Looking for a Sign

I LOVE to paint! It doesn't matter if it's a wall or a painting! There is something wonderful about "before and after" things. Mowing the yard, vacuuming, raking leaves... painting gives this same feeling of satisfaction. It always amazes me what a coat of paint will do for something. FRESH, CLEAN, NEW, BEAUTIFUL! Another thing I love to do is writing or lettering. Occasionally my church asks me to paint something to enhance the worship experience or bring artistic expression (i.e. a visual aid) to the service.

           Isn't our Sanctuary BEAUTIFUL at Christmas? People buy Poinsettias "in honor or memorial" of someone and after Christmas they can take it home. Any that are left behind get taken to local nursing homes or to shut-ins. If you look at the left edge of the photo you can see some banners hanging. Those are mine.There are also some on the right side but my photo skills could use some improvement.
         This is a real honor for me, and part of me loves using my talents for the Lord. In reality though, I am sitting in worship staring at my signs and studying every flaw! The imperfections! Other people give me compliments and my first reaction is to say "Oh my goodness, the one on the top left is crooked!" It's so hard to just say, "Thank you. It was my pleasure to do them." The sermon series was titled Faces of the Nativity. There is one that says "the Wise Men" but it wasn't up yet.
 

Here are some closeups

         The hardest part is figuring out how to make the actual banner, not the painting. In the past I looked at buying pre-made canvases large enough to be seen, but they were super expensive. The other option is to buy the canvas and frames and stretch them myself but that wasn't really in my price range either. So I decided to buy a VERY large canvas dropcloth in the painting section at Lowe's and cut and sew it into banners. There were 4 that said "Love, Joy, Hope, and Peace" for advent. This time the sermon series was for 7 weeks = 7 signs. This took a little more thought and engineering. I ended up reusing the back of some old printed yard signs our church had used to advertise for Vacation Bible School. I cut, primed, painted, added dowels for stability and large grommets to hang and attach them to each other.  It turned out well I think even though a couple of them are sagging a little.(see? I can't help it- imperfections).

                         I hope you had a beautiful place to worship the birth of our Savior this year!