Noteworthy | 11.25.2011
Whether you're prepared or procrastinating, tackling sales and crowds out shopping this weekend, or spending time with family, there is one thing most of us have in common: the need for inspiration. With time being in demand this time of year more than ever, this week I have a special edition of Noteworthy to share with you - a round-up of many of the best holiday classes and events that can all be found online. So no matter where in the world you are, whatever your crafting preferences, you may just find something here that interests you and that you would like to participate in:
It's hard to believe, but this will be the fifth year that Tim Holtz offers his amazing twelve tags of Christmas series on his blog. What is incredible about this series is not just that each day he creates a different tag, but that he shares in detail exactly how he has created it including products used. Tim shares an incredible amount of information on techniques and shares photos of all the steps, and at times adds in videos as well.
The magic starts December 1 at Tim's blog. The archives can also be viewed on his blog- in the left side bar there is a listing of the previous years with links to those tags. Looking for the products he used? Simon Says Stamp carries all of Tim's products, and traditionally they create a "12 tags" page for easier searching for the items seen in Tim's tags.
Get It Scrapped has two holiday themed offerings this year. Both are very practical for the season, and offer up content that will be useful and easy to apply to the holidays.
The first is a self-paced class called "Souvenirs of the Season" with Sharyn Tormanen ($21). In this class Sharyn offers eight lessons all focused on how to incorporate souvenirs of the season (gift wrap, tickets, cards, and much more) into your scrapbooking.
The second offering is a fourteen day class with Katrina Kennedy called "Capture Your Holidays Through the Lens," and is all about taking better holiday photos. Suitable for both DSLR and point & shoot cameras - this course is good for all types of photographers. The course is $24 and registration closes at midnight on Dec. 4th.
Jessica Sprague is offering her annual free holiday class this year at her website. The class focuses on creating a cardstock and digital patterned paper garland that can add to your holiday decor, as well as a decorative storage box to keep the finished garland in after the holidays are over. The class starts Dec. 5th, and information on how to register free of charge is listed here.
Shimelle Laine is back with Journal your Christmas 2011, an online course that she has been teaching since 2004. Each day she encourages and inspires through uplifting prompts delivered via email. One of the great things about this class is that you can simply write and make notes, basically treat it like a journal project if you do not scrapbook or do not wish to scrapbook a lot of pages. The class runs December 1 – January 6th and the cost is $35. One amazing benefit to this class is that once you register, you can continue to participate in future years at no additional charge. For more information about the class or to register visit Shimelle’s site.
Another blog-based and exceptionally popular series that is happening in December (and that is also in its fifth year) is the December Daily project by Ali Edwards. Ali has been posting about her process of setting up her album for a while now, and once December arrives she will post her finished pages as inspiration. Scrapbookers around the world take on this project in all different forms and with different styles and approaches. All of her posts about December Daily can be found here. Ali also has a great compilation page for December Daily where all her posts from previous years are easily viewed.
Big Picture classes is offering a twenty four day class featuring twelve Big Picture instructors (myself included) called The 12 Days of Christmas. For the twelve days leading up to Christmas you will receive an email with a prompt, encouraging you to photograph something and gather specific supplies. Then starting Dec. 25th, you will receive a second round of emails - this time with handouts that each feature a layout of the subject the instructor had as their focus. At the end of class, you'll have inspiration for a dozen different holiday themed layouts.
Christy Tomlinson has a five day workshop called 12 Artsy Ornaments of Christmas that she announced last week. Together with ten of her artist friends, the class will focus on handmade ornaments, though 'artsy projects' will also be shared on the final day. The class begins on December 5th, and cost is $19.95
If you know of other new holiday themed classes or perhaps an exciting blog series happening online and would like to share, I invite you to do so in the comments here. I myself am in the middle of a 25 days of crafting series on my blog about my holiday preparations and how I craft my way through the season. I will be sharing several video articles here at Scrapbook Update that tie into the series as well.
Until next week I wish you happy crafting - and holiday preparations!
