Julie Truly is a Jewelie in the Garden!

Settle on in, it's Story Time! :) Okay, so, before I moved to Utah near the Grand Canyon, I lived in the Portland, Oregon area. And as some of you know, I'm a companion animal spay/neuter advocate.

So, when I lived in Oregon, I volunteered as the v.p. of a statewide spay/neuter funding & referral nonprofit, Pet OverPopulation Prevention Advocates, or POPPA. Anyway, we raised about 1/2 our funding with a resale plant nursery called Recycled Gardens. We'd re-sell donated plant and garden goodies to the public at discount prices. Our "relix" shop in a circa 1930's barn was full of home and garden items made with 75% reclaimed materials, many made by local artisans. It was a very cool idea and it funded about half of the 3,000 animals POPPA helped out every year.

I'm telling you all this because when I saw the stained glass windchime work of Julie DeGroot of Jewels In The Garden, it took me right back to the pieces we sold at Recycled Gardens! Which is funny, because Julie designs her one-of-a-kind chimes (some pictured here) on the complete opposite side of the continent, in eastern New York! Each piece is prettier than the next and when you visit her online gallery, you can almost hear the tinkling chimes dancing in the breeze.

And Julie's philosophy, which can be seen in her online Profile, is right in line with nature-lovers everywhere:

"A garden should be filled with not only plants & love, but little surprises throughout it. Something to catch your eye & drag you in to sit awhile to stop and smell the roses.
My heart and soul goes into all of my art.
Always on the look out for vintage glass, beads, or objects to reuse. I love to upcycle pieces into my art.
Taking nothing and turning it into something!"

Thanks, Julie, for spreading your creativity and wisdom to us all!