Journal Your Christmas Giveaway
The first time I did any sort of journal/creative adventure during the holiday season was Shimelle Laine's Journal Your Christmas back in 2005 (check out my December 2005 archives for more).
My experience in Shimelle's workshop inspired me to create my first December Daily in 2007 that was published in my Studio A column in Creating Keepsakes magazine. The main differences being that I set up the structure of my album in advance (trying to keep it simple) and that I wanted to focus on documenting the daily activities over the course of the 25 days leading up to Christmas without specific prompts.
Over the last couple of years there have been lots of people that have combined the two concepts - creating a foundation in advance and using Shimelle's prompts as guides for page topics and inspiration.
It's a creative adventure I highly recommend so I thought it would be fitting to give away a spot to Shimelle's class this week.
One person and a friend of their choice will recieve a spot in Shimelle Laine's fabulous Journal Your Christmas online workshop.
Journal your Christmas is an online class that takes you right through the Christmas season, from the 1st of December to the 6th of January - the twelfth day of Christmas. Through 37 full colour prompts that arrive in your inbox daily, you'll be inspired by topics that let you enjoy this year's celebrations while reliving your very favourite Christmas memories, and you'll have plenty of ideas for making your pages with hundreds of beautiful examples from a variety of scrappers.
Instead of letting the holidays run you, a Christmas journal has helped many women take back their Christmas so they can enjoy and celebrate the magic of Christmas. Other class benefits include a printable Christmas planner, digital and printable supplies designed exclusively for class and a bonus guide to improving your Christmas photographs including easy-to-use tips from dozens of professional photographers.
To be entered into the giveaway please leave a comment below sharing how you plan to create a more sane holiday season (or more crazy if that's what you need). Comments will be closed on Thursday at 8pm Pacific with the winners posted shortly after.
Do the words "sane" and "holiday" even go together? I don't think so. I always say with a husband, a dog, a big old house, 6 kids and a partridge in a pear tree..it's the jolliest of times.. I dont think I'd use the word "sane" in any aspect of my life.
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I am writing lists. Lot of list.
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It will be a crazy season as we will be moving my mother cross country to live near us. BUT my intention for the holiday period is to take time regularly to create, play and just enjoy my family. Lots of take-away in our future :)
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i really want to keep things simple and not put any unrealistic expectations on myself. i'm giving myself a budget and sticking to it this year. i want to teach my kids the real meaning of christmas and why we celebrate christmas. i want to teach my kids it's not about the fancy presents we give each other or how much money was spent on one another but that we spend this holiday together as a family. thanks for the awesome giveaway opportunity.
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I'm going to try not to procrastinate this year & get things done in advance so I can enjoy the holidays more.
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Shopping done by Thanksgiving! . . . Maybe :)
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If I can finish shopping by Nov 30, I'd use the time to finish up homemade gifts and decorating.
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A more sane holiday around here starts with me not having such high expectations. If I go into it expecting it to turn out like a magazine article, I will be disappointed. So...simplify.
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I loved doing the December Daily album last year. It really kept my Christmas spirit up during our first season of "empty nesting." I think Shimelle's class is the perfect partner! I loved my daily focus on Being Present each day, journaling about what's important, and enjoying those little moments which really help alleviate any stress.
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I plan on keeping everything as simple as I possibly can. Planning meals ahead and sharing the bulk of the cooking makes it less stressful for everyone, and we do gifts just for the kids:)
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I'm excited to help my kids use their imaginations to make gifts this year. Less rushing around buying and more time creating and wrapping together will keep me sane!!! :-)
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I want to plan out things more in advance this year. I altered a pocket size notebook to help me keep track of all my lists so that I have them with me when I am not home.
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I like to keep myself sane shopping-wise by getting it all done in one day for the things that I'm buying anyway. I also just sit down one afternoon with my favorite Christmas music (Harry Connick, JR) playing and wrapp all of the gifts at once. Getting these over all at once saves me a lot of headache.
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I have no idea but like every year before this one, I will just do my best one day at a time. Just like my Dad tought me.
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Wow....lots of comments above. For me, I am beginning my first December Dailys (and will probably go through the 12th day of Christmas). I am so excited to spend this time, starting now, with my 2 year old granddaughter. The holidays through the eyes of a "grandchild" are AWESOME!! I also will attempt to keep things simple and homemade (gosh, I just sounded like Sandra Lee).
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I have already started on the handmade projects I'm making for gifts this year - which will be a huge help! I always wait until the last minute and then rushing things...I'm very proud of myself this year! :)
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Would love to win, thanks for the chance! Gabriel
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We are in the process of moving so all the Christmas stuff is packed. We are going to have a simple tree with simple homemade ornaments and a much slower pace this year.
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I'm hoping the fact that I've finished much of my holiday shopping early will make my holiday a bit less stressful this year. I also hope to make this year my first December Daily year...I'm excited to work on my album!
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I am trying to focus on being present for the holidays rather than the presents. I have also decided to tone down on the decorations..very minimal. Of course, I have a grandson who is crawling around the family room and putting everything within reach in his mouth...another good reason to cut back on the pretties.
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This year I plan on actually doing a December Daily so that it will make me slow down to enjoy the special monents of the season, instead of just rushing through and feeling overwhelmed. I want to be able to enjoy my family, and focus on creating gifts from the heart to make our holidaY the most special ever!
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What an absolutely wonderful idea. Too bad all this wasn't there for me when I had little ones. However, we all can probably benefit from something to help us take back the holiday season and simply enjoy our family and friends and all good things.
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I've decided to cut back on all the *extras* I usually like to try and squeeze into December which makes it hectic and stressful. This year we are blocking out one weekend day every week (it looks like Sunday for almost all 4 weeks) of December to relax and play rather than rush around.
I am also really looking forward to December 1 so I can begin my December Daily. I am hoping taking a few minutes each day to capture our lives will keep my perspective on the month.
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WELL -Besides the fact that I don't have an open weekend in December as it stands. I am going to do my best to enjoy it and document it this year. I finished my dec daily album already and am very excited to actually finishing this year.
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I'm just going to keep the emphasis on spending time with the people that I love the most, and not getting too wrapped up in the other fun but extraneous stuff.
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