Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Church Banners

By the way, I had the privilege of designing Advent banners for our church this year. I kept forgetting to take a picture, but someone else did.


Initially, way back in August, I was approached to help make fabric banners. My main job was to work on the concept. It took quite awhile for us to decide on colors, fabrics, all the special bits and baubles that go onto banners, etc. Suddenly, it was November, one of the ladies bowed out of the project, and I figured out I was supposed to be sewing it all together, as well. Now, I like to sew, but it's time-consuming for things I'm familiar with. I had no idea how long it would take for something like this. There was no way it would be done in time for Advent.

So, I suggested we scrap the plan.

"Let me do what I'm good at. I can design the banners and have them printed. They'll look great, won't cost us any more, and best of all, will be up on the wall for the first week of Advent."

The music director (the one coordinating this) was a little hesitant at first. She is very aware of the traditional nature of our church, and not having fabric banners might be a shift some people weren't ready for. Plus, she really had her heart set on fabric banners and felt she wouldn't be happy with anything else.

"Just let me see what I can do. I'll give you a call when I'm ready."

With that, I got busy. I really love designing. It's so much fun to choose fonts and colors, then carefully piece it all together. I enjoyed adding meaning through text in the background, for those who would care to look (verses referencing the attribute of that particular banner). And I added in some light flares reminiscent of Advent candle flames. I kept a traditional font and hoped the sunburst wouldn't be too wild for our church.

When our director saw it, she loved it. She had some reservations about the initial color choices, and I immediately saw that she was right. My choices (aqua, orange, pink) were too contemporary and not related to Advent. I think I chose them because they worked well with the Advent purple background. Muting them to red, green, and gold made much more sense. After that change, it was final! I made the order, we stayed under budget, and the banners were up for the first Sunday after Thanksgiving. They were on curtain rods that were held up by Command strips!

The response was great. Everyone really enjoyed the burst of color it gave our sanctuary, and many commented that we should have something similar up all the time. I had fun doing it, and it's always gratifying to be "in one's element." I'm grateful that I can use my knowledge for such purposes.

Monday, January 02, 2012

It's a New Year

It's January second, and people all over the world are making resolutions...or resolving to make none. Some people have already broken their resolutions, and some will wait to March to get around to making any.

My resolutions actually started a few weeks back. I have gotten into a lazy pattern at home, allowing a cycle of chaos to roll on to the point where it seems that things seem to have hit critical mass around here, and something has to change. So...resolutions.

  • Become an early bird. James has settled into a 6am schedule. Usually I do all I can to fight it--or remain as asleep as possible while allowing him to babble next to me in bed--but when it's time to really get up (the last possible minute), it's my schedule that controls me, instead of the other way around.
    • Set the alarm for 6am. Rise earlier if James gets up earlier.
    • Get ready for bed at 10pm
    • Take my shower at night, so I'm ready to hit the ground running
  • Be in control of my house.
    • Use My Simpler Life's declutter schedule as a guide through the year to help me declutter
    • Use Time-Warp Wife's house cleaning schedule as a guide for cleaning my house
    • Take weekly photos of my house, since I'm more aware of clutter when I see it in 2D. Weird? Maybe.
    • Have my mom and others keep me accountable and encourage me often.
    • Read two books about organizing/decluttering
  • Bring my photography business to a more professional level.
    • Finalize design for pricing brochure, and find an inexpensive way to have it printed/folded
    • Create client information sheets and order forms
    • Attend at least one photography seminar this year
    • Research and finalize decision about new camera body, and start saving!
  • Blog more
    • Done!