Merry Christmas

so this is the Advent series I made- probably 20 years ago- for our old Sanctuary. They matched so much better in there :) but when we moved to the new Sanctuary, they made the move too. I would love to see them be 'retired' but they seem to have a 'following' and I'm guessing that even if I made new ones to replace them, someone would say they missed the old ones :) I pray you all have a good Christmas, however that looks for you, and that 2016 is filled with more peace than strife. God Bless! 

it's about love

the final week of Advent is here! I hope you can see the little LED star in the middle.....it's on a timer and comes on in time for evening services :) 

Joy week :)

Here's the third offering for Advent- I left the photo un-cropped so you could get a feel for just how far up in the air it is :)  one more to go! 

Advent week two

here's the second installment :) on it's way up to the center of the room. and I fixed 'hope' so it's right on both sides. NOW I can sleep at night again :)

temporary shower curtain :)

this is one of those 'why didn't I think of this sooner' ideas. I love the idea of decorating like a crazy woman at Christmas, but have never really found a shower curtain I was happy with- so this year, I found a cheapo flannel backed tablecloth ( the big oblong one) and made my own! It's not super duper strong, but that's ok for this shower as it doesn't get used much, now that all the kiddos are grown and gone :( I folded over the top to make a header, then just measured every 6 inches and poked a hole for the ring to slide through. I cut some off the bottom too, but it might have looked more official if I'd have hemmed it. And I suppose there's no reason it wouldn't work on a 'busier' shower- if you put a clear plastic liner behind it. that's my *happy* of the morning :)

Advent

I had so much fun making the Lenten mobile different each week, that I'm doing the same thing for Advent. So here's the first installment :) fun story.....I wanted to try something different, so I used poster paper, and cut the words out with an exacto knife, then slid some foil between the layers. Of course........if you look at the OTHER side of it, it's BACKWARDS. Which is going to drive me a little batty every time I look at it ( and unless it spins around before Sunday in the air currents, I WILL be looking at the backside ~ that's the drum set in the background that  I sit at most Sundays playing my heart out for Jesus :) )  So I WILL be making it right next week when I take it down again. Yeesch. 

Happy Thanksgiving :)

This was the 'altarscape' at last night's Thanksgiving service- so beautiful! and done by my *co-partner in decorating mayhem* Scott. So blessed to belong to this fellowship of believers. Hope you all are blessed, and thankful for every good thing ( and the not so good things- because they cause us to grow in character!) poured out from the Father's Hand.

a long awaited finish

I am celebrating. after 40 years of pack ratting Christmas fabric (over 150 different ones. ahem. ) and procrastination, half a dozen design changes, months driving my family and friends bonkers talking about it, and a few solid weeks of actually cutting and sewing it together.....it is finished and on the bed- ready for the next layer of cat hair. It actually took me longer to see this to fruition than it did to raise two kids. I'm pretty excited about how it turned out (thanks to the ladies at Just For Fun quilting who machine quilted it for me, and got the wave pattern exactly how I imagined it ) Christmas is coming a weeeeee bit earlier than usual in one corner of the house. wooooo and hoooooo :) it's funny how accomplished i feel from simply sewing material together in a straight line. 

banner redux :)

So I'm pretty happy about this. I made this banner over 15 years ago (maybe 20!) and was never ever happy with how it turned out. I was shooting for the names of the Trinity in a cross shape. But in typical *me* fashion, and owing to the fact that math is definitely not my favorite thing, and that I usually fly at things without a complete plan.....about half way through it all I realized that I was going to run out of room before I hit the end of my fabric. Hindsight tells me I could have left off a few names and probably made it work, but I was on a roll, so I just started bunching them all together. ( and now I realize there are a few more names I would have liked to have included. sigh.)

About 5 years ago I decided to take it down ( it filled a rather large space in the back entryway at church) and redo it. And promptly put it in the back closet and forget about it for a few years. eek. 

Fast forward to this summer and some hot-weather-hibernation......I dug it out and got to work. The names were originally painted on tablecloth canvas, using an over head projector to trace out the computer generated words. I simply cut them all out, leaving a small 'halo' - re-positioned them on a larger background ( using 108" wide quilt backing fabric, doubled. The fabric I chose has a nice mottling to it and really added to the overall look, I think :) )  and glued it all back together using fabric glue.

So here's the finished project:

which is MUCH more like my original vision. Of course, it looks a little more like a sword than a cross, but I can live with that. The fun part of the whole thing is that there is a puzzle included- if you start at the top and look for the dark letters within some of the words, then make your way south, you'll find one more name !

All Saints

Tomorrow we celebrate All Saint's Day at church. I made this mobile for the Sanctuary- at Pastor's suggestion :) I love that our new Pastor actually encourages me to be creative, and trusts me enough to just let me *run with it* ! The picture really doesn't do it justice, especially with the light shining through the middle of it all. All Saint's Day let's us be mindful of those who have gone on before us, and to recognize that we are sinner and saint at the same time :)

starbucks card :)

A little coloring today to satisfy my *inner child* - heh heh. you might recognize the 'background paper' from your pumpkin spice latte :) hard to see it, but of course there's bling and glitter involved. Got the idea from here. Happy Fall

pumpkin patch

yes, I know it's only September......but we've had such a dry hot summer here in the Pacific Northwest, that the trees think it's already fall! and in my *defense*.....I've already had my first pumpkin spice latte :) 

I got this idea from Pinterest.....there are tons of these on there (with directions) if you look. They are made from sweaters that I found at the Goodwill ( my apologies to Liz Claiborne :) Super easy to make. Some have wine corks on them instead of wrapped stems. I was able to make 5 pumpkins from each sweater ( 4 smaller ones from the sleeves, and 1 larger one from the body)  I picked up an aqua sweater yesterday that will make a beautiful batch. Now I'm in hot pursuit of a purple one :)  

Happy Autumn!

more *ordinary* :)

here's a follow up from the previous post- and a fun story to boot. normally I hang a swag on the large cross in the front of our Sanctuary, using a telescoping fiberglass pole- all very handy 20 feet up in the air :) BUT THIS TIME my "epic pole handling skills" seriously failed me. Imagine a 40 pound Marlin on the end of a 20 foot pole, and weaving around on the altar between candelabras, mic stands, the drum kit, cords everywhere...you get the picture. I just couldn't get it to *swag* like it should. So I left it dangling weirdly , called my worship leader ( who is awesome and willing to get on a tall ladder) and asked him to *fix it* for me. Of course, this was Saturday. Oy Vey. Bless his heart ~ he made it look better than I ever could have. Amen! 

a season of growth in the church

So now we enter the *Ordinary Time* of the church year (which I call *green season*) .....the time after Pentecost when the church grew exponentially larger as the disciples spread the Good News :) Here's my offering for the Sanctuary mobile this year. I got the idea from Pinterest- here's the original pin . I had lots of fun collecting wooden embroidery hoops from my favorite store ( goodwill) and bought six different colors of tissue paper. I learned that they are superduperfragile ( and had to redo one that my cat attacked. argh.)  In case you're wondering....there are about 100 circles, strung together with fishing line, different on each side. I'm hoping that they are so lightweight that the air currents will gently spin them around.

On a *side note*.....if you came here from Pinterest.....PLEASE know that I don't actually consider MY creations to be Liturgically Awesome :) I was so excited when I started finding banners and church decorations on Pinterest  I started that board because I thought the art was awesome! But then I started pinning my own stuff on there, so it would be in good company :) Trust me, the only thing awesome about me is Christ :) 

the Day of Pentecost

This is the swag for Pentecost- I went pretty *low key* this year compared to previous year's worth of Pentecost "Jellyfishes".  These are also some of my favorite Paraments. I'm working on a big elaborate mobile for the "Ordinary" / growth time of the church year, so I thought I'd keep it simpler for Pentecost :) 

Final Day of Retirement Sale :)

So I am officially *pulling the plug* and the last day to order stamps will be May 31st! You can still get awesome deals at $1.00 each image untrimmed & unmounted until then. I am out of stock on about 50 images, so if you do order, you might include some "second choices" just in case. Thanks a bunch!

flower cross

So....this is our flower cross from Easter ( a little late....but I had to wait for my *tech support* to come home for a visit :) it starts with the bare chicken wire cross ( see previous posts ) and people add flowers to it during the Festival of Flowers service, until it's transformed into something beautiful! Just. like. us. He is Risen indeed! Alleluia!

Resurrection Day mobile

He is Risen indeed! This *wraps up* the series of Lent/Easter mobiles. I like to use this gauze-like fabric to represent the burial cloth- the gold is for royalty/priceless/etc. and the pastels are just add-ins for spring :) I used the mirror tile garland to reflect the lights. One of the highlights of the day: a little girl visiting told me that when she looked up at the ceiling, she saw Jesus :) and that is exactly what I was shooting for :) Alleluia ><>

Holy Week Mobile

For Holy Week, the sanctuary mobile takes on a darker look, and rightly so. I removed all the purple and most everything else and removed a few *spokes* to make it smaller. I painted a vine of thorns on some kraft paper for the focal point, and there are three spikes hanging below that. I also made 30 *pieces of silver* from gray paper and embossed them in my Cuttlebug to make them look 'coin like' ( at least that's how I see it :)  Looking foward to Resurrection Sunday~ 

*jelly fish* part 5

So this week was a little low key....I added the hearts and took away a few other things ( the black netting- it just wasn't doing it's job :) See you next week! 

'jelly fish' part 4

This week I added some black paper chains, and the rest of the chain stitched jute I made. We've sure been having some awesome worship lately :) I just am so thankful for our new Pastor! Stay tuned ~

some days.......

you know, there are some days when I think to myself, how could this day get any better? today is panning out to be just that. i have the absolute joy of playing on the worship team with the most amazing people, and we rocked the house for Jesus today ( at least, it sounded that way from behind the drums :) our new Pastor is just a refreshing, humble, sold out to Jesus Shepherd.....the sun is shining, it's a glorious day.....a nice lunch out with my hubby and MIL, a *daylight saving time nap* ( which, i will milk that excuse for the next two weeks, at least :) , the joy of meeting one of my stamp customers and finding out that we have very much in common.....not the least of things, purple :) and a get together with our small group tonight. i am so thankful for so many blessings in my life- evident on a daily basis. so how's YOUR day going? 

"Jelly fish" Part 3 :)

This week got a little more 'purple'. I tucked up the black in the center and surrounded it with some shimmery purple fabric. Four more dowel 'spokes' were added, with strips of purple scrapbook paper draped from them. A few more ribbons and some wide purple yarn I got on clearance add to it all. I just found out that the choir is singing "The Weeping Tree" on Good Friday- our Worship leader created an amazing tree for the altar the last time they did it, and he was excited that there were branches on the mobile to tie it all together :)  ( which I gleaned from my MIL'S property- they look pretty gnarly!) Next week's 'plan - in - my - head' includes a twist back to a more 'sin focused' theme. Stay tuned :) 

Retirement Sale update :)

Things are flying out the door :)  There's about 20 images out of stock already ( but out of 1,000 + odds are pretty good that I still have what you want :) Just keeping you posted.....pun intended. Have a great day! 

"Jelly fish" part 2 :)

This week, the words 'repent, return, renew, & reflect were added on small strips of craft paper ( which is actually a roll of paint masking paper I found at the Goodwill!) I should have printed them in black ink- they would have shown up better......trying to conserve ink. Also lots of crosses went up, and some of that black netting that you make poofy wreaths out of. I thought it would be neat, but it was kind of a pain to make it lay flat and not roll back up. Stay tuned for next week's addition :)

This is in the Narthex/entryway of the church. The cross is the same one we cover with flowers on Easter Sunday :) This is my first time using candles with timers ~ now THAT was a useful discovery! TTFN~

Ash Wednesday

This is the "Lenten Jellyfish" - my fun name for the Sanctuary mobile at church :) This year's is going to be a whole new deal for me- a progressive one that will change each week before the Lenten Services. So I had to start out a little sparser than my normal *over-the-top* craziness! Stay tuned for the updates. All to the Glory of God :)

Last night was the first message from our new Shepherd, Pastor Larson, and what a blessing it was! Such a humble, genuine man with a heart for the Lord! I know, that's kind of a 'pre-req' for clergy, but it's not always the case, sadly. I'm thankful that the Lord saw fit to bring him here, and that lives will be touched because he shares the Gospel with passion :) 

On another note, don't forget to check out my retirement sale-a-palooza- the rubber is flying out the door as we speak! First come, first served as it were. God bless you as you travel the Lenten road to Calvary! 

Guess What?

Yup! I'm retiring! Heart & Soul has been a huge blessing to us for almost 20 years now, and I'm ready to hit the sand with the Mr. and our friends more frequently :) What this means for you, is that I'm having a big ol' *clean out the store* sale!  ( If there WERE a store, that is!)  Ideally, I would love to sell everything to someone who would just take it and run with it, giving it the attention it deserves. If you're that person ( or better yet, group of people) shoot me an email and we'll talk.  If you just want to get a great deal on Heart & Soul Stamps while you still can, go to www.heartandsoulrubberstampco.com to see the complete line. ALL IMAGES SOLD UNMOUNTED UNTRIMMED FOR $1.00 each, quantities limited to stock on hand. No mounted stamps in the sale (sorry). Like I said, I'm ready to hit the ground running :)  The sale will continue until things get pretty bare, or travelling season begins. So spread the word, if you would, and don't be surprised if you order and receive a few more than you ordered....heh heh.  

With one foot out the door.......