were working together on our church’s National Day of Prayer Event.  I had recently lost my husband of 16 years to Melanoma (skin cancer).  Steve had been single for about 8 years and was seeking the Lord’s will for his life.  Neither of us was looking for a mate.  Neither of us was "putting our best foot forward."  We were simply working side-by-side on organizing this event at our church and in the process, as we prayed together and shared our care and concern for our nation, God began to knit our hearts together. 

For me, it culminated on the National Day of Prayer as I heard this special man pray the hidden parts of my heart outloud for almost 3 hours.  It was a precious and powerful experience — one that left me a little shaken and amazed.  He was (as most men are) rather oblivious for a little longer!  But eventually we both realized that the Lord’s plan was to bring us together.  Prayer was the start and it has remained the foundation of our marriage ever since.

It was in this experience that the Lord taught me the incredible power of prayer to bring two people into an incredible intimacy and bonding.  Since then I have learned a startling statistic.  If you want to virtually divorce-proof your marriage, there are two very simple things that you need to do. 

The first thing is to study God’s word together.   By study, it doesn’t mean just go to church on Sunday, but read, discuss and learn together.  Choose to apply its principles to each of your lives and your lives together.

The second thing is simply to pray together each day. 

The divorce rate for couples that do these two things is less than 1%!  In a world where marriages inside the church and outside have almost the same divorce rate, sometimes we can feel like it’s impossible to have a strong marriage.  If we would be willing to do ANYTHING to have a good marriage, are we willing to do these two humble, simple, proven things?

If you and your mate have never prayed out loud together, I would encourage you to give it a try.  It may feel a little awkward for a while, but if you keep at it and share your hearts with each other and with the Lord it will bring an incredibly deeper dimension to your relationship.  We try to pray together at least once a day and often more often. 

When not together, we pray over the phone.  We pray for our kids and grandkids.  We pray for friends.  We pray for our President and leaders, we pray as we pass a homeless person on the street.  When we see a harried mother and her out-of-control children in a store we will stop and pray for her rather than stand in judgement of her.  When we’re so mad at each other we can barely stand to be in the same room (yes, that happens to us too!) we always choose to come together and pray for wisdom and for each other.  It’s a powerful healing balm that continually strengthens our love.

Today is the 15th anniversary of the day I fell in love with my husband and the today Lord gave me the most precious and unexpected present.  Steve’s training for a new job and it has required him to be away 5-6 days a week for 6 weeks and then it might continue in a similar pattern after that.  It’s very hard for us to be apart as we’ve spent most of our married life together 24/7/365!  I wasn’t expecting to be able to see him until Saturday sometime, but he was able to come home late last night and stay through early this afternoon.  I had forgotten it was the NDP but he hadn’t and he found the Prayer event in Washington DC on TV.  We had the joy of watching much of it together this morning!  What a special treat it was, especially for my sad and lonely heart… God is so good to us!

If your marriage is a little (or a lot) rocky.  Can I encourage you to start by praying for your mate?  You might find it hard, but if you can start by praying blessings for them, praying for strength and wisdom for them and for God to change both of your hearts and help you to find the path forward, you might be surprised at how God can bring it to pass.  If they won’t pray with you, still take the time and effort to pray alone.  God answers prayer.

If you do not have a mate either by choice or by loss, ask God to provide you a special friend and prayer partner.  The depth of friendship that shared prayer brings is a treasure I pray you’ll discover!  And while you’re thinking about it, I’d like to encourage you to spend a few moments in prayer for our nation. 

SCRIPTURE OF THE DAY: 2 Chron 7:14  if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.  NIV

PRAYER:  Lord, thank you for the nation you have placed me in.  Your promises are for every land, every nation… you love each and every one.  I pray that as big as the problems in our land can seem that you would help me to remember that you are bigger than all of them!  Help our people to love doing right, hate doing wrong and most of all come to love you and your ways.  Please heal our land of all that ails us.  Make it a place of righteousness, love, joy and peace for the generations yet to come.  AMEN