Advent

I love the Advent season at church! Decorating the Sanctuary to help people prepare their hearts for the Baby Jesus, and the return of the Triumphant King of Kings, just makes my heart happy :)  I was trying for a 'less is more' design this time....and believe it or not, this is me *reigning it in* heh heh. The little spots you can see are mirror squares glued together on fishing line- I'm hoping that when the sun shines through the windows ( you can see two of them at the right) it will be brilliantly beautiful :) May you find time in this season of *harrying* to spend some time with Christ !

copper snowflakes

Gettin' in the mood :) I've made dozens of beaded snowflakes over the years, as little gifts, and for our own tree. This year it dawned on me that copper ones might be really cool. And I love how they turned out. One will be around the rear view mirror soon :) ><>

Candlelight Dessert

One of my favorite things we do at my church each year is the Candlelight Dessert~ ladies only ( our awesome men serve as waiters for the evening!) where we gather and celebrate the coming of Advent. I've been hosting a table for years now, and my inner *Martha* just thrives on all the planning and decorating. I'm already thinking about what I'll do next year :) Which really helps, because often most of what I use comes from Goodwill/garage sales so I have plenty of time for treasure hunting throughout the year.

This year we were a little short of folks who could set up a table, so I gladly set up a second table :) I just love seeing the gymnasium transformed into a Winter Ballroom atmosphere.....you've never seen so many fake ficus trees full of white lights :) but it works....

Homewarming :)

This was for my nephew &  his lovely wife....after way too many deployments and separations, they are finally able to settle in together for a few years, and they landed in our hometown! (Yay- a new *crafting buddy* ! ) We're so happy they're here! Made this from the scrap drawer for their housewarming party. Words are vintage Stampington & Co. 

minty fun

Greetings bloglanders :) Just sharing a little something I've been working on this week~you've all seen these peppermint patty goodies before, I'm sure. I've wanted to make them for a few years now to give as little treats, but have always ran out of time before Christmas.....so this year I've started early. Everything here is a punch, except the nose. All from the scrap drawer (bonus deal!). Words are A Muse, the tiny snowflake is vintage Whippersnapper. All displayed in a 'pretzel bag' from the craft store. Too cute to tear into :) ><>

*ordinary season*

Hey there! I'm still alive and well......Heart & Soul is still very much alive and well.....the only thing that's 'fizzled' is my blogging. So very sorry about that~ I have a dozen reasons, but no real excuses. Seems it's the first thing I let go when the *going* gets tough. And it has been kinda a tough first half of the year. Some real sadness in our family.But now, thankfully, we head into a season of JOY as my son's wedding approaches this fall! 

I wanted to share with you the new liturgical mobile I made this week at church- to celebrate the season within Pentecost of 'growth' - often called the 'ordinary' season :) My friend and worship team leader suggested a 'vine or branches & greenery' theme and I ran completely with it. As usual. Fortunately I have almost every shade of green paper known to woman, so I just cut out a bunch of leaf shapes and taped them to fishing line. I borrowed some branches from the yard. I think it will look neat when the air currents move it gently in a circle. 

Thanks for hanging in there and not giving up on me :) 

Goodie Bags :)

I made these fun treats to pop into some of our church mailboxes soon :) Who doesn't love a little *surprise chocolate* now and then ??? I used an older SU image ( love this one!) and found some York peppermint bites in the perfect color combo!

Here's the back side- I *tweaked* a Heart & Soul image ( a little something I learned from the amazing Dina Kowal ) - cutting your stamps apart and using them in different ways! 

That's all for now ><>