I'm a few months behind (again) getting projects posted, and this post is from late August '09. Transitioning from the Fruit of the Spirit series, I removed the colored tiles and reused the backlit shelves to light the main display for the next series, "Dear Timothy...". The 17-week series is an expositional look at Paul's letters to Timothy, specifically, the first letter. So, the stage display was supposed to show a parchment-like surface with the "hand-written" beginning to the letter.

Since I wasn't about to look nor pay for two 10x7.5-foot sheets of parchment, I sought the alternative, which led me to good ole muslin. Found a bolt of muslin at the fabric store for $20. DEAL! $$$ The muslin looked rather clean and I wanted to add some texture to it to make it more paper-like. So, it was soaked in tea for a few hours and bunched up to add more wrinkles.

After drying it was time to transport the series branding to the muslin, which was done by creating a transparency, displayed by an old overhead, traced with pencil, then painted by the loverly Holly Faye.

While she was busy tracing and painting, I was prepping the stage with all of the lights I wanted to use. In all, 110 lights were used.



And the finished product...

All right...so the temps have been near 70 the past few days. The window for completing outdoor projects was open, so I jumped on the opportunity. The label of "finished" is now getting clearer on this landscaping wall project. But now, I'm losing daylight, so it's time to call it a day.

Warm weather today has spawned a brood of ladybugs outside. Hundreds and hundreds of them, and they're finding their way inside. Hopefully the gallon of bug spray I bought will keep them at bay.

...is still breakfast.

Well, we had our first false alarm yesterday. Holly had her weekly checkup with the doctor, and the doctor must've pushed a button because Baby wanted out. Holly started having some contractions after the appointment and, later that afternoon, had some subtle hints that her water had broken. Thankfully, the doctor was still at her office that evening, so I got Holly back to see her (and save us a trip to the hospital). Turns out her water was still intact, and the contractions have lessened. So, this was a good rehearsal for us--the car is loaded with the essentials, we have extra batteries for our cameras, etc.

Meanwhile, the kid is 36 weeks along, and he's now set a LOT lower in the womb. He's not trying to kick Holly's ribs out now. The doctor believes he'll be arriving before the end of the month...not mid-November. Holly is full-term in a week, so we're pushing to get to 37 weeks. Any time thereafter is great for us. My mom is ready to pack up once we go home after the birth and help us with her first grandkid. :) We're pretty much ready to go!

Busy sorting through the bounty of gifts for Baby...

Just won this auction on eBay. My little man is gonna be a Wing!