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 ><>