Love Shack Studio

You know you are a Redneck when...

you buy all of your Christmas decor at Dollar Tree  ;}

At least that is what my niece, Cortney, and friend, Denyse, were calling me after I shared iPhone photos with them of my fabulously "tre chic" Wreath, Tree and Stocking Holders. 

The first thing Denyse said to me was...you should have used Red Solo Cups ;}   "What?"   Well I did not know that there was such a song by Toby Keith so will the real Redneck please stand up ;}

So now without further ado...I'm sharing my creative ingenuity with you all at Denyse's Pick-a-Theme Thursday blog party...so that you all can share in the laughs.

Brown Paper Bag {Love}

There is something about kraft paper...especially the BAGS...that I find so appealing  as an ART medium.  It was {Love} at first site when I first pinned this onto my Holiday board...

Aren't these holiday gift bags the sweetest?  Well that's what I thought when I first saw this blog post by Christine of Great Oak Circle...especially when I saw that she was offering the printable as a free download {insert happy dance here ;}

Snowmen In The Studio for this Sneak Peek Friday

Wow what a whirlwind these past few weeks (months) been!  Between the holidays and all the traveling we have done to celebrate Christmas with our family in Charlotte and then on to Charleston, SC to ring in the New Years and to honor our 16th Wedding Anniversary...I am wiped out!  There is so much that I want to share with you that I am going to have to break it all down into a couple of blog posts so that I don't wear you all out as well ;}  

This year, thanks to participating in Ali Edwards, December Daily project, I really did find the JOY in the holidays.  It made me appreciate the simple things and to see them differently...to slow down and become aware of what was going on all around me.  In the beginning, I thought it might bring on more stress...and who needs that!  BUT actually I found myself more relaxed because I was enjoying all the music and displays and even, going out and about, for my holiday shopping.  Instead of being all baggy eyed about things I have no control over like..."not decorating a tree of my own" or "not having a big enough house to decorate and/or to host holiday get-togethers in"...it forced me to look at things in different ways and to be appreciative of what we do have ;} 

Gift giving has also changed for us over the years...with the combined issues of smaller spaces and budgets...we just don't go crazy buying stuff we don't need or can't afford anymore.  So I really like to put alot of creative effort into how I wrap presents now...especially those gift cards that everyone enjoys ;}   It really was so much fun finding ways to make the holidays special and festive for my family and friends.  So today for Sneak Peek Friday I want to share all the Snowmen inspiration that was happening in the studio here at the Love Shack...I had a blast with these guys ;}

Sneak Peek...December Daily Album

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wow...what a week this has been!  I don't know about you but I have been right out straight with the holidays and my December Daily 2011 Album.  It's a good thing though because I'm really pleased with how it is turning out...but more importantly...I'm really inspired with the holidays this year!

So today I am taking the opportunity to link up with Denyse, of My Crazy Beautiful Life, for her 18 Days till Christmas Party and with Jennifer, of studioJRU, for her Sneak Peek Friday in the studio party and share with you all, the album pages that I have totally (journaling and all ;} completed so far.

First up I'm going to show you the album covers which as I mentioned previously, that I was covering in black chalk board paint.  Then I added some scrapbook papers and glitter type for the titles and I love how simple and striking it has come out.  Now I have roughly, sketched in the rest of the title with a white chalk-board marker and this is not the final placement...by any means...but that's the beauty of chalk-board...you can simply erase it all if you are not happy with it ;}

Finding JOY in the Holidays

That's is what I am going to do this year...I am going to find the JOY...once again in the holidays.  After posting last week about Finding Inspiration for the Holidays, I decided that I didn't want to make any more excuses about NOT finding any joy in our holidays.  So what if I can't get out my Christmas decorations because my storage is so full at this point.  So whatif I live in a tiny house now and really don't have room to put up a big,  traditional tree.  So what if no one comes to stay with us anymore for the holidays...I just want to STOP being a Scrooge and BAH-Humbugging everyone!

It's been a pattern for the past few years that I really don't like!  The bad attitude all really began when we bought our vacation home in Pawley's Island, SC...which was over a decade ago...ugh!  Winter was always tough because vacation rentals were slow and come January we always had to pay big taxes and membership fees.  So DH and I decided that we didn't need to buy each other loads of gifts (that we really didn't need) for the holidays since we essentially were demonstrating our appreciation for one another every time we paid a mortgage payment for our vacation home.  Soon, we found ourselves also putting off celebrating our anniversary on it's actual date of New Year's Eve.  We would make excuses, that it really didn't matter, and once our finances were better, we would go away for a romantic weekend.  Which our work schedules often put off until the Spring ;}

THEN we were selling our home during the holidays one year and the realtor strongly suggested that we go easy on the holiday decor so that the house would show better...hence the establishment of the tiny booze tree...lol  Once we moved into the BIG house, our youngest soon went off to college and holiday breaks were split between our house and his girlfriend's family.  ADD to that...the fact that I had a very stressful job that had me commuting over 2-hours a day at the time...and you can somewhat understand my hopelessly drained, holiday spirit!

ALL of this was soon followed by us downsizing our home {two more times :} and moving three hours away from our core family home of Charlotte.   All of which was also predicated by my youngest son moving out of state to Pennsylvania to start his new life {with his new wife ;} and career.   Shortly after which, my niece and her DH followed their dreams, as they also moved across the country to live and work in Burbank, California.  So needless to say...it's been tough for all of us to get together and to enjoy the holidays like we use to.

Which means that I need to find a new way to bring back the JOY to our holidays and I'm starting the only way I know how...with a journal or holiday album...that has been totally inspired by Ali Edwards and her December Daily 2011 project.

December Dailyis an album project that documents the 25 days leading up to Christmas. Ali has been completing these albums for her family for many years now and what really works for her is to construct a basic album in advance of December so that during the holidays she can "enjoy the season & enjoy the process of documenting her days without having to be putting the entire thing together at the same time".  Ali generously offers all sorts of FREE information and inspiration in how you too can create an album and enjoy the season as well.

However, do not feel that it is TOO late for you to join it!  You do not  have to havea pre-decorated album to get started.  What you do need is a little motivation and a method to start documenting your feelings and observations.  Grab a blank book, an old journal, sketch book, composition book...a three ring binder...or simply start a BLOG if that works for you ;}