Risen Indeed !

So bright and lovely :) the white 'gauze-like' fabric represents the linen cloths wrapped around our Savior's body.....the brightness of the rest celebrates His Victory over death ! There are some tiny mirror tiles draped around in places that really sparkle when the lights hit them just right. And if there's such a thing as 'sentimental' fabric....this is chock full of it....the white was donated by a church member's family years ago after she passed....probably a 20 yard piece. The colorful strips are 'left-overs' given to me by one of our quilting ladies- she had to trim down one of her creations! Yes, please and thank you! And this year I added some pastel ribbons that were donated from our youth- leftovers from their banner from the National Youth Gathering last year. I love that we Lutherans never throw anything away......

And this is our beautiful Festival of Flowers cross ( I have to remember to get the 'before' photo next year! It's quite ugly to begin with :) ) A longstanding tradition for us....people come up during the service and adorn the cross- then afterwards they take lots of family Easter photos in front of it. It warms my heart to see the next generation taking the same pictures they took when they were little. God is so very, very good! AND HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA!

Good. Good Friday

Good Friday- this is as dark as it gets, folks.  I took away most of the Lenten purple, added a lot of black, crosses, burlap (sackcloth) and rope that I chain stitched ( to represent our sin-bound souls) and the circles are gray paper ( the coins that Judas was paid for his betrayal). There are three spikes (made from styrofoam) in the lower right hand corner- a little hard to see in the photo. Sadness all around.....but we know what's coming!!!!

week six

this week I added some paper 'palms' and one cross in the middle as we anticipate Palm Sunday.....Here's an uncropped picture below so you can see just how big a space this is in :)  It's interesting to me, that's it's challenging to 'get it right' the first time...otherwise it creates extra trips up and down a long staircase on my old arthritic knees to lower and 'fix' it. It rarely is perfectly what I was shooting for......like the one palm on the lower left that is quite a bit lower than everything else. I have to be careful not to get TOO low, or it obstructs the screens on the projectors :) As is the case here, I've just decided to 'let it ride' and see if it's ok. I'll be able to preview it tonight at our last Lenten Service (Holden Evening Prayer....which is one of my personal faves!!!) and adjust it before Sunday if needed. On to Jerusalem we go.....