Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Your December Story: Blog Hop + Giveaway!

i mentioned in my december goals that i wanted to get christmas layouts done for the "missing years," 2009-2012.  well, 2009 is in the book!  actually, 2003 (the year my son was born) through 2010 are all now in "the book."  i've transferred all my christmas layouts to a jolly red album that i plan on displaying every year at christmas time.  i think it's going to be a great new tradition for remembering all the special moments of the most wonderful time of the year.

I got a peek at "Your December Story" and I'm giving away a free pass
I checked out lesson 1 of Debbie Hodge's Your December Story this weekend, and I want to tell you about the class and give you a peek at how it's inspired me. And I'm giving away one pass to the class. (If you already purchased the class, you'll get a $24 gift card good for any other GIS/MSD classes.)

Your December Story is shaped around the Hero's Journey
This December, like Dorothy dropped into Oz or Alice tumbled into Wonderland, you will receive a call to adventure. You will move from the ordinary world into a one of magic and tests as the holiday season arrives.

Many of the most-loved and best remembered stories play out in a story form described by Joseph Campbell as "the hero's journey." This class has prompts and page ideas for visual storytelling that have you telling Your December Journey, from the heralds, to the challenges, mentors, special tools and the return to the known world and what you take forward.

You can take the journey and get a $10 gift card . . .
but only through midnight Wednesday, November 20th. When you purchase "Your December Story" by midnight PT, Wednesday, November 20, you also get a $10 gift card that you can use for Get It Scrapped and Masterful Scrapbook Design classes. Click here to purchase Your December Story and get the $10 gift card.

This is what I think of the class and how it inspired me
I'm so glad that I got an early read on Debbie's latest class, Your December Story.  It is amazing, as usual.  In fact, I think the only thing that I would change is to let you all have access to it earlier!  It has totally boosted my Christmas spirit up two or three notches.  I actually got my Christmas CDs before Thanksgiving, and have already begun tackling my long list of December goals!  Thanks, Debbie, for the added holiday sparkle and motivation this year!

See how the rest of the blog hoppers are using this class (and get 20+ more chances to win)
Put your name in the drawing to win the class
Leave a comment telling me a new or old Christmas tradtion that you're excited about this year. I will draw the winner on Thursday, November 21, 2013.  Happy hopping!

59 comments:

  1. We are excited for our annual evening of Gingerbread house building! Even now that two of my boys are teenagers, they still love this fun, artistic and festive tradition and it certainly provides me with some GREAT photo ops!

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  2. i'm excited that we're going to decorate the Christmas tree with my nephews

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  3. I'm really excited about getting an decorating our tree. I always grew up with a fake one and loved seeing my Auntie's real one. So I have persuaded hubby that we can get a real one, even though it will be small as we're tight for space and not spending Christmas at our house. And I just can't wait to get it and decorate it :)

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  4. About 5 years ago I felt like Cindy Loo Who from the Grinch movie. "Where are you Christmas?" I came across a book that helped bring the awesomeness of Christmas back to me. One of the traditions in this book was to take your family on a gift treasure hunt. We all go to the same store at the same time. I give each one of them $20.00 and they have to find a gift for each member of our family with that $20.00. While searching for the gifts we have to keep them a secret from the others, so when we see one of our family members, we have to duck down another aisle. It has become a tradition that all of us look forward to. Thanks for the chance to win a pass to this class! Debbie

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  5. Excited about putting up the tree and decorating. We did not do that last year.

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  6. I am excited about the hunt for the "perfect ornament". Each year I buy an ornament for my husband and children that reminds us of the past year~It can be a vacation, sport, favorite toy...etc.

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  7. One of our favorite Christmas traditions (and we have many) is our "santa of the sleigh." When wrapping gifts, I put all of the smallest things in a sleigh. We have big/festive breakfast on Christmas Eve. I assign one of the grandkids as "santa of the sleigh" that year. He/she dons a santa hat and passes out the little gifts from the sleigh---gift cards, candy or treats from the dollar bin at Target. It's a fun little kick-off to our celebrations.

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  8. My kids and two of my grandchildren will be here for Christmas for the first time in four years. That is exciting to me all by itself and I'm looking forward to the making of peanut brittle and pecan rolls. Guess you could say we're a nutty kind of family.

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  9. I love doing the tree and buying new Xmas pyjamas for my kids !

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  10. The grandchildren are of the age now to bring the magic back to this time of year.

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  11. One of my favorite traditions that we started the first year my grandson was here is I buy everyone matching pajama pants and wear them Christmas morning and take a pic of us all in front of the tree. I even buy large pants and cut them down so they fit my grandson every since that first pair when he was 3 months old! Love traditions. And even make a little scarf for the dog.

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  12. I'm looking forward to baking and decorating Christmas biscuits with my kids.

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  13. We (we are in Germany) have an Advent Calendar and a wreath with four candles every year. We only have one natural tree and sit all together at the 24th of December to open our presents and eat a special meal (potatoe salad and sausage when the kids were younger, now it´s roastbeef with fried potatoes.), hear Christmas music and read some Christmas stories together.

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  14. I love the vintage santa!!!!! :) Makes me happy. Gorgeous layout, Doris! The stitched boxes are super cool!! I love your style.

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  15. We pull out an advent calendar for the first of December. I fill it with little notes for activities to do together, or leave little wrapped presents under it to be opened at breakfast ~ lots of times in the early days I wrap up things that come out for December like special plates, butter spreaders, blankets to cuddle up in, the christmas books are one of the first things. And some days there is just a piece of chocolate for each of us!

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  16. I started making candy every Christmas when I was a teenager with my mom. I've done it every year since (even with 8 week old twins). This year my daughter is coming for Thanksgiving and we're going to spend that weekend making candy and cookies - I can't wait! Having it done early, but mostly getting to share it with her again.

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  17. We have a long love of watching special Christmas movies beginning at Advent. One of our favs is The Christmas Story. My brother-in-law found and bought a HUGE leg lamp from the movie, which we now place in our front window for all to see - the neighbors adore it and cars often slow down to take a closer look. =) Silly fun!

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  18. Holiday baking day - about 6 of us get together and make 8 or 10 batches of different kinds of cookies that we all share. It's so much fun to pull out the old favorite recipes and also try some new ones.

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  19. New tradition, Elf on a Shelf! Have loved surfing Pinterest to get ideas!

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  20. We always watch National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation while setting up the Christmas tree. We also have a stack of movies that we pull out the day after Thanksgiving and start working through.

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  21. I love our tradition of new pajamas on Christmas Eve so we all wake up comfy and cozy on Christmas Day =)

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  22. Well, since its just my husband and I, our tradition is to give our gifts the day before Christmas and then spend Christmas traveling to friends and family.

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  23. A fairly new tradition is taking a vacation near or just after Christmas.

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  24. An old tradition in our family is to bake our Christmas Cake in october. In fact I always bake two because they are so good.
    Christel

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  25. Each year I put an advent calendar for mi kid, now that my second baby is turning 2 they bith can play and that makes me happy, all that excitement counting the days till Christmas is great!

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  26. This year my 19 year old is coming home from Uni so we can snuggle up on the couch and watch 'The Grinch' all together after decorating. Looking forward to that new twist on an old tradition.

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  27. I am excited about having all my family together for Christmas this year. It has been many years. I am looking forward to starting some new traditions (we are gluten-free now) in my baking.

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  28. Being able to get together with family has been challenging the last several years. This year it is going to happen!

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  29. My son always does an advent calender every year. This year we bought an advent candle that you burn a little bit for each day. Love the idea of your Christmas album. I rarely scrap Christmas, because it seems like there is so many pictures, but I am going to try to do at least one layout a year...thanks for the inspiration! Love the idea of this class, thanks for a chance for a spot. :) Evie

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  30. We always watch a Christmas movie one night and all sleep in the den by the Christmas tree!

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  31. An old tradition for us revolves around getting our tree and decorating it. But this Christmas will be the end of a year of chemo for me so it will be extra special!

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  32. A new tradition, that my younger son and I did last year and want to continue. Is that we held hands next to the tree and sang Christmas songs. My DH and older son did not want to participate. But, we will do it again this year.

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  33. I can't think of anything so I am open to suggestions!

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  34. Stocking Day on St. Nicholas Feast Day Dec. 6th!

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  35. I may just give in and do Elf on the Shelf with my two girls! Its cute, but just a ton of work!

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  36. New tradition, my hubby and I gathered 25 books and are going to let our boys open one a night to read as a family instead of candy in an advent calendar.

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  37. We started with the Lego advent calendar a couple of years ago. Thinking about elf on the shelf for this year.

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  38. This will be the last year that both of our children will be at home, so I just want to make it special for all of us. My daughter, in particular, wants to have everything just the way it's always been for her :)

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  39. love the plan you have for the album. love the design and the story of the page too :)

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  40. A new tradition is saying every year that we will go see the "Festival of Lights" and every year not going - will his be the year???

    An old tradition is making Christmas Cookies.

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  41. Not really a tradition, but so very excited to travel to San Diego to spend Christmas with our grandkids on their last Christmas in CA. Next year we will start a NEW tradition when they move to Iowa and we will be able to visit nearly anytime.

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  42. Making butter cookies using my grandmother's recipe and press she gave me.

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  43. I make gift tags for all the members of our family gift exchange--22 this year--to be drawn during Thanksgiving dinner.

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  44. I am excited to bake cookies with my mom! It's been a tradition for 12 years but the last few years we lived in different states so couldn't bake together. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  45. Listening to Christmas Music BEFORE Thanksgiving....wouldn't be Christmas without it!

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  46. Because DH is almost all German and because I want to emphasize other aspects of Christmas besides Santa, we celebrate St. Nicholas Day. I have our daughter put her shoes outside her door which I fill with candy after we have read a book that evening abt St. Nicholas and whom he was. That weekend, we do a service project in the spirit of St. Nicholas with the same shoes she put outside her door. She knows that it is me who fills the shoes and that we are doing something nice for someone else because it is more important to give than to receive.

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  47. i love our family christmas which is always held the saturday before christmas. i love being with family, having a picnic by the beach. it doesnt get much better.

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  48. I met the author of Elf on a Shelf this year so I have to start that tradition!

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  49. Elf on a Shelf is a new tradition for us. No matter what my boys think -- it's something I still treasure doing.

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  50. This will be our 3rd year of Elf on the Shelf. I'm getting a little tired of it, but my son still loves it. I hope I can make it special still.

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  51. I enjoy decorating on black fri. It's a time when my sons are still home and can help put up the tree. We play board games and eat pizza after

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  52. My family always decorate the tree together. My son has star placement responsibilities.

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  53. i do a christmas countdown (advent calendar) with my kids.

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  54. I am looking forward to putting our special one-off ornaments on the tree

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  55. Every year, we read "House of the Wooden Santas". It's a nightly read, and a chance for me to connect with my children, despite the business of the season.

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  56. Making ornaments every year. My sister started this tradition and I have tried to keep it up. I have a full tree of wonderful handmade ornaments.

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  57. Our favorite Christmas tradition is celebrating St Nicholas Day!

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  58. I am looking forward to baking holiday cookies with my daughter again this year!

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