The Great Delay/Ordinary Time Mobile

 October 1st- 2022

HOW has it been this long since I've posted ANYTHING? Wow. I'm embarrassed :) Here's my offering for this month's sanctuary mobile. I started out very minimally, and have been adding to it a little each month (season of growth, right?) Most of this is ribbon and elements I've used in previous years- some paper leaves, plastic cds, etc.- but I did find some fun holographic paper circles at goodwill that just make it 'pop'. It just spins so beautifully with the air currents. 

the great day of Pentecost

I don't know how it is for the rest of you, but most of our church family hasn't stepped foot in the sanctuary since mid March :( It has become a space of cameras, microphones and cables running everywhere! The 'upside' of all the chaos is that more and more people are being reached by our online services and weekly devotions, worship jams (#jammin4Jesus)  and Zoom bible studies :) that may never set foot inside an actual house of worship. God has taken a negative and turned it into a positive, once again. We've been having 'drive-thru church'- which as funny as it sounds, is actually a huge blessing to me - we have  'stations' we go to while staying in our cars: A welcome and receiving the verses of the day printed out, Prayer, Communion, Praise Songs, and a Blessing as we leave. It's been so uplifting to see faces we haven't seen for too long. As I write this, our county has just been allowed to start 'Phase 2' which means we can potentially start gathering in worship in smaller groups soon. I wanted the sanctuary mobile to be ready to greet folks when we do return to inside worship. Normally in the liturgical church year, we are already back to  "Ordinary Time", or the green season, as I affectionately call it. Our church staff is graciously lenient with me in letting me leave it up longer.....even though the paraments will be green for months. I will probably leave it up for awhile this summer.  I have no idea what gathering together is going to look like, but our leadership team is working on figuring out what's best for the greater good. Patience is a virtue. May God bless us all as we move forward! 

Ash Wednesday 2020

My offering for this year's Lenten season.  Many of the same elements as years gone by (frugal :) but a few new additions to the mix, including a friend's purple sheer swags from her daughter's old bedroom being remodeled.....normally I start out smaller, and add to it as we go through Lent. This year that's not an option, so I just went for it :)  The gray circles represent the silver coins Judas received for betraying Jesus. The knotted silvery fabric reminded me of the chain mail soldier's armor. There's ropes, crosses, and plenty of black & purple ribbons and fabric. It co-ordinates with our Paraments nicely, I think.  At least that's what I was shooting for...... I've been including a little write-up in our newsletter explaining my thought process for each mobile. Folks tell me it's helping them capture the vision :)  And this way, I can explain that there's a method to my madness :)  Walk Dusty, people......

This beautiful wall hanging was created by one of our "quilter extraordinaire" members and is just stunning hanging on the side wall of the Sanctuary. We needed something new for the Lenten season, but this might find a home here for years to come. Thanks Terry :) 

Ordinary Time 2020

I changed this to coincide with the observance of The Baptism of Our Lord- that white gauzy fabric just visually reminds me of Jesus' Shroud for some reason.....the green circles represent our seeds of faith as it grows, and the ribbons are meant to look like vines :)  This is the 'ground floor' view- how it looks as I'm working on it. To me it always seems more beautiful 30 feet up :)  Lent is coming soon!

Advent 2019

first Sunday in Advent- not much different than previous years, but still pretty, i think. one of my facebook friends asked me why i did this at church :) i explained that it is meant to be contemplative liturgical art- to make us think about the meaning of Advent including 'light in the darkness'. plus, it's really really off-white in our sanctuary, except for the red carpet up the center aisle and altar steps. i think that color is a good thing :) 

Reformation

So I decided to think 'outside the box' on this one :) Since Reformation pops up toward the end of Ordinary Time ( there's 3 weeks left before we go into Advent) I decided to just add red to what's already there, to co-ordinate with the Paraments for this Sunday. We have one young man being confirmed this Sunday. I'm thinking that this design will also get folks thinking about Christmas a little......and hopefully I haven't broken any liturgical 'rules' :) 

The Day of Pentecost

This year I made some paper cut out flames to add to the other things I had on hand. I think it adds a whole other dimension to the mobile......

Easter

Oy. I got a little bit behind on posting this one :) I used basically the same 'ingredients' that I had on hand, but somehow it always looks a little different from the year before.

Lenten Sermon Series

I made this banner as a "one off"- our Pastor did a sermon series for Wednesday evening Lenten services of " Signs That Point to the Cross".  (It was a great series) I made the banner out of white poster paper, and used some giant foam rubber stamps to ink the words on kraft paper that I tore the edges of, to give it a rougher look.  It's a little hard to see in the picture, but there's a cross in the background that I added each week's word over. The color comes from Ken Oliver's 'Color Burst' powder ( I LOVE THAT STUFF!)  Once again I've crossed over two hobbies- Liturgical arts and stamping :) 

Good Friday

Here you can see that the previous Lenten mobile has gotten darker- small wooden crosses were added. I also removed all the 'shiny' and glittery ribbons ( our aggregate floor is quite sparkly, thanks to me :)  )  Looking ahead to the change for Easter morning! 

Lent 2019

This is actually week two.....it doesn't look a whole lot different than last week- I just added a little more blue to the mix. It will continue to get bigger and darker as we progress through the next few weeks. 

Ordinary Time Pt. 3

Ok- here's a close up just before I brought it down to change to Lent. I had added a lot more gold and green ribbons. I actually wrote a little blurb for the church bulletin explaining the significance of things ( in my mind, anyway :) )  that the circles represent seeds of faith, and the small/large ones remind us of our changing faith. The green is for 'growth', and the ribbons represent that He is the Vine, we are the branches. Folks seemed to like having my craziness explained :) 

Ordinary Time part 2

I added a few things this week. Years ago I saw a store display that had taken cds and linked them together with big jump rings- my daughter and I made a big window covering for her room out of all those annoying 'free internet' ones that used to come in the mail :) It makes for quite the light show as the sun catches the rainbow colored edges of the circles! So there's a few strings of them on here, plus some leaf shapes I cut from sheet copper and green metallic paper. I didn't take a close up shot, as I wanted to show just how high up in the Sanctuary ceiling this thing is :) 

*Ordinary Time*

This Sunday is the beginning of 'Ordinary time' in the liturgical church year.  If you want to know what that means, here's a link - ordinary time -and although my church happens to be Lutheran, the explanation still works :)  I went a little 'retro' this year and used some circles from a previous year- I look at them as seeds of faith. There's some vines, ribbons and leaves mixed in.  I started smaller too, because I want to make it grow every few weeks. You can also see our beautiful baptismal font that was made years ago by one of our members.  It sure looks different at 'ground level' than it does 30 feet up in the air! 

Advent Part Two

I've got a new Liturgical Arts buddy! Someone who loves making things for the Lord as much as I do :)  She designed this from some Pinterest inspiration ( but of course, the Holy Spirit gets the most credit!) Since the hanging rod is wider, to accommodate other existing banners, we added lots of ribbon to the sides- it coordinates wonderfully with the big old "jellyfish" in the middle of the Sanctuary - see below.  So thankful for creative friends.

Advent 2018

Well I'm just so excited about this year's design! I've always been a little frustrated that the thing droops when it gets heavy......you can't really tell it unless you're in the balcony, but I know it and it bugs me :) I did a little research and found some 1/2' aluminum square tubing that is waaaay stronger and actually lighter than the All-thread I have been using. So this one's a beast! I went 8 1/2 feet across ( about a foot longer on each side than ever) I also found some mirror ball garland at Hobby Lobby and added lots of shiny ribbon. I have to say, it's one of my favorites and it is straight as an arrow up top ! 

"Ordinary Time" 2018 Part 2

Boy. Am I ever delinquent in posting this :) here we are sailing through the church year, and we'll be rounding the corner heading into Advent before I know it! This year, I started small, and have been gradually adding to the centerpiece ( it's the season of growth in the church year, right? )  Most of it is ribbon that I've used before, but I also made some leaves from design paper and stuck them wrong sides together over some fishing line- I like the look it added. Also there's more gold ribbon this year- our Paraments have quite a bit of gold in them, so they compliment each other. So, the folks in the first service have commented that the light shining through the windows ( at 8:30 am) are causing quite a 'light show'......I'm absolutely sure they mean it as a compliment :) 

Lent 2018

Here's my offering for this year's Lenten season....it's hard to photograph (for me, anyway) and get the full effect- but this one comes pretty close. The sun was shining through the upper windows and it caught some of the shinier ribbons. I've been adding a little and tweaking it every couple of weeks- and for Holy Week it will get a little 'darker'.  Pastor's mid-week sermons this year are about "Jesus in 7 words or less"- trying to help us discover our own 'Jesus story' to share with others. It's a challenge, for sure. But if it brings one more person to faith, then challenge on!

Ordinary Time 2018

I like that it's all different lengths....and wrinkly, just like us :)  This won't be up for long- Ash Wednesday (and the beginning of the Lenten season) is FEBRUARY 14TH this year! I can't remember when it's come so soon in the year. 

Advent 2017

I'm a little late to the party......but here's my Sanctuary art offering for last year's Advent season :) I did add a little to it each week, which was fun. It's sure hard for me to get a great photo of these 'jellyfish'. Trust me, it was much more beautiful in person.