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.
My gift giving - and the resultant shopping! - are being pared down this year. When our family drew names (at last year's celebration) it was decided to make / repurpose / recycle for gifts. So I'm creating and thinking of each person as the days go by.
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Focus on the family, friends and sentiments... spending more time, less money... crafting more... put a little bit of myself on everything to give the word GIVING its real meaning ;)
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I plan on making the December book, not buying the adults in our family gifts (we all agreed), and decorating early. Also, maybe we will get a real tree this year. I took pictures of our ornaments last year and will put them in a book
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My husband and I are trying to cut back on the commercial side of Christmas. Thanks for the opportunity. http://www.adventconspiracy.org/
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this year santa comes leaving only 1 present and our immediate family of 5 draws names for eachother... that's it....just lots of baking, music, and decorating...
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I never really succeed with this, but I think it's a good idea to try and turn everything off as often as you can. Turning off the radio, computer, TV, music, people talking, phone, etc. and enjoy the silence. And eating less is also something that I found very helpful in making the time before Christmas comes more sincere and meaningful and enjoyable.
Carolin
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We plan on staying home for most of the holidays and having family visit us. It gets to be too much trying to travel long distances with a 18 month old. Also, I plan to get most of the shopping done by the end of November or early December.
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Every year I try to simplify,but I know that this will be no different! And in many good ways! We added a puppy to our family and a couple of trees! With that we have more family coming home than ever to help us celebrate. So with that I am going to be taking a lot more pictures and just enjoying it all. Because, after all, it does only come once a year!!
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My plan is to stop and notice things...hoping participating in the Dec. Daily will accomplish it!
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A more sane holiday--is there such a thing?? Seriously, our holidays are pretty low-key. We don't go all out. Just sit back, listen to music, bake some cookies, and read stories together. I love the interaction more with my family than the reaction to the events of the holiday. This class sounds like a great way to document all of the special interactions we have.
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Christmas and the holiday season this year is an unknown for me. I just started a new job, so don't know if I will be able to take time off to visit family over seas as we usually do, My husbands Dad is not well, so we don't know if we will have to jet off to see him at short notice, and so there is no plan this year. Maybe a planner will help prompt me into the Christmas spirit.
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Every year I say I am going to simplify and make this holiday be a little hectic, but it never happens! lol And I know this year it will not happen as well! We added a puppy, a couple of new trees to the line up and almost the whole family is coming home this year! So I am going to sit back and take a lot of pictures and hope by the middle of January that I am doing something with them! lol
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First, thanks for the opportunity to win this!
This year we are simplifying the gift process. I am looking forward to that.
I plan to prepare and get as many gifts as possible before December 1.
This year I decided that I'm not making handmade Christmas cards. Instead I'm going to do a photo card.
I just love Christmas and am looking forward to season!
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I have good head start because I'm 260+ days into Project 365. So capitalizing on photo opportunities and fairly well ingrained this year. Now if I can just create a sane holiday....
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My parents are retired and winter in Ft. Myers Florida. They decided they are not going to come home for christmas and I decided that I am not going to worry about what my in-laws think and I am going to go ahead and take my family to Florida for Christmas.
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This year I am planning on not doing gits for anyone except the kids. I have always dreaded the Christmas season because it is filled with obligations, expectations and guilt. This year I want to simplify and de-stress by doing more and shopping less. More snowboarding trips, more family get-togethers, more board-games, etc. Less looking for a parking spot, waiting in line, buying gifts the recipients don't need/want out of desperation.
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I am happy to say that this Christmas will be the sanest ever in our house for one reason. I ordered everyone on our gift giving list a magazine subscription. It will save me a ton of money and no lines or walking around for hours trying to find something they may or may not like. Easy peasy holiday 2009! Thanks for the chance!! :D
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I'm looking to do a handmade holiday...eliminate the stress of spending too much & enjoying the process of creating some gifts from the heart.
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I'm all about planning ahead. If I don't plan to do something then it probably won't happen. So I must have a plan!
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My daughter was too young to enjoy the holidays last year -- only 5 weeks! -- but this year she "gets" it to some extent, so I can't wait to make this Christmas magical for her. And I would love to document the experience with Shimelle's class!
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I am planning on purchasing ALL christmas gifts by Thanksgiving so I can truly partake in the holiday season. Wish me luck! ;)
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I have to be honest and say that I am not a fan of Christmas. However, I also have to be honest and say that I really wish that I could find a way to enjoy the season a little more. My husband and I don't have kids yet, but having one on the way pushes me to experience more so that when our first Christmas arrives (next year) I will be able to savor and enjoy every minute of it.
I would love to win this so that I can learn {now} to love the season and savor the spirit of Christmas.
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More sane? We are traveling for Christmas. I don't know if that is more sane or less....but it is what it is. We are still going to decorate our home because it helps me get in the spirit. We are going to do less shopping so I think that will help my sanity!
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I'm going to get out the decorations early so I'm not rushing around and throwing things up just to have the house decorated. I want to enjoy it. I am also starting my shopping this week.
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My plan is to plan ahead and if that doesn't happen to enjoy what I did get done and not stress the rest!
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